***I must confess that, despite being a huge Star Wars geek, I have yet to see the landmark Clone Wars animated show in its entirety. I’m aiming to rectify that to a large extent here, as we look at pivotal episodes of the series in, “The Essential Clone Wars.”

SERIES: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
EPISODE: S2:E8 – “Brain Invaders”
WITH THE VOICE TALENTS OF: Ashley Eckstein, Meredith Salenger, Dee Bradley Baker, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor
WRITER: Andrew Kreisberg
DIRECTOR: Steward Lee
PREMIERE DATE: December 4, 2009
SYNOPSIS: Republic forces fall under the influence of mind-controlling Geonosian worms.

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This episode was written by Andrew Kreisberg, one of the architects of the “Arrowverse” on the CW Network. Some pretty cool Green Arrow/Black Canary comics too.

“Brain Invaders” has a great horror-esque premise, with some great visuals to match. It’s tough not to cringe when you watch one of the brain worms crawl into someone’s ear. Ditto for when they burst from someone’s mouth.

About six minutes into the episode, Ahsoka invites some of the clones to eat with her and Bariss Offee. I can’t help but think that’s got to be some of the most stale, unstimulating conversation in history. You’ve got two Jedi, who are essentially space monks, talking to genetically engineered clones who’ve only been alive for…what? A year, if that? And that’s before you factor in that the clones are being controlled by Geonosian brain worms. The social masochist in me really wants to see that scene…

Moments after the dining invitation, Ahsoka has a pretty stupid line. The clones start shooting at she and Bariss, and she calls out, “Troopers! Stand down!” They’re shooting at you, you dumb kid! I think the command hierarchy has been, at best, suspended!

The interrogation scene between Anakin and Poggle the Lesser is some nice Vader foreshadowing. The most important aspect being that, with Ahsoka in mortal danger, Anakin had a good reason to bend the rules the way he did.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.