Week 30 - The D-Squad Arc

Ayyy that's my boy

This was a rough one to binge.

The story of Secret Weapons isn't very interesting to begin with, and it seems even worse compared to the plots we've gotten since S3P2. However, even among some of the more lighthearted concepts in the early seasons, this one is largely bogged down by a cast that is not very fun. Part of that is due to all the characters, barring R2, are new. Yet even as the arc progresses, these characters aren't great.

My biggest issue with this one is the dialogue between Gascon and WAC. Given the other characters can't speak, we're stuck primarily with these two. Gascon isn't terrible, but his dynamic with WAC in this episode is very cringey and hardly any of the humor lands. It's also a little strange to think this crucial task is being trusted with a team like D-Squad.

The Parwan that upgraded the droids was really creepy, which was kind of cool I guess... I did think the zero gravity skirmish was neat, but we got one with Ahsoka and pirates last arc that was much better. Also, the one from the Cad Bane arc in S2 put this one to shame, so it's not like that scene alone saved the episode.

This episode isn't unbearable, but the annoying interactions between characters and a weak plot really drag it down for me. It's definitely one of the poorest offerings of the series for me. If it didn't lead to something more interesting near the end of the arc, I might have rated it lower. 4.5/10.

I’m not sure they could have pulled this off but I think it would at least be a lot more ambitious if they had D-Squad be completely non-vocal. (No WAC or Gascon) Granted, this probably could only work for an episode or two but it might be kinda cool.

I think this episode has a pretty cool concept, but there are some things about it that don't flow well with the rest of the arc either. Starting with what I liked is that the setting of an almost empty Republic cruiser feels unsettling, especially given the mystery of what plot the Separatists are hatching. Also, the scene with the buzz droids was really well-done and held a frightening tone. The climatic explosion of the ship was also perhaps the best explosion they've done on the series, and watching the effects of it on the members in the meeting was stunning.

One major issue I had though was Gascon. His character had been built up nicely the whole arc, but here he seems to switch personalities a lot. Initially, he seems to not care about anything, since he's accomplished his mission. Then he comes across as an idiot, since he can't deduce that the ship is a bomb or what its target could be. It takes time for him to eventually become noble again and want to save the lives of the droids on board as well as members of the Republic. The end shows him becoming friendlier with D-Squad too, until he realizes he likely will be working with them the rest of the war. It's kind of frustrating, since Gascon was starting to grow on me, but then this episode gave a conflicting progression to his character.

I also don't like that the attention all went to R2 and Anakin at the very end. It felt like a tacked on piece that wasn't needed nor did it tie into the arc super well. Another thing that didn't make much sense was the holograms on the bridge. It was pretty cool yet eerie, but I don't see what purpose they served, since I doubt anyone would've seen them.

I still like Point of No Return, there were just some aspects that didn't make the most sense. Another 7/10.

A Sunny Day in the Void is certainly better than the episode that preceded it, so that's something, right?

There certainly is more to like here. The Star Tours inspired opening sequence is definitely quite well done. As for the rest of the episode, it's actually hard to really put one label on it. The episode does bring up some interesting themes, which I have to give it props for. It certainly takes risks, which puts it above the paint-by-numbers first installment. I admire them putting forward an episode like this. I only wish it could have been done with better characters.

It's not as slow as I remember, and WAC is certainly more tolerable here. Hey, maybe that's character development. This is not one of my favorite episodes. I get what they wanted to do... But it shouldn't have been these characters, this time, or as the mid-season finale. It isn't the worst thing ever, but it slows, even more, a season that really needed a kick forward. 4.5/10.

Point of No Return is quite similar to the ending from the last arc. It's definitely a good episode but it doesn't feel like it's worthy of the three episodes of build up.

There are things I like here. Buzz Droids. Yay. They were effectively creepy here. I like the setting as well. It's a cool concept that's once again bogged down by weak characters.

If you want an example, look at BZ's death. It's played as one of the most tragic moments of the show's history but it's laughable how little of an impact it has. They even play the Evel Piell funeral theme(the same one Fives would get) and it's just so so unearned. Gascon is more of a dick here than he was in the previous two episodes so it's a bit weird. I think this arc could have been salvaged if he and WAC got some convincing character development. But in the final minutes, they feel exactly the same as they were in the first episode.

The explosion scene is definitely a sight to behold though R2's sacrifice is unconvincing for obvious reasons. Maybe they could've had WAC do it instead but honestly I'm sick of talking about this. 6/10.

Just like with the Younglings, nothing feels really accomplished or even worthwhile. We're following characters that we've never seen before and won't see again. And none of them are particularly interesting and some are straight irritating. These two arcs feel very much like Filoni just padding out the seasons because he only had enough good ideas for about half of it. It feels arrogant to an extent. Like they know they'll get eight seasons so they can throw some crap in the middle seasons. It just feels like wasted time.

Well, I decided to watch Secret Weapons another time. I'll lower it to a 4/10. I can honestly only think of one episode I like worse for certain (Downfall of a Droid), and then two others I feel are equally as bad (Corruption arc). Senate Murders is also pretty poor, but I like it marginally more than these.

Honestly I am surprised you guys disliked Secret Weapons so much... I didn’t think it was THAT bad tbh, honestly I do think it would have made an ok standalone episode instead of a tedious 4 part arc just to have some fan service moments in the last 2 episodes of the arc.

But this ain’t the first time droids have “betrayed” the separatists, you would think this gimmick would get old. Literally R2 posed as a separatist in a pirate tank in the previous episode. We really don’t even see the seppies use astromechs expect for R3 but he was a spy in season 1.

Also this episode just ruins the cool factor Kalani originally had, I haven’t rewatched Onderon arc yet but I do know that Kalani was a high point back in the day of its release.

Overall though Gascon wasn’t as bad as I remembered but WAC is kind of meh, I did find his corporal joke funny the first couple times. Then it got old.

Anyways I’ll say 5/10, could even be a 6 if it was a standalone but yeah I think there was some decent aspects here and a cool concept. Also was this the mid season finale or was it Sunny Day in the Void? I think it was the later which is another reason why I hated that episode back in the day. To be fair other than like Carnage of Krell this show had weak midseason finales (Rebels did those way better at least).

A Sunny Day in the Void is well pretty void of meaningful content. Just imagine the amount it must cost per one episode and it’s being spent on stuff like this I couldn’t get over when one of the producers said this was an artistic achievement... I’ll say the same thing when I first watched it, you could basically make this planet on PowerPoint.

Now I did enjoy TPM callback when they repaired this ship in space, actually the first part before the crash was decent but the planet was just so boring and I just remember the built up frustration of season 5 being fully vented here not just by me but the community in general. At this point in time there has been one great episode in the first half of season 5. Back in season 4 we had the decent Mon Cala arc, Shadow Warrior and the superb Umbara arc.

I always said TCW followed a super weird trend that the even number seasons were far better than the odd numbers, weird coincidence but it holds true imo.

Anyways this episode gets a 3/10, I just don’t really find the appeal. It’s a boring planet with some meh characters but with a few decent pieces of dialogue here and there. If R2 wasn’t around to give this arc some familiarity then I think everything would just fail tbh.

Im gonna try to rank by the same standard (I want to combine the two shows for an ultimate ranking)

The last part of Missing in Action is definitely the highlight of this arc although the inclusion of a clone commando in the show now, in this very specific episode, does feel like total fan service. The Delta Squad cameo made sense but it just seems out of place here despite the action sequences and music being great. If this story had to be dragged out into a 4 part arc I guess the stuff here is pretty decent I suppose.

I really want to give this episode an 8 but idk I’m just so puzzled by a sunny day in the void and the fact that those 22 minutes just don’t feel all that connected to Secret Weapons or this episode that much. I’m going to give it a 7/10, it’s definitely better than anything we’ve seen so far in this arc but overall it does feel like a lot of fan service and just dragging out a story for the sake of it.

Also I don’t agree that Gregor needed to be revived, not putting that one as a negative on Rebels cause they planned to revive him in TCW... could have just gave us new commandos, although I think that might have been the purpose of the bad batch in a way.

I have very good memory and thus nostalgia plays into my reviews and ratings a lot. Probably why I like Rebels more than some cause OT was my first experience. But with a lot of these clone wars episodes I just can’t help but think back to watching Friday nights on Teletoon over 12 hours before everyone else and going on the comments to give impressions to 90% of people who haven’t watched yet...

Looking back at some of my rankings I rated season 1 very high compared to some of you and I think that justifies my reviews here. Trespass, Lair of Grievous, the Jedi Crash arc, etc all work cause they are short bursts of content. Imagine trying to make trespass in a 4 episode arc, it just wouldn’t work.

Episode 1: Exploring the planet
Episode 2: conflict with Talz
Episode 3: what separatists show up to fight on some backwater moon?
Episode 4: More random battles,


idk it’s just hard to think of stuff for a 4 part arc with very little to expand on from episode 1 of that and that’s basically what they did here. Bullshit their way to the end, while some of it is definitely entertaining it’s just the same point for the Jedi kids arc I made that they are taking random ideas from all over the place and throwing them together and forcing them to be a story.