Star Wars: Droids Review, Episode 2

With the introductions out of the way, this episode settles into a nice groove. There’s nothing spectacular here. It’s a pretty straight-forward infiltrate and acquire mission. The fact that it is a direct continuation of the previous episode’s plot is actually a bit of a treat, since that sort of thing was rare in 80’s cartoons.

The episode picks up with the Droids and their friends drifting through space on Kea Moll’s ship. In a preview of his eventual introduction in The Phantom Menace, R2-D2 is out on top of the ship making repairs. For some reason, C-3PO is out there too, tethered to the ship to repair its hyperdrive. As one would expect, this goes terribly and the hyperdrive floats off into space. Nobody even gets mad about it. They just casually cruise to Kea’s mom’s house. Maybe sending 3PO out there was a prank. That probably wasn’t even the hyperdrive. They just told him it was to make him look stupid.

When they arrive on the new planet, we are treated to a depiction of what interplanetary customs looks like - another feature somehow overlooked by the films. This is really the best sequence in the episode. C-3PO is incredulous that droids are forced to wait in a segregated line, and R2 manages to pick a fight with some sort of combat droid that cuts the line. R2 uses his classic "crazy droid" routine to create a convenient distraction and skip out on the whole waiting in line thing.

The group makes their way to Kea’s home, which has a rebel base hidden in her basement. It’s a little weird that the Rebels in this show seem more concerned with busting up gangs than fighting the Empire. The Fromm gang is their main target here, and a plan is hatched to break into the gang’s base (for the second time in 2 episodes) and steal their secret weapon. This plot involves the droids pretending to be workers and pushing around a storage container with Kea and Thall inside. Pretty standard Trojan Horse stuff. Fortunately nobody inside realizes that these are the droids they’re looking for. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a statement about how the ruling classes view workers, or if it’s just a silly plot device. It might be more plausible if there were at least other protocols and astromechs around.

To make a long story short, some hijinks are overcome, and the episode closes with the heroes piloting the not-particularly-intimidating “Tri-Gun” into space. Again, maintaining a single arc for more than one episode was a rarity in this context, so this was a pretty ambitious plot. Sise Fromm, Tig’s Don Corleone-style father, takes over the reigns as the main baddie here, escalating the conflict and providing promise for a more significant battle to come.

Overall, this episode is a bit of a drop-off from the first. The plot is a bit too derivative, and there’s not much real danger. Thall and Kea spend a good chunk of the episode in a box (if you know what I mean), and good old Jord stays back to help out Kea’s mom (if you know what I mean). That leaves the droids to do the heavy lifting, and 3PO’s slapstick gets a little tired. This episode does give R2 a much better opportunity to shine and he pretty much steals the show.

Best moment: (18:02) R2 kicks some droid butt!
Most WTF moment: (~2:07) C-3PO repeatedly throws his back out, leaving him in.. uncomfortable positions

Released Action Figures: Sise Fromm

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