Star Wars Resistance Series Finale Review: “The Escape”

– Spoiler Review –

Star Wars Resistance crosses the finish line as First Order intelligence finally learns the location of the fueling station and surprising choices are made on both sides of the war! Join me as I review the series finale of Resistance, “The Escape!”

At it’s core, I think I’m happy to describe Resistance as a show that carries core Star Wars values, distilled to their smallest forms, presented in the most simple ways. This episode perfectly encapsulates this concept, as I will explain through this review!

In the beginning of the episode, the First Order has returned to Aeos. Commander Pyre, angry that they had recently aided the Resistance, and in the past aided the Rebellion, decides that it is time to finally punish them for working against the First Order. We watch as the First Order launches an orbital bombardment on Aeos Prime, destroying the group of Aeosians that we had met back in “The New World.” Tam and Rucklin have an argument: weren’t they innocent? Rucklin argues that they weren’t, considering that they were aiding the Resistance. I think this episode finally helped me connect what Rucklin was doing: he was the First Order proxy, explaining how and why they functioned to us, the audience. Tam was the voice of reason in the First Order, but now she has been pushed so far. Generally, her entry in the First Order was predicated on feelings of betrayal and anger, but aside from the first episode of the season, we never see her truly committed to the First Order ideals. Her belief wavers throughout the season, first because she misses home and loses her identity in the First Order, but then she starts to see the evils of the regime. Despite Venisa’s best efforts, Tam stays in the First Order longer than she might have wanted. Seeing the destruction of the unarmed Resistance ships and now the destruction of the Aeosians is too much: she’s ready to go home.

Tam quickly sets up a coded transmission to the Colossus, summoning anyone who would have her back to Castillon so she could meet up with them. She re-programs a Mouse Droid and steals her comlink from Tierny’s office to do so, making it impossible to come back to the First Order if she had tried. Thankfully, her transmission is interpreted by Neeku whilst he, Kaz, and Yeager reminisce about the good old days with Tam before she had joined the First Order. This mission tugs on their heartstrings, and after convincing Captain Doza, they travel to Castillon to pick her up. I had mentioned above the distilled Star Wars values that imbue the show? Here’s one: the constant, unwavering support of your friends, even when they make bad choices. Kaz and Yeager (unfortunately, without Neeku) go to meet Tam, hoping that they are not walking into a trap. Despite a somewhat rocky meeting, where tensions run somewhat high, Yeager and Kaz are happy to have her back, and welcome her back to the station. (And, I think, so is the audience: unfortunately, this is the last episode, so we don’t have a lot of time with her.)

As Yeager, Kaz, Tam, and CB start to pull back from Castillon, they are greeted by Pyre’s Star Destroyer. Unable to escape, as they are caught in a tractor beam, the quad tries to come up with a plan to escape, maybe using Yeager’s skills from his time in the Rebellion or using Tam’s First Order training to find a way to escape the ship. They do manage to run around the ship, mostly evading capture, but in the end, Rucklin is able to find out where the Colossus is currently located and the quad are captured. Thankfully, Kaz and Tam are able to send a message to the Colossus, warning them that they are in danger. So, not only are the four on the Star Destroyer in danger, and have to fight, but now the Colossus has to make a choice: do we stand and fight, or do we run?

This leads to a long committee meeting, led by Doza, as he convinces the entirety of the Colossus to make the same choice he did: stand and fight, or, if they’d rather, continue running from the First Order forever. The crew is initially wary of fighting the First Order (something that seems completely understandable, but we’re never asked to be sympathetic to the view), but after hearing from Kaz and Tam, they are convinced to fight. This is another core Star Wars theme: even the most average people of the galaxy can make the choice to be brave and stand against even the darkest of evil forces. As the Star Destroyer makes its approach to the Colossus, the crew prepares to fight. The past handful of episodes have all been focused on different parties making the choice to stand against the First Order, and it’s a great way to end the series. In a galaxy wrecked by war, hard choices have to be made, and staying home may not be an option.

So, as Kaz, Tam, Yeager, and CB try to escape the First Order Star Destroyer, the Colossus stands ready to fight against the First Order. In The Rise of Skywalker, we see a similar concept: Lando gathers the people of the galaxy to fight against the Final Order over Exegol. Resistance provides an interesting contrast: rather than finding a fleet of ships waiting for them, the Colossus stands alone to fight evil. But even though it’s a single, solitary station, it houses hundreds who would use their special skills to combat the stormtroopers who are boarding their ship. This gives it almost a little more emotional resonance than the People’s Fleet over Exegol did, as we know who we are watching fight the First Order, whereas the People’s Fleet was mostly made up of non-descript ships. And, let me also point out that Resistance has been showcasing the space battles that have been lacking in movies lately. Even if this one is more straightforward (no Hammerhead corvettes shoving Star Destroyers together, no Holdo maneuvers), it’s still entertaining to see.

We now see the final Star Wars theme distilled through the show: it’s never too late to make the choice to fight for good. Tam and the others escape the Star Destroyer as it explodes, destroying the First Order officers who had chased them. Even the bigger named villains don’t survive: Tierny is subjected to the wrath of Kylo Ren, Pyre is defeated in combat by Kaz(!), and Rucklin presumably explodes with the ship. Tam is welcomed back to the ship with open arms, even going to Aunt Z’s cantina dressed as a First Order TIE pilot! While I wish we had a chance to see her get acclimated to the ship again, I was happy that she was home. All in all, this episode served as a solid episode, a good ending to a mixed season, an entertaining conclusion to a series that never quite grabbed my full attention.

(You might be wondering about the plethora of side stories and loose ends, whether or not they were tied up. You might also wonder what I thought of the whole season, with lots of filler. One might also wonder if this leads up to The Rise of Skywalker or not. You’ll have to stay tuned at the Manor to read those thoughts, when we feature my thoughts on season 2 as a whole.

+ Tam is home!
+ The crew of the Colossus standing to fight carries great emotional resonance.
+ Favorite secondary characters get one more chance to shine.
+ Star Wars themes are distilled into easily digestible chunks, reminding us of the core lessons of the saga.

You can follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisWerms, and of course, you can follow the Manor on Twitter @MynockManor!

STAR WARS RESISTANCE REVIEWS:

Star Wars Resistance Series Finale Review: “The Escape”

+ Tam is home!

+ The crew of the Colossus standing to fight carries great emotional resonance.

+ Favorite secondary characters get one more chance to shine.

+ Star Wars themes are distilled into easily digestible chunks, reminding us of the core lessons of the saga.

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