Ah, a good episode! More action and blaster-play in 40 minutes than any other episode, I think.
I’ll discuss more later today/tonight, but some highlights...
***DEFINITELY SPOILERS BELOW, SO STOP AND GO AWAY NOW IF YOU DONT WANNA KNOW/HEAR THINGS!!’***
- The Child cuteness level was off the charts. The first minute alone...
You’ll see. “No, the red one...”. So cute.
- Lots of stormtroopers and verbal/visual callbacks to the 1977 movie/Death Star type of sequences/action...a TK call-number transmission, “there they are, blast them!”, the general look of some control panels/hardware and architecture/stylings of a facility
- Some sweet TIE fighter and speeder bike action
- The Child is never NOT hungry, huh?
- The show is getting its money’s worth on that jet pack! Any chance they have to show it off, they do.
- As I expected/predicted, no development on the you-know-who front,
but definitely some on The Child and why Moff Gideon wants him; an unexpected scene that points to something sinister going on and why the blood of the child is needed and how it’s being put to use. Some crazy stuff going on there; I can’t help but think back to that one scene in
The Rise of Skywalker that seemed to point to failed versions/clones(?) of a certain character, and if perhaps there’s actually some direct link from things sought/pursued by Gideon in this show that tie directly to the sequel trilogy, set three decades later? Maybe it’ll help explain the existence of one character, and the idiotic return of another, since the movie itself couldn’t be bothered to help out?
- Cara Dune...damn, she is fine. And awesome. She’s fun to watch. Resourceful, savvy, tough.
- Rebel X-wing pilots are like the police, post ROTJ.
- The Empire didn’t fall/disintegrate after the events of ROTJ and the destruction of the second Death Star. Still plenty of personnel, bases and ships remaining, with loyal, true believers still on the job. I can see how this bunch became the First Order. As much as this show hinges on/nods to the past (OT, Clone Wars), this latest episode seems to have ties to the future, and people/events of the sequel trilogy, three-plus decades down the road (if I’m reading some things correctly).
- Moff Gideon, in the flesh. Always nice to see Mr. Esposito doing his thing. Great addition to the SW saga.
- Who knew Apollo Creed was a director?
Definitely not a filler episode. The overall story re: The Child got advanced/illuminated a bit, lots of action and fun, some humor (“there’s no guardrail!”) and it makes me look very forward to the second half/final four episodes to come.
As I've seen noted by several others - and I believe it's true, having watched them again - we've now seen, in episodes 1-4, everything shown in all the trailers and promos for season two (the ship on the water, the speeder chase, the jetpack on the cliff, the speeder bikes riding down the cliff, Mando and Greef shaking hands, etc.). That means, heading forward with episodes 5-8...we've seen, and know, nothing. Pretty slick!
To me, that's a good thing! They're not gonna blow any big showdowns or reveals involving Gideon, Ahsoka, Bo Katan or possibly even Boba Fett, so we're heading into completely unknown, unspoiled surprise territory these next four weeks. And that's obviously by design. I love that. Anything can happen. And I do think we're going to lose a good guy before episode 8/chapter 16 ends. And I can see it being anyone who isn't Mando, unfortunately.
Sometimes you gotta break a few eggs to make a meaningful, dramatic omelet.
Okay, back to sleep for another three hours...zzzzzzz.