'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' season two review

Picking up where the last season and the recent "Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes" video game both left off, the second season of this CGI cartoon begins with the titular conflict between the Republic and the Separatists—which occurred between 2002's "Attack of the Clones" and 2005's "Revenge of the Sith" for you movie folks—continuing to escalate. But they now have a new threat to contend with as well, as the bounty hunter they encountered at the end of first season, Cad Bane, continues to be a thorn in their collective side.

In the season opener, Cad is hired by Darth Sidious to break into the Jedi temple, while in the second episode, Bane searches for a Jedi with information he needs, while Anakin and Ahsoka search for Bane. It's no surprise that this season has been subtitled “Rise of the Bounty Hunters.”

The buzz: While the "Star Wars" saga has had its fair share of cool bounty hunters—Boba Fett, Aurra Sing, the James Bond-like Bossk—Cad Bane isn't as cool as they are. Sure, he talks like Hans Gruber from "Die Hard," but his look and mannerisms are a bit too Old West for this sci-fi saga. Even so, if these first two episodes are any indication, this season will be just as exciting as the first.

The verdict: We're still enjoying this action-packed toon, in no small part because of the spunky Ahsoka, a feisty "Star Wars" lady in the mold of Princess Leia and Queen Amidala. Though we also like the addition of Seth Green as the voice of Todo 360, a techno-service droid with a fully-functioning comedy subroutine. As Yoda might say, “Kick ass, this show still does.”

Did you know? ...that the character of Ahsoka is voiced by Ashley Eckstein, who previously played Muffy on "That's So Raven"? And that Raven-Symoné has a very high midichlorian count?

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" premieres Friday, October 2, at 8 p.m ET/PT on Cartoon Network.