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Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: Ahsoka, Diana Lee Inosanto, Ivanna Sakhno, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Ray Stevenson, Review, rosario dawson, star wars, star wars rebels
Ahsoka Season 1 Episode 4 Review: The Circle Is Nearly Complete
Ahsoka "Part Four: Fallen Jedi" is a predictable action-packed episode of Rebels. Not bad by any means - but it also doesn't add anything new.
As we're at the halfway point of Ahsoka, we're discovering a bit more about our mysterious villains as the paths of Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and her apprentice Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) with the Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). We discover the Eye of Scion, the relic the protagonist was searching for in the beginning, is also being sought after by her rival Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto). The following contains minor spoilers for "Part Four: Fallen Jedi."
The globe in question provides key information on the whereabouts of Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who we've yet to see along with Star Wars: Rebels lead Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). The young padawan took the Grand Admiral to the far reaches of the galaxy and presumed loss…until Morgan found out how via the artifact. It's a race against time as Imperial computers are trying to pinpoint his whereabouts when our heroes are trying to stop the ritual that will bring about Thrawn's coordinates. The previous episode, "Part Three: Time to Fly," had Ahsoka and Sabine stave off Morgan's forces, but it left their ship disabled on the planet's surface. The duo, along with their faithful droid Huyang (David Tennant), are trying to fix their ship as enemy forces start to close in.
The action is primarily a grounded affair as the journey starts to take a toll on Sabine, who still has hopes to see Ezra again, while Ahsoka tries to remind her of the hard lesson she learned as a Jedi-in-training about attachments, given her own experiences with her former master. There's an organic build that allows the actors to show the weariness of the characters without having to dive deep into the four seasons of Rebels. Given the pacing of the series and the limited time to tell the story, there's no real path of self-actualization with Sabine, and I feel the series suffers for it because creator Dave Filoni is trying to fit as much as he can with an original story and Easter eggs in his massive sandbox within eight episodes. The entire premise is The Force Awakens turned on its head for the former Empire.
Directed by Peter Ramsey, we get more of the same as previous episodes. Even the twists are not shocking, including the end, was on-brand if you followed Filoni's previous works. You don't even have to have seen The Clone Wars or Rebels to deduce who that is. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but as with previous episodes, it doesn't add anything that Rebels couldn't do already. The live-action format hasn't enhanced this world, rather it's an excuse for Filoni to continue with his long-term planned narrative. I would love to know more about Morgan, Baylan, and Shin, but there's just not enough time to provide that nuance and separate them from other stock franchise villains. I get there are four more episodes to go. It's hard to invest in when the franchise continues to be cryptic with new characters for me to lose patience in them. Ahsoka streams Tuesdays on Disney+.
Ahsoka: Season 1 Episode 4: "Part Four: Fallen Jedi"
5.5/10
In terms of action, Ahsoka hasn't disappointed. As far as adding anything new to the Star Wars universe, I'm starting to feel like the live-action series doesn't serve any different of a purpose than a fifth season of Star Wars: Rebels could've handled. They literally introduced four villains and never bothered to distinguish them from other stock franchise villains of the past. Whether it's due to the constraints of telling an entire arc in eight episodes or just going to the familiar well creator Dave Filoni relies on (which doesn't make things easy for new viewers), the series checks all of the fanservicing boxes but never offers anything new. It's not the fault of the cast (far from it), but I wished the series was more than an exercise in recycling.
Credits
Director
Patrick Ramsey
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