Star Wars Rebels - Double Agent Droid - Review: "Don't Mess With My Droid"

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Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episode Guide:
3.01 Steps Into Shadow Part 1 - Review
3.02 Steps Into Shadow Part 2 - Review
3.03 The Holocrons of Fate - Review
3.04 The Antilles Extraction - Review
3.05 Hera's Heroes - Review
3.06 The Last Battle - Review
3.07 Imperial Supercommandos - Review
3.08 Iron Squadron - Review
3.09 The Wynkahthu Job - Review
3.10 An Inside Man - Review
3.11 Visions and Voices - Review
3.12 Ghosts of Geonosis - Part 1 - Review
3.13 Ghosts of Geonosis - Part 2 - Review
3.14 Warhead - Review
3.15 Trials of the Darksaber - Review
3.16 Legacy of Mandalore - Review
3.17 Through Imperial Eyes - Review
3.18 Secret Cargo - Review
3.19 Double Agent Droid - Review
3.20 Twin Suns - Airs March 18
3.21 Zero Hour Part 1 - Airs March 25
3.22 Zero Hour Part 2 - Airs March 25

Star Wars Rebels 3.19 Double Agent Droid:
Directed by Steward Lee & Written by Brent Friedman

Well, even Rebels couldn't sustain that run of good form it seemed for long and unfortunately Double Agent Droid wasn't quite as good as the previous episodes that followed, essentially being a droid-centric filler episode. I normally wouldn't have a problem with the droid-centric filler episodes but Double Agent Droid felt a bit too similiar in structure and design to Warhead, episode fourteen, and came a bit too close to that episode to feel really fresh. The humour also didn't always work here and as a result the episode largely suffered, but nonetheless was still watchable and tackled an interesting concept that saw the return of Wedge Antilles.

The focus on Chopper and AP-5 made for an interesting backdrop as they infiltrated an Imperial facility with the help of Wedge in a stolen Imperial ship. However in the process of stealing some valuable information the Imperials were able to hack into Chopper and hack his systems, essentially recalibrating him and using him as an Imperial agent to track down the Rebels in an attempt to learn the location of their base. This close to the season finale there was a very good chance of this being the moment where the Rebels slipped up and gave away their location to the Imperials, but we've still got a few episodes left in the series yet for that to happen. It would have given more urgency to this plot if that had been the end result however, but it was certainly an interesting decision to turn Chopper against the crew.

One thing that didn't work about this episode was the humour, especially with AP-5 singing at the end of the episode and it felt really out of place in the setting. Star Wars hasn't featured music heavily at all so it kind of felt a little out of place, but at the same time if they had to do it, it made sense that it was AP-5 with his sardonic sense of humour. The humour element as well helped this episode stand out from most fillers though and gave it an interesting touch even if it could have been executed better.

The Imperial Controller antagonist served as a strong opposition for the group this episode and almost got what he wanted on top of that, only just being defeated in the end. It was good to see the action from his perspective and it's great to see that Rebels is not just showing the action through the perspective of just the crew of The Ghost, but is taking the time to spend with the Imperials as well. I would love to see if Rebels managed to find a way to incorporate some of the characters from Claudia Gray's fantastic novel Lost Stars into the following season, especially now that we've had most of the characters introduced, and I really want to dig out my copy again and give that book a reread. It's my favourite Star Wars novel of the new canon so far and certainly comes recommended if you're looking for a good read.

The show came up with a clever way to turn the tables on Chopper's controllers by having the droid be used against them in return with interesting results, and it took a darker turn than expected at the end as the Imperial controller was killed off. It would have made an interesting twist if the Rebels had given away information about their base to a character as new and as random as the controller, but with Kallus' storyline currently unresolved - it's going to be interesting to see how everything plays out with just three episodes remaining. And speaking of these three remaining episodes, the teaser for the upcoming Twin Suns was a particularly awesome one and it will be nice to get the teased between Kenobi and Darth Maul. One thing's for certain though - next Saturday cannot come quickly enough.

What did you think of Double Agent Droid? Let me know in the comments section below and check out the next episode of Star Wars Rebels this Saturday on Disney XD.

About the Author - Milo MJ

Milo is an Arsenal FC supporter and loves TV shows like Battlestar Galactica, Justified, The 100, The Americans and Person of Interest. He reviews Black Sails, The Magicians, Preacher, Star Wars Rebels, The Shannara Chronicles, Silicon Valley and Veep for Spoiler TV and will be covering Castle Rock, Counterpart, Jack Ryan, Snowfall, Succession, Star Trek Discovery and Tales From The Crypt. He also contributes to comic reviews on a weekly basis for All-Comic. He also regularly watches and reviews films on Letterboxd, and you can find his ever-changing list of great movies here.

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