Review of the Jedi: Fugitive

Join the Serial Wordsmith every Saturday as he recaps and reviews the last season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Something the Clone Wars writers realized in the later seasons is that the audience knowing the outcome of the war wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Because they trusted that the audience (or at least a large segment of it) had seen Revenge of the Sith, it meant they could use our foreknowledge against us. It's like Alfred Hitchcock used to say, "Show two people eating dinner unawares, then show a bomb planted under the table and you have suspense". That's exactly what they've been doing with Fives in this arc and so far it's been working great.

Especially this episode where in true Hitchcock fashion, Fives ends up under suspicion and has to go undercover. But let me back up. After accidentally killing Tup last time by removing his tumor, Dr. Nala Se has been ordered by Dooku to get rid of all the evidence before Shaak Ti and the Jedi can find out about Order 66. And by evidence he means Fives. So stealing Tup's tumor, Fives has to evade his fellow clones on Kamino while pursuing his own investigation of the tumor.

This is where the cat-and-mouse element that's been present throughout this arc is used strongest. Nala Se and (unwittingly) Shaak Ti keep throwing up obstacles in Fives and AZ-113's, Robodoc from Conspiracy, way and they keep having to work out new ways around them. It's what leads to a lot more of Fives pulling Batman manuevers; disguising himself, sending out decoys, stealthily knocking out guards. Batman actually isn't a bad comparison for this episode as it does focus on Fives and AZ investigating the tumor. Besides from one fight scene near the beginning, nicely done with a fixed sweeping camera not unlike the zero-g bits from The Unknown, there isn't much action.

Fugitive's principle engagement comes from the suspense, which comes from playing off the foreknowledge. We the audience know what Order 66 is, so we know what Fives will ultimately find. What makes this exciting is that we also know that the Jedi don't find out about Order 66, so as Fives discovers more and more information in the back of our mind we have two questions. 1: What will Fives do if he learns the truth? And 2: What's going to happen to keep the information secret at the story's conclusion?

"I knew you would steal my screentime. Eat Lightsaber!"

The suspense is bolstered by good characterization. Fives' motivation for looking into the tumor comes from his loyalty to his fellow clones. After seeing his friend Tup go crazy, suffer, and die, he wants to make sure it never happens to another clone. A problem for one clone is a problem for every clone in his mind, even if he has to put his own body on the line to solve it. His partnership with AZ gave the little droid some depth too. While he's primarily comic relief, it's clear AZ is beginning to develop his own personality from his interaction with Fives and enough of a bond grows between them that Fives trusts him to perform the same procedure that killed Tup on him. That's a wonderful little moment in an air duct between the two that shows AZ doesn't take Fives' faith lightly and will do his damnedest to back up. 

But for me, Nala Se is the most interesting. Of course she's the villain, but there's something about her sheer pragmatism in eliminating Fives and casual prejudice against clones, regarding them as merely property, that I find it intriguing. She reminds me of the Nazi agents of 40's thrillers, carefully maintaining their cover and hiding their actions behind seemingly positive explanations, just very banally evil. 

Red Rover is a bit rougher on Kamino

There is one thing about this story that's been confusing me though. Fives and AZ discover that Tup's tumor was not a tumor at all, but an organic inhibitor chip. And it's not just Tup who had one, but every clone. According to AZ, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas (the guy who supposedly ordered the clone army) commanded they be implanted at the earliest stages of clone growth. Nala Se says it was to negate Jango Fett's violent tendencies in his clones, but Fives and Shaak Ti are dubious. 

Here's my question. So this chip is supposed to activate Order 66 in the clones, but how does that work? Order 66 made sense when it was a post-hypnotic command activated by Palpatine. Does the chip like send the command later? Or do the clones already have Order 66 in their minds but the chip keeps them from realizing? And how did Tup's become necrotic? We have one more episode so hopefully this will be cleared up. 

Overall, Fugitive was a good suspense piece. The gulf between what the audience knows and what the characters know keeps getting wider, to the story's benefit. The characterization remains strong, and the scenery, expanding on the glimpses of Kamino from Attack of the Clones, looks wonderful. Here's hoping the next episode can wrap this arc up in a nice bow.

See you next week.