"Friends and Enemies" Review

Although still kinda of weird with the whole "Obi-wan in disguise as a bounty hunter" ordeal, Friends and Enemies was a better episode than it's predecessor. Bane was a must see in this episode, and Moralo Eval has been an established villain that I'm becoming to like.

The episode started out with Obi-wan/Raako Hardeen crashing the ship he, Bane, and Eval had hyjacked last episode. Although the intent was to throw the authorities off their trial, after seeing the crash go on for about 30 seconds, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps Obi-wan had a death wish... Once the trio get out of the wreckage, Bane suggests they get some different attire than prison uniforms.

For those who saw the preview, you know what happens next. Bane (after passing up the classic Indiana Jones fedora for the very hat a TOR smuggler wore in one of the game's previews) threatens the store's owner with nothing more than a toothpick because the poor Rodian doesn't have good weapons. Very epic Bane scene. Another thing that struck me was when Obi-wan tried to give the Rodian some credits for his troubles. I think this was one reason why this episode was a better one than "Deception". Last week, Obi-wan was trying to be intimidating, but in this one we really saw that it was Obi-wan underneath the Frankenstein transformation.

Well, with less conspicuous attire on, the trio split up to find weapons and a ship, with Bane and Eval finding the weapons and Kenobi finding the ship. Once Bane and Eval were alone, Bane mentions that Hardeen's time with their motley crew is up. He also mentioned that it was both business and personal. This begs the question as to what happened to the real Hardeen's past with Bane. Perhaps Hardeen stole one too many bounties?

Meanwhile, Kenobi managed to buy a new ship, and also plant a homing beacon on it should something go wrong...like it did in the very next minute in fact. Bane and Eval return without a weapon for Kenobi, and they leave him for the Hutts who are trying to collect a bounty on the trio. Kenobi quickly tells the Hutts about the beacon and Bane and Eval are shot down to crash on the planet...again. With his mission a little bit more secured for the time being, Kenboi escapes and asks the Jedi Council for the bounties to be removed on three of them for the sake of the mission.

This is where another layer of intrigue was added to the episode. Once Anakin hears about the bounties being removed, he takes the Chancellor's advice (as we now know is a bad idea) and heads off to Nal Hutta to settle it himself. Of course he takes Ahsoka along too, but I personally think she shouldn't have gotten involved with this episode. In my opinion, it ruins the fact that this is a personal matter for Anakin whose trying to bring justice for his "dead" friend.

But enough of that. Kenobi remeets with Bane and Eval, who are understanably pretty mad at him. But after some negotiation, they realize that Kenobi and his newly obtained ship are their only way off of Nal Hutta. Just as they take off coincidentally, Anakin lands and learns from the local saloon manager where the trio bought the ship. The funny thing is, the ship's owner mentioned that it only had enough fuel to get to the nearest fuel depot, which (purely coincidentally) happens to be run by the brother of the ship merchant.

Anakin (and unfortunately Ahsoka) rush off to that fuel depot and spot the trio just about to escape. A pretty neat chase ensues, a chase that included Anakin jumping off of his transport onto Hardeen's. Cad Bane insisted on engaging Skywalker out there and a rather fast-paced fight went down on top of the ship. Obi-wan realizes that he can't keep both Anakin, his friend, and Cad Bane, the person he needs most to complete his mission, alive at that rate. So he decides to crash the ship...again.

Obi-wan instantly rushes out to make sure Anakin is alright, forgetting the fact that Anakin would try to kill him like he did five seconds later. Surprisingly, Anakin is just about to kill his long-time mentor until Bane of all people stops him. Anakin tries to get to Bane, but Obi-wan puts him in a head-lock, and pust before Anakin passes out, Kenobi tells him not to follow him anymore. Bane was about to kill Anakin, but then Ahsoka rushed in to defend him. Eval came out just in time to tell Kenobi and Bane to leave now while they could because the ship was fixed. Without further adieu, both of them walk off, leaving a very confused Skywaolker to wake up realizing that Kenobi isn't actually dead.

This episode was probably a 7/10 or 7.5/10. Bane was wicked awesome, Eval is growing on me, and the Obi-wan/Hardeen deal wasn't as creepy as last time. My only fear about the arc now is that Bane might die considering "The Box" looks like it might leave only one bounty hunter left standing, and we know that that'll have to be Kenobi/Hardeen. But for now though, MTFBWY!