Rebels 4x05-06
Jan. 3rd, 2022 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tori_reviewsRebels 4x05-06 – The Occupation/Flight of the Defender
Hmm, I’m not sure if this is the right place to stop and do a review or not. And that is not a bad problem to have.
Because even though these episodes are doing a lot of things that annoy me about the show in general (over focus on Ezra to the exclusion of others; really, really dumb plans; a lot of things that just physically don’t make sense), it’s at least doing a better job with its tone than so much of the show has. I’d go so far is to say that this seems like a better version of the show; still undeniably the same show with all the familiar flaws, but getting at least a few things right that it's gotten wrong in the past.
I’d say these episodes have made me care as much or more about Lothal as a place than I ever did in s1. I mean, it’s mostly that the wolves are cool and it makes me want a cat, and a general environmental concern, which is not exactly the same thing as feeling like the characters have a deep emotional connection to this place, but it’s something.
Another praise is a bit more complicated and ties back into me not being sure how to classify episodes and sets. If they’re just moving into serialized stories and they end up doing what I wish they had done in s1 and made the setting of Lothal a character in the storytelling; then I probably should have reviewed these episodes individually instead of assuming it was another two-parter. It’s not exactly a bad problem that I’m asking the question, it just puts me in a bit of a middle ground for how I ought to treat the episodes at this point.
But part 1 of this felt very much like the start of an arc of indeterminate length instead of meant to be taken as a story unto itself. It also happens to be much more in line with what I think this show could be, than the more action focused second episode. I wish this show would do more subtle spy episodes instead of needing big action pieces. Shock of shocks, it also gave them moments of character work for people who are not Ezra. It does continue to seem like signposting something tragic about to happen to Kanan and Hera when their relationship is actually being acknowledged and given even small moments of screen time.
If the structure of the show right now is individual episodes within a serialized setting, then as much as I will give them points for one of my favorite styles of telling stories, the good of that first ep doesn’t count towards the second because they aren’t a single story. I’m not explaining this well, not even to myself, but it’s a difference between saying the quality went up slightly for a two-part story, and saying the quality went up quite a bit for an episode and then back down to normal for the next (but still buoyed by being in an arc with potential).
And don’t take this praise to mean the first episode didn’t have me rolling my eyes at several points. Because Ezra is still a whiny, petulant asshole, but the story lets him get away with it once again, and even rewards him for being persistently annoying about his world being more important. He’s also apparently still trusting (hell, speaking to) Hondo, which is a terrible idea at all times.
But once they were on Lothal, I was surprisingly sold on the adventure. I’m sure it had flaws, I feel about it the way I do a lot of things I think are good on this show, I’m not really going to analyze that feeling too much because I’ll probably just find cracks instead of the buried subtleties that make it even better. And even the second episode wasn’t that bad, it was just a let down after I’d seen a flicker of something I liked in part 1.
But it was between these episodes when I got up to stretch and get a drink that I realized some more of what it is about this series that nags at me so much. I didn’t particularly like TCW, but it did have an identity; but Rebels is just pretty generic. Even the episodes I like are a better form of a generic show and/or borrowing meaning from some other aspect of this ‘verse. Be it the Mandalorians, Ahsoka, Rex, Maul, Thrawn (although we will get to that), the genocide of the Jedi. I think about the only character I’ve managed to care about because of this show is maybe Hera, but Hera is a poorly established character that I happen to like when she has something to do, but she almost never does. The things I like about Kanan could have been any Jedi of this time period, although those things gave them a foundation that could have supported a great character, they just didn’t do it.
This is however, also the episode that made me dislike that they brought Thrawn into this story. I actually had an interesting reaction to him in this episode; I got a little focused on how him standing his ground facing an enemy trying to shoot him with ship to ship weapons was kind the actions of a hero, and it wouldn’t be hard to frame him as the hero if one wanted to. And considering that he’s trying to kill Ezra I’m kind of on his side (also the Rebels were never going to hit any of the people, just the ships, they weren’t even really trying for people; and at some point that becomes less a good-guy trait and more just dumb).
But it’s not Thrawn. It’s entirely possible to frame Thrawn as a hero depending on where you’re looking at him from. He’s definitely the hero of his own story and to the people who serve with him, because he’s not the same monster that a lot of the top Imperial officers are. Which is what makes him such a good antagonist rather than straight-up villain. But this show doesn’t have the time or interest in showing how complex Thrawn is. It borrows on my affection for who he was without really doing that much to establish who he is in this canon.
He's not really that scary in this show. His first couple appearances were recognizable as Thrawn if a watered-down version of him, but by this point he’s just…well a cartoon villain. He’s exactly as smart as the story needs him to be to seem threatening but never dangerous, instead of being his own character with a set intelligence stat.
(Again, I can tell I’m not explaining this well. A lot of these thoughts haven’t fully baked yet, but I wanted to get them down before they just simmer in the background for a while more. Going over it in editing; I think I get what I meant, but I don’t know how much anyone else would.)
To be fair, the books knew the kind of villain he was, which is why he died after the one arc. If he has to stay around, he inherently loses his scary factor because he will keep losing. HttE gave him victories even if he lost in the end (I’ve actually forgotten how, was it the Nohgri that killed him?), so that the threat kept building and seeming more and more undefeatable. So that even though he was beaten in the end, his score card still says he outplayed them. In a recurring villain (especially in a children’s show) you have a hard time keeping that super cool balance.
Anyway, cautiously optimistic about the current state of the show, that at least it can go out on a higher note than most of the series has played. Not all the way to hopeful of that, but it’s a better vibe than usual; so it’s probably going to disappoint me all over again.
Hmm, I’m not sure if this is the right place to stop and do a review or not. And that is not a bad problem to have.
Because even though these episodes are doing a lot of things that annoy me about the show in general (over focus on Ezra to the exclusion of others; really, really dumb plans; a lot of things that just physically don’t make sense), it’s at least doing a better job with its tone than so much of the show has. I’d go so far is to say that this seems like a better version of the show; still undeniably the same show with all the familiar flaws, but getting at least a few things right that it's gotten wrong in the past.
I’d say these episodes have made me care as much or more about Lothal as a place than I ever did in s1. I mean, it’s mostly that the wolves are cool and it makes me want a cat, and a general environmental concern, which is not exactly the same thing as feeling like the characters have a deep emotional connection to this place, but it’s something.
Another praise is a bit more complicated and ties back into me not being sure how to classify episodes and sets. If they’re just moving into serialized stories and they end up doing what I wish they had done in s1 and made the setting of Lothal a character in the storytelling; then I probably should have reviewed these episodes individually instead of assuming it was another two-parter. It’s not exactly a bad problem that I’m asking the question, it just puts me in a bit of a middle ground for how I ought to treat the episodes at this point.
But part 1 of this felt very much like the start of an arc of indeterminate length instead of meant to be taken as a story unto itself. It also happens to be much more in line with what I think this show could be, than the more action focused second episode. I wish this show would do more subtle spy episodes instead of needing big action pieces. Shock of shocks, it also gave them moments of character work for people who are not Ezra. It does continue to seem like signposting something tragic about to happen to Kanan and Hera when their relationship is actually being acknowledged and given even small moments of screen time.
If the structure of the show right now is individual episodes within a serialized setting, then as much as I will give them points for one of my favorite styles of telling stories, the good of that first ep doesn’t count towards the second because they aren’t a single story. I’m not explaining this well, not even to myself, but it’s a difference between saying the quality went up slightly for a two-part story, and saying the quality went up quite a bit for an episode and then back down to normal for the next (but still buoyed by being in an arc with potential).
And don’t take this praise to mean the first episode didn’t have me rolling my eyes at several points. Because Ezra is still a whiny, petulant asshole, but the story lets him get away with it once again, and even rewards him for being persistently annoying about his world being more important. He’s also apparently still trusting (hell, speaking to) Hondo, which is a terrible idea at all times.
But once they were on Lothal, I was surprisingly sold on the adventure. I’m sure it had flaws, I feel about it the way I do a lot of things I think are good on this show, I’m not really going to analyze that feeling too much because I’ll probably just find cracks instead of the buried subtleties that make it even better. And even the second episode wasn’t that bad, it was just a let down after I’d seen a flicker of something I liked in part 1.
But it was between these episodes when I got up to stretch and get a drink that I realized some more of what it is about this series that nags at me so much. I didn’t particularly like TCW, but it did have an identity; but Rebels is just pretty generic. Even the episodes I like are a better form of a generic show and/or borrowing meaning from some other aspect of this ‘verse. Be it the Mandalorians, Ahsoka, Rex, Maul, Thrawn (although we will get to that), the genocide of the Jedi. I think about the only character I’ve managed to care about because of this show is maybe Hera, but Hera is a poorly established character that I happen to like when she has something to do, but she almost never does. The things I like about Kanan could have been any Jedi of this time period, although those things gave them a foundation that could have supported a great character, they just didn’t do it.
This is however, also the episode that made me dislike that they brought Thrawn into this story. I actually had an interesting reaction to him in this episode; I got a little focused on how him standing his ground facing an enemy trying to shoot him with ship to ship weapons was kind the actions of a hero, and it wouldn’t be hard to frame him as the hero if one wanted to. And considering that he’s trying to kill Ezra I’m kind of on his side (also the Rebels were never going to hit any of the people, just the ships, they weren’t even really trying for people; and at some point that becomes less a good-guy trait and more just dumb).
But it’s not Thrawn. It’s entirely possible to frame Thrawn as a hero depending on where you’re looking at him from. He’s definitely the hero of his own story and to the people who serve with him, because he’s not the same monster that a lot of the top Imperial officers are. Which is what makes him such a good antagonist rather than straight-up villain. But this show doesn’t have the time or interest in showing how complex Thrawn is. It borrows on my affection for who he was without really doing that much to establish who he is in this canon.
He's not really that scary in this show. His first couple appearances were recognizable as Thrawn if a watered-down version of him, but by this point he’s just…well a cartoon villain. He’s exactly as smart as the story needs him to be to seem threatening but never dangerous, instead of being his own character with a set intelligence stat.
(Again, I can tell I’m not explaining this well. A lot of these thoughts haven’t fully baked yet, but I wanted to get them down before they just simmer in the background for a while more. Going over it in editing; I think I get what I meant, but I don’t know how much anyone else would.)
To be fair, the books knew the kind of villain he was, which is why he died after the one arc. If he has to stay around, he inherently loses his scary factor because he will keep losing. HttE gave him victories even if he lost in the end (I’ve actually forgotten how, was it the Nohgri that killed him?), so that the threat kept building and seeming more and more undefeatable. So that even though he was beaten in the end, his score card still says he outplayed them. In a recurring villain (especially in a children’s show) you have a hard time keeping that super cool balance.
Anyway, cautiously optimistic about the current state of the show, that at least it can go out on a higher note than most of the series has played. Not all the way to hopeful of that, but it’s a better vibe than usual; so it’s probably going to disappoint me all over again.
