The Clone Wars: Season 7: Episode 4: "Unfinished Business"

The Clone Wars: Season 7: Episode 4: "Unfinished Business" written by Brent Friedman and Matt Michnovetz, directed by Brian Kalin O'Connell

     Such a fantastic episode!! It's got heart, sacrifice, action, cool tricks, and the end is beyond bittersweet--I absolutely teared up. Full disclosure, I've tried to re-watch the story reel to make comparisons between the original and the finished product, but I cannot find the story reel ANYWHERE! And honestly, I barely remember this one...not sure why as it's a great episode!! But, when I was re-watching it, not much caught my memory. And this is all I had written in my Canon Media Timeline Chart--"The clones and Anakin trick Admiral Trench into thinking Echo is still captive and feed him invalid information. Trench is killed and Force 99 is commended." So, strangely enough, it felt brand new going in to it.
     "Great leaders inspire greatness in others." is the parable at the beginning of this one. And there are so many leaders in this episode it's hard to figure out which it may refer to...perhaps all of them?? Echo, Tech, Anakin, Mace, Obi-Wan, Rex! They all do what they can to lift up and support those around them, inspiring greatness in all who fight alongside them.
     Echo's ominous look at the end of the last episode after Rex tells him it's going to be like "old times" again, leaves the viewer wondering where Echo's true loyalties lie...will he turn on the Republic?? Or will he stay loyal to his brothers in arms??

     Well, he turns out to be a wonderfully loyal soldier, ready to do anything it takes to bring down the Separatist forces. He even sacrifices his own health and safety in the process (see image below of him being essentially electrocuted)!! He may have a good dose of PTSD, but he's still ready and willing to fight until the end. His way of helping out is to plug himself in (using his cybernetic droid arm (he uses it JUST like an astromech would, really sad and a bit freaky--see to the left) to the Separatist ship's main computer, Tech then re-routes Echo's signal to appear as if it is still coming from Skako Minor (which works since Wat Tambor was way too chicken to let Trench know about Echo's escape), and Echo is therefore able to send outgoing messages to the Separatists about what move they should make next--as if he's still functioning as their prize algorithm prisoner. But he also has access to relay the Separatists' orders to his fellow clone troopers this time around. All seems to be going as planned until Admiral Trench senses something fishy and the jig is up.

     Poor Wrecker just wants to blow something up! But Anakin insists that "stealth" is the name of the game this time around. They get through enemy lines and on to Trench's ship with Echo changing the readout of their ship from a Republic to a Separatist model. Wrecker's reaction, "Awww, I'd still rather blow it up." He's so cute! But he gets his heyday toward the end of the episode when he's allowed to blow up ALL the Separatist ships (see opening image).

     Mace Windu and Obi-Wan deploy into the assembly complex on Anaxes and find themselves facing a huge hoard of droids (see to the left). Mace gives a fabulous and perfectly him speech to the droids standing against them, "My name is General Mace Windu of the Jedi Order. At this point of the Clone War, I have dismantled and destroyed over 100,000 of you Type 1 Battle Droids. I am giving you an opportunity to peacefully lay down your weapons so that you may be reprogrammed to serve a better purpose than spreading the mindless violence and chaos you have inflicted on the galaxy." The first droid responds with..."Blast 'em!" And the battle breaks out. Such a quintessentially Mace move. And I am so here for it!

     Another interesting tidbit was Anakin's confrontation with Admiral Trench...let's just say he takes a bit of a walk on the Dark Side. Basically, there's a bomb that will destroy Anaxes itself as well as thousands of Republic forces and Anakin demands Trench to disarm it. Trench's response, "Dooku would kill me for losing Anaxes." And Anakin being Anakin, boldly says, "And you think I won't?" Trench then replies, "You're a Jedi. You--" just as Anakin slices off his cybernetic arms (see to the left)!! Trench is absolutely baffled by this odd Jedi behavior and is scared into submission. "I don't have such weaknesses!" Anakin declares after his ghastly act. You can hear the Dark Side in his voice and see it in his facial expression. We all know he's gone to a very dark place once before with the Tusken Raiders who captured his mother. This shows that he may not have ever fully recovered from that moment. I'm wondering if we'll see any more glimpses into the future Darth Vader in upcoming episodes of this final season.
     There are so many fantastic visuals throughout this entire episode!!! I tried to catch as many of them as I could in photographs but there were some I just couldn't. Check out one of my absolute favorites at the beginning of this review--a colorful explosion! There was also a moment when Crosshair set up some devices that allowed blaster fire to ricochet through a bunch of droids and that imagery was incredible! Wrecker wasn't too happy about being outdone. And then there was Echo overloading the entirety of the droid forces! What a beautiful sight! So much goodness I just can't stand it!
     The ending had me tearing up as Echo finds his place in everything post-abduction. The poor guy needs people who can understand him, and I think he's found that in Clone Force 99. My heart!!
     So a fabulous episode with a lot going on and including some of my all-time favorite characters. Despite my great love for the Bad Batch, I am excited to move forward in to unknown territory with the next set of "Clone Wars" episodes!!! Can't wait to learn more about Ahsoka post-leaving the Jedi Order...