Clone Wars Recap S4 E17: The Box!

As part three of our current four part story begins we know that foppish lying douchebag Obi Wan Kenobi faked his own death, disguised himself as bounty hunter Rako Hardeen and is hanging out with Cad Bane. Anakin didn't know but now kinda' knows, but maybe doesn't really care. And someone's out to kill Palpatine who is probably pulling the strings anyway. Confused? Well it doesn't amount to shit because this rip-roaring episode is about cramming a whole ton of bounty hunters into a murderous box!

EMBOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Join me after the jump for more, but be forewarned that this was another great one, so if you don't want to be spoiled then I suggest you watch it first!

So we sort of already knew that uptight octogenarian Count Dooku was behind the plot to kidnap Palpatine, even though he doesn't know that Palpatine is actually his boss. There's some crazy machinations going on here and I wonder if it's a pre-cursor to the plot to kidnap Palpatine that is successful in Revenge of the Sith and leads to Dooku permanently losing his need for a hat.

So Eval Moralo, break-out character Cad Bane, and Obi Wan disguised at Rako, meet up with Dooku and find out that they can't just have the job to kidnap Palps - they have to earn it by battling a ton of other bounty hunters inside a giant mechanical murder box that Eval has apparently made. And yes, I giggled like a schoolboy every time anyone said anything about, "entering the box" and possibly not coming out alive.

So it's part X-Men's Danger Room, part Cube, and a lot like Portal's testing chambers (in fact there's a building in the complex that looks like a Portal turret). You know, actually I hate when I read a fan review of something and they go, "You know it was kind of like blahdy-blah-blah" because it's often not at all. Like when Avatar came out the aliens were blue so people went, "You know it's kind of like the Smurfs, or blueberry pie, or my balls right now. Oh look! That car is pink! It's exactly like Snagglepuss!" But I'm going to make an exception and make comparisons today, mainly so that you know just what the hell I'm talking about.

"Okay, chaps. Start thinking with portals!"

Whatever it all is, it's pretty great. The roster of bounty hunters is interesting and we get to see fan favourite Embo being a mysterious acrobatic badass. He could become a key character if he only spoke English. At the moment he's like a ninja Lassie. "What's that Embo? Spikes are coming out of the walls? Good boy, Embo!"

But don't get too attached to these assholes because Cad Bane starts killing them before they even ease into the box (chuckle). He kills Bulduga because he's wearing Cad's old hat. How did he get that old hat anyway? Some kind of space yard sale? And once they all penetrate the box, the bounty hunters are dropping like flies.

It's not a complicated plot by any means. The team of them basically assist each other to navigate traps and prove their worth, and about half of them get killed in the process. There's fire, and laser-spikes, and poison gas, and disappearing platforms and its all shot and paced in a satisfying way. It's a really solid action focused episode and it kept me fully engaged the whole way as I wondered who was going to make it out. 

Obi/Rako proves to be a bit of a badass which for some reason frustrates the hell out of Eval who is working the box. I don't get that. Isn't the box designed to prove their mad skillz and therefore appropriateness for the mission? So if there are bounty hunters who are actually surviving it, then isn't that cause for celebration? Isn't that exactly what you want? Because shit, Eval, if none of them make it then the mission's cancelled and you don't get paid, you stupid asshole. Why don't you think before you pout like a tiny girl.

So Dooku eventually tires of all this (he tires easily - he's very old) and he pits Obi/Rako against Eval in a hand-to-hand battle. For once, Obi manages to punch the shit out of someone and he has the opportunity to kill Eval but pusses out, much to Dooku's distaste. But rules are rules and the box has been conquered! The surviving hunters are Obi/Rako, Embo, Derrown, Twazzi and Cad Bane - who Dooku promptly puts in charge. Dooku's pretty stoked and he's going to send them to Naboo to capture Palpatine and cause a ruckus. And then the episode strangely ends with a shot of the character's fronts, instead of a long-shot of the character's backs, which frankly leaves everyone confused.

This episode was 100% balls-to-the-rotating-laser-spiked-wall action and I recommend watching it more than having kids or buying a house. Top drawer!