– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars Resistance‘s “The New Trooper” hits a hiccup similar to previous episodes, but its other aspects, like undercover shenanigans, more than make up for it.
It’s been pretty clear, even from the premiere’s two episodes and the third episode, that the First Order was going to use the Colossus to push out into the rest of the galaxy, as it’s in a prime location as a refueling station. So when “The New Trooper” has a big reveal about the FO’s plans with the station, and it turns out to be exactly as expected and already basically stated, “Trooper” reminded me a lot of the “Station Theta-Black” reveal that the FO was making weapons. Both are equally rather apparent, so of course I was a little disappointed they ended another fun episode on such a lackluster reveal, but it also forced some reminders back into my brain: this show is more like IDW’s Star Wars Adventures all-ages comics and I’m not the main target audience. Regardless, these “reveals” make Resistance feel a bit like Agent of SHIELD‘s first season, as I talked about in my “Dangerous Business” review, as that show had to wait until Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out before it could jump into hyperdrive, and thus Resistance feels like it’s spinning its wheels until it catches up to the sequel trilogy films; Thankfully, that’ll happen before the first season ends, which means I’m even more excited for season two of Resistance because right now we have no idea where the show will go next.
My problems with these “reveals” aside, this episode did spend a bit more time on how people of the Colossus feel about the First Order’s takeover, as I had hoped the last episode would’ve. Tam continues to be the poor soul out of the group, even if Neeku feels safe with the First Order as well, because her reasons are way more nuanced than Neeku’s considering he already helped Kaz escape the FO and he has no problems knocking out the already unconscious trooper in this episode. For Tam, her grandfather worked in an Imperial factory, the only place that would hire him, which helped him put food on their table and a roof over their heads, and she counters Yeager and Kaz’s assertions about the First Order being evil by asking if what her grandfather did made him evil. Kaz and Yeager are a little too biased to consider the nuance of the situation, as while they are right this FO occupation will only get worse, not every cog in either the FO or Imperial’s machines were part of the cause, as they had their own complex reasons for being involved. Tam begins to come around by the end of the episode once she learns Kel and Eila’s story, the two kids Kaz helped rescue back in “The Children from Tehar,” as she struggles to come up with a reason why the FO would need to slaughter the children’s people. We also get to see part of the station have a fruit mob against the First Order’s increased presence and census data gathering (a thread I’m a little more curious about that than usage of the Colossus), but it’s not as subtle as the conversations our heroes have, though I liked seeing the general population’s reactions to the increase in FO on the station increase accordingly.
The trope of the good guys wearing the bad guy’s uniforms is a time-honored tradition in Star Wars, especially content produced for the screen, but I liked how Resistance handled it the most. Considering how often it seemed like the good guys managed to hide in Imperial uniforms, from Rebels to the original trilogy, you’d think the First Order would attempt to implement changes to prevent that from being successful. One improvement I enjoyed was how the FO was able to track the armor, so if it was stolen or misused, they can easily detect where it is and clamp down on whatever mischief is taking place. But the more important improvement has less to do with the armor and more to do with the stormtroopers themselves: we’ve known the FO conditions/brain-washes their soldiers for quite some time, from The Force Awakens and other supplementary materials, but it isn’t just to create mindless, obedient soldiers, it’s to make singling out erratic behavior much easier, thus making wearing a FO uniform a difficult proposition. Therefore, Kaz couldn’t bumble his way out of a sticky situation with only a conversation, as his odd behavior is an immediate flag for suspicion and problems, but to fix it the FO does to its troopers what we’ve only seen done to droids: a memory wipe and reconditioning! Recent content in canon has called into question this practice with droids, like in Solo and Last Shot, and to see it used on people is even more frightening and repulsive, elevating my dislike of using it on droids equally. While it was easier for the rogues of the Galactic Civil War-era to get away with acting goofy in uniform, it’s much harder to do so now in the time of the sequel trilogy. This also makes me wonder: when will we see the bad guys dress up as the good guys to cause havoc?
Here are a few other things:
- I absolutely loved how the thread about the janitor Opeepit and his missing scrubber continues to play out. Running gags like that are highly appreciated!
- Also, the little bit on the transport with the BB-9E, aka BB-Hate as seen in The Last Jedi, was a delight.
- I get knocking out the trooper was played for laughs, but knowing he’ll have to go through a memory wipe, and it’s important he does so to help save our heroes, is a little dark once you think about it.
Star Wars Resistance seems to have some problems being set before the events of the sequel trilogy, but episodes like “The New Trooper” thankfully makes up for those by exploring more interesting aspects to the galaxy’s make-up prior to the films.
+ Going undercover isn’t as easy as it used to be
+ More time spent on how denizens feel about the FO taking over
– Another fairly obvious reveal make it feel like it’s spinning its wheels
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
STAR WARS RESISTANCE REVIEWS:
Season One – Ep. 1.1/1.2: “The Recruit” | Ep. 1.3: “The Triple Dark” | Ep. 1.4 “Fuel for the Fire” | Ep. 1.5: “The High Tower” | Ep. 1.6: “The Children From Tehar” | Ep. 1.7: “Signal From Sector Six” | Ep. 1.8: “Synara’s Score” | Ep. 1.9: “The Platform Classic” | Ep. 1.10: “Secrets and Holograms” | Ep. 1.11: “Station Theta-Black” | Ep. 1.12: “Bibo” | Ep. 1.13 “Dangerous Business” | Ep. 1.14: “The Doza Dilemma” | Ep. 1.15: “The First Order Occupation” | Ep. 1.17: “The Core Problem” | Ep. 1.18: “The Disappeared” | Ep. 1.19: “Descent” | Ep. 1.20: “No Escape” – Part One | Ep. 1.21: “No Escape” – Part Two