A bit of housekeeping before diving into the review of the first two episodes of Ahsoka. While I have seen every live action piece of content in the Star Wars universe – and read a number of the novels that included Grand Admiral Thrawn – I have only seen a handful of Rebels episodes (just enough to have an understanding of the main characters and the endgame of the series). So, while I’m going into Ahsoka rather blind when it comes to the ins and outs of Rebels as a whole (and, as it relates to Ahsoka’s character, The Clone Wars series as well), I know enough about who we’re dealing with and the broad strokes of what went down on the series to know what’s happened before and what our characters are hoping to accomplish on this particular adventure. But I won’t be able to spot most Easter Eggs that appear – so my apologies for not catching those in advance. Now, onto the review.
I’ll admit that I have high hopes for Ahsoka. I truly enjoyed Rosario Dawson’s appearances as the former Jedi apprentice turned Rebel leader during season two of The Mandalorian and on The Book of Boba Fett (in fact, she was more or less the highlight of that serious misstep of a series), so I trusted that she would bring the proper layers of gravitas and hidden vulnerability to the role when given a chance to essentially carry her own series. And I’m always a fan of Mary Elizabeth Winstead, so I was very much looking forward to her turn as the live action version of Hera Syndulla. Throw in some not-Sith but definitely not good Jedi in the form of the late, great Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll and Ivanna Sakhno’s Shin Hati – and a return appearance from Diana Lee Inosanto’s Morgan Elsbeth (who was confirmed to be the last surviving Witch of Dathomir) – and you’ve got a heck of a set-up. And that’s before you even get into Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s live action Sabine Wren and Lars Mikkelsen set to reprise his work as Thrawn in live action. I mean, the cast is stacked, the set-up seems pretty perfect. But did it deliver in its first two episodes?
Abso-freaking-lutely. From the opening crawl to the foreshadowing of an epic showdown between Baylan and Ahsoka, this was the first of the Dave Filoni live action Star Wars episodes that truly felt like it was in sync with the original trilogy for look and feel. The stakes felt high enough to create doubt and suspense. The characters felt lived in and multi-dimensional. And there was a clear narrative arc for us to follow. You can tell that this, more than anything else in the Filoni-wing of Star Wars, is a labor of love for the writer. It shows in the dialogue that provides exposition without feeling too clunky, the fight sequences that never feel like the story is tipping its hand toward a preordained resolution – that sequence between Ahsoka and the Inquisitor was sensational, allowing the pair to fight to a stalemate with a clear promise of a future fight to settle things – and the story itself feels perfect in size and scope for this series. So often with The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett, the episodes either felt disconnected from the greater arc of the season (particularly as The Mandalorian started to transition from an episodic-based series into a more serialized tale) or had characters who were so thinly drawn that we never got the depth needed to understand their motivations and needs in a given arc. Here, while we are playing with several characters who have had years to grow in animated form, the characterizations feel tight – even for our new characters – and the story is clear.
A lot of that comes from Filoni having a clear vision for what this series is about: Finding Grand Admiral Thrawn. A simple premise, if not easy to achieve for the characters, that makes it clear the goals of everyone. Yes, finding Ezra Bridger is a possible side benefit of finding Thrawn – and I would be surprised if our characters don’t at least learn of his fate by the season’s end – but a clear and concise goal means the story flows easier than when the writers need to drum up a new adventure every week or come up with a way for the characters to stop a villain from enacting his grand plan by dropping minor hints as to just what that might be over the course of a season. Here, we know the score. We know what happens if the heroes don’t win. And we know what the villains want and how they will attempt to achieve it. All within the first two episodes of the season. It’s textbox story set-up and it works like a charm. Sometimes, doing the simple thing is the smart thing, and Filoni nailed it here.
But a lot of what made these episodes work also comes from the utter ease of the performances throughout them. Yes, this isn’t Dawson or Inosanto’s first rodeo with these characters, but boy, was I impressed with every single performance in the episodes. The character interactions never felt strained – it felt like our heroes had known each other for years and our villains were also as closely linked. The shorthand of Hera subtly – or, really, not all that subtly – trying to manipulate Ahsoka and Sabine to get over themselves and team up again was just great. The ease at which Hera and Ahsoka worked together to suss out just what was happening in Elsbeth’s old shipyard was wonderful. And the relationship between Baylan and Shin truly felt like one between a Master and Apprentice. Despite just meeting these characters for the first time, Stevenson and Sakhno had the perfect chemistry needed to convey this relationship, as well as hint that this pair might not be so seduced by the dark side as to blindly follow everywhere Elsbeth may lead them. And we also managed to get our first real lightsaber battle between two women in live action Star Wars! That was so darn cool to see. Hell, the entire series has absolutely shattered the Bechdel Test – which isn’t something most Star Wars live action projects manage to do, so kudos there as well.
I’ve gone on record as saying that last year’s Andor was the finest live action Star Wars product in a long time.* But after two episodes, Ahsoka has the potential to be the best Jedi-focused piece of Star Wars in years, if not decades. This is the first series I’ve seen that truly captures the feel of the original trilogy – the sense of impending doom and threat from a villain that might be stronger than our heroes could possibly imagine. An impending showdown between heavyweights in Ahsoka and Thrawn that we have been waiting a long time to witness. A story that has its heart in a found family, working together to right past wrongs, mend painful tears in the fabric that once held them close, and to find a lost member of their tribe. It’s a story of finding the balance between good and evil in the galaxy, even if that means chasing down a desire for revenge across time and space – something that we know doesn’t always end well for our heroes. And we have some villains that appear to be less than sold on their path to villainy – and some heroes who aren’t as pure as the driven snow when it comes to what they are hoping to achieve in their quest. Throw in a New Republic that we know, from The Mandalorian and the second episode here, that isn’t really as focused as it should be on stamping out Imperial remnants and creating a new galaxy order – I mean, we know the First Order is coming in the future – and you have the makings of a complex, layered story that will allow us to watch old friends, meet and understand new enemies, and see how the lack of oversight by those in power can lead to cracks in the core of a new republic that will only split deeper and lead to greater despair and loss in the coming years.
*Since Andor is telling a much different type of story than anything Filoni has put out on Disney+ to this point, I’m going to refrain from comparing it to Ahsoka beyond this mention. They’re apples and oranges – both great, but not at all the same type of fruit. And that’s totally fine – we need a variety of stories in the Star Wars universe, and I adore everything Tony Gilroy is doing with Andor and those incredibly complex characters. Just as I’m so intrigued with what Filoni is trying to do with Ahsoka here.
It’s a heady mix of all that makes Star Wars great. And with the central story arc so clear, it should allow Filoni the chance to flesh out this age of Star Wars even deeper, allow him to delve further into these characters to make them pop even more with their excellent cast of actors in place, and tell a truly epic Star Wars tale that we’ve been waiting for him to deliver in live action for years. This has the makings of something truly special. I can’t wait to see where the story and the characters take us.
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Writing
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Acting
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