Summary: Obi-Wan leaves The Path and Vader follows him. They battle and Obi-Wan finds his power to defeat Vader. He senses something and returns to Tatooine where Reva is hunting down Luke. Owen and Beru are warned and they fight her. Luke runs away and Reva gives chase, but she ultimately chooses not to kill him. Obi-Wan meets Luke, he visits Leia, and returns into hiding.
The Good: Obi-Wan and Vader’s fight is fun to watch, and it addresses their troubled history nicely. I liked the suggestion that Anakin still had some feelings for his old master which may have subconsciously weakened his ability in this fight. The Bad: The biggest issue was how familiar this felt. Instead of crafting its own thrilling moments, this episode leeches off of nostalgia and references to the past. It’s cheap, it’s empty, it’s lazy, and it’s devoid of substance. Major offenders are Obi-Wan’s “hello there” to Luke, and the forced callbacks to the first Obi-Wan/Anakin duel from “Revenge of the Sith”. Obi-Wan’s confrontation with Vader ended up feeling like needless filler because it adds nothing to the overall “Star Wars” universe. It was inconsequential. The writing was terrible as ever. Obi-Wan’s plan counts on Vader making the stupidest possible decision to send his entire fleet after him (where did they go anyways, why was Vader the ONLY one to get to Obi-Wan??). Reva is such a poorly defined character. She played being evil to get closer to Vader, but after failing to kill him, her thought process is to go kill the son he doesn’t know about? Why? I don’t understand her at all, and her logic is laughably bad. It plainly sets up a moment where she realizes how far she has fallen, but the moment fell woefully flat. There’s also no suspense because we know Luke isn’t going to die. I’m also displeased that the final climax of the show has Obi-Wan being nothing more than a bystander to what’s happening. The Unknown: What happened to Reva after this? Will she appear again? Best Moment: Obi-Wan appealing to Vader’s humanity. Character of the Episode: Obi-Wan. Conclusion: A fittingly dull and uninspired finale to cap off a dull and uninspired series. For thoughts on the season as a whole, click here. Score: 48
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Summary: Flashbacks show Obi-Wan training with Anakin. In the present, Obi-Wan is tracked to Jabiim and Vader follows. After a fight that ends with Tala’s death, Obi-Wan surrenders. He speaks with Reva and offers her vengeance. The Path escape on a ship and Reva attacks Vader. Vader defeats her comprehensively. Reva finds Obi-Wan’s hologram device and learns about Luke.
The Good: There was some good thematic resonance in this episode with the flashbacks. Obi-Wan’s training is reflected in the past with Anakin’s need for victory. We get a way to see how this has shaped Vader and how Vader has learned from this. It was good to finally get Reva’s backstory. It was a bit predictable, but it makes sense and explains a lot about her. The ensuing fight with Vader was fun. The Bad: Many problems again. The characters look so old in the flashbacks and it is distracting. Vader knowing Reva was out for vengeance makes little sense. Why did he keep allowing her to work and rise up the ranks? It seems very pointless. I guess he’s just that evil, but it’s not a satisfying story. It feels like surprise for the sake of surprise. Reva’s plan to attack Vader is completely terrible. After all those years, all she could do was a surprise attack against an alert and unweakened Vader? That’s terrible. She may as well have just attacked him years ago. Lots of garbage writing again with the rebel escape. Why the hell did they send up a dummy ship? They had no reason or time to do so, and it makes no sense why Vader didn’t just bring down the second ship as well. Bad, inconsistent writing. Why the hell didn’t Vader finish the job with Reva? He’s not the kind of villain to leave his victims for dead and not ensure that they are finished. The action sequence was weak. A bunch of people in close proximity shooting lots of shots and hitting nothing. These are the worst kinds of action scenes. Tala’s death… happened. The character never did much for me, and I felt nothing when she died. The Unknown: How did the Grand Inquisitor return? Did he just heal? That’s weak. Is Reva going to survive? That would also be weak. What happened at the end there? Reva found out about Luke, how will that affect the story? We know Vader doesn’t find him, so what is the significance here? Best Moment: Vader fighting Reva was exciting and enjoyable to watch. Character of the Episode: Reva. Conclusion: A bit better than the past few weeks, but this was another messy and uninteresting episode. Score: 50 Summary: Obi-Wan befriends Roken and gets his help to save Leia. With Tala on the inside, Obi-Wan infiltrates the inquisitors’ fortress. He saves Leia after Reva is distracted by Tala. Obi-Wan and Tala escape. Vader is furious, but gives Reva another chance when she reveals she is tracking them.
The Good: Obi-Wan still being traumatized is decent stuff. I’m pleased that the child actor playing Leia is quite good. This show would be much worse if she wasn’t good. The Bad: The Path is boring to me. Roken is hardly a character, and everyone else is boring. The show said Wade’s name half a dozen times with the hope that I would care when he died. I did not. The main characters do not fare much better. Reva is a bad villain. The actress does not do a very good job and she is completely flat and uninteresting in every scene. The writing doesn’t give her much of a chance though. Reva interrogating child Leia so seriously is laughable, and it is pathetic that she can’t use the force on the mind of a child who has never used the force before. Obi-Wan sneaking through the fortress is bad. The sets are designed specifically so that he can get away and there are many laughable moments of pathetic security. This place is unbelievably poorly guarded. The glass apparently is not bulletproof, which would never be the case in an underwater fortress. Even the blast doors aren’t water proof! What the hell were the designers of this place thinking? Outside of the lax security, we have Tala who somehow hasn’t been brought in despite being the main officer on Mapuzo. The things she does in this episode are unbelievable, such as knocking out that one officer without any of the others noticing, and even finding a station without being questioned by any others. None of this should have worked. As for actual character development, there is zero in this episode. It’s a flat spectacle with poor writing. The Unknown: Is the tracker inside Lola? Best Moment: Obi-Wan’s trauma in the bacta tank. Character of the Episode: Leia. Conclusion: Another dull episode with smoke and mirrors but no substance. Score: 43 Summary: Obi-Wan and Leia arrive on Mapuzo and try to get out but are exposed at an Imperial checkpoint. Haja’s contact Tala meets them and gets them out. Vader and Reva arrive on Mapuzo. Tala takes Leia and escapes while Obi-Wan fights Vader. Obi-Wan is easily beaten and Tala goes back to save him. Reva gets Leia and kills the pilot that was supposed to get her off Mapuzo.
The Good: The scenes on Freck’s transport were solid. Obi-Wan and Leia were given some decent bonding and there was some good suspense. Freck is especially fun because he seems likeable despite working for the Empire. Obi-Wan seeing what became of Anakin was effective. The Bad: So much of this was bad. Obi-Wan is a bystander in his own show. Every problem he gets into is resolved by other characters, and we never get to see him develop or even behave like the person that we know he is. While it is cool that he confronts Darth Vader, it takes away from their reunion in “A New Hope”. Furthermore, Vader looks like an incompetent fool for letting Obi-Wan get away. And how does he get away? He’s carried off by a slow moving droid and Vader can’t get to him because there is fire? The same fire he just extinguished with the force seconds ago? Terrible writing. He could have just used the force on Obi-Wan or the droid to get him back, but instead he lets him get away for no reason at all. And Tala is somehow able to get away too. What the hell were they doing? Even worse is Reva entering the tunnel to go after Leia and Tala. Somehow Tala gets out of the tunnel without running into her, and somehow Reva gets to the end before Leia. What kind of sorcery happened in that tunnel for this to even be possible? This episode had abysmal writing. The conflict between Reva and the Fifth Brother is poorly acted and I have no interest in it. It’s bad. The imperial checkpoint is a joke. You can literally walk around it! The ease with which Tala covers up what happens makes it impossible to invest in the Empire as a legitimate threat. The Unknown: What will Reva do with Leia? Will Obi-Wan finally get in touch with Qui Gon? Did Obi-Wan really get away from Vader just like that? Best Moment: Darth Vader killing innocents to draw out Obi-Wan. Character of the Episode: Darth Vader. Conclusion: A badly written episode with nothing going for it. This show is rapidly going off the rails. Score: 39 Summary: Obi-Wan arrives on Daiyu and quickly recruits Haja, a man posing as a Jedi, to help him. Obi-Wan gets Leia away from Nokru. Reya arrives and goes after Obi-Wan. The other inquisitors tell her to stop but she doesn’t. The grand inquisitor kills Nokru. Leia doesn’t trust Obi-Wan and runs away, but when he saves her with the Force, she trusts him. Reva tracks down Obi-Wan as he tries to escape but he is given a chance to escape when the grand inquisitor arrives and Reva kills him.
The Good: This episode had its moments. Haja was a fun character. I like the idea of a conman posing as a Jedi, and the concept was realized beautifully. It’s a delight seeing Obi-Wan interact with Haja. Reva telling Obi-Wan that Anakin survived feels like an important moment. I wonder what role Darth Vader will play in this show. The Bad: Leia is problematic. She is not very convincing with how she sharply switches from being childish to having extreme unrealistic wisdom. The trope of a super profound child is never very interesting to follow. I am amazed at how good this small child is at outrunning adults. That should never happen. Reva is a flat villain. The inquisitors continue to disappoint, and I’m not convinced by the actress playing Reva, or the writing of the character. Scenes of her doing parkour are a total snooze. There is little tension throughout the episode, so the action scenes don’t amount to much. I’ve already forgotten them. The Unknown: No real questions. This episode didn’t do much to captivate my imagination. Best Moment: Obi-Wan learning that Anakin survived. Character of the Episode: Obi-Wan. Conclusion: This was okay story progression, but there isn’t much for bold storytelling, pleasant surprises, or interesting character arcs going on. Score: 57 Summary: A flashback shows order 66. 10 years later, inquisitors arrive on Tatooine hunting a jedi, Nari. Nari gets away and finds Obi-Wan, who tells him to lay low. Obi-Wan continues to watch over Luke but Owen doesn’t want him trained. The inquisitors, particularly Reva, question Owen but he doesn’t give anything up. The Inquisitors find and kill Nari. Reva sends Nokru to kidnap Leia from Alderaan to lure out Obi-Wan. After being met by Bail, Obi-Wan decides to go save Leia.
The Good: The episode is presented well and visually appealing. I particularly like the cinematic feel of it, and there is some superb editing. Ewan McGregor is great back in the role as Obi-Wan and he has some good moments. I enjoy his scenes with Owen, and there is good conflict in him contemplating between living his quiet existence and rising up to become a Jedi again to save Leia. It was a pleasant surprise to see Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers playing Nokru. The Bad: This all feels so simple and uninspired from a storytelling perspective. This episode doesn’t offer us much new information about Obi-Wan and only serves to set up the main plot. Seeing Leia’s childhood is a story that doesn’t feel necessary, so it isn’t very interesting to follow. The inquisitors did not make much of an impression on me, and they also look quite goofy. I am not interested in them as villains. The image of Nari being hanged could have made an impression, but that was inexplicably censored which ruined the moment. The Unknown: Why is Reva so fixated on Obi-Wan? Why does she want him so badly? Why doesn’t Leia seem to remember being saved by Obi-Wan in the future? Best Moment: Owen sternly refuting Obi-Wan’s offer to train Luke was an effective moment. Character of the Episode: Obi-Wan. Conclusion: This was a fine premiere. Nothing special here, but it was a decent time. Score: 60 |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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