Tomorrow is the American Midterms and to celebrate, Star Wars: Resistance has given us an episode focusing on protecting the lives of refugees fleeing violent neofascists! We dive into this wild episode of Resistance that has some highs and some lows, but has a good heart at the centre of it all.
1. Kaz Is Still An Idiot
In many ways, the conflict of this episode is kicked off because Kaz is an idiot. This is something not uncommon with a lot of kids’s shows (in showing the main character to be incompetent with a good heart so they can learn from the more level-headed characters around them), but this is another episode about how Kaz messes things up because he doesn’t think and has to subsequently fix everything to retain the overall status quo while achieving a small measure of success.
It’s very kids’s show plotting and while the rest of this episode far exceeded my expectations, that opening did it little favours and I hope we start to move away from goofball Kaz sooner rather than later.
2. The Altruistic Bounty Hunter
So, Kaz’s main struggles in this episode are connected, but twofold: first is that he broke Tam’s compensator and has to make it up to her and second is that he’s living flat broke in a place with little to no opportunity to make money. That’s an understandable and relatable problem for a character to have, right? The weird part of this episode is how they try and tie that problem into the main thrust of the episode that is the bounty on the children from Tehar.
Kaz overhears two patrons of Aunt Z’s discussing the bounty on the kids and thinks “Yeah, I’m like… 14? 22? (writer’s note: I cannot tell how old Kaz is meant to be at all) I think hunting down two children and offering them up for the money offered for their return without thinking about the consequences of who would offer a bounty on children.”
Once the episode becomes about Kaz keeping the kids from the clutches of the First Order, we’re off to the races, but there’s something about the character jumping into the conflict of the episode by wanting to sell out a pair of refugee children to an order of fascists just to get a few bucks. Obviously, he hadn’t realised the full extent of the issue, but it’s a weird thing to hinge an episode on.
3. Deepening The Colossal Lore
Something I loved about this episode was the introduction of the Chelidae. They’re a new species of turtle-like creatures who basically serves as the Colossus’s equivalent to the Keeper’s in Mass Effect. They live on the engineering deck of the platform and oversee the maintenance of everything on the Colossus. While the very cynical part of me wants to talk about how this species is running on the same joke as the sloth DMV from Zootopia, I really liked that joke and I was very charmed by the way the episode showcased Neeku as an empathic friend to the unseen species of the Colossus. It was a real nice addition to the episode in fleshing out this really unique setting once more.
4. Doza’s Cooperation
Captain Doza isn’t exactly what I’d call an antagonist right now, but I think it’s interesting that the show presents him as a kind of pragmatic that prioritises his station over the people of the platform. It’s strange because while he offers Kaz some good advice that causes Kaz to re-evaluate that situation and go on to protect the kids from the First Order, immediately after Doza informs the First Order that the kids are on the station. It’s an interesting move for the character because while he’s the one to spur Kaz into action and protect the kids, he’s also the one to cause the First Order to arrive on the platform and causes the major conflict of the episode’s third act. I’m sure we’ll see more of Captain Doza’s mindset as the series goes on, but this episode showcases a character who seems to be playing both sides.
5. Social Commentary Wars
It should come as no surprise from Star Wars that things would get political, but I’m a little bit surprised that a show so directly aimed at kids would get this overtly political. I’m glad they did, however, and I’m glad they used this episode to explore the notion of protecting those running from wartorn homes. In a time where the President is scaremongering about refugee caravans and immigrants, it’s an important message to send to kids that those people are innocents forced from their homes by the real evil of the world.
Continued belowI would like to see Resistance cover more ground like this, especially when compared to episodes like “Fuel For The Fire” which while very similar in structure feel different thanks to this episode’s more aware writing.
Bonus Thought: The Wackiness Of The First Order
So, let’s talk about Pyre. I’m beginning to feel like the First Order Stormtroopers are like those horrible redesigned Daleks from a few years ago where they tried to make them more distinct by making them look like Gameboy Colours. Commander Pyre shows up this episode with bright gold plated armour and while I’m sure there’s some behind the scenes reasoning for this design, part of me feels like Pyre and Vonreg are undercutting what made Phasma such a unique design.
Phasma being The Shiny Stormtrooper made her such a visually interesting design that she stands out any time she appears. Captain Cardinal from the Phasma novel being The Red Stormtrooper, even though he was never on screen, gave him an air of power. If just any stormtrooper commander can have gilded armour? Then I don’t know how the show can continue to make these stormtroopers feel that unique. Maybe I’m worrying over nothing? But who knows.
