Ryan Smith

Disney has an odd relationship with fan service. Sometimes it’s all they lean on, then others they avoid it like the plague. If they weren’t so opposed to the legends material, they would find a wealth of content and inspiration that only us nerds would get the reference to. They would have seemingly fresh content that everyone would be excited about. In my opinion they would keep the original Star Wars fans while still creating fresh content that provides compelling storytelling. I’ve always been a massive fan of Star Wars in general, and the prequels were the ones I grew up watching. Kenobi was always my favorite character in the series, so needless to say, I was incredibly excited for this when it was announced. Which is part of the reason I’m disappointed. This character means quite a lot to me, and it was flittered away with boring dialogue and action sequences, infuriating and unrealistic character motivation, emotionally driven characters that are almost impossible to connect with and can’t themselves express believable emotion through their performances. This leads me to believe that the director was poorly chosen. The sequence of events is stilted and the pacing is off, the events have no gravitas, and the characters are static and one dimensional. This leads me to believe that the script was poorly chosen. I did hear that the original script was rejected for being “too depressing.” So they tried to create a story where Obi Wan is just sad rather than broken. His emotional struggle as a character falls flat. Why write a half cocked sorry that plays it safe when it ultimately disappoints your fans? Whether you are an original fan or not, this is a wonderful example of poor storytelling, one dimensional acting, and a waste of time and money. Feel free to convince yourself that the evidence is to the contrary, but please don’t condone a bad show out of schadenfreude for a group of fans that you don’t like. However… I do have to admit that I hadn’t seen the entirety of the show when I first posted. I finished it this week. It is still rife with plot holes, and a few of the performances really didn’t get better, but the last two episodes were rather enjoyable. The overall arcs for the characters were pretty good, albeit rather simple. If you can’t stomach the first two episodes, consider skipping to episode 3 and moving on from there. You don’t miss much, other than bad acting, convenient writing beats, forgettable characters, and something that resembles character development. But it picked up past that point. Perhaps part of me just wants to love Star Wars again, but I actually think they pulled it together. The acting overall was not outstanding, but if I’m honest, Star Wars has NEVER been known for its acting. The prequels are lovable, with bad acting, and even the original cast struggles a bit through the originals. But Star Wars is immensely charming and engaging because it’s a Galaxy with depth. It feels like a group of places to visit, comfortingly familiar but with always more to discover. I found the finale really did achieve that same charm. It felt like Star Wars again. Especially the encounter between Kenobi and Vader. Great choreography with the emotional gravitas I wanted the entire time. Overall, I would want more. And also, can we please get a Vader show? It’s great timing for it, and the comic provides an awesome set of stories… Just saying.