Film, TV, and Entertainment Reviews from the mind of Joey Sack
Review: Star Wars Rebels: “Double Agent Droid”
Just as some of my least favorite episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars were episodes that focused primarily on droids (with one or two exceptions), one of my least favorite episodes of Star Wars Rebels, hot on the heels of a very enjoyable episode last week, is now one that also primarily focuses on droids. The episode I’m talking about is this week’s episode, “Double Agent Droid,” in which Chopper is compromised and reprogrammed remotely by Imperial forces in an attempt to locate Phoenix Squadron’s hidden base. Only AP-5, an Imperial droid who defected to the rebellion last season and is often at odds with Chopper, suspects that something is wrong. Will the Ghost crew discover the truth about Chopper in time to safeguard the location of their base? Is this episode just filler to make us wait one more week to see Maul face off against Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine? The answer to both questions is yes.
Wedge Antilles (left) and AP-5 (right) discussing Chopper. Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company.
The rebellion continues its season-long plan to invade Lothal by sending Wedge Antilles with AP-5 and Chopper to steal the clearance codes for that planet. Imperial intelligence agents detect Chopper’s infiltration of the base and use the opportunity to hijack and reprogram the droid to control him remotely. It doesn’t take long for AP-5 to suspect something is wrong when Chopper acts courteous to him and other members of the Ghost crew. It also doesn’t take long for Chopper’s hijackers to initiate their plan to hack into the Ghost and find out where the rebel cell’s base is located.
Imperial security images of Chopper from various missions. Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company.
I could tell almost every step this episode was going to take, right down to how the Imperial agents were going to be thwarted. This episode isn’t necessarily bad; it’s just kind of lazy. The Imperials the rebels face aren’t all that intimidating, and the fact that they didn’t call in their discovery to other Imperials is beyond idiotic, especially since they have cybernetic implants that are supposed to enhance their intelligence, not hinder it. The only real enjoyment I got out of the episode came when AP-5 was stuck in the vacuum of space and almost started singing because he was so happy to be alone. And Zeb using his staff to shock Chopper and knock him out was kind of funny. Those moments made me chuckle a little. Other than that, the episode was very by the numbers and not very imaginative. The only thing that this episode might do in the long run is make the Ghost crew more careful about using Chopper to infiltrate Imperial installations, which could lead to some interesting missions.
If you had to skip one episode this season, I’d recommend either “The Iron Squadron” or this one, “Double Agent Droid.” While this episode is slightly better than “The Iron Squadron,” it’s one of the more inconsequential episodes of season three. If I were you, I’d skip this week’s episode altogether and get ready for next week’s episode, “Twin Suns,” which will likely feature the next and possibly final confrontation between Maul and his long lost adversary, Obi-Wan “Old Ben” Kenobi.
Star Wars Rebels airs Saturdays at 8:30pm ET on DisneyXD. The next episode, “Twin Suns,” airs March 18th. May the Force be with you.
