– Spoiler Review –
At eleven episodes, out of a 22 episode total, Star Wars Resistance heads into its winter break with “Station Theta-Black,” a spy mission by Kaz and Poe that takes a turn for the worse, of course, in an entertaining fashion, but the results feel a little useless.
Kaz and Poe find themselves investigating an empty facility in the Unknown Regions, stumbling into a now abandoned mining facility used by the First Order. It’s not so abandoned when Poe, Kaz, BB-8, and CB-23 run into a security droid, which alerts the First Order and brings Phasma, Major Vonreg, and a ship full of explosives to keep the evidence of the First Order’s actions under wraps. Poe (Oscar Isaac) is still a hotshot pilot who hasn’t learned his The Last Jedi lessons yet, as General Leia Organa orders a strictly reconnaissance mission and of course is the one who’s decisions lead them nearly into First Order hands. As they fumble around, they uncover the First Order station, Theta-Black, was mining for massive amounts of dedlanite, used primarily to make blasters (as first seen in the Chewbacca comic back in 2015!). After a close tangle with Phasma, Major Vonreg in his red TIE, and a particularly large explosion, this is the information Poe, Kaz, and the droids bring to General Leia. It seems like a big moment, it’s confirmed that the First Order is making weapons, but not only does the reappearance of Starkiller Base and all the ships/blasters the First Order is already using against the Resistance and denizens of the Unknown Regions make the news feel unimportant, but even Kaz undercuts it by reminding us the Senators of the New Republic won’t care, something Leia confirms. Considering we know the show will catch up to the events of The Force Awakens, the fact the show goes on a winter break confirming something that’s already confirmed, it makes the whole episode and results feel a little pointless given the whole galaxy will know the First Order built weapons soon enough. It makes me curious what Resistance will do with its second half of the season, because if they aren’t going to reveal anything vital that’ll change our perspective on the current two sequel trilogy films, maybe the show is building to something that’ll effect Ep. IX a lot more, like with how the First Order wants to use the station as a staging point to reach out to the rest of the galaxy, but I highly doubt this younger skewed show will allow our heroes to lose. It all remains to be seen, and I bet a mid-season trailer will help offer some clues, but “Station Theta-Black” made me seriously wonder what Resistance‘s endgame will be about, but maybe that’s the point.
What “Station Theta-Black” lacked in intriguing results, it made up for in spectacle and humor. Be it Poe and Kaz’s back and forth, with Poe making fun of Kaz about shooting or never being the one to save them, as it really shows how important having Oscar Isaac come is because he seems to have a lot of fun delivering these lines/being Poe again, or even Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) dealing with somewhat bumbling troops, humor was not in short supply this episode. Same with spectacle, as it basically becomes one long shoot-out/chase scene once the First Order finds Poe and Kaz, chasing them around the station and then outside in space for a little dog-fighting. The escape from the giant explosion after the FO terminates Station Theta-Black for good was the perfect escalation of the action, and even though Kaz being alive was no surprise, that they let him be consumed by the blast but survived thanks to using the asteroid as cover was a nice change of pace instead of everyone always outracing a blast explosion.
Having General Leia finally on the show, minus her weird hologram appearance in the premiere, was a welcomed moment, as it helps connect Kaz back to the bigger movement and give Kaz’s mission a little more credibility instead of just Poe checking in a few times. Leia has a wonderful little message to impart here that the Resistance is bigger than her, that everyone is important to the cause, something the Poe Dameron comic had her talking about with Poe directly when writer Charles Soule offered a bit of remembrance for Carrie Fisher after her passing. But the most important aspect to her arrival is how she’s now voiced by Carolyn Hennesy, instead of the originally announced Rachel Butera, a gratefully appreciated and deft move on Lucasfilm’s part. Butera was more than likely fired due to her social media post (as I discussed in my review of the premiere episode) mocking Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford when the woman was making the absolutely brave move to come forward about the sexual assault she suffered from the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who unfortunately was nominated regardless. Butera’s post was the most un-Leia thing, ever, and while Lucasfilm didn’t make a comment then nor has discussed it now, they understand the character’s legacy is vital to uphold so they made the right choice here and managed to hire someone else AND get them to record in time for this episode to air.
Here are a few other things:
- I really liked Kaz’s line about the Senators, as it casually reminds us he’s dad is a Senator (but it still hasn’t been mentioned on his dad is Hosnian Prime’s Senator aka one of the planets blown up by Starkiller Base) and tells the viewer how apathetic to the Resistance’s cause/the First Order’s build-up the New Republic has come. “Secrets and Holograms” shows us what the kids do in peacetime, “Station Theta-Black” shows us what the adults tend to forget about/try to avoid in peacetime. Also, mentioning his dad is a Senator again makes me wonder if we’ll see TFA events by the end of season one. Just patiently waiting on that mid-season trailer…if there is one.
- Okay, seriously…why is CB-23 with Poe and not Kaz?! I get it from the behind-the-scenes POV, where BB-8 is such a popular new droid and plenty of young/old fans probably have already taken to him from watching the films so more people will watch with him around, but logistically in-universe it seems extremely odd BB-8 is with Kaz when CB could literally do the same job as BB…and just as good.
- The Fireball was decent enough to just barely survive the flight out to the rendezvous with the Resistance ship, as Tam was basically only a few steps away get it flight ready. With the Resistance fixing it on their CR90 corvette, could we finally see the Fireball back in the racing circuit/more of Tam trying to take her rightful spot as its pilot?
- Wondering how to get your Resistance fix without the show for a month? Well, wonder no more as the Disney Channel’s YouTube will be hosting a series of shorts starring, “…Torra, Tam, Flix & Orka, Hype, Neeku and the Aces” The first three dropped December 10: “Neeku’s Reward,” where a trip for lunch goes wrong; “Dart and Cover,” a game of darts between Kaz and Bucket takes a painful turn; “The Search for Kaz,” offers us a glimpse at the world from BB-8’s POV, which might make it my favorite. More to come over the break!
- This episode’s Bucket’s List offers some insight into a few of the minute details, like ducks and familiar, while also pointing out the Chewie comic connection.
The first half of Star Wars Resistance has definitely been a solid, enjoyable experience, though I felt like “Station Theta-Black” was one of the weaker areas to break the show on.
+ Poe and Kaz messing around
+ Leia’s message and the voice actress replacement
– Finding out the FO is making weapons feels like a waste
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
All images credited to Lucasfilm
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. 1.12: “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