– Spoiler Review –
Yeager and Synara have been captured by Axe the bounty hunter, and the First Order isn’t far behind…can Kaz and Norath free their friends before it’s too late? Join me as I review the latest episode of Star Wars Resistance: “Breakout!”
I feel like the writers of “Breakout” thought it was going to be a rough one for the kids who watch the show. Following up the cliffhanger from last week, Yeager and Synara have been captured by the First Order, and are being tortured (on-screen!) by the First Order for the location of the Colossus, still functioning as a hidden Resistance base, sort of. How do I know that this episode might have been too dark for younger viewers? Because the slapstick comedy was amped up to the extreme. Both Norath and Kaz have their own style of over-the-top characterization,
from Kaz tripping over pretty visible containers of fruit and Norath screaming every time he’s mildly scared, despite being a Resistance spy who knows he’s being followed by the First Order. Secrecy and decorum are out the window when the show needs some comedy, I guess.
These aren’t the only missteps when it comes to the characters in the series. I had mentioned in my last review that it was nice to see both Yeager and Synara get a little more to do in the series. Unfortunately, in this episode, they mostly exist to be saved by Kaz and Norath. Neither have any break out moments, and neither really says or does much except get tortured. (Seeing more explicit torture, even if it is just excessive electrocution, is fairly distressing, children’s show or not. That’s one thing I wish that Star Wars animation would do away with forever.) While it would be nice for the series to do more for these characters, it seems like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see them do much to earn their keep.
Unfortunately, the First Order also seems to be flattened versions of themselves. Commander Pyre’s role in the episode could be replaced by any generic Stormtrooper Commander, as he doesn’t do much beside bark orders and get stunned. Even when he wakes up after being stunned, he has no comment about that when he finds the Resistance heroes later. Agent Tierny, who used to use her rhetorical skills to manipulate people like Tam into joining the First Order, is turned into another First Order Security Bureau officer, losing any distinctive touch. She briefly goads Yeager with comments about Tam, but other than that, she simply oversees their torture and unsuccessfully tries to get information from CB. Both Pyre and Tierny have been given plenty of time to become individual and unique characters, but this episode doesn’t treat them as such, unfortunately.
The plot of the episode was pretty tame as well, as it was really a typical action romp with Star Wars flair. Kaz and Norath sneak into the First Order camp wearing stormtrooper armor (after some hijinks about pretending to be stormtroopers) and find Yeager and Synara. CB breaks himself out of First Order custody and swings, Tarzan or Chewbacca style, into Tierny to knock her out. Axe waits at the heroes’ ship, where they lock him out and CB runs over him before they blast away. One thing I liked from both Rebels and The Clone Wars was they added a dimension of creativity to the way that they handled action scenes and other events, but Resistance doesn’t seem to share the same enthusiasm for trying to take advantage of its universe and setting, content with merely predictable and safe action plots.
Even the Bucket’s List felt short and sweet, without much to say about the episode. With only so many more episodes to go, it is hard not to despair that this series will end on a whimper rather than a bang, as it deserved. I admit, and readers of my reviews have probably already noted, that I have been fairly ambivalent about the show for a while, but it hasn’t done a lot to try and work itself back to my favor. A real shame, as animation seemed to carry the future of the franchise for a while. Maybe with Disney+, the focus has changed.
Thankfully, the episode wasn’t a complete bust. Norath was mostly a delight, and a fun character that, with a better tonal direction, I wouldn’t mind seeing a lot more. He tries to recruit Kaz into the Resistance proper, but Kaz knows his place is on the Colossus, not the grander fight. Interestingly enough, the The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary dates these episodes as happening prior to the Battle of Batuu (as you can experience in the Rise of the Resistance ride at Galaxy’s Edge), so I wonder if we’ll see the series work toward Batuu, if not Exegol. Either way, the show has a few episodes left to find its footing again, and I hope that, with the end in sight, we return our focus to Tam and find the series emotional core again.
+ Norath is a mostly fun character I am excited to see again….
– …but the characters we know need some more to do first.
– A traditional plot filled with mostly flat versions of the characters who do have stuff to do.
You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!
STAR WARS RESISTANCE REVIEWS:
Season Two (by Chris) – Ep. 2.1: “Into the Unknown” | Ep. 2.2: “A Quick Salvage Run” | Ep. 2.3: “Live Fire” | Ep. 2.4: “Hunt on Celsor 3” | Ep. 2.5: “The Engineer” | Ep. 2.6: “From Beneath” | Ep. 2.7: “The Relic Raiders” | Ep. 2.8: “Rendezvous Point” | Ep. 2.9: “The Voxx Vortex 5000” | Ep. 2.10: “Kaz’s Curse” | Ep. 2.11: “Station to Station” | Ep. 2.12: “The Missing Agent”
Season One (by Ryan) – 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. 1.16: “The New Trooper” | 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