Pursuit of Peace Review

This is my first official Clone Wars episode review! Pursuit of Peace aired on December 3rd, 2010 and took place directly before the Season 2 episode Senate Murders.

I thought Pursuit of Peace was a decent episode. In my opinion it lacked the flair and gravitas of the previous episode, Heroes on Both Sides. However there still were some exciting and interesting elements.

I was really put off by the dialog that was mired in political terminology. By referring to the war affecting the Republic's ability to "meet the basic needs of its people", Padme was in effect painting her government as a socialist state. I find it hard to believe that the Republic can both be run by corporations and be so entrenched in its people's welfare. The two just don't mix. There is no way that the Republic could fund, yet alone orchestrate, the healthcare and electricity of trillions of citizens. If that were true, then the CIS would also have to provide these social services to its constituents. I never got the idea from the prequels that Naboo relied on Republic aid to survive...

But there were also a few really cool sequences in this episode. The speeder chase in the middle of the episode was fantastic. It reminded me somewhat of the chase in Attack of the Clones. This episode was certainly a testament to the scale that the Coruscant environment has grown to in Season 3 of the Clone Wars TV series.

The real "moment" in this episode, however, was the final scene. This series has done such a good job of masking Palpatine's intentions thus far, leaving some fans to clamor to see his true side; and finally the Clone Wars is beginning to hint at his evil. I am all for shocking developments at the end of episodes, but I think most will agree that the revelation of the Chancellor's possible duplicity in Pursuit of Peace was much more dramatic and relevant than previous "secrets revealed" this season, namely Ziro the Hutt's involvement in Padme's attempted assassinations.

Overall, I give this episode a "B+". The action was sufficient, and the plot was relevant to the overarching storyline of the series. I just wish some of the political speak was toned down, and Palpatine's puppet-mastery was featured a little more.