Dave Filoni says in a recent episode commentary, "[We] thought, 'Perhaps an animated venue like The Clone Wars is going to fit really well for our friend Jar Jar.'" Here's one fan of the opinion that Mr. Filoni thought right.

Since his debut in The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar has become the Star Wars Punching Bag for many fans. I've always thought the ridicule was a bit over-the-top; while I've never found Jar Jar particularly funny, I certainly found him tolerable.

However, in The Clone Wars, Jar Jar fits right in. Maybe it's the stylized animation. It might be the fact that The Clone Wars is a kid's show. Perhaps Jar Jar needs to be played off "Threeso" (C-3PO) the straight man for him to work (don't know what it is--"Artooey" I hated, but "Threeso" left me grinning). Or maybe it's simply better writing. But whatever the cause, Jar Jar Binks comes off as quite comical in his debut episode, Bombad Jedi. While the episode is not quite Jar Jar's funniest appearance to date (that honor goes to the Gungan's escapades in Robot Chicken: Star Wars and its sequel), it's certainly among Jar Jar's best moments. Animation just seems to work for him.

Now, I know not everyone enjoyed Bombad Jedi. But--dare I say it--my hunch is that those who didn't like it had already made up their minds that Jar Jar the Gungan isn't funny, and nothing Jar Jar did in that episode was going to change that.

I want to go on to admit that Jar Jar's appearance in The Gungan General was quite disappointing. But that was only because Ahmed Best wasn't there to do the voice. The imitation was a let down--frankly, I've heard friends do better Jar Jar imitations. Nevertheless, it seems I'm about to type a phrase some fans will no doubt consider blasphemous:

Please, bring back Ahmed Best!

(Who knows, maybe it was all a diabolical scheme to show us how crucial Mr. Best really is?)

Despite Jar Jar's voice issues in The Gungan General, I was impressed to see that his inclusion in the episode was quite logical. In the previous episode, Dooku Captured, Palpatine makes it quite clear that he doesn't want to believe Dooku's been captured. And the reason is obvious: Dooku's capture by pirates was not part of Darth Sidious's plan, and neither is the Republic purchase of Dooku-turned-prisoner. Palpatine is forced to feign disbelief that the pirates are holding the Sith Lord.

However, he shortly finds himself backed into a corner by colleagues who are very willing to follow up on the Dooku capture. So he tries to play his trump card to make sure the mission will fail: by sending Representative Binks, Palpatine hopes the exchange will be botched.

Jar Jar's inclusion in The Clone Wars has worked really great so far, and, as long as they keep his appearances logical and spread them out just enough, I'm all for everyone's favorite Gungan making further appearances. My only major request: make sure it's Ahmed Best doing the voice work!