REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "The Forgotten Droid"
This was an episode, in all honesty, not too many fans asked for: a Chopper episode. Coming off of the heels of one of the best and most emotional episodes of the series, a laid-back, comedic adventure starring Chopper seemed like a WTF kind of idea. However, after seeing the episode, I'll admit, it's wasn't that bad, I actually kind of enjoyed it for what it was.
Now, let me make one thing clear, the plot of this episode was very standard and very predictable. To say it was lighthearted would be an understatement. Again, I'm not against Rebels having these episodes from time to time. I just thought it was a bad placement after last week's episode and the momentum that episode gave. Anyway, the crew land a planet to steal fuel for their giant carrier they got in homecoming. They are planning on establishing a base on a distant planet.
Chopper sees a leg that looks like his old-abandoned leg from years ago. After some pandering and ignoring Hera he steals the leg and is on the run. The rebels steal the fuel and escape leaving Chopper behind. In the heat of the moment, Chopper goes into an Imperial cargo carrier ship that departs the planet as well.
It is there they we meet an Imperial droid named AP-5, who is in charge of inventory. He speaks English and his voice sounds very familar to Cad Bane from the Clone Wars for some reason. Anyway, he is not respected by the crew, especially the Imperial Captain on the ship who is among the show's weakest villians. He is basically a carbon-copy of every southern-Texas sounding bad guy, except, it's in Star Wars, which makes it worse. Anyway, AP-5 meets Chopper and they initially clash and AP-5 tries to follow protocol and report him in.
However, throughout the epsiode, Chopper and AP-5 bond and learn more about each other. It was towards the end of the episode that I realized that this show just established a C-3PO and R2-D2 relationship. I know what you might be thinking, well, that's really lazy of them. It's fair to think that but the way they developed the two throughout the episode, I thought it was actually quite nice and not as forboding or in your face about it until the end. Overall, I like the two of them together and I didn't mind AP-5 as a character.
Surprisingly, the show also gave backstory to Chopper. Apparently, both he and AP-5 were part of the Battle of Ryloth during the Clone Wars. AP-5 was a navigator but was eventually demoted when the Empire took over and Chopper was a Y-Wing droid but was shot down and rescued by Hera. That is actually really sweet that Hera and Chopper have been like family since they were little and they have a nice bond. That said, throughout the show, not just this episode, Hera seems to think that Chopper is selfish and is surprised when he does something noble. Yeah, kind of a mixed message with your feelings towards him, huh Hera?
Anyway, Chopper and AP-5 decide to team up and trick the stormtroopers onto the cargo ship and detach it from the carrier. Chopper then beats the crap out of the captain with his replacement leg. Wow, you are pathetic.
While this is happening, the Rebel fleet is attacked by a group of Imperial ships. It seems like it would be a cool action sequence filled with tension. However, it doesn't last long as most of it is filled by the Ghost trying to land on the carrier to refuel it. Chopper and AP-5 contact the fleet and tells them that the planet they are attempting to go to is a trap set by the Empire. Boy, it was sure lucky and a HUUUUGGGEEE coincidence that Chopper got on that ship and met AP-5.
They tell them a new location and it is at that moment that AP-5 is shot by the revived Captain and dies. I actually didn't expect that and it caught me off guard. Chopper, once again, beats the Captain up, again you are pathetic, and returns to the fleet. In the end, AP-5 is revived due to the parts Chopper gives from the spare leg. Yes, it's a cop-out, but I acutally thought it was sweet and genuine by Chopper. Ok, I admit, I'm a sap for that type of stuff!
Like I said before, this episode wasn't bad. I had good elements in it and in a cosmic sort of way it moved the plot forward. However, this was not the episode the fans wanted and this is certainly not the tone that I want to show to showcase most of the time. Fun, campy episodes are fine on occasion, but after you started a major story arc last week, hell, that you started with the season premiere, you don't just separate it with a episode like this. Even if the timing of the episode was different, I still wouldn't change my verdict much. It was goodish, just not spectacular.
