– Spoiler Review –
In the latest Star Wars Resistance, Kaz and BB-8 find themselves in some “Dangerous Business” once Kaz is stuck minding Flix and Orca’s Acquisitions shop as repayment for a debt, running afoul of a nefarious shopper with ulterior motives.
At times with Ezra in Rebels, we’d occasionally see a jump in skill without actually seeing the training, a bump which Kaz gets by the start of “Dangerous Business,” as we find out he not only got most of the parts to fix the Fireball, but he installed them all too. The show spent a lot of time, at least in the earlier episodes at the beginning of the series/season, dealing with Kaz’s ineptitude at both being a mechanic and a spy, and while his spying has gotten somewhat better in recent episodes, it’s nice to finally see the same happen to his mechanic abilities. With the mid-season one trailer still fresh in my memory, it’s hard not to imagine this increase in skill will be important in the coming episodes, but one also has to wonder how important it’ll be for the series once it moves onto a season two likely to be dealing with the aftermath of The Last Jedi. In the meantime though, Kaz’s leveling-up allows Tam, who hasn’t be able to use her Fireball since Kaz arrived on the scene, to maybe make a flight or two, something I was happy the show had Kaz acknowledge once we saw him fixing the ship. Having him run Flix and Orca’s shop was a great idea, even if it meant two amazing secondary characters once again didn’t get a whole lot of screen time, as it led to not only a solid mission curtailing First Order plans, but it also gave BB-8 a chance to shine. BB-8 was, and still is, a bigger star than Kaz, but he’s largely played second fiddle to the more bumbling antics of the human characters. Not in “Dangerous Business” though, as when Kaz decides to deliver items to a shady customer, Teroj Kee, in an attempt to see what he’s up to, BB-8 is left alone to defend the shop. And he defends it gallantly, sneaking around as Teroj breaks in, then attempting to battle the much larger alien, pulling out several fun, inventive tricks that where animated delightfully, but unfortunately it’s not enough and Teroj gets away with an important piece of equipment the Acquisitions team was saving for someone else: a phase connector. Despite Teroj getting the item on his massive Mining Guild ship, Kaz, with the help of the apparently electronically resistant Bitey, Flix and Orca’s pet gorg, manages to bring the entire ship down, destroying the connector as well as preventing the First Order from getting it.
At the end of the episode, we learn the phase connector is primarily used to crack open asteroid/small planetoids, for drilling/excavating purposes, leaving Kaz to wonder if the First Order wanted to get it so they could mine more dedlanite, as Poe and he stumbled into in “Station Theta-Black.” I have a feeling it’s for something else, but if it’s not for something new and instead for Starkiller Base, then we’re dealing with the same problem as what happened in “Theta-Black.” In that episode, it seemed like a big moment for the Resistance to know the First Order was making weapons, but considering Poe and the Resistance have been dealing with the FO already, where they’ve been using weapons against them, it didn’t feel like much of a reveal. If this phase connector is important to Starkiller’s ability to destroy planets, then we already know they must get another one as The Force Awakens revealed the base is fully operational, something the mid-season trailer teased we’ll be dealing with on the show as General Hux’s spittle-laden speech makes its animated appearance, thus making Kaz’s victory nice but ultimately unimportant; Same thing applies if the equipment is to be used for the siege cannon in The Last Jedi, though Finn did say it’s miniaturized Death Star tech so I doubt it could’ve been for that. Either way, that’s why I’m hoping the phase connector is meant for a whole different type of weapon, definitely not a Death Star version 400 or Starkiller Base 2 please, as a new weapon could be something the heroes of Resistance can deal with and overcome (or it could even make an appearance in Episode IX), helping make any little victories in the show seem worth it if it sets back building the new weapon. If not, then this show almost feels like Agents of SHIELD‘s first season, which was left spinning its wheels until Captain America: The Winter Solider released and caused a change in the status quo of the MCU (that Hydra had infiltrated SHIELD), as right now Resistance is basically waiting for the events of the sequel trilogy films to change up the status quo, though at least we’re getting a lot of great character building/maturing of its cast in the meantime.
Here are a few other things:
- Teroj Kee mentions he’s part of the Mining Guild, which beyond his shady vibe and hand resting on his blaster, immediately helped frame him as a bad guy, as the Mining Guild was teamed up with the Empire (as we saw in Rebels) so it didn’t surprise me in the slightest they would be working with the First Order now. Teroj was voiced by John Ennis, and while I can’t say I’ve seen him in anything, I really loved the performance! We’ll probably see him again, as he and some stormtroopers make it off his ship in escape pods, though his failure reveals an angry Commander Pyre who promises Phasma will be even more pissed. I do like how this show has expanded Phasma’s role in the First Order, as she’s involved with running the entire operation to take over the Colossus.
- While not a lot of screen time for Flix and Orca, both Bobby Moynihan and Jim Rash always seem to have so much fun with their characters, especially in their little tiff about Orca not being truthful about who his father was, claiming he was half-Gungan, but Orca reminds him Gungans don’t have feathers. It does make one wonder if they are just really good friends, or we’re dealing with our first on-screen gay couple in Star Wars, but even if some creative (like a writer and executive producer) says such fan theorizing is true, it won’t matter until it’s actively mentioned in the show. Either way, these two are a blast, and it happens that they are together, I’m sure LGBTQ+ fans, and most fans for that matter, won’t be displeased!
- I really liked Tam correcting some of Kaz’s work and still being grateful for his efforts.
- Of course Bitey, the gorg, didn’t perish, though part of me wished he did so it’d feel like there were a little more stakes to these adventures.
- Something really has to be said for Resistance‘s aggressive, but highly welcomed, desire to flesh out the galaxy by constantly introducing new species of aliens to the saga. Gives other mediums something to play with and helps add to the lived in world of the saga, much like the cantina scene of A New Hope, but now spread out across the entire season of a show.
- The Bucket’s List is out, revealing that Teroj is actually based off a background alien seen in Canto Bight, the origins of Flix’s design, and more!
Star Wars Resistance’s “Dangerous Business” gives BB-8 a chance to shine, while the plot thickens (or not really) for whatever the First Order is building.
+ BB-8’s heroic efforts
+ Kaz’s new groove
– If the phase connector isn’t for something new, victory here feels hallow
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. 1.14: “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