Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part V

 "Was beginning to think you weren't coming, Master..."

SPOILERS!

This  is the finest episode so far, full of both excitement and character stuff between Obi-Wan, Darth and the mysterious Reva, who in the same episode is made Grand Inquisitor, which will annoy lots of people, and has her origin revealed. It is at once an impressively jaw-dropping revelation and an apparent plot hole: how the Hell can a former youngling have managed to become an Inquisitor without arousing suspicion?

Tala, too, gets an origin reveal of sorts, confessing at her past complicity oin atrocities, including upon force-sensitive children, which is why she has since dedicated her life to this proto-Rebel cause. It's appropriate that this moment should come moments before she atones with a heroic death in one of those tropes that often works despite the fact you can usually see it coming.

Obi-Wan gets to be a hero, with his new lightsabre. There's lots of Darth. We even get a meaningful flashback to their younger days, complete with actual Hayden Christensen. And we getr an interestingly ambiguous ending. This may not be grreat telly, but it's certainly good. And it's ok to just be good.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part III

 "He's coming, Master..."

Halfway through and, yes, this series is somewhat predictable in how it's padding out. It looks good, it's acted well, but the story is nothing ground-breaking, still, prepared to the work of Jon Favreau. But that's actually ok. This may not be awesome, or ground-breaking, but it's very good nonetheless. It's pure fanwank, but very good fanwank.

This is essentially about Obi-Wan trying to get Leia to safety without getting caught by Stormtroopers, and there are a lot of suitably dramatic tension-filled scenes. But it's also, from the first shot, in which Vader emerges from his flotation tank to put on his armour, about the countdown to a lightsabre fight between Obi-Wan and Vader, which is a huge event but which Kenobi essentially loses but survives- much like Luke in The Empire Strikes Back.

The chemistry between Obi-Wan and Leia here, moving realistically from wariness to mutual affection, is brilliant, and makes us see her message to him in Star Wars quite differently. But the cliffhanger is deeply horrifying, as it should be. And I love the deliciously petty power struggle between the two Inquisitors, and the real sense of political divisions over order vs freedom now the Empire is in charge.

It's also great to see Indira Varma, who was superb in Torchwood and is superb here, and it's especially awesome to hear James Earl Jones. This may not be original stuff, but I'm having fun with it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part II

 "You're not a Jedi any more, Kenobi. You're just a man. And you're bleeding all over my floor."

Episode two... and we leave Tattoine to a markedly different, and much more studio-bound (if CGI-heavy) hive of scum and villainy. The plot works out as we expected- Obi-Wan rescues Leia, who turns out to be a cheeky little minx, and ends up being successful despite the inquisitors, especially the impressive Reva, who seems to have a chip on her shoulder.

Ewan McGregor is good. Flea is excellent. Moses Ingram is increasingly impressive. And some interesting stuff happens- Reva kills her annoying boss for being a snob; she reveals to Obi-Wan that she's working for Darth Vader- and Anakin lives; Obi-Wan uses his Jedi powers to save Leia having not used them at all until this point; and at the end we see Vader himself (er, Hayden Christensen!) in a flotation tank.

It's good. It's entertaining. It's just pretty standard, Joseph Campbell stuff- admittedly not inappropriate for Star Wars- and so far doesn't have the creativity or take the risks of those spin-offs whose protagonists wear Beskar.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part I

 "It's been ten years. I'm not who I used to be."

We begin with a"previously on" showing us a succint summary of the events of the three Star Wars prequels. I would comment about this being the perfect alternative to going through the horrors of actually watching these films, but I won't. Partly because, while they are certainly very flawed and downright bad in many places, that would be a little harsh.

Well, I said "a little"

But mostly it's because I'm blogging this first episode three days after it dropped, and I know for a fact every single blogger who got there before me will have made that quip.

I'm sure I'm not the first, either, to raise an eyebrow and warily point to the fact that yet another Star Wars spin-off on Disney appears, so far, to be Tattoine-based, even if the premise sort of justifies this rather well. Nor will I be the first to lightly remark at the lack of Mandalorians, or the actual non-involvement of Jon Favreau. 

I think, for now, I'll confine myself to expressing satisfaction. This is a logical seam of continuity for a mini-series to mine. Yes, it's all very Joseph Campbell as the episode is all about an ageing ex-hero in Obi-Wan, jaded and reluctant to do any further heroics after the shock of losing Anakin and the horrifying drudgery and poverty of his current life, which is shown extremely well in the many repetitice factory montages. The whole thing is exquisitely directed by Deborah Chow, and Ewan McGregor is outstanding.

The Inquisitors are a superb creation, too, and the last minute revelation that the kidnapping of Leia (who is awesome, and the daddy in me loves the touching father/daughter scene) is a big trap for Obi-Wan by the nastiest Inquisitor is nicely done. Flea is excellent too.

It's all a bit of fun, nothing original and nothing new. But it's extremely well-executed, so far, in every way. I'm enjoying this.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 7- The Reckoning

"Tea?"

This penultimate episode does nothing to stop me seeing this excellent as pretty much a Western in terms of plot, themes, characters and archetype- you could pretty much take away all the robots and spaceships and tell this whole story, flabby middle episodes and all, in the American West. This is, of course, no bad thing, and is a big part of why this genre series doesn't come across as mere fan fiction- there's lots of fan service here and there, of course, and rightly so, but fan service doesn't drive the plot so much as the notion that a Mandalorian's gotta do what a Mandalorian's gotta do.

So when Mando gets that message from Greef that he can come back and have all forgiven by the Guild if he kills his former employer, an ex-Imperial type who has the place swarming with Stormtroopers. Only here is it made clear that we are not too many years after Return of the Jedi- is this Imperial remnant a harbinger of the First Order?

Our Ugnaught friend gets a name- Kuill- and a backstory- he's moral and dignified, earning his freedom from centuries of slavery by the skill of his hands, and gently repairing IG-11 as a harmless protective and domestic droid in an extended flashback evoking parenthood. This, of course, makes us like him. So they kill him, the bastards.

It's also nice to see Cara- a person Mando respects, and perhaps almost a friend. It's also nice that Greef admits and abandons his proposed double cross after Baby Yoda heals him- this sort of thing gives the characters depth and agency, and makes them feel like people rather than plot functions. Greef May have been an antagonist but he is, in his way, an honourable man. Although I love the fact that the whole load of them are ambushed right after the line “Nothing can go wrong”.

Then things get intense. There are hordes of Stormtroopers, some of them those cool scouts with their speeder bikes, and Werner Herzog is simply superb- I love how he’s a genuinely ideological Imperial, believing the Empire brings order and not chaos (like Rome) and genuinely puzzled as to why Mandalor had to resist.

And, if things weren’t intense enough, we end with our gang all captured as a big TIE fighter lands and out comes the Big Bad, one Moff Gideon. More please. This is awesome.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 3- The Sin

“This is the Way!”

This series is getting deeper and even more interesting. On the surface this is an episode of our (anti-?) hero delivering baby Yoda to his famous German film director employer with his Stormtrooper bodyguards, using his Beskar payment to have a new and swankier suit of armour made, but after a crisis of conscience finally deciding to rescue the child from what seems like potential vivisection- and getting unexpected help for I revealed reasons from loads of other Mandalorians. That’s it. That’s the plot.

Except there’s a lot more to it than that, some of it very subtle character development and some of it equally subtle world building. And, like previous episodes, it’s beautifully shot.

The scene in the armoury drops all sorts of fascinating hints about Mandalorian culture, and "the Way"-  a fastidious code of honour and the need to  provide some (very expensive) Beskar for the needs of "foundlings". There are hints that the Empire, although now very much defunct, is disliked for what it has done to reduce Mandalorian numbers. There are also hints that his Ugnaught friend of recent episodes was unknowingly helping an enemy.

And so our protagonist gets some new armour, equipped with "Whistling birds" and visits Greef Kargo for another job. Time to move on from Baby Yoda, right? After all, he's been paid and it's against the bounty hunter code to enquire further, right?

Except he decides to rescue the child- and his fellow Mandalorians, we know not why, must agree with his reasons as he eventually receives their help in numbers and, as dialogue confirms, risk of unpleasant consequences. Is this linked to their commitment to "foundlings", including baby Yoda now?

Our protagonist fights both his recent employer and Greef, his source of new jobs. He must be pretty damn committed to this kid. And again our central character is fascinating- always helmeted, taciturn, but ethical and conflicted. This is excellent stuff.