– Spoiler Review –
“The Platform Classic” might boost the Colossus‘ economy, but for us viewers of Star Wars Resistance, it offers us a better understanding of the show’s most enigmatic character so far, Jarek Yeager.
When “Fuel for the Fire” revealed Yeager had been at the Battle of Jakku and had a wife and a child, but never spoke of any of it, it fueled the fire for my theory about Yeager being the spy already aboard the Colossus for the First Order, as I wondered if whatever happened to his family ended up turning him or made him resentful of the New Republic in some way. By the end of “The Platform Classic,” it’s clear what happened to his family was far more tragic and personal instead, and while that meant initial disappointment on my end due to all my wild theories, I applaud the show for keeping this particular background story solely in character development territory instead of advancing the plot. When Captain Doza announces he’s spicing up the Platform Classic race in an attempt to boost their economy even more than usual, he calls Yeager into his office to ask him to race once again, and do it against renowned racer, Marcus Speedstar. What everyone doesn’t know, Marcus is actually Jarek Yeager’s brother, but there’s bad enough blood between them they swore off racing against one another. The episode keeps it vague about what happened to make Yeager hate Marcus so much, but when Kaz is forced to help Marcus as a mechanic when his is being held by the Guavian Death Gang as insurance, he reveals the terrible story: after the New Republic’s military downsizing post-Battle of Jakku, Yeager and Marcus got into racing, where Yeager raced for his family and Marcus for the fame and glory, which is why he tried to boost with hyperfuel for the win (like Rucklin in “Fuel for the Fire”), causing a crash which killed Yeager’s family. The two manage to begin reconciling during the Platform Classic, as Marcus gives a heartfelt speech to a stubborn Yeager about his love for his brother, Yeager’s family and how much he misses them, and how he’s changed his ways as he’s out to save someone with this race, not more fame and glory. I hadn’t expected their tiff to be something so tragic and personal, and I have to admit it got me emotional a bit with Keston John’s (Marcus) fantastic performance about all his regrets to his brother, making Yeager’s sorely needed character development an excellent part to a solid, contained episode.
However, I will also admit a little disappointment, as this is once again another instance where an animated character has an unknown sibling that turns out to be a brother (both Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla were given ones in Rebels), making it a little glaring they’ve omitted making one of these characters a sister, as it wouldn’t change either the emotional depth or content of this episode. That being said, Marcus was a solid character even in his brevity, as his compassion for his brother and his friend/mechanic Oplock are easy to see both from the animation and Keston’s performance, while he seemed like a hot-shot racer, who potentially worked with Han Solo since he managed the Five Saber races which Marcus won 3, as his smooth talking with the Guavians was reminiscent of Solo’s own. Scott Lawrence as Jarek also got to stretch his character beyond the grumpy, old boss we’ve seen most of the season, and getting to see Yeager crack his cold shell a bit and begin the path of forgiving his brother and letting go of the anger was a welcomed character moment. The show is still about Kaz, so he functions as the intermediary for Marcus and Jarek, as Marcus is willing to open up to him about what happened, and Kaz goes to Jarek before the race to convince him of his brother’s sincerity, which helps Jarek seriously consider Marcus’ speech towards the end of the race. And while the background info on Jarek rules out some of the possibilities for why he’d be the spy already on the Colossus, I’m still thinking it’ll be him, but I have no viable theories beyond something bad always happens with the mentor character.
Big races really like having the word Classic in their titles, huh? The Platform Classic was actually a pretty neat string of phases, which was visually appealing both in variety and this being where the style of Resistance really, really shines. The first phase is an “obstacle course,” where the normal rings we’ve seen them pass through are twisting and turning, the second phase is a climb to the edge of space and through a ring that disables the racers’ ships, meaning the third phase is a plummet towards a ring which will reignite the racers’ ships, allowing them to race to the final ring but missing it means plummeting into the ocean and losing. I really liked how the Platform Classic worked, and the various phases kept it more interesting than simply racing around a track like with podracers, though I’m curious to learn the rules a little about shooting down other racers, like Griff Halloran does, and who would give Sebulba a run for his credits as he bumps Marcus around. I get the focus of the race and episode were about the two Yeager brothers, but it was a little odd to have the other racers, especially Torra who we’ve met before, and not give them any speaking lines, simply there to fill out the race, while Halloran hasn’t even been introduced yet and he factors into the race with his dirty tricks; It wasn’t terribly important, but it does feel like a strange omission. Otherwise, if there’s one thing Resistance has been exceptional at all season so far, is how it really keeps things moving, both in plot and action, as the emotional climax of Marcus and Jarek’s interactions this episode happen throughout the race, making it both an exciting, but pivotal moment for the episode instead of the show just building up to a really cool race that has no bearing on the episode.
Here are a few other things:
- It made me VERY happy to see the shell-folk we met in “The Children From Tehar,” happier than I expected even.
- Some fun facts from this week’s Bucket’s List include: Not only is Jarek Yeager named after Chuck Yeager, a decorated WWII pilot (still alive) who test-piloted ships after the war and was the first to break the sound barrier, but Jarek’s ship was designed with the Bell X-1 in mind; Han Solo was originally supposed to be the racer visiting, but making it more personal for Yeager was a smart move; and Oplock was a Mountain Nikto, as Neeku is a regular Nikto.
- It didn’t hit me right away, but this is the first time we’ve seen racing since the premiere, which is a little surprising considering the show’s setting and focus on it in the lead-up marketing.
Star Wars Resistances‘ “The Platform Classic” allows the characters to take center stage while still containing an exciting, climatic race.
+ Marcus and Jarek’s tragic past…
+ …and their first steps towards healing
+ Platform Classic was cool display of racing/animation
– Another ‘surprise’ brother character???
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. 1.10: “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