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As a TV show of unknown duration, The Clone Wars has a bit of a narrative problem: We know that it takes place between Episodes II and III, but it's hard to build suspense or drama because we don't know how many episodes there will be. (Even if the creators know, we don't, and so it's hard as viewers to calibrate expectations.) And so while a particular episode might be cool or interesting, the series can risk losing punch. One way the series works around this problem is with mini-story arcs that carry over three or four episodes, allowing a story to build in more natural ways. (In my interview with James Arnold Taylor last fall, he consistently came back to these arcs as his favorites in the series.)
2011 has begun with a corker of an arc: In last week's episode, Darth Sidious forces Count Dooku to eliminate Asajj Ventress as a sign of loyalty. She survives, and retreats to Dathomir to seek revenge. Dathomir is home of the Nightsisters — witches who, while not Sith, do use the dark side of the force. The Nightsisters agree to help Ventress. Their plan, which comes to fruition this week, is to offer to replace Ventress with a new assassin, one from the same race as Darth Maul. This new assassin, named Savage Oppress, has been raised to show no remorse, compassion, or loyalty, and so he will presumably try Dooku in various ways.
The Nightsisters arc is written by Katie Lucas... yes, Lucas. Daughter of George. These episodes are strongly about Ventress, and Lucas says that's no accident: "I've really fallen for Ventress, and here the audience gets to learn a lot about her history. She's an extremely complicated character. She’s a cold-hearted harpy, but she has good reason to be — and now she’s displaying a much more independent side of herself. Ventress is nobody's pawn anymore. She finally owns herself. I grew up on Buffy and Tank Girl, so writing for strong females is second nature to me. I listened to a lot of early Hole and The Distillers albums to inspire me while writing these stories; I really wanted to tap into that visceral female rage, and Courtney Love’s snarl certainly tears that right out of you."
If Ventress is a complicated character, even Savage Oppress has his nuanced side: "Savage is a lot like Frankenstein’s creation. He's a monster, but you get brief glimpses of a real heart beneath the surface. He's a complicated character — I don't think he would have turned to the dark side without the manipulation of the witches. They use him."
After the jump, your clip:
"Monster" premieres January 14 at 8.30pm ET/PT on The Cartoon Network.
