Summary: On Aldhani, Cassian doesn't share much with his new allies who remain distrustful of him. Taramyn trains the group and gives them the necessary preparations for the heist. Vel and Cinta are revealed to be splitting off from the team. Skeen pressures Cassian and uncovers that he is a mercenary, but Vel keeps things together so that the heist can happen. Meanwhile, Gorn works in the garrison, quietly arranging things to aid the heist. Dedra suspects that coordinate rebel attacks are happening. Mon Mothma creates a new charitable foundation, while under scrutiny from her husband. Luthen is nervous about the impending heist. Karn's mother gets a new career opportunity for her son.
The Good: This episode is primarily set-up, but it does so very effectively. It's consistently engaging and interesting to meet all of the characters in the heist team and learn more about them. Each character has their surprises, and they are endearing, understandable, and fun to watch. You get a sense of their camaraderie as Cassian spends more time with them, and I liked that. But the show makes it clear that this isn't a group of friends ready to accept Cassian as one of their own. Even with their fun interactions, there is a continuous sense of distrust throughout the episode, and every scene has the underlying sense that the characters are testing one another rather than trying to get to know each other. This is a unique and realistic dynamic for a "Star Wars" show, and I think that it works wonderfully. By the end of the episode, many of the group's issues have come flaring up, especially when Skeen confronts Cassian about his true nature (see: Best Moment). But everyone has to suck up their grievances to ensure that the plan works, and by this point I cared enough about these characters to buy into their conflict and decision to continue. The writing is top-notch in this storyline, and the episode succeeded in making me care about this ragtag group. I will be invested when we get into the heist, presumably in the next episode. I enjoyed the few scenes with Gorn inside the garrison. These scenes make it more believable that Gorn is a rebel because he does not hold back when doing his job, making him seem like a stout and loyal follower of the Empire. I appreciate that all of his preparations for the heist were subtle, avoiding any plot holes which make the plan feel too convenient. This show is doing a much better job of immersing me in the world compared to most "Star Wars" properties. The Bad: The side storylines dragged this down because they were irrelevant and uninteresting. Karn was significant in the first three episodes, but he does not feel like an important character when the show is setting up an important heist that is completely disconnected from him. I'm not invested enough in him to be fascinated by his relationship with his mother. The same goes for Mon Mothma. She is having family troubles and I could not care less. She's not a character who can carry scenes on her own, and I was woefully bored when she was sparring with her typical asshole husband and typical rebellious daughter. Every character here is uninteresting and we're given no reason to believe that we should care about Mon Mothma and her struggles. As such, these scenes fall flat and take away from the episode. The Unknown: Who is Uncle Harlo? How did he help Karn? What exactly were Skeen's tattoos? What did they mean? Will Dedra investigate for rebel attacks? I suspect that she will be proven correct after this heist happens. Will the heist be a success? How many will survive it? What, if anything, will go wrong? What is Vel and Cinta's role in this heist? Best Moment: Skeen confronting Cassian about his true nature was tense, and it threatened to tear apart the team in a very real way. This was well-acted, and the characters were all well-defined. Character of the Episode: Cassian. Conclusion: This was a solid set-up episode, though it was hampered by the uninteresting scenes with all of the side characters. Score: 59
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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