REVIEW: Star Wars Rebels "Double Agent Droid"
So, this is the second season in a row where Chopper and AP-5 get an episode two weeks before the season finale. Much like the last time it was done, it was pretty much a filler episode except for a few small moments. That is exactly the case for this episode, a few moments of plot importance than the rest filler. The sad thing is though, there were some elements of this episode that worked or could have been expanded on where as some elements dragged on way too much.
The episode starts out with AP-5 and Chopper going off on a mission with Wedge. Yeah, remember the show actually introduced Wedge earlier in the season and haven't done anything with him since? Well, sadly, the episode doesn't do much with him this episode other than as a pilot for the droids to get clearance codes for the Rebellion's attack on Lothal. Yeah, that plot point pretty much lasts a few minutes. It's at this moment where the main problem with the episode comes into fruition. It's obvious that the two droids' relationship is meant to be parallel to R2 and 3PO and in other episodes their comedic banter works. However, whenever the two of them are on screen together all they do is bicker. There is not one moment when the two aren't on screen together that they aren't arguing or AP-5 isn't criticizing him or boasting about himself.
Needless to say, at least for me, it got old really fast. I got to the point where I was starting to get pissed. There's even a part, I'm not even kidding, when they're arguing where they pretty much go "ARE NOT, ARE TOO" like they are a bunch of toddlers. I've said before I don't mind if the show has some light-hearted humor but too me it was really juvenile. Needless to say, you feel bad for Wedge having to be stuck on the mission with them.
After AP-5 steals the codes, the episode's lone saving element comes into play. An Imperial stealth/coding ship intercepts the two droids and remotely hacks into Chopper to have him lead them to the Rebel base. First off, I like the designs of the Imperials here as they are all enhanced with Lobot-esque equipment on their heads. Secondly, while the concept of remote hacking something is nothing new, I like how it is implemented here as I don't think I've ever seen something like that in Star Wars before. Heck, even the Imperial commander in charge gets more screentime and personality than your traditional Imperial leader. Granted, he's no Thrawn or Tarkin, but those two are hard Imperials to top.
From there, the second act of the episode pretty much boils down to...Chopper gets hacked, and AP-5 suspects Chopper is compromised and nobody believes him. While in the end AP-5 is right and you do kind of feel sorry for him, he still acts annoying with his constant whining. I haven't had much of a problem with his voice before as we either had it in short bursts or had someone else to counteract it. However, in this episode, there's stretches where you just hear nothing but his voice and yeah, it gets kind of irritating. Chopper then traps the crew in the cargo hold and tries to launch them into space. AP-5 manages the climb yesterday and unlock the hold but gets knocks back away from the ship.
The rest of the Ghost crew plus Wedge manages to capture Chopper and stops the Imperials from finding the Rebel base. Then, don't asks me how she does it, before Hera somehow does something to Chopper that not only frees him from Imperial control but causes the Imperial ship to explode. Yes, Hera just straight up murdered a whole ship of Imperials just because someone messed with her droid. I have more respect for you now.
AP-5 then has a moment out of nowhere where he finds peace in space where he gets greeted out of nowhere by a bunch of pink creatures but also sings a song. Yes, you heard me right, there is a brief song in this episode that is now part of the official Star Wars canon! You remember the last time there was a song in Star Wars? IT WAS THE DAMN HOLIDAY SPECIAL! (Thankfully that is not considered canon anymore) In the end, the Rebels got their codes, AP-5 gets rescued, Chopper is fixed and nobody learned a damn thing.
In the end, while this episode is kind of bad, it did have a few good or interesting elements that could have been expanded upon more if they didn't focus too much on the AP-5 and Chopper banter. Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, this episode really didn't matter and the next two weeks will certainly be better. I mean, the two weeks is Obi-Wan vs. Maul and Thrawn's attack on Chopper base, it's already better by default.
