One of the most anticipated TV series of recent memory has arrived. Let’s cut right to the chase and get to it.
1. A long time ago [recapped]
When the first episode began with a recap of the prequels, I initially rolled my eyes at the thought that anyone could be watching the show who needed to be reminded of Anakin Skywalker’s rise and fall. However, when I watched the recap, I was reminded why that was made: because it makes the prequels look good. Now, I’m someone who has softened considerably on my prequels rage over the past decade, but they are uneven films that are in serous need of editing. While a five minute rundown loses a lot of the good stuff, it keeps all the great stuff, and even took some of the objectively bad stuff and edited it to appear less egregious.
The only bad thing it did was it pulled out one of the hammiest moments of the prequels, which is after Palpatine says the words “dark side” to Anakin, he does this amazing intake of breath that is equal parts evil and sexual. It’s one of my favorite choices that Ian McDiarmid makes in Revenge of the Sith, which is an entire movie of him making bold choices. The scene is there, but they trim the breath thing.
2. Survivors
It was an interesting choice to begin the series with another view of Order 66, to show that some younglings escaped the temple during the purge. This is, obviously, because we meet Nari, played by Benny Safdie, a little later in the episode. Perhaps this was to help establish Inquisitors for the audience who hasn’t watched Rebels yet, but I think the idea that there would be Jedi who survived the purge is pretty obvious. I’m not criticizing the decision, but it is the most superfluous moment of the first two epidoes.
Nari is an interesting choice as well, as the character exists solely to show us how far Obi-Wan has fallen. This will likely anger some people, specifically the people who hated Luke in The Last Jedi, because they feel that Jedi are gods, not men, and can’t fall from grace. Why it works for me is that Revenge of the Sith establishes that Obi-Wan is sent to Tatooine with a job: watch over Luke. But we see here (and in A New Hope) that the Lars family has no interest in Obi-Wan doing any of that.
And so, Obi-Wan is living this already neutered life, having transitioned from a swashbuckling peace keeper to the world’s most predictable butcher, but also is being hampered from doing what he was supposed to do in his exile. And that combination, along with the fear of using the Force due to attracting the Inquisitors, he has more or less taken all of Obi-Wan out of the man, leaving only Ben remaining.
Nari is a tragic reminder of Ben’s failure, whereas Anakin is the tragic reminder of Obi-Wan’s failure. It is what pushes Kenobi to help his old friend Bail Organa, to prevent any further tragedies.
3. A visit to Alderaan
It is pretty amazing how Star Wars has gotten adept at throwing curveballs without leaks blowing the surprise. The fact that this show is so Leia-heavy was not hinted at in the slightest. It also allows the show to leave Tatooine, which is easily the most played out Star Wars locale. Alderaan is a spot we’ve only seen very briefly in Revenge of the Sith, but is one of the most important places in the entire lore.
Vivien Lyra Blair does a good job of portraying Leia as, essentially, a miniature version of the firebrand that is seen as an adult. She’s impulsive, does what she wants, has a strong moral code, and knows better than everyone else what is good for her. We also see the Force at play in her, not by stopping daggers as Nari shows, but in her ability to read her cousin so well.
4. Bail Sails
I used to say that Jimmy Smits was the most useless casting in the prequels, as he didn’t get to do anything in those films. Rogue One gave him a great scene, and Kenobi has done him even better. He is so natural and sweet in his scenes with Leia, and he shows where Leia learned her tenacity from in his interactions with Obi-Wan. Smits is finally able to make good on the character’s promise, 20 years later. This is fun to watch for Smits alone.
Continued below5. Dream of Alderaanication
Is he the world’s best actor? No, but Flea knows how to pick a role. Vect Nokru is a grade-A Star Wars name, but in my head canon, this is the galactic ancestor of Needles from Back to the Future II, who is the brother of the one crook in Baby Driver, and a cousin of the Nihilist from The Big Lebowski.
But if you think that will stop me from, for the rest of my life, making jokes about Alderaan being in California, you’re dead wrong. Flea is great at playing the bass, passable at acting, and legendary for being in a band that is more obsessed with California than Gold Rushers.
6. Swole Kumail needs tighter robes
While Kumail Nanjiani got a little non-comedy cred for being in Eternals, I’m glad that his role here is not a super serious one. Nanjiani plays a grifter who poses as a Jedi. It’s a fun role, and Nanjiani plays it well. Ewan McGregor acts well with a foil, and Nanjiani is able to go reasonably broad because of how straight McGregor plays it. The role isn’t terribly big and, like Safdie in ‘Part I,’ makes for a nice diversion in the episode, as well as adds a fun wrinkle to the overall universe. It makes total sense that conmen would pose as Jedi, but we’ve never really seen that before.
Speaking of robes, Obi-Wan needs to go on Queer Eye for the Jedi. If Obi-Wan is trying to fit in and not be made as a Jedi, maybe he should consider changing up his look more than just ‘a robe that is slightly shorter and less flowing.’ Bail Organa is made of money, let that dude buy you a new wardrobe for, you know, saving his daughter.
7. Third Sister’s Motivation
Third Sister, the Inquisitor played by Moses Ingram, is dead-set on capturing Kenobi, despite her orders being clear to forget him. She hires bounty hunters to kidnap Leia – drawing a connection from records that I’m not sure could be drawn, but let’s suspend some disbelief, shall we? – to draw him out.
She has a secret or a connection to him that hasn’t been revealed yet. I’ve been trying to think through my Obi-archives to think of who could hold such a grudge, and I’m coming up empty. If you have a theory, please tweet it at me (@BrianNeedsaNap).
8. Revenge of the Meth
One of the interesting parts of Star Wars television is that it allows the creators to pay homage to things that don’t traditionally fit in a galaxy far, far away. I’m reminded of The Mandalorian going slasher/horror in its first season episode “The Prisoner,” specifically. Well, “Part II” has an extended scene about spice, and there is a lot of imagery and tonal work that is absolutely referencing Breaking Bad. It’s not to the point where it is distracting or overkill, but rather is a fun nod to those who know, but for others, like my 10-year old daughter, it still feels like Star Wars.
9. The Vader of it all
My Force Ghost Coast to Coast co-host Matt Liguori accurately predicted that, like Ahsoka in Rebels, a big emotional piece of this story would be Obi-Wan learning that Anakin is alive. So much of Obi-Wan’s guilt, his sense of responsibility to Luke, and his own personal narrative is wrapped up in the idea that Anakin was dead. But all of that is magnified with the revelation that he’s actually alive.
Sure, the guilt of ‘I killed my brother’ is gone, but I don’t think that was ever really Obi-Wan’s trip. He was guilty over his turn to the dark side; his death meant that he couldn’t be redeemed, but if Anakin had died saving someone’s life, or if Obi-Wan had to sacrifice Anakin for the good of a system, the guilt wouldn’t be what it is. Anakin was Obi-Wan’s charge, given to him by Qui-Gon. He not only failed his master, he failed the Order, the Republic, and his friends when Anakin turned.
But much like Leia says about Luke in The Last Jedi, it wasn’t his fault that Ben Solo became Kylo Ren; Snoke did that. And it isn’t Obi-Wan’s fault that Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, Sheev Palpatine did that. There’s a clip that nerds like me like to cite and dunk on when George Lucas says that Star Wars ‘rhymes’ across trilogies, but this is practically a sonnet.
Continued belowThere are two other notable rhymes from these episodes. Obi-Wan’s post-work supper looks, both in terms of method of cooking and eating locale, quite similar to Rey’s in The Force Awakens. Obi-Wan, at his most down, tells Nari that ‘the time of the Jedi is over,’ echoing something Luke tells Rey in The Last Jedi. It is very hard to do allusions like this that jump forward in the timeline in a way that doesn’t feel hokey, but this crew handled it really well.
10. Pedantry
OK, so I really try to not be pedantic with these, but there is one bit of this story that needs to be cleaned up in future episodes. In A New Hope, Leia sends a message to Obi-Wan that doesn’t mention the fact that he saved her life as a child. Now, he calls himself Ben here, and maybe her parents and Kenobi decide to not tell her who he really is, but it’s a weird bit of storytelling that will need to be addressed somehow, or that message makes no sense at all. Please let them do it in this show, and not have to write a novel to explain that she’s using coded language or some shit.
See you on Thursday for a review of “Part III.”
