We’re back on a weekly schedule! At least, until this show hits its mid-season break over the holidays because I will never understand how American television works. It’s unintelligible. You know what isn’t unintelligible, though? Star Wars! Yeah, that’s the segue I’m going to go with.
We’re back with a classic Rebels feeling episode that sees the Ghost crew teaming up with some old friends (well… business acquaintances) to pilfer an abandoned Imperial Freighter.
1. The Best Goddamn Star Wars Character Is Back
There were a lot of characters to be excited about seeing in season three. Grand Admiral Thrawn? The return of Maul? The cameo from Wedge Antilles? Those are some exciting names. But this guy right here? Hondo goddamn Ohnaka? Is my favourite character in these shows. Every time he shows up (which is usually, thankfully, only a handful of times per season), he’s just a delight to watch.
Jim Cummings embodies this two-bit scoundrel who, in almost every situation he gets himself in, has to put on this heart of gold personality to cover up the fact that he was acting in his own interests. It’s something I always thought was a pretty near twist on the Star Wars scoundrel archetype because even though he’s usually lying through his teeth, he ends up on fairly amicable terms with most of the characters he encounters. Who knows, maybe I just want him to admit that he actually cares about others?
2. A Good Old Fashioned Heist
This was a fairly simple, classic-feeling Rebels story. It was a one-and-done heist of some Imperial cargo with an interesting environmental hook, some moralising conflict between the crew of the Ghost and a neat guest spot from Hondo and Azmorigan. Fun fact: this episode was written by Gary Whitta, one of the credited writers of Rogue One, which makes sense given the focus on inter-character banter over a high-intensity plot.
I did, generally, appreciate the low-key nature of this episode as a way of simply focusing on having Hondo and Azmorigan in the same episode. The plot was merely a backdrop to have these two interact and have that reflect back on the relationship on Zed and Ezra as they feel some conflict. This was, as always, Ezra’ episode to learn a lesson in, but it was also just a fun 20 minutes to spend with some of Star Wars‘ more colourful characters.
3. …With A Twist
That being said, I do feel like the episode could have benefitted from the appearance of the Imperial Sentry Droids being… beefed up a little. I mean, according to Rebels Recon, the reason the Sentry Droids were modelled after the Dark Forces Dark Troopers was simply a factor of wanting them to look intimidating. I just think it was kind of a waste to include what a clearly just Dark Troopers in an episode of Rebels without having that play a factor into the plot?
I mean, Dark Troopers were prolific in Legends works, dating back to rather fondly remembered Dark Forces video games, so I’m finding myself wishing that Lucasfilm had done more than simply hint at them visually. The twist of this episode is little more than realising the freighter isn’t as empty as it seems and I just feel like the story could have been expanded on more if the Dark Trooper link could have been explored more.
4. The Same Lessons Learned
Remember how I said that this was Ezra’s episode to learn a lesson in? I mean, it was like two paragraphs ago, I don’t know why you wouldn’t. But my point is that this front half of season three so far has really stuck to focusing on Ezra learning something each episode, but never really committing to it. He pretty much learns the same lesson every episode; stop being a dick. Ever since the premiere of this season, we saw an older, more petulant Ezra who would take charge of missions and listen to no counsel other than his own.
Eight episodes in and we’re still seeing Ezra learn to stop acting like a little shit. He’s supposed to be older and more matured in the face of the events on Malachor, but this episode felt more like season one Ezra as he moans about Zeb being put in charge of the mission instead of him. I stand by the fact that I enjoyed this episode for what it was, but I do hope the season expands its scope a bit in coming episodes.
Continued below5. Lighting Effects
Finally, I want to talk about the animation and lighting of this episode. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but what always impressed me about The Clone Wars was how cinematic and expensive the lighting on that show felt. The atmospheric lighting, especially, allowed the show to play with shadows and encroaching darkness as the show went on in a very thematically heavy way. It was simply impressive all around, especially once the show fell into its groove by the third season.
Here, we’re finally seeing something similar happen to Rebels, even if I have had to accept that this show will just never look as good as The Clone Wars. My major complaint has always been that the textures and lighting are so flat that it does feel just like a cartoon. There’s very little sense of cinema, something that made The Clone Wars stand out. Every episode felt like a short animated film. This episode, especially the scenes in the freighter when the power is out, used shadows and the atmospheric lighting of the flashlights to great effect.
I really hope we see more of that in the future and that the visual style of the show continues to evolve.
