– Spoiler Review –
Star Wars Resistance continues its first season in “The Triple Dark,” where Kaz must learn to balance both his mission with the Resistance and keeping up his cover as a mechanic on the Colossus, which is much easier said than done for someone so far in over their head.
One thing I didn’t talk much about in my review of the premiere episodes, “The Recruit,” was my one critique: the premiere didn’t feel like it knew what it wanted to focus on, be it the spy mission from Poe or life on the Colossus, and how Kaz would fit into both. “Recruit” was great at introducing its characters and its unique, grimy part of the galaxy, even in a very kid friendly way, but it was so busy with the introductions it didn’t attempt to cover how woefully unprepared Kazuda Xiono is for any part of this mission. Thankfully “Triple Dark” focuses almost exclusively on Kaz’s unpreparedness, and even if it gets goofier than Star Wars Rebels would for Ezra Bridger learning to be a rebel and a Jedi, it tackles the subject matter as deftly. Kaz might be in so far over his head it’s bordering on unbelievable in “Triple Dark,” as he has zero idea on how to fix a ship, hilariously shown by him causing poor Neeku to be shocked, while his spying tactics are something out of Elmer Fudd’s hunting of the wily rabbit on Saturday morning cartoons, making one wonder how important this mission really is that Poe, and evidently Leia, thought Kaz was good enough for the job.
But for every way the show caters to its younger target audience with Kaz’s ineptitude (leading to several coincidences that take some suspension of disbelief, like the feedback error Kaz makes/dropped comm/client happens to be pirate spy combo helps Kaz save the day), it manages to have several illuminating interactions between characters which carry important messages and develop the characters, something all ages watching can benefit from. While Kaz’s chat with Neeku regarding his trophy is more for laughs, how he later realizes its sentimental value, and how it links him to a past and organization that could bring down both himself and his fellow mechanics, helps put him down the path to doing both of his jobs right. Having Tam be onto Kaz right away reveals her mechanic strengths, and despite Kaz getting to fly (and crash) the Fireball over her place in line, she recognizes his earnestness, even if he hides it behind a facade, and decides to help him at the end. Yeager is the harsh, aloof leader still, not sparing Kaz any expense just because Poe asked for a favor/Kaz is here on a special-important-galaxy-saving mission, as in the eyes of Yeager, Kaz is here first and foremost as a mechanic to help Team Fireball. There’s more to it than that of course, as Yeager and Kaz butt heads a few times this episode, but Yeager’s gruffness is still in Kaz’s favor, trying to teach him he needs to blend in first, and effectively, if he wishes to get any hints at a First Order presence because the path he’s on, trying to be the station’s number one racer/sneaking around without any real clue where to look, will put his face on people’s radar and his true affiliations could come to light. Yes, I’m still hedging my bets on Yeager being the spy Kaz is looking for, but I’m really beginning to hope not as I’m liking his character and want to know how he knows so much about spying himself.
Having pirates as the Colossus station’s main enemies allows Resistance to have some great in-atmo starfighter action between it’s expressive, visually awesome ships of the Aces and the pirates (like seriously, those ‘uglies’ the pirates use are really cool!), while also in keeping with the First Order’s relative secrecy/lack of big attacks prior to The Force Awakens. As I wondered in my write up about the show’s extended trailer, the pirates are actually attacking the Colossus on the behalf of the First Order in an attempt at protection racketeering, which would allow them to claim the station and use it for their push into the rest of the galaxy. While we already know they’ll begin their push in the known galaxy after decimating the New Republic in the Hosnian system and chasing off the Resistance, the fate of the Colossus is still unknown in the state of the sequel trilogy, an era which hasn’t been fleshed out much beyond the films. The Colossus would be key even after the Hosnian system’s destruction, so the fight for the station will play an even bigger role in the fight for the galaxy ahead, raising the stakes for Kaz’s job a considerable degree and putting his sillier antics in a less favorable light. Resistance looks like it’ll be the first material to really expand on the sequel trilogy, introducing new questions for something like Ep. IX, and all the material that might fill in a time jump between The Last Jedi and IX, could answer, something the sequel trilogy hasn’t really allowed for with the films taking place mere minutes after one another.
Here are a few other things:
- BB-8 has his work cut out for him trying to protect Kaz this episode, mainly in his dealings with the gangster who Kaz lost a bet to in darts last episode.
- I mentioned that Hasbro announced Resistance figures in my previous review, including a cool, new, mysterious character named Sanyra San (Nazneen Contractor). She makes her first appearance in “The Triple Dark,” flying alongside pirate leader Kragan Gorr (Gary Anthony Williams), though she’s not properly introduced yet. Her character was described as a salvager by Hasbro, so either she’s helping out the pirates, breaks off from them in the future, or Hasbro was hiding her true role. We’ll see as the series unfolds, but this aspect makes me even more intrigued about Sanyra San.
- After Rebels frequently reused character designs, especially for background/minor characters as way to save money, it’s been refreshing to see such a great variety in alien/character designs in Resistance. From all of Team Fireball and Team Aces, Orka and Flix in ‘Acquisitions,’ to the various patrons of the Colossus seen in passing, the gangsters harassing Kaz, and lastly these new pirates, such a great variety really flesh out the show and make it feel like part of the greater galaxy. I wonder if the anime inspired design/animation of Resistance costs a little less than Rebels and that’s why they are able to introduce so many new characters, but no matter what it is, I’m happy it’s happening.
- Resistance has both the Resistance Rewind and Bucket’s List as recap/BTS shows after each episode, though there will be no Rebels Recon-level of recap show (via ClubJade). The only reason neither of those recap shows are available, including the episode guide, for “Triple Dark” is due to the fact this episode hasn’t “aired” yet. Alongside the premiere and the third episode, “Fuel for the Fire,” “Triple Dark” was made available to stream on the same day as the premiere, so the recap shows/guide won’t go live until Monday, 10/15, the day after it officially airs (which I’ll update here once they do!). The episode guide is up, and some details include that Tam’s red patch signifies the highest level of mechanic expertise.
Star Wars Resistance’s “The Triple Dark” doesn’t shy away from answering an important question from the premiere: is Kaz actually cut out for this mission or not? The answer is not quite yet, but he makes strides forward…and so does the show with him.
+ Dealing with Kaz’s unpreparedness
+ Pirates and the First Order’s protection racketeering plans
+ Making it clear how Kaz’s actions can harm Team Fireball if he isn’t more careful
– A little too many coincidences
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. 1.4: “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