This arc is clearly the comic relief before we get into the meat and bones of what this season is really about and the overarching arc. But I don’t care that this is a distraction. Gascon and D-Squad are still escaping with the stolen cryptography chip and making their way back to the Republic.
Everything about this arc is working for me and the humour of these episodes are firing on all cylinders. Gascon is such a likable character and the way he plays off of WAC is simply perfect.
But the humour isn’t all that’s well done in these episodes. The lighting in this episode must have been exceedingly difficult to pull off, but all of the hard work certainly paid off. The first bit of lighting effects that took my breath away was BZ’s surgery. The bits of electricity and puffs of smoke were extremely pretty. But then they were outdone by the beauty of the comets. With the droid pilot and running into the comet field, it felt very much like an homage to the original Star Tours, and the only thing that would have made it better was if Paul Ruebens was voicing WAC and he actually said, “Comets?… COMETS!”
The next homage I loved was something from Phantom Menace. One of my favorite tense but comedic moments in that film was when Artoo and the droids are sent out in the middle of the blockade to fix the shield generator. Seeing Artoo learn from those mistakes at set up the other droids as spotters was genius and played to the themes of the episode about altering programming and perspective. Perhaps that was me reading too much into things, but that’s how I saw it, any way.
As soon as they landed on the salt flats of the planet, I was instantly reminded of a more colorful THX-1138. Half of that movie plays out in a white void and it’s unsettling, working to great effect here on Gascon. This is the challenging part of the lighting, but the model painters and the lighters did a fantastic job making this entire landscape plausible.
The other thing it conjured (especially knowing the new love of Doctor Who the cast and crew has found) was the David Tennant Doctor Who special called Planet of the Dead.
And the comedy… I mentioned the comedy, right? But the heights of maudlin humour this episode reaches when WAC is almost hoping that Gascon will kill himself had me howling in laughter. Might some people find it inappropriate for the kids? Maybe. I thought it was funny. Especially since Gascon was forced to pull himself together and endure.
The only thing funnier than that were the arguments about who would lead D-Squad once Gascon offed himself.
Then, when they decide to split up and WAC remains loyal to Gascon (of course the other faction is led by Artoo), they find themselves running out of options. Then, a Jurassic Park happens. A flock of flightless birds run through the desert, scaled appropriately to Gascon as WAC as the Galimimus were to Dr. Grant and the kids. Gascon decides to trust their instincts and hop a ride to water, knowing the birds will be attracted to it.
The shots, animation, and lighting in the sequence screamed Jurassic Park and it put a smile on my face.
The episode ended mid-story and I’m quite disappointed that we’ll have to wait until next year to reach the conclusion of the arc. I’d have almost liked for them to wait on the whole arc until they came back from break. Either way, I suppose, there’s something to look forward to.
Congrats to the cast and crew for another great episode of The Clone Wars.