Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Star Wars Rebels review: "Twilight of the Apprentice"

Image
Lucasfilm Every season finale is supposed to be epic. This is a given in serialized television. But "Twilight of the Apprentice" redefined epic in the context of Star Wars . The Rebels season 2 finale brought back and dramatically enhanced the stature of a villain once discarded as a broken tool; delivered on the promise and angst of a long-awaited fight while opening a new door for one of the combatants; and placed a promising but troubled young man in spiritual and philosophical peril, possibly setting the stage for him to clash with his master in the style of the finale's other main event.

Star Wars Rebels review: "The Mystery of Chopper Base"

Image
Lucasfilm Given what we know is coming in the highly anticipated finale of Star Wars Rebels Season Two, the penultimate episode of the season was refreshingly unique. Our rebels simply had to deal with a spider infestation at their secret base, and despite Zeb's amusing jitters, this proved to be a relatively straightforward task. The real story in "The Mystery of Chopper Base" wasn't the action on the surface, as the rebels dealt with these creatures; it was the tension beneath the surface, as they dealt with each other and confronted the possibility of everything changing. "The Mystery of Chopper Base" dealt with this tension beautifully, saying so much in so few words.

Star Wars Rebels review: "The Forgotten Droid"

Image
Lucasfilm If C1-10P is the cat to R2-D2's dog, then "The Forgotten Droid" was about that cat meeting a stray and guiding it home. But what happens when the cat remembers that it's a loner for a reason? That's the question I was left with at the end of this episode. Yes, Chopper made a friend. But nothing that happened in "The Forgotten Droid" changed his essential nature: grumpy, selfish, and lazy. His encounter with AP-5 offered a few laughs and a study in contrasts, but it didn't produce any character growth—because, for reasons of series structure, Chopper must remain trapped in his stereotypically cantankerous role.

Star Wars Rebels review: "Shroud of Darkness"

Image
Lucasfilm Two of my favorite things about Star Wars are the political conflict and the spiritual conflict. The political conflict was Zeb and Agent Kallus sparring over competing ideologies, with one perhaps convincing the other to reconsider his allegiance. But the deeper conflict, the spiritual one, is a war for the "soul" of the Force itself. The spirit of the galaxy has always been contested between the forces of darkness and light. In "Shroud of Darkness," viewers and characters alike received another masterfully choreographed warning about the outcome of the latest phase of this spiritual war.

Star Wars Rebels review: "The Honorable Ones"

Image
Lucasfilm "The Honorable Ones" will be remembered as one of Star Wars Rebels 's greatest achievements of character development. It took an underexplored but fascinating relationship between two mortal enemies and transformed them, both in each other's eyes and in the viewers', by forcing them to work together. Freezing temperatures, a serious injury, and a pair of hungry, sharp-toothed creatures tested their temporary bond, and both emerged with feelings that would have been unimaginable just a day earlier. Most importantly, Agent Kallus came out of the whole ordeal with what appeared to be a fresh perspective on his place in the Empire, which means there's no telling where his character will go next.

Star Wars Rebels review: "Homecoming"

Image
Lucasfilm "Homecoming" pulled off an incredible feat in the way it introduced Hera's father, the fanatical Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla. On the one hand, Cham threw Hera off-balance and showed us a new side of the Ghost's confident captain, deepening our understanding of who she was before she was "Captain Syndulla." On the other hand, his approach to fighting Empire prompted the Hera we all know to assert herself in a way that reinforced her reputation as a natural leader. Cham's arrival exposed a new aspect of Hera's past and forced her to grapple with it, but with brilliant execution, "Homecoming" showed her emerging from the other side of that crisis stronger than before.

Star Wars Rebels review: "The Call"

Image
Lucasfilm Right off the bat, I will admit that I am a sucker for space whales. The Voyage Home is my favorite Star Trek movie. But a cool-looking interstellar cetacean is nothing without a well-developed story surrounding it, and "The Call" ably met that challenge as well. The clash between Hera's pragmatic priorities and Ezra's more sensitive instincts, plus the purrgil's own role in resolving the final conflict, reflected some of the Star Wars saga's most enduring lessons. Character development, high-level takeaways, witty banter, and an acknowledgement of an underexplored meta-level reality for the rebels—this episode had it all.

Star Wars Rebels review: "Legends of the Lasat"

Image
Lucasfilm I have never found Zeb, the loyal muscle on Star Wars Rebels , to be particularly interesting, so I never expected "Legends of the Lasat" to be one of the best episodes to date. But here we are. This episode didn't just advance Zeb's story by providing closure for his biggest regret; it also connected the resolution of this guilt to the most sweeping Star Wars story of all: the essential nature of the Force and the way it shapes the future of the galaxy. I have never been so impressed by the portrayal of the Force in an episode of Rebels . Simply put, it has never been so profoundly important to a story, nor has it manifested itself so directly and visibly in the events of the narrative. It is a testament to the talent of the Rebels crew that, from music to dialog to plot to animation, they wedged this sweeping exploration of the Force into a story about a former honor guardsman coming to terms with his past failure and future potential.

Star Wars Rebels review: "The Protector of Concord Dawn"

Image
Lucasfilm In an unusual twist, neither Hera's wise leadership nor Kanan's faith in the Jedi philosophy carried the rebels to victory in "The Protector of Concord Dawn." Instead, the continued safe movement of Commander Sato's rebel fleet depended on Sabine ignoring her doubters and fighting an enemy she knew all too well—an enemy was as much a part of her past as her rebel family was a part of her present. It's been a while since Sabine has carried an episode, but "The Protector of Concord Dawn" reminded us that, when the chips are down, Star Wars Rebels can always count on her for an explosive resolution.

Star Wars Rebels review: "A Princess on Lothal"

Image
Lucasfilm It's never easy to bring a famous face into a TV show about less famous faces, especially while that show is still finding its footing. Star Wars Rebels avoided showing Yoda on screen in his debut episode, it gave Obi-Wan Kenobi only a brief holographic role, and it has largely kept Darth Vader in the shadows. But at the beginning of the second half of season 2, Rebels is ready to start introducing bigger players in more commanding roles, even if it's only for a single episode. That's what happened with Princess Leia Organa in "A Princess on Lothal." Yes, she stole the show, but she charitably lent some of the show back to its main characters—especially the presently troubled Ezra, on whom she seemed to have a profound, and welcome, impact.