Asohka came out yesterday and it's the newest Star Wars TV show to be released by Disney. I didn't know anything about it going in, as since 'The Book of Boba Fett' I decided not to get too hyped for the new shows coming out because I always seem to be disappointed.
I have to say though, based on the first episode of it I'm looking forward to watching more and seeing where the story goes.
There may be some spoilers in this little review/ discussion, so if you haven't watched it and intend to, maybe give this post a miss until you have.
The Opening Scene
This show starts with a title crawl, and I thought that was a pretty good choice, and something that I've been missing from Star Wars shows recently; the thing I noticed about this title crawl though is that it was red - which tends to be associated with the dark side of the force.
Through the crawl we are told about some of the backstories of what has been going on prior to the events of this show, I was happy about that - not because I'd feel lost without it - but because there are some story beats that, I think, refer back to Star Wars Rebels the animated show that I have yet to watch.
One name I saw pop up in this crawl was Grand Admiral Thrawn, who is one of my favourite "Legends" characters who were taken from the old canon into the new Disney canon.
From the title crawl, we are thrown right to the bridge of a rebel ship that is transporting a prisoner Ahsoka captured prior to the show. The crew are hailed by a ship sporting some old Jedi tags and this intrigues the admiral of the ship who invites them onboard. He and a security detail meet them as they land in the hangar and it's soon revealed that these two Jedi are in fact Sith, who go on to annihilate the entire crew and rescue the prisoner.
It's Like Poetry, sort of, They Rhyme
I noticed a few things in this short space of time.
The scene with the two Sith boarding the ship cloaked reminded me of the scene in The Phantom Menace, where Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan board the trade federation ship as chaos ensues shortly after.
Another reminiscent scene, that comes directly after that is where the main Sith is walking through the halls of the ship slaying Rebels left and right, it was very like Darth Vader's onslaught at the end of Rogue One.
This show has a few of these scenes that harken back to the other films, or shows, and to be honest, I don't really mind that. I think the fact that the creators aren't afraid to this, is a good thing. Star Wars as a franchise was always meant to reflect previous films in the current ones, and I think when creators stray too far from it and try to do their own thing the whole idea is lost and doesn't feel like it's part of a wider universe.
One of my biggest complaints with the Sequel Trilogy was that it seemed to try too hard to distance itself from the Franchise by being different; showcasing new aliens, new worlds, and new ships - bar the classics such as the X-wing, Tie Fighter, and At-At's.
In my opinion, the Sequels did it wrong in the sense that, they should have focused more on creating and designing new ships, and tech, rather than giving the old ones a paint job, and they should have shown us some of the old locations, but perhaps have them aged to show that time has passed.
I would have loved to have seen the Ewok village with the debris of the Death Star entwined with their primitive tree houses, and perhaps even incorporated into their huts. Or, Tatooine, but a more lawless version of it since Jabba wasn't there to keep the criminals in check. Instead, we were shown new worlds, that were like a dumbed-down version of already established places we were familiar with.
This Era
My favourite Era for games, novels, and shows, is in between the Prequels and The Original Trilogy. I love the disbandment of the clones, the hunting down of Jedi survivors, and the move from a Republic into an Authoritarian Regime, I think it's a really interesting place to set stories.
The Era that Ahsoka is set is really good too though, in between the Originals and the Sequels, the collapse and re-establishment of governments, that make way for criminal organisations, and battles between the remnant Imperials and the newly crowned Rebels, and the re-establishment of the Jedi Order, where all of these lost Jedi can come out of hiding after all these years in the shadows, and where Sith operate freely amongst the chaos caused by dethroning of the Emperor.
This show has set up and given an example of what else is out there, and what else was going on away from the films. Luke, Leigha, and Han were fighting the Empire, while somewhere else, there were other Rebel factions doing their part, and people like Ahsoka were doing their part as well.
Live Action Characters
Another thing in this show is the live-action introduction to characters like Ezra, Sabine, and Thrawn, who haven't been seen yet in the live-action universe.
These characters were all showcased in Rebels, which I only saw the first season of when it released. I found the show good, but I just never continued it along, however, I may go back and check it out just to fill the gap that not watching it may have left.
The Creator of Ahsoka
Dave Filoni Wrote, Directed, and Created this idea for the show, and it's really good. Alongside him was Jon Favreau as a Producer. These two are big fans of the Franchise and anything they have a hand in producing is bound to satisfy most Star Wars fans and it is pretty much because they care, and are fans themselves.
I think they should be allowed to do as they please, unrestricted by the muck that interrupts the creative flow. They have had ideas tampered with in the past and that tampering led to the ruin of perfectly good, and well-liked shows.
What every franchise needs is people who care about it, in a position of creative power and control. Dave Filoni has proved himself for a very long time, and I just can't wrap my head around why he isn't being left in charge of it. Essentially every cool idea for Star Wars has been made by him and I think most fans would be happy if it were left up to him moving forward.
Some people said when Disney bought the franchise, "What a great time to be a Star Wars fan, we're going to have so much content coming out now."
While I agree with that, the bad thing is that most of the content sucks and doesn't feel like Star Wars.
For every good show, we get a bad one it seems.
Mandalorian Season 1 and 2 - Good
- Mandalorian Season 1 and 2 - Good
- The Book of Boba Fett - Bad
- The Bad Batch - Good
- Obi-Wan Kenobi - Bad
- Andor - Good
- Mandalorian Season 3 - Bad
- Ahsoka - Undecided
Judging by the rule of "good to bad" I'd imagine Ahsoka will be good, but I'll have to continue watching to find out.
I don't know why, but from my own experience with the franchise of late, I've noticed this weird pattern that has emerged over the last few years; I have no idea why it has formed this way, but I have a guess that I might go into in another post.
This first episode has been pretty good, and it ends on a cliffhanger that has left me excited for the next one.
I'll be writing an episode-by-episode review of each one for anyone who wants to read them.