Episode 8: Bombad Jedi

WARNING: This review contains EXPLICIT references to JAR JAR BINKS, interspecies relationships and at least one use of the word “Bombad”. Readers are advised to proceed with caution…

If only there’d be some warning like that before this episode then I might have been more prepared for what followed.

It’s taken a while, but The Clone Wars has sadly delivered what can only be referred to as a ‘clunker’ or a ‘stinker’. Up ‘til now the episodes have ranged from pretty good to genuinely topping, but the latest installment, Bombad Jedi, has created this new category. Is Jar Jar to blame?

In this case, yes. His antics are never anything less than nut-scratchingly infuriating, from his incomprehensible garblings to the accidental destruction of a spaceship. I’ve never had any truck with Mr Binks, sporting a rather natty purple tie here, until now, and I can see why some hate him so much.

Any sense of seriousness and tension (facets that have successfully existed in the series so far) have been pumped out of the window in favour of sub Phantom Menace-esque cartoon set pieces and buffoonery that the Ewoks would be ashamed of.

Amidala has taken the Gungan on a peace mission but finds she has been Lando’d (I believe that’s the correct term) by a Rodian senator she calls “Uncle”. Then witness how she gets nabbed by the Neimoidians (sounds painful!) - in this case, Nute Gunray (making a series debut like Jar Jar) who is as ineffectual as his race usually are.

We are then subjected to Threepio and Binks fighting off Battle Droids, accidentally blowing sh*t up and the unlikely sight of Jar Jar Frenching a sea monster. You were warned. Fact fans may want to note that this beast, the Kwazel Maw, is based on an unused Ralph McQuarrie design for a swamp slug creature on Dagobah. That’s the most interesting thing about this flippin’ escapade.

This episode will only give fuel to those who hated the prequels, as it concentrates on some of the less favourable aspects of The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones and contains none of the visually pleasing sights or stout direction that I have become accustomed to over the past couple of months. I sincerely hope this is not the start of downward trend.

Check out Cameron's review of the episode 7 here.