While the droid episodes were probably doomed from the get go, I do feel bad about the various political arcs. They include some of the most important world-building in the series and have lots of potential, but they just never cohere into anything useful. In part I blame Padme, who is just a terrible character. Catherine Taber does a much better job as Padme than Natalie Portman ever did, but it's not enough to make her capable of carrying a half-decent plotline. I wish they'd done more with Bail Organa instead, his character has much more potential.