– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars Resistance‘s “The High Tower” finds Kaz finally doing some spy work, but the episode’s time spent revealing backstory on mechanic extraordinaire, Tam Ryvora, is more of a highlight.
After the last few episodes focused on how unprepared Kaz is for the mechanic aspect of his cover, “The High Tower” finally puts his spy skills to the test, and while they aren’t much better, he certainly has the commitment down pat for both. Kaz tries to sneak into the Aces’ tower when he learns from Aunt Z that Captain Imanuel Doza, who runs the Colossus, has dealings with the First Order, who so happens to be visiting with fuel to resupply the station due to a shortage of its own. When I say Kaz is a little better at spying than fixing things, he still ends up being chased by the First Order and finds himself under the microscope of Captain Doza afterwards, but his idea to use the comlinks the team just acquired to sneak an ear into the meeting between the Imanuel and Major Vonreg, the red First Order pilot first seen in the premiere, was a great idea…even if it’s what gains him unwanted attention in the end. As great as the idea is, this is two episodes where Kaz has relied on comlinks to either save the day or continue his mission, and both have used feedback to either help or hinder his actions. Whereas the feedback in “The Triple Dark” helped save the station from the pirates, feedback here causes the First Order to be alerted to his presence sneaking around the Aces’ tower. Two episodes so close to one another using comlinks isn’t a terrible thing, but it could come off as lazy writing if it happens again. Regardless of my issues, Kaz’s trick does, well…the trick, and he manages to learn a little about Doza and his dealings with the First Order, jumping to conclusions once again like he did upon seeing Yeager’s family portrait last episode.
Vonreg comes not too close after the recent pirate attack in “The Triple Dark” so it doesn’t seem so obvious that they are sending the pirates in an attempt at protection racketeering, but he’s definitely not messing around about trying to get Doza to give them the station. Captain Doza is a smart jogan fruit however, even if he has some flaws, as he basically calls them out on it all being a coercion attempt and threatens to report them to the New Republic. But Vonreg counters that Doza’s dealings with the criminal underworld could be reported back against him, leaving them both at a stalemate as Doza won’t budge but he can’t really do anything against the First Order, while Vonreg can’t openly attack the Colossus and must continue the round about way. Doza comes off as someone who only deals with the First Order because he has no choice, not as someone willing to make a deal with them, unlike what Kaz assumed from listening into the meeting. As upstanding of a seemingly New Republic aligned officer as he might be, the hint he has dealings with the underworld offers some intriguing new potential for the show. Is it a criminal organization we’ve heard of or met before, like Black Sun or Crimson Dawn, is it a completely new one, and/or is it one we’ll see our heroes deal with in Episode IX next year? No matter who he’s dealing with, I’m very curious to learn what deals he has to make with the underworld…and why. Could it be how he got such a position onboard the station and he’s paying back whomever helped him? Is it how he manages to give the Aces whatever they want, a deal he made so he can have independent protection? Maybe he borrowed some money to give his daughter whatever she’s wanted? Or potentially a combination of some of the above? Captain Doza went from some guy in the tower to a person of high interest in a single episode!
Speaking of other characters becoming more interesting, “The High Tower” spent some time diving into Tam Ryvora’s backstory, giving her more to do than be the angry, senior mechanic dealing with Kaz’s ineptitude. It’s been no secret Tam has felt like the Fireball is her ship, and letting Kaz race it definitely was a slight against her seniority and time with the old racer, but this episode digs into her goals, aspirations, and what her time on the Colossus has been like. Tam and Hype Fazon (Donald Faison!) used to be friends when they came to the Colossus, but once he got to be an Ace and she didn’t, he forgot about her and she’s felt slighted ever since, convinced she’s a far better pilot than he. We’ve seen Hype race, but this is the first time we get to meet him, and while he’s as selfish as Tam says he is, there are hints he’s a better man than he lets off, having principles like he won’t help guide in shipments from the First Order, though for how hard it is to shut him up about himself, he certainly goes quite quick when anyone asks him why he’s anti-First Order. Tam gets a chance to air some of her grievances with Hype, warning him she’s coming for his spot with the Fireball, though he mocks her for the dirty old ship due to the opulence he’s used to with his ship and the Aces tower. Slowly but surely, Resistance is revealing it has deeper aspirations with all of its cast, giving them complex and intriguing backstories which pull viewers of all ages in, making me like this show more and more as it continues.
Remember how I mentioned Captain Doza has his eyes on Kaz now? Once the First Order is on his tail, Kaz bumbles his way into Torra Doza’s room, the young woman he raced against in the premiere which we hear about at least once an episode since. She mistakes his visit as him mistaking her niceness as romantic interesting, something which never crosses Kaz’s mind, especially in the moment as he’s fleeing the First Order. She helps him escape, tossing him out of her window, but the First Order is soon on him again, which brings cheers and bets from everyone in Aunt Z’s bar as they watch the spectacle unfold alongside the outside of the Colossus. When Kaz escapes, Major Vonreg confronts Captain Doza, but his daughter claims Kaz was visiting her and got lost, which the Captain tells them is the truth and they shouldn’t have attacked the young man like they did. The episode ends with Captain Doza peering at a screenshot of security footage of Kaz, curious about the young man’s identity. Like I said, Kaz’s plan to overhear the meeting was solid, but the whole secretive part at being a spy he’s terrible at, considering a good chunk of Aunt Z’s main patronage and the two members not in on Kaz’s true purpose saw him sneaking around, while the Captain of the Colossus is out to uncover his identity. As far as first spy missions go, that might actually be the worst, but I don’t suspect we’ll have any interference from Captain Doza for awhile, as these things tend to come to a head once the main protagonist is really in the thick of their mission. But I hope the show can deal with Kaz having to deceive his fellow Team Fireball members a little more, as while it was played for laughs here a few times, just as much as the reveal of the who the First Order mole is will likely hurt Kaz, his teammates will be hurt first by his deceptions if they find out from a different source than he about his mission.
Here are a few other things:
- I feel like the animation style really pops when the fighters come into play, as them gliding through the clouds with their lights on or rain on their windshields, looked especially nice. Otherwise I don’t mind the style in the slightest (though yes, I do prefer the previous two show’s styles).
- Neeku’s antics didn’t make me laugh as much this episode, though his encounter with the First Order was somewhat funny.
- The actor who plays Captain Doza is named Jason Hightower. Doza lives in a high tower. This episode was called “The High Tower.” It’s pun-erific!
- I really hope the packaging for the Resistance action figures don’t all contain a giant picture of Kaz, and that each character is prominent on their own individual packages.
- This episode’s guide over at the official site, and its corresponding Bucket’s List, offers some cool little tidbits about objects seen the background, including a little piece of Obi-Wan’s Clone Wars gunship that’s been in all three animated series, where all Hype’s logos come from, a run down of Easter Eggs in Torra’s room, and much more.
Star Wars Resistance‘s “The High Tower” makes a compelling argument for it’s spy-focused dealings being more intriguing than its mechanic focus from the first few episodes.
+ Revealing complex story threads for more and more characters
+ Tam and Hype’s history
+ Captain Doza’s dealings
– Comlinks being useful to the plot again
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. 1.6: “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