[kscherer]

Well, dang! What a fun show. Jess and I got to watch last Friday afternoon because of a delayed flight, and we loved it.

Here's the funny thing for me. Just a few minutes into the first show, I hit pause and looked at Jess and said, "You know, if they drop in 10-year-old Luke, what's to stop them from dropping in 10-year-old Leia?" She said, sure, that makes sense, and we went back to watching. Two minutes later I hit pause, again, looked at her with a smirk, and said, "I bet you this entire series is about Leia. We already know what Luke was doing for twenty years, but we have no idea what Leia's life was like. This is gonna be about her." A few minutes later and I was, like, *pause*, *high-five*, "I KNEW IT!!" Paul has, as usual, said everything I'm thinking, especially the bit about Ewan McGregor being the perfect actor for the roll. He bought into Obi-Wan years ago and made the role believable and fun, and he's back! I've seen numerous interviews of him talking about getting ready for the role, and all of the research he did. He not only watched himself, but Alec Guinness; he watched Dart Vader, he watched light saber battles, he practiced his accent, his walk, his mannerisms (like the way he strokes his mustache when he's thinking, just as Alec did while leaning back in a chair all those years ago). He even mentioned that, when he first went onto the set and got into costume and started reading some lines, that he wasn't at all happy with his voice, how it didn't seem very Obi-Wan-y and he knew he had a lot of work to do. It takes a great actor to recognize those things and work to correct them, and it's paid off — in spades! Ewan McGregor is Obi-wan Kenobi! Deborah Chow has done a masterful job on the first two episodes (she's directing all six ), and the entire crew is incredibly passionate about the story. They've done great, and the music/visuals are awesome! Love it. Love where the story is going, love that the Third Sister recognized that Obi-Wan and Bail Organa were once acquaintances, but doesn't recognize who Leia actually is, and love the way she used Leia to get to Obi-Wan to draw him out. I love the Third Sister's rebellious attitude and her killer drive, which makes her solidly evil — and I already can't wait to watch her take Obi-Wan's light saber to the face! The little actress playing Leia is wonderful, and her character is brilliantly "Little Princess Leia", with all her snarky comments and attitude. It's easy to see this one growing into that one. And, yet, the writers also gave her the kind of little-kid fear that would be present in such situations. I hate it when they make 10-year-old kids too "adult-y" for the movies. This little gal is almost too much, but then there are places where she's scared, as she should be. I love it. Can't wait for the next one, and the next, and the next one … And if Ahsoka Tano shows up, you're gonna hear my nerd-gasm from across the galaxy!