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Reviews
Star Wars Rebels: Stealth Strike (2015)
One of the best Rebels episodes
Probably one of the most underrated episodes of Rebels. Pure fun, great action, and at its heart - as with every episode of the show - are the characters and their evolving relationships. It's heartwarming to see Rex and Kanan overcome their differences, quit bickering and become good friends and loyal comrades -this development plays out very naturally across the course of the mission. On top of that the Rebels team brought in a great ship design from star wars legends for the interdictor cruiser, and all the sound effects for it are really cool. What's not to love? Stealth Strike is a classic.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 19: The Convert (2023)
A strange episode... but a great one
I'm amazed this episode has so many people being negative. For my money, the Coruscant plotline - while technically a detour which takes up most of the episode's runtime - is some of the best worldbuilding, best acting and best writing to come out of any of the Disney+ Star Wars shows. It feels like Jon Favreau popped over to the Andor editing room, watched an episode, thought "hey this is good stuff, I should try that" and inserted a story of complex motivations, flawed institutions and heartbreaking intrigue. In terms of cinematography, tone and scale, it feels far closer to Andor than The Mandalorian, but what can I say? It's a welcome change from previously stilted, awkwardly structured and relatively emotionless episodes. Whatever new approach Chapter 19 was presenting, I think I prefer it.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Entombed (2023)
Season 2 takes a nosedive
In the midst of so much negativity in the Star Wars fandom I usually don't like being so negative. But I've genuinely never been so bored by an episode of TV. No character development, no theme, nothing funny or even fun in the slightest. It was like watching a bunch of unremarkable, archetypal characters figure out a video game puzzle level for 20 minutes. Entombed was a struggle to watch and I had to take a couple of breaks to force myself to finish it.
It's not even that I mind side-quest or perceived 'filler' episodes. Star Wars Rebels excels at the art of those kind of stories, throwing in fun missions in different corners of the galaxy - they're unrelated to any kind of overarching plot, but you get to know the characters better as they're put in situations which challenge aspects of their personalities. The Bad Batch rarely focuses on any one character and as a result I don't feel particularly invested in any of them.
You can knock it out of the park with occasional episodes all you want, if the work isn't put into the characters with smaller episodes like this, it will amount to nothing.
Willow: The Battle of the Slaughtered Lamb (2022)
Change in tone and some great action
It's early days yet with Willow, but so far each episode has been better than the last. Episode 3 was pretty thrilling, the series getting darker (tonally AND visually) with enjoyable fight scenes. Best of all are still the hugely likeable and sympathetic characters, who are now being put through the wringer - no spoilers, but I didn't expect this episode to get so sad so quickly.
Small criticisms are the occasionally murky and over-saturated cinematography (although it didn't ruin anything for me) and I feel they could perhaps have let us know more about the crone so we are more invested in her defeat.
Andor: The Eye (2022)
Phenomenal... everyone should watch this
One of the most tense and exciting experiences I've ever had watching Star Wars. Delivers flawlessly on the promise of a gritty, mature spy thriller series. It's also only this good because of the excellent worldbuilding, character development and stakes established by the previous dialogue-driven episodes, which is something I think gets overlooked. Action-packed episodes like this only hit as hard as they do because they are painstakingly built up to by other episodes.
Star Wars TV has rarely been this good before. And I'm confident it'll be this good again, because Andor season 1 isn't over yet. What a godsend of a show.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor (2022)
Thrilling finale to a disappointing show
I'd found Book of Boba to be messy and lacking in focus, but this episode redeemed it a little for me. As large scale as I could have hoped, made me even a little interested in the Pykes as villains, while also touching on Boba's character development which had been abandoned for the past few episodes. An enjoyable team-up and much improved action really made this a great episode.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger (2022)
A confusing story decision
Robert Rodriguez wasn't kidding when he said The Book of Boba Fett "way over-delivers". What show am I even watching at this point?
Switching priorities over half way into a TV series is no way to tell a story and put a dampener on some moments I would have loved if they were in The Mandalorian season 3. If you can't connect different series in a natural way, without detracting from all of them, just don't do it at all.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian (2022)
Mixed feelings - why did they do this?
This is generally a great episode, but not a great episode of The Book of Boba Fett. Everything about this feels like it should make a great mando season 3 premiere, but itself it's been shoved into the wrong show and is detracting from the story we had just gotten used to. Bryce Dallas Howard did a great job directing though, and I had fun with the episode.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm (2022)
A well balanced episode
Enjoyed exploring the story of how Boba met Fennec Shand and felt their relationship was handled well. Those conversations they have by the campfire are fascinating, and our ending scene as Boba talks to crime lords at a long table feels really fitting for the genre we're exploring!
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa (2022)
A bit lackluster
Episode 3 is where this show has started to go downhill for me. It's simply not as engaging; the tusken raiders, whose culture was sensitively explored in the previous episode, are all killed off for a cheap revenge motivation; the twins from episode 2 are gone as soon as they appeared, and we end with a chase sequence which feels unnecessarily prolonged.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine (2022)
Best episode yet!
Director Steph Green did an amazing job with this episode... a really well done appearance from a comics character, an ambitious action setpiece, and most of all some great character development for Boba. It's implied he has felt trapped in his bounty hunting life, but the tuskens have helped him move on and reinvent himself. The final minutes of this episode are truly something special.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021)
A strong start to the season
An episode which isn't afraid to take things slow to set up the plot. The visual storytelling in the flashback scenes is very impressive - Boba isn't treated with reverence, he's treated like a human being at a low point in his life. It's very compelling storytelling, and I like how we get to see how he learns the value of respect.