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Welcome to this week's animation round-up—now 66 percent larger but still fat free! This week, Khyber finally confronted Ben on Omniverse, Hondo made a move against the Jedi younglings on The Clone Wars, and Leo and Raph debated the merits of mercy on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Plus, we've decided to visit Equestria to see what's going on with this Crystal Empire in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. And just in case that's not enough, we're also traveling the Land of Ooo to help Finn and Jake face the Lich on Adventure Time. MATHEMATICAL!

Ben 10: Omniverse S01E09: "Of Predators and Prey (Part 1)"

"Of Predators and Prey" (Part 1) is the sort of episode that, for me anyway, tends to require more build-up than it receives. Partners split up over the course of the episode after some slight, as happened to Ben and Rook here, and it often feels too contrived since resentment doesn't believably develop between the characters prior to the episode.

This episode was no exception. Ben has been cocky to a fault for a while, and as Rook pointed out, he's needed saving much of the time, too. The issue I have is that Rook's never displayed any animosity about this until now, and thus his departure felt more motivated by Ben stealing his spiel about being proactive in finding Khyber's dog than anything else—not the most compelling reason to ditch Ben in Undertown. Sure, you can argue that Ben's lackadaisical attitude toward Ester's arrest in the previous episode was a sign of this conflict, but, again, nothing felt as fleshed out as it could.

It's too bad, since this aspect of their relationship helps to deepen the whole "mismatched partners" thing Ben 10: Omniverse has been attempting to do, even if it not very successfully. Despite the suddenness of the storyline, I do like Rook's frustration with Ben's attitude, and it's something, hopefully, both should learn from.

Sadly, "Of Predators and Prey" pulled the rug out from under my earlier theorizing about Ben facing past enemies who have come back to haunt him. I assumed that Khyber was working for an old rival of Ben's, but it turned out that Khyber's employer, Dr. Psychobos, is a brand-new villain for the series, as is Malware, the character we've been seeing in the 11-year-old Ben flashbacks. I'm a touch disappointed with all this, but seeing as my ideas were based purely on experiences with this iteration of the franchise, I have only myself to blame.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars S05E07: "A Test of Strength"

Because The Clone Wars likes making me look like a jerk, we're in for a four-episode arc with the younglings, and this was the second episode. While I maintain that "The Gathering" wasn't the most interesting or even fun installment so far, "A Test of Strength" was a bit better, even if I had problems with Hondo's presence.

First the good, and that's mostly the delight of hearing a slightly modulated version of David Tennant's voice as the lightsaber teacher droid Huyang. Tennant was in full Doctor Who mode here, as quick with a compliment as he was with an politely chastising remark and plenty of random asides as he searched through drawers for materials (if it weren't for the context, I'd have sworn he was rifling through the TARDIS for something).

Hondo's arrival, however, felt really forced. I get that he's a pirate and that he's a mercenary, but his chaotic neutral alignment makes him almost too flexible a character, a too-easy way to fill a gap in the narrative since his base motivation is, as he explained in the episode, simply profit. But he also veered into uncharacteristically creep-tastic territory at the end, when he decided to turn the captured Ahsoka "into profit." While there's little he can do with Ahsoka other than hold her for ransom, the implications of that statement are just icky, especially when directed toward a female character.

I still feel like the younglings are largely defined by single traits (Zatt's good with machines; Petro's an impulsive, if clever, brat) but given that we have two more episodes and they're going to be on their own in saving Ahsoka from Hondo (where did Yoda get off to?), hopefully they'll be developed a bit more.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E05: "Never Say Xever"

While I've liked certain elements of individual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes so far, I've never been keen on an episode as a whole... until "Never Say Xever."

"Never Say Xever" was thematically coherent and provided an opportunity not only for Splinter to deliver a lesson to one of the turtles, but for the turtles themselves to engage in a discussion about the episode's focus. Whereas previous episodes have been focused on just a single turtle with everyone else as a supporting role, this episode put Leo and Raph on opposing sides of an argument, and as a result, it had more of an ensemble vibe, which I really liked.

Leo and Raph's opposing views on the value of mercy allowed growth for both characters. Leo learned more about the responsibilities of being a leader and Raph learned that his violence-first approach doesn't always work. The show making room for these opposing views resulted in an episode that felt fuller, with good narrative calories instead of bad filler calories.

"Never Say Xever" also expanded the turtles' universe a bit by introducing Murakami's noodle shop. While I don't expect TMNT to give up its lair scenes between action set pieces, at least now the turtles have someplace else to occasionally hang out (and April doesn't have to go into the sewers to see them). And perhaps Murakami can give Splinter a week off in doling out bits of wisdom.

Plus, the show's action and the humor have both improved. The fight scenes in each act of "Never Say Xever" were well-staged and exciting. Even the big climax, with all the Foot Soldiers swarming, didn't feel overworked and busy—as it easily could have, given all the characters in the sequence. One-liners and jokes weren't overly hokey or too kiddie-pandering. Mike's face tattoo idea being visualized as the 1987 version of Mike's face? Terrific.

Did the episode have little niggling flaws? Sure. It employed two big cliches, with a hostage hanging by a fraying rope and villains in their moment of triumph becoming a bickering married couple, providing time for a last-minute escape. But while there's not much excuse for the former, the latter allowed the episode's theme to land, and I'm always in favor of a cliche being used for some larger purpose.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S03E01 & S03E02: "The Crystal Empire, Part 1" & "The Crystal Empire, Part 2"

As is par for the course so far for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, it started its new season with a big adventure story. Celestia dispatched Twilight Sparkle and the gang to the far north as the Crystal Empire, a city in Equestria that'd been missing for 1,000 years, suddenly reappeared. But things weren't all well there as the evil King Sombra, who cursed the city to disappear in the first place, was creeping ever closer to reclaiming control.

Cadence and Shining Armor were already there, with Cadence keeping a barrier in place by using her natural abilities to spread love to stop a smoky Sombra (complete with Lost-esque sound effects) from reaching the city. But Cadence was on her last hoof, so the girls (and Spike) set about trying to figure out how save the Crystal Empire and its subjects. The plan involved throwing the annual Crystal Faire and powering the Crystal Heart with the love and unity of the Crystal Ponies.

And it was this plot that mades the two-parter just a bit less effective than other adventure-heavy stories. There wasn't a huge connection between the gang and the Crystal Empire, and it lacked a real oomph as a result. Twilight's concern over failing the test and no longer being Celestia's student, along with Cadence's faltering health, were supposed to provide the big emotional component, but it still felt disconnected from the rest of the ensemble, who were busing running the Faire while Twilight hunted down the Crystal Heart.

I think back to "The Return Of Harmony," the Season 2 opener, as an example of when this sort of story works well. The main ponies were at the center of it, and it challenged their bonds and personalities in very real ways (not real enough to alter the status quo, of course, but I'm not expecting it to). "The Crystal Empire" lacked that particular emotional connection and suffered a bit for it. On top of that, we've done Twilight anxieties before, and we've seen Cadence look haggard.

Beyond all that, the adventure was still good on its own. It was well-plotted, and Twilight's exploration of Sombra's version of the castle was entertaining, particularly her gravity spell to scale the never-ending spiral stairs. And there was plenty of humor (Pinkie Pie in motley and juggling flugelhorns was a highlight, as was Fluttershy jousting with Rainbow Dash), and I really enjoyed "The Failure Song" in Part 1, but I almost always enjoy the songs in the series.

And perhaps the series is setting something up. Twilight had to rely on dark magic to make it to the Crystal Heart, and we even saw Celestia get a little dark. It was pretty creepy, and I was more than a little worried that Twilight was going to fall to the dark side, as it were. But given that Celestia and Luna gave a knowing nod after Luna summoned a book at the end of Part 2, I'm expecting that all to come back in some way.

And speaking of the dark side, Sombra is the third antagonist of the series who's been colored black (I'm counting Luna during her Night Mare Moon time). I'm not thrilled with the racial implications of this, especially considering the apparent lack of other similarly colored ponies on the show. On a series that's generally good about positive representations, this is an odd oversight.

Adventure Time S05E01 & S05E02: "Finn the Human" and "Jake the Dog"

When Adventure Time's fourth season ended a mere three weeks ago, things seemed dire in the Land of Ooo, let alone for the fates of Finn and Jake. A quick recap of "The Lich": Teaming up with Billy (possessed by the Lich), Finn and Jake gathered the magical gems from Ooo's princesses and the Ice King's crystals and put them in the Enchiridion. In the struggle to stop the Lich from harnessing the power of the Enchiridion, Finn broke the book, but it only opened a wormhole that the Lich then went through. Finn and Jake, of course, go after him.

Oh, and then the episode ended with Finn in an alternate reality, where he had a mom and a flute and a cyborg arm (and a nose!) and Jake was just a regular dog. This world had been hinted at in a few episodes, including "King Worm" and "Mortal Folly."

So what did it all mean?

At it's core, the two-part Season 5 premiere was reflective of how both Finn and Jake behave. Finn wants to kick ass and go on adventures to save the world. Jakes wants to hang out and relax with a sandwich. So after learning that the Lich wished for all life in the universe to be eradicated, Finn wished for a world without a the Lich, and that resulted in the Alternate-Wish World we saw at the end of the "The Lich." Things went horribly bad, of course, as the Alternate-Wish World was sort of like Ooo, but a place wherein Simon Petrikov (not fully the Ice King, but getting close) managed to stop the dropping of atomic/mutagenic bombs and saved the world.

But fate, as we all know, had other plans in mind. Alternate-Wish World Finn was still just as headstrong and morally pure as our Finn, and he did battle with the Destiny Gang (a plot device to get us to the inevitable end) by donning the Ice King's crown (guarded by an ancient-er Alternate-Wish World Marceline, voiced by Cloris Leachman!). This caused Alternate-Wish World Finn to to go insane, and he inadvertently set off the bomb that Petrikov stopped centuries ago, putting Ooo on the same path as before and giving rise to the Lich, who possessed Alternate-Wish World Jake.

Elsewhere, the regular Jake was hanging out with the wish-granting Prismo in the Time Room, and he wished for a sandwich. Prismo, being a lonely god-like entity, simply offered to make a sandwich for Jake, encouraging him to hold onto his wish for someone who may need it (like Alternate-Wish World Finn, who was slowly losing his mind). So they relaxed in a hot tub, talking about relationships. The Cosmic Owl stopped by, and they watched the Alternate-Wish World on the wall. And it was so Jake; he was ready to step in when his buddy needed him, but he trusted his buddy, so, with the aid of Prismo (who REALLY wanted a friend), managed to wish for the Lich's wish to be that Finn and Jake would just go home.

It was an incredibly compelling narrative; Adventure Time seems honestly dedicated to fleshing out its world. Even if it be an Alternate-Wish World, the show wouldn't waste its time on a version of the events leading to the world Finn and Jake normally adventure in. Not only that, but even with all the craziness of the Alternate-Wish World, the centralness of Finn's and Jake's personalities kept the episodes grounded and meaningful.

And there was plenty of humor, including Choose Bruce instead of Choose Goose, Prismo's inability to handle relationships because he didn't want to debate what to eat with a woman every night, and his acknowledgment that his wishes are "like a Monkey's Paw sort of thing." And I'm all about references to "The Monkey's Paw."

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Happy Tuesday, and welcome to this week's animation round-up, in which Ben 10: Omniverse makes a fool of both alien bounty hunters and TV reviewers, The Clone Wars does its best A Bug's Life impression, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's Pinkie Pie clones herself, the Turtles finally confront Shredder, and Cuber returns for some more graybles on Adventure Time.

Ben 10: Omniverse S01E10: "Of Predators and Prey (Part 2)"

With action shows, this kind of episode is the worst to review; you mostly get just a 22-minute fight scene. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, and "Of Predators and Prey (Part 2)" was very entertaining in that regard, but it didn't leave me with much to say beyond how clever some of the staging was, particularly Rook's battle with Khyber aboard the bridge of the ship. Plus there was a "Rabbit Fire" homage as Khyber and Ben exchanged blows ("It's Khyber season!" "Rath season!" "Khyber season!") and that will never ever not be funny.

The episode did, however, serve up a bit of crow for me as I was suckered into the oldest narrative trick in the book. I'm a failure as a TV viewer for chastising Ben 10 last week for not building more toward the resentment between Ben and Rook that instigated their fight last week, and it was just a ploy to lure in Khyber. I should have known better! I did appreciate that Rook acknowledged that he wasn't really acting, but that he, being the cool-headed partner, had accepted things and moved on. I'm not sure how many of you long-term Ben 10 fans feel about Rook, but I really like him.

We're also at the end of the first arc of Ben 10: Omniverse with this episode, and next week we start a new arc of 10 episodes. Seeing as this is the first time I've watched this much of the show, I do find it very entertaining and well-crafted, though it's not particularly deep. Which isn't a problem since the show stands on its own very well as an action series. I will say that I'm hoping for more character interaction and development in the next arc now that the show's foundation has been laid, but maybe it's not particularly interested in those things? Tell me about your experiences in the comments.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars S05E08: "Bound for Rescue"

This was kind of a busy episode in a season that's been light on subplots so far. In the first big arc, despite cuts back and forth between King Rash and the Jedi-trained insurgency, everything was connected as one big plot. In "Bound for Rescue," there was not only the younglings and their plan to save Ahsoka but a CIS attack led by Grievous on Obi-Wan's flagship. While I have no doubt that the plots will fold into each other next week in the arc's conclusion, it was nice to have two different things going on at once.

The younglings, after getting off a distress signal to Obi-Wan, headed off to Florrum to save Ahsoka themselves. They didn't really have a plan, so it was lucky that the circus crew showed up and allowed everyone to do their best A Bug's Life impression as the younglings posed as a talented group of acrobats (Force abilities at this stage in their development aren't good for much else). I generally enjoyed this, though there wasn't much to it. Hondo continued to be sort of icky as he intended to sell Ahsoka to a client with a taste for female Jedi (yuck). I do like that the show, through Hondo, basically admitted that the character will do whatever the show needs. It's a lazy approach, but at least The Clone Wars is being honest about it.

The fleet battle was refreshing since it's been a bit since the show had one, but given that it involved Obi-Wan and Grievous, there wasn't much suspense, and their lightsaber duel wasn't terribly exciting. But I appreciated the break in action from the younglings' plot, which probably didn't have enough fuel to drive the entire episode by itself.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S03E03: "Too Many Pinkie Pies"

It's not often I get to trot out a reference to the film Multiplicity but I have to thank My Little Pony for giving me that opportunity. In much the same way that Michael Keaton learned that clones don't make your work and love life any easier, Pinkie Pie learned that clones don't let you have more fun.

One of the delights of "Too Many Pinkie Pies" was the existential crisis that it threw Pinkie into. Her eternally cheerful nature has demonstrated a certain fragility, whether it be not coping with her friends rejecting party invites in "Party of One" or not completely handling the youngsters Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake in "Baby Cakes," and this has given the character a degree of depth that any other series might not. So when she began to question whether or not she was the real Pinkie Pie, it not only provided a way for us to keep track of her in the army of duplicates, it helped to demonstrate that Pinkie does have an internal world, a sense of identity. She may hold the element of laughter, but that laughter is grounded in something larger than just silliness.

There were other delights, too. Running throughout the entire episode was the idea that a single Pinkie Pie is more than enough for everypony, and it was fun seeing that play out a bit as some of the ponies took shelter in the woods. But it was probably the end of the episode, when Twilight attempted to determine which was the real Pinkie, that offered the most enjoyable—and interesting—sights. The idea of watching paint dry was just wonderfully clever, and the spell that eliminated the cloned Pinkie, blowing the pony into an overblown pink balloon with bulging eyes and pursed lips, was both humorous and horrific. It's also probably only something that could be done to Pinkie Pie, the show's most cartoonish character, without being something that felt radically out of place.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E09: "The Gauntlet"

Nine episodes in the works, the turtles faced off against Shredder in a decent-ish episode. My biggest problem with "The Gauntlet" was that it just felt a tad overstuffed with plots that ran up on each like some of my sentences tend to do.

After remaining in the background since the show's first week, April's dad resurfaced, having dispatched Pete the mutant pigeon (creepiest-looking mutant creature yet) to tell April to get out of the city as the Kraang had something devious planned: a big mutagen bomb that would mutate half the population. So, you know, what they'd been planning the entire time. I'm pretty much done with the Kraang as villains. I don't have anything to really latch onto with them as bad guys (why do they want to mutate everyone on Earth...?), so episodes that involve them tend to feel flat. They also completely lack personality, which makes them doubly dull. I can deal with a villain not having either a motive for evil or a personality, but not having both is a real dealbreaker.

In addition to the Kraang-and-April's-dad plot, Bradford and Xever decided to redeem themselves by taking on the turtles without Shredder's permission, but then they just went and mutated themselves and I sighed. I liked the turtles having human opponents, and more mutants in the mix just feels like an excuse to sell more toys.

And then there was just the hodgepodge of the episode's lesson. The overconfidence thing landed and landed well, but the little tiff about Raph and Leo always teaming up and Don and Mikey always teaming up felt like it should've been an episode onto itself. It was a good character dynamic thing to explore, and it really deserved to be more than a series of "Mikey is a doofus" gags.

Adventure Time S05E03: "Five More Graybles"

I wasn't much of a fan of "Five Short Graybles" in the Season 4. While all the stories were united around a common theme, they were slight but had at least one solid joke (except for the Lumpy Space Princess segment, but I am not LSP's biggest fan). The same thing happened here with "Five More Graybles."

Finn and Jake, thinking they had a collection of spells, recited Little Jack Horner expecting to be good boys once they stick their thumbs in things. I like the little twist that nursery rhymes have become spells in Ooo. It's a nice extension of the show's post-apocalyptic existence.

Marceline's bit was probably my favorite of the five stories for two reasons. One, we got the visual pun of the rock giant drumming his fingers on drums, and I'm all about visual puns. But then there was the deliriously awesome journey to the music store. I loved the animation the first time, and then we got it again, with Marceline's face of pure joy. It was terrific.

Treetrunks had the oddest story as she took offense to Shelby acting as the middle finger of the Cranky Cookie statue. It was worth it only for seeing Treetrunks go all vigilante after "the wheels of justice spun too slowly" for her, rounding up a posse of Cinnamon Bun and the Gumdrop Lasses. While the middle finger is one of those age-crossover jokes, it was probably the least interesting one.

Ice King had the fourth segment, and it wasn't all that great as he decided to marry his foot (it had a scary face on it). The button of the segment, that he saw a face on his other foot and said "Oh no," was sort of funny, but didn't really connect for me. I did enjoy him telling the penguins to drink up the "joy tears," though.

BMO had the final segment, and it involved BMO teaching Football, BMO's reflection, what various things do in the real world. It didn't do much for me, but I just really love BMO and Niki Yang's work, so I didn't dislike it as much as the Ice King story.

The theme was the flavors (sweet, savory, sour, salty, and bitter). As Cuber explained, it was not the five fingers. Because, you know, no one's had five fingers for a very long time, or whatever that metric was that Cuber used.

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The latest in our Saturday-morning animation round-up is here! I've added Ben 10: Omniverse for the time being, what with the DC Nation shows being off until January. I'll also add Adventure Time when its new season begins in November, which will expand this feature beyond just Saturday mornings. But we'll still considering other ideas, so feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

Ben 10: Omniverse S01E06: "It Was Them"

I've watched the Ben 10 franchise off and on for a little while, most notably catching episodes before Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series. It's always been a tad impenetrable only because I'm not well-versed in the shows' characters or mythology. But the Omniverse iteration provides some relief from that, making it an easier way to get into the series than it otherwise might be.

At the same time, Omniverse is advancing the story for long-time fans. Ben's ready to be a solo superhero now, but he's still paired with a partner (the not terribly cleverly named Rook) in a fight against various aliens, mutants, and what have you. And "It Was Them" extended this notion even further with Ben's decision that an old foe, the mad scientist archetype Dr. Animo, was behind the recent random attacks (like the giant slug assault that opened the episode). And so there was some lampshade-hanging on certain conventions (like the ease with which imprisoned villains escape supposedly secure super-prisons) while still completely embracing them as Ben and Rook tracked and stopped Dr. Animo's giant ant plan.

The show has created a tension between Ben's past as a sort of junior hero and his past successes, and his struggle to come to grips with being a mature young man and a new sort of hero. And his past is haunting him, as we saw with Animo's plan in this episode or the Megawhatts in "A Jolt from the Past." It's an odd, but interesting, idea for a show to tackle the notion of 16-year-old facing off against his past in this way (most 16-year-olds would just be focused on the present).

And since he's still lurking in the shadows, Khyber may be benefiting from this. Ben's so sure that his old foes want a rematch that he's not conceiving of a new threat. It'll be a hard lesson to learn when Khyber makes his big move.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars S05E04: "The Soft War"

So it appears that I got ahead of myself last week when I discussed how the rebels of Onderon weren't really taking the populace into account with their attacks. It turns out they were just waiting for this week. But I'm still not entirely convinced that this chain of episodes has made a convincing case in the PR battle for control of Onderon.

But I think a lot of this rests on the fact that "The Soft War" may've been the weakest episode of the season thus far (admittedly we're only on Episode 4). It relied on a previously unseen character—hi, General Tandin!—for the pivoting of the action, and that's never the most interesting or exciting development. There wasn't much suspense about the role Tandin had to play in the episode, so most of the episode was simply spent waiting for it to reach its inevitable conclusion.

The strange bit that stood out for me was how Dendup didn't seem thrilled with the insurgency Steela and company were perpetuating. I appreciated the rationale that he wasn't going to remain neutral in this civil war since he believed both factions, the Republic and the Confederacy, to be corrupt institutions, but it just seems odd for him to remain... almost divided about the issue (though the presence of Jedi in the ranks seemed to brighten his mood) of rebelling against Rash and the Separatist forces.

We have one more episode left in this particular arc, and I'm ready for it reach its conclusion.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E04: "I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman"

Baxter Stockman is an iconic Turtles character. I know him best from the 1987 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where he was a goofy and belittled (and white) scientist who was turned into a mutant fly after Shredder got fed up with the failures of Stockman's Mouser robots. In the comics and the 2003 animated series, Stockman was a black man, still used the Mouser robots, but also became a cyborg (he turned into other things, too, in the 2003 series; it was a very grim go-round for the character).

This series sticks closer to the comics and the 2003 incarnation but blends in the dweeby loser aspect of the character from the 1987 version. Here, Stockman's a loser who was fired for pouring toner on top of the copier—so he constructed a robotic battle suit to try to get revenge. His first suit was a wash, and the turtles easily defeated him, even going so far as to pop the guy in a dumpster.

After Stockman took advantage of the Tpod, the AI-based music player that Donnie rigged up, Stockman got himself a deadly robotic suit and properly began his rampage (his return to his office, and the sudden lack of fear among his old co-workers, was the episode's brief highlight). The episode faltered from that point on as the (groan) Stockmanpod grew to resemble just a big toaster with a... mouth (?) that looked like the mouth of a Mouser (the Mouser head still made an appreciated appearance).

This episode was just dull. The Stockmanpod's design didn't stir up much excitement, and the climactic battle was kind of silly (the first battle was decent). I mean, Stockman was defeated by shoving a beehive (bringing back the unfunny bit of physical comedy from the start of the episode) in his viewport. That was lazy—this battlesuit AI can do all sorts of crazy things, but it can't put a translucent plate over Stockman's face?

I imagine Stockman will be back, somehow, so I'll be curious to see where the show goes with him from here. He's clearly not very smart (he doesn't understand toner, after all) and he doesn't have his suit any longer. So what's next for him?

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This week's round-up is a bit lighter than usual, as Cartoon Network has very suddenly and unexpectedly pulled the DC Nation Block—Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice—from its schedule, and according to the DC Comics and Cartoon Network Twitter feeds, the programming block won't return until January. Consider this, as a friend of mine called it, a "Crisis on Infinite Saturday Mornings."

Neither party has announced the reason for this sudden hiatus, or whose idea it was. But you know, a two-and-a-half month hiatus following two weeks of new episodes that started after a nearly three-month hiatus makes perfect sense. Really. It does. ON EARTH-2. I don't get it. At all.

Anyway...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars S05E03: "Front Runners"

We were still on Onderon as "Front Runners" began, and the Jedi-trained rebels were beginning their campaign against the droids stationed in the capitol, Iziz.

I have always liked when The Clone Wars engages in urban battles; it's a nice change of pace from wilderness or spaceships, because those tend to feel very same-y after a while, and the urban battles encourage a sense of place. And that sense of place was pretty important this week, as the episode dealt with rebels/terrorists (depending on which side you're on, as the episode made clear) who were fighting on their home turf.

The episode didn't take full advantage of that impulse, as the quasi-leaders of this little cell—Lux, Saw, and Steela (who became the full-blown leader at the end)—never felt completely attached to the setting they were in, at least emotionally. I say this because it strikes me as odd that no one said, of the big plan to knock out the power grid for the city, "But if we knock out the grid, won't the citizens of Iziz lose their power, too?" For the episode's talk about winning over a populace, the non-combatants seemed more than willing to give up some comforts for the sake of removing the droids.

Which I thought that King Rash, the Separatist ally ruling Onderon, would turn to his favor, but instead he just called Dooku for better reinforcements. Maybe he'll still pull a PR attack in the next episode, but given that Dooku's sending a new general to organize things (and perhaps take Rash out?), I suspect we'll get more blaster battles instead.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E04: "New Friend, Old Enemy"

Last week I posited that the latest incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could prove to be something in the vein of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic in how it uses an episodic conflict to teach a lesson or moral about, well, anything. "New Friend, Old Enemy" made gestures toward this notion, but didn't really stick the landing.

The turtles have, throughout all their various incarnations, struggled to gain acceptance among humans. Sure, characters like April and Casey Jones have become allies, but wider understanding is always elusive, no matter how much good the turtles do for New York City. It's natural for them to want to reach out beyond their clan—they're all pretty sociable, after all—so Mike's desire to become friends with Chris Bradford, a Chuck Norris-y martial arts celebrity, made sense.

I liked that this week's episode decided to use a social networking site (handily supplied by April in a very brief appearance) to make the connection with Bradford. Mike assumed that online "friendship" through the site translated into friendship in person as well. It was a step toward addressing current societal issues and trends that TMNT should take more of, in order to help differentiate it from its predecessors and make itself more relevant.

But the episode never fully connected all its dots. While Mike experienced, in an extreme way, the dangers of assuming that online friendship and real-life friendship were equal as he was captured by Bradford and Xever (Shredder's streetwise henchman whose fighting style has a hip-hop feel, of course), the link between the social networking site and the perceived friendship was never made explicit, leaving that particular message muddled.

On the upside, the show's humor is becoming a bit more confident (an important thing to have in a Mike-centric episode), and while the action sequences still feel a bit stiff (due more to the animation than anything else), I like that there's not a lot of cutting during them. Fights are shown in a medium or long shot, and all the moves are visible and animated, which gives them some energy. It'd be easy to cut them into pieces, and it would save money, so I'm glad that the series has decided against that style.

What did you think about this week's episodes? And since we're without our comic book superheroes for a while, would you like to see something in their places? (I'm not exactly keen on Dragons: Riders of Berk.) Perhaps a capsule review of some older animated fare? Or maybe something from the new fall anime season? Leave some ideas in the comments, and I'll see what I can do.

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Welcome to Week 2 of our new Saturday animation round-up! You read last week's inaugural edition here.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars S05E02: "A War On Two Fronts"

One of the reasons why I like The Clone Wars is that it oftens offers more than just a sci-fi action extravaganza and new toys to buy. In the case of "A War On Two Fronts," the show offered a debate on large governmental forces (the Jedi and the Grand Republic Army) training rebel forces (Onderonians) that had similar aims (weakening the Separatist presence in the galaxy).

The real-world parallels—U.S. forces training and arming nascent al-Qaeda factions to battle Soviets and their allies in Afghanistan in the 1980s—weren't made explicit (and aren't likely to be known to the show's intended demographic). Instead we got a debate, argued between Obi-Wan and Anakin, about the values of the action, and whether or not the Jedi were encouraging terrorism or arming an insurgency against a dangerous and mutual threat.

It wasn't a terribly nuanced debate (and it was recognizable only in our real-world hindsight), but the fact that it happened at all demonstrates why The Clone Wars is a valuable show in the long run, putting these concerns in front of an audience early, and giving parents a chance to perhaps discuss them with their kids.

Of course, the episode fell fairly firmly on the side of "Yes, helping rebels/insurgents is perfectly okay." Certainly there could still be fallout (Saw does seem a bit aggressive), but the presence of Lux (last seen smooching on Ahsoka in Season 4) helped mediate any audience concerns that might have been present. It was an easy out for the show to take, but expecting a more fleshed-out argument about the issue is probably a bit much.

However, since it was a war on two fronts in the title, the interpersonal battles between Saw, Steela, Lux, and Ahsoka gave the episode some stronger character bits. Lux being in the episode immediately upped the story beyond the training of generic rebels to something more meaningful. It was a smart move in a smart episode.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series S01E15: "Reboot"

It didn't take long for Green Lantern to get us back into space, but I'm not going to complain too much. Where the first half of this season was stuck in generic sci-fi stories with our characters working through those conventions (never super-inventively), this half seems happy to kick off with lots of action and narrative momentum, two things I'm always happy to see.

Another thing I'm happy to see: Lots of other members of the Green Lantern Corp. Tomar-Re! Ch'p (the squirrel who hysterically beat up Hal)! Larvox! Chaselon! When the Red Lanterns were invading and the Guardians decided to mobilize the Corp, I figured we'd see some familiar faces, but we didn't. Their appearances erased that (admittedly fanboy-based) disappointment.

"Reboot" served the rather necessary plot beat of getting (most of) the original band back together. Both recruitment moments, getting Kilowog and then saving Aya, were well-staged and boasted a surprising amount of humor (something the show has improved on since the hiatus). I'll be curious to see how they bring Razer back into the fold since he, like Aya, has had stronger character arcs than Hal and Kilowog (Razer and Aya can have those arcs since they're original creations).

The re-activation of the Manhunters by the Anti-Monitor (the big blue-and-yellow bruiser) helped build on the established narratives about the less-than-stellar history of the Guardians and threw it back in their faces. This further complicates their goals in maintaining order in the galaxy, and whether or not they're all that qualified to do it.

DC Nation Short: A New Teen Titans short explored how Robin and Raven deal with being in love. It wasn't a terribly exciting short, or all that funny. I did like that both premises were based on character traits, Raven's stoicism and Robin's over-achieving, but there wasn't much in the way of laughter.

Young Justice S02E09: "Darkest"

After last week's likeable mixed bag, "Darkest" was a much tighter and stronger episode. It benefitted, unsurprisingly, by focusing on Kaldur's subterfuge of Black Manta and the demands it's placing on him. None of this can be easy, even if he is playing triple agent, as Wally suggested near the end of the episode. The fact that the show itself is willing to broach this idea suggests that it's an unlikely outcome, and that Kaldur is very dedicated to stopping the invasion, as Dick maintained.

The destruction of Mount Justice was one of those big moments that work. While it helped set up the destructive future of Bart's, it was also a far more effective stake-raising moment than the reveal about Bart's time. The nuclear winter-esque world that Bart is from is more of a narrative puzzle to be worked out—how did the world end up like that?—as opposed to an emotional punch made by the eradication of Mount Justice. Truly, this is the first time I feel like Young Justice has demonstrated the risks in these conspiracies and counter-conspiracies. (I don't understand how Happy Harbor wasn't wiped off the map as well.)

Since I made mention of the show's little narrative detours last week, it seems only fair to return to the Malcolm-and-Karen-in-Ivy-Town bit. The plot needed Malcolm out of Mount Justice so he could call it in when it was destroyed, but it at least served a narrative purpose compared to the detours last week. And while I can appreciate Malcolm's attempts to reconnect with Karen (he's sort of stuck in his life, and she's very much moving on), the emotional connection for the audience wasn't there. It was sad but lacked of the heavier character moments that the rest of the episode was able to achieve. Frigging time skip.

DC Nation Short: It was a DC's World's Funnest short, which tend to be really hit or miss for me. Here we had Robin, tied up by a giggling Joker. Catwoman had problems saying identity; Batman ran by, arrived to find Robin tied up, and began giggling as well. I liked the Catwoman portions, particularly her discussion of the fashion sense of heroes, but it was kind of flat.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E03: "Turtle Temper"

If "Turtle Temper" will be the model for the episodes to come, I can get behind this series a bit more than I thought I would after last week's premiere, even if I do think there's still a good bit of work to be done in firming up the show.

Exploring Raph's temper is one of the hallmarks of the TMNT franchise, and how his actions put both him and his brothers in danger. The episode didn't tread much new ground in that regard (I wonder when that'll start happening...), but the episode mobilized Raph's personality to help deliver a moral about how kids can deal with insults and bullies. In a way, should the series continue in this sort of model, it could become a male-targeted version of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. (Feel free to flame me in the comments for even daring to suggest such a thing, but I think I'm right.)

What I did like about this episode, and how it handled Raph's inability to deal with insults, was the multiple ways it mobilized Vic, the cranky New Yorker, to get at these ideas. First, there was the casting of caustic and foul-mouthed comedian Lewis Black, a nice nod for older audiences who recognize him and can appreciate the cleverness in his casting for this particular role. But it was the transformation into Spider Bytez (eugh) that sold me on the concept. His acidic venom spit was a complement to his acidic verbal commentary, providing a consistent character trope through the transformation (one that was missing with Snake last week).

I appreciate small touches like these in a kid-targeted show. While I still have some problems with this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (particularly how the Kraangs speak; they're worse than the B1 battle droids in The Clone Wars!), this episode was a positive step.

What'd you think of this week's episodes?

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Welcome to our new Saturday animation round-up! This inaugural edition covers Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, and Young Justice, and starting next week we'll add Nickelodeon's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which today received its own standalone review, in honor of its series premiere). Let us know what you think—and which other shows you might like to see reviewed here—in the comments.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars S05E01: "Revival"

The Clone Wars has, despite its lackluster start (and really dull movie), grown into an entertaining series that often has more going for it than the movies it was birthed from. But I must admit that the resurrection of Darth Maul at the end of last season made me more than a bit wary.

So I'm glad that "Revival" arranged things so that Maul won't be this season's sole focus, and expanded his role from Obi-Wan antagonist to a potential unifier of crime families around the galaxy. It's a clever way to keep Maul and Savage in the mix, but not necessarily at the forefront of the action. Likewise, the shift from brothers against Kenobi to a new pair of Sith against the galaxy ups the threat level (and gives Palpatine an unexpected perk in his plans to wipe out the Jedi).

The episode also managed to keep that threat level feeling real. Adi's gruesome death (for a Saturday-morning show) showed what's at stake for everyone, and kept Maul and Savage from being—wait for it!—phantom menaces! (Had to, sorry.) If there were no sacrifice, no sense of risk, then the various plots facing the Jedi would be largely empty.

And that's an important thing for The Clone Wars to keep going. Asokha's fate is up in the air as this series enters its fifth, and potentially final, season, and the idea that anyone can die, including the show's audience surrogate, keeps The Clone Wars exciting.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series S01E14: "The New Guy"

Green Lantern proved itself a competent, if not terribly inventive, series during its first arc. After the heavy emphasis on space narratives, I was eager for this second arc to return to Earth (and for Earth to look better than it did in the first arc's finale). Thankfuily, I got exactly what I wanted. And Guy Gardner to boot!

This second arc seems primed to deal with the reactivation of decommissioned Manhunters, the robots that the Guardians used to maintain order in the galaxy before they started the Green Lantern Corp. But while that threat gets going, Hal has to deal with the fallout of being gone for months.

I really like this, that the series is giving ramifications for Hal's life as a Green Lantern. While I still don't think that Hal's relationship with Carol is fleshed out enough to earn the moments the series has given them, both here and in the Star Sapphire episode in the first arc, I can appreciate the series making gestures toward Hal's life outside of the ring.

Guy Gardner's presence, likewise, brings a different dynamic to the series. He's cocky, beloved by everyone (even Guardian Appa, and that guy doesn't like anyone!), and doesn't defer to Hal like Kilowog, Aya, and even Razer. Deidrich Balder's performance hits all the right notes here, and I hope Guy appears a few more times.

But I'm not holding my breath. Given Hal's promotion to the Green Lantern Honor Guard, I'm expecting more space stories. I'm hoping that these new ones will be less generic than the ones we got in the first arc, and if the writers decide to bring back the old team, that they continue to develop Razer and Aya, the only two characters with decent character arcs.

DC Nation Short: Teen Titans and a gamma ray PSA! This short was pretty well worth it for Starfire's inability to say it and subsequent cursing in native tongue. Everyone else was amusing, and the idea of even doing a gamma ray PSA is clever (even though I don't think anyone on the team got their powers from gamma rays...).

Young Justice S02E08: "Satisfaction"

Young Justice is one of the most frustrating series I watch. When it's good, it's pretty good, but when it's bad, it tends to be really bad. I know I seem to be in the minority on this based on other reviews and comments on my Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes piece from a couple months ago, but if it seems like I'm harsher on this series, it's because I think there's a lot of potential that the series just doesn't live up to.

I actually rather enjoyed this episode. Original Roy's anger at Ollie, his sense of neglect, provided a nice way to hit Roy's beats from the iconic heroin arc from the comics in the 1970s while still being appropriate for the timeslot and the plot so far. Original Roy's confrontation with Luthor and Mercy felt a tad dragged out (more on that in just a second), but I ultimately liked the result of Original Roy taking up the mantle as Arsenal. I'd like to see this develop a bit more, but, at the same time, Young Justice is already feeling a bit overstuffed sometimes, and I don't know if it can support more plots.

Which is why the small asides in this episode—first to Dakota City for Rocket's bridal show and Captain Cold's bank heist ("I'm completely doomed, aren't I?") and then to Ivy Town to start, I guess, a romance between Conner and Wendy—made the episode feel a little busy and all over the place. The only departure from the Original Roy's plot that even felt necessary was the visit to Artemis's empty grave to learn about Cheshire and Sportmaster's plans to go after Aqualad and Black Manta.

DC Nation Short: The Super Best Friends Forever fought Solomon Grundy, who "no fights girls." I've missed the SBFFs (I haven't been watching the DC Nation block since the hiatus), so having this particular segment back for the opening week was much appreciated. It was filled with bits, like their mocking of Grundy as a zombie, and I really enjoyed Supergirl's assertion of "We are equal-opportunity butt-kickers!" Grundy may have gender equality issues, but the girls don't!

What'd you think of this week's episodes?

Note: As I mentioned above, Nickelodeon's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series will appear in the animation round-up starting next week. This week it received its own standalone review.

Are there any other series you'd like to see in the round-up? All suggestions are welcome, but to have a good chance at inclusion they need to be shows that: 1) lend themselves to this capsule review format, 2) do not air opposite the shows reviewed above, 3) I can catch up on easily if I need to, and 4) aren't on Hub or Disney XD (which aren't a part of my cable package).

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Call me a weirdo, but while most of America looks forward to new fall season that includes shows about the power going out and, I don't know, monkey doctors, pretty much ALL I can think about is the new season of FX's American Horror Story. When Ryan Murphy's campy horror dramedy first premiered last year it was hard to know whether it would ever evolve past the bizarre horror mixtape of the pilot, but boy did it ever! The season stayed bizarre, of course, but who could've guessed it would've been as sad and haunting (pun NOT intended) as it ended up? Great television, made even moreso by its audacious between-seasons reset. Whoops, we were tricked into watching an anthology series!

Which brings us to the upcoming Asylum chapter of AHS starting in October. We still don't even know for sure what DAY it begins, but FX has seen fit to start teasing us mercilessly with fragments of footage possibly excerpted from the new opening credits sequence. As we all know the first season's title sequence was itself a season-long teaser since its imagery continued showing up in the show itself (save for that man with the garden shears whose plotline was excised for time). So let's take a look at the teasers that have been released so far and attempt to figure out what it all means! (And more importantly HOW it all relates to Chris Zylka's character!)

Here they are, be careful:

What on earth is that litterbug nun dumping in the field? At first I assumed she was disposing of body parts, but now I think she's leaving food out for some kind of terrible hell-beast. Or possibly a friendly puma. Oh, I really hope there is a friendly puma plotline.

Well, obviously it's laundry day at the nightmare nunnery and white-mask nun was just trying to do a solid for the corner chillin' nun. But then white-mask nun goes and gives us the SIDE-EYE? Aw, hell no, girl!

So, someone filled up the bathtub with milk and then turned the whole thing sideways so it didn't look like a big version of ladyparts. Then some guy or gal was bobbing up and down and then got zipped inside! This could honestly happen to anyone.

I feel like anybody who has allergies can relate to this woman. Get outta that flower, girl!

White nun was all annoyed because clearly the asylum had a pest issue what with all the scuffling under the stairs and whatnot. But I bet when she called the pest control dude he didn't find anything and she felt super embarrassed about it. (This will be a three-episode arc.)

That ghoul is like, "What is this, Miami Vice? Glass brick is SO '80s you guys!" Just kidding, the ghoul is just growling about whatever. Relax, ghoul. You're smudging the glass and we're low on Windex.

Not gonna lie, this does NOT look like a fun rave.

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