So I just finished the show, over-all it’s an okay show. I’m still not sure exactly why I feel the way I do about this show, but for me something about this didn’t click to me. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Disney + series set in the Star Wars universe following the titular character played by Ewen McGregor. This season is set 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, with Obi-Wan in exile on Tatooine to keep watch over Luke Skywalker. He is forced into action after Princess Leia of Alderaan by an inquisitor of the empire for her nefarious means. I keep referring to this show as this season over this show or this series as we don’t know if there will be more seasons or not. There could be as there is talk of another season being a possibility. I’m not sure if I want another season as the story they wanted to tell is done for the most part, at least in the way they want to tell it, there’s not much more they can do. I do have some ideas for what they could do with a second season, but thats for another time. Also there will be spoilers in this review of things that happen in the show, if you want to go in blind than wait until you watch the show. To begin, we’ll look at the first thoughts I had after watching each episode.
Episode 1:
A good start to the series. Establishes a galaxy that has been under the empire’s rule for 10 years now, with Obi-Wan been depressed and wanting to stay hidden. Establishes the villains of the season, as well as the season Arc that Obi-Wan is on. It’s a good start to the series with good visuals, good music and great acting.
Episode 2:
An ok episode. Some cool moments as well as giving us a little action, and seeing what a Jedi can do hand-to-hand. Some contrived plot lines with Leia not believing Obi-Wan which is a good idea, but also a little annoying with how it’s there to pad the episode and expose Obi-Wan a bit. We also get the first confirmation of Obi-Wan learning that anakin is alive. Other than that it’s fine.
Episode 3:
A better episode, still ok though. It’s got a kinda cool lightsaber fight scene between Obi-Wan and Vader. Still iffy to me about having them meet before A New Hope. Although it’s kinda ok I guess as it’s I think 7 years or so before ANH. It’s cool to see Vader again. Leia continues to be ok in this episode. Reva is ok as well. We get some world building seeing how the rebellion has slowly started. Over-all another Ok episode. So far this show has looked great, but character and story wise has felt weird. I just think this didn’t need to have Obi-Wan adventuring around. Its like they wanted another mandalorian but didn’t really know what to do.
Episode 4:
I don’t know how many times I’ll say this, again a better episode, but still ok. It’s got some ok action, some good story stuff. The character interactions are good, but mostly amongst the empire stuff. We get to see more of the path but its weird as there’s an argument that ends too quick. Its not giving stuff time to breath and get to know characters. Like there’s a death in this episode that I don’t really care about as it’s a character we don’t know or have met before (to my knowledge) and they try to treat it as a big loss to the characters, but I just don’t care. We had maybe a scene before hand with the character but not much else. I get they want to establish that Leia and Obi-Wan know each other before ANH but so far this has not been the way to do so. Maybe there should be something else to make it more interesting but it’s just meh for me so far.
Episode 5:
Now that was a good episode. We get the tension of the empire bearing down on the base where people are staying. Where there have been people waiting for months to leave. We have the revelations of the pasts of Tala and Reva. We have the mirrored story of the sparring battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin during his Padawan days around the clone wars, with Reva’s story throughout the show and the revelation that she’s hunting Vader for what happened on Operation nightfall during Order 66. We also get the death of Tala and her droid friend which was kind of sad, just wish I cared more about them. I like the stories that the battles told, especially the flashback between Obi-Wan and Anakin along with the fight between Reva and Vader. It’ll be interesting to see how the series finishes with that reveal that Reva saw the damaged transmission from Bail Organa, and now knows about Luke on tatooine. We’re getting the beginnings of why Obi-wan stayed on tatooine which is good. The fights in this episode were great and the best of the show so far. The flashback battle is great and reminiscent of the battles in the prequel trilogy, but not as flashy. The battle between Vader and Reva is just pure greatness. We get Vader being this force pat mei (like from Kill Bill Vol 2) style figure just enjoying a battle with Reva, playing with her. It’s really good and I really enjoyed it. It made the episode for me. I do say that’s one thing I’ve been enjoying about this series, the influence of kung fu movies as we get a lot more unarmed combat than i’m used to in Star Wars. Although i guess one issue I had with it, other than some of the iffiness of the de-aging effects, is just how lucky Reva is in this show. She’s gotta be the luckiest character in the history of Star Wars. Although i’ll cover more of that in the full series review. Over-all an enjoyable episode, let’s hope the finale keeps this momentum up.
Episode 6:
That was a good episode, not as good as the last episode but a good episode nonetheless. It wraps up the stories and arcs good for the most part. The fight between Vader and Obi-Wan was better than their battle in episode 3, although I did have issues with it. It was cool to see the callbacks to earlier fights and to earlier episodes, but I kinda wish Obi-Wan wasn’t so powerful in the second part of the fight. I mean at some point Obi-Wan straight up overpowers Vader. Although the suit was damaged to a point. I did like how creative the uses of the force were in this fight, like we see Vader do some cool stuff here. I also liked how we get the mixture of Hayden and James Earl Jones’ voices when the helmet is damaged. Although I find it weird that Obi-Wan left Vader when they could have left it earlier with Vader thinking Obi-Wan was dead. Although the argument could be made that in that fight Vader still isn’t used to the suit which could distract him and allow Obi-Wan to win. I mean I get why Obi-Wan wins as Vaders greatest weaknesses are glowing red lights on his chest. It was cool to see Obi-Wan be shown to do these feats of force power. The Reva stuff I had an issue with as how did she get to tatooine so fast while injured. The episode starts off with her on tatooine already even though this is basically a few minutes after the last episode from what we know. I mean how does she get to a ship in time to get there, I kinda wished they showed that as it was weird. Other than that her stuff was interesting this episode, the last vestiges of the rage she held leaving her when she can’t bring herself to killing Luke. Showing she can change. The episode has a good send off with Luke saying goodbye to Leia, meeting Luke, and finally seeing Qui-son’s spirit. It was cool seeing him again. Over-all a good episode in the series, but doesn’t keep the momentum of the fifth episode. And that’s the end of the show (first season at least).
As seen here there is something about the show that just did not click with me for some reason. I wonder if part of it is that it feels pretty similar to a bit of what Fallen Order did, we have a jedi in exile that cut himself off from the force to hide from the empire forced into action as he’s hunted by an inquisitor. Plus the inquisitor in Fallen Order feels like a better character to me over-all which I will get into later. For now let’s move on from this tangent to my thoughts on the story and plot of the show.
I feel like that could be one of my major issues with the show, that the story could have been handled differently. Something about it didn’t work for me over-all, and I still can’t figure out why. I get what they were going for, with Obi-Wan being exposed to the burgeoning galactic rebellion slowly forming to fight against the empire, establishing a prior relationship with Leia, and a rematch with Vader. I think that could be one my issues with it, that Obi-Wan and Vader fighting multiple times wasn’t necessary. Although i guess for Obi-Wan’s development throughout the show it is necessary. I think it could have been handled differently. Also there are way to many plot conveniences in the show, especially surrounding Reva. Other than that there’s not much else I want to say about the story, so lets move on to the characters.
The first character I want to focus on is Ob-Wan Kenobi himself, played by a returning Ewen McGregor. He his phenomenal as always in this role, we get to see him transition from this depressed jedi trying to lay low and wallow in his guilt, to the beginnings of the Obi-Wan we see in A New Hope. His arc throughout the show is about moving past his mistakes with Anakin into the future. He begins the series cut off from the force, to hide himself away, and its through this adventure that he brings himself back to the force and moving on from the past. This also allows him to be ready to learn more about the force from his master.
Next I’ll talk about the Third Sister Reva, played by Moses Ingram. Her character is interesting, but there is something missing from it. Her performance is good for what she is given, but I have issues with the character. i kinda wish what happened in her happened a bit earlier so that we get more time with her eventual turn and letting go of her trauma. I feel that we don’t see enough change in her character to justify what happens in the last episode, Even though we know why she is doing what she does and that plays a part in her decision, it still could have used more time. One other issue I have with this character is that she seems to be the luckiest character in the show. I mean most of it could be explained as Vader letting her continue until she decides to attack him, but it is still an issue. Plus how does she get to tatooine in the last episode, I have an issue with that as we begin right after the end of the last episode and she’s already found a way there and where Luke is. It’s too convenient to me.
Next character I’ll talk about if Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker as played by Hayden Christensen and voiced by James Earl jones. He’s a stand out character in this series as we get to see more of the things we love about Vader. He’s powerful, intimidating, badass, and a presence that the shoe needs. There were a few things to do with Vader that I didn’t like, but most of the stuff with Vader I did like. Especially everything in episode 5 was great. The performance was great as well.
The other characters and performances were all good for the most part, Leia was mostly good throughout the show. The only thing with her is that there are a few times where she does something because they need her to do something, we see this especially in episode 5 when she’s in the vent for the hanger controls. Tala was ok, we didn’t get enough time with her for us to care but for what she was there for she was ok. Everyone else was good too.
The show looks great for the most part. The cinematography is mostly pretty good. My only issue is that in night or dark scenes it can be too dark. There are a number of times that I could barely see a thing (although that could also be because of the how I watched the show and the time I watched it). The effects were mostly pretty good, the lightsabers looked great. The action can be great, mostly in the last couple of episodes, but over-all pretty ok. I liked it when they got creative with stuff, like the Reva Vader battle, and the force powers used in the last episode. But over-all something was off with it. The music and soundtrack was ok, not very remarkable.
Honestly that’s probably the best way to describe the way I feel about this show. It’s ok, unremarkable for the most part, and that something is off about it. It could be the pacing, or the writing, but whatever it is it makes for an ok show. I give it a thumb leaning to the side. If the last episode was better it would have gotten a thumb up. But two episodes i enjoyed out of 6 does not make for a good show. Watch it if you want to.
Andy's Thoughts 