Clone Wars: Destroy Malevolence - First Impressions.

Wow, how could an action packed episode like that leave me so... underwhelmed?

I have no idea why I feel like that. I loved the episode - the right amount of plot exposition and action combined, the dialogue was good (but not as good as last week's Shadow of Malevolence), the humour - especially C-3PO, who had many opportunities in which to irritate the pants off me - didn't grate on you, it was really fun. Padmé was worked into the episode very logically (unlike her completely random entrance into the Clone Wars feature film), and yes, the action bits were very exciting and fun to watch - even though the duel between Obi-Wan an Grievous, much touted in preview footage, lasted all of about 10 seconds. I mean, come on, they locked lightsabers ONCE - that's not a fight!! And plus, more Plo Koon and Luminara Unduli! Luminara's appearance was surprising, and very much like it was with Plo, the voice acting was spot on for her character - let's hope the same can be said for when we come in contact with other EU jedi (including Kit Fisto! yay!) in the future.

But when it finished, I thought '...was that it?'

The Malevolence arc has been going on for the last 3 episodes, and considering this was meant to be the final part, it just didn't seem like it had ended - whereas Rising and Shadow both felt like that, not only did they continue on from each other, but that they also had their own definitive endings.

In all, this episode was a strange one for me. I loved it, but I wanted more from the story than was actually delivered. Maybe the preview from last week built up a lot more expectation that I thought it did, or maybe it's just me. And if it's just me, it doesn't really matter - Destroy Malevolence is another strong episode for the Clone Wars, and let's hope the standard is maintained for the rest of it's run. 4 down, 18 to go!