What They Say:
Fighter Flight – While on an errand, Ezra and Zeb steal an Imperial vehicle.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Early episodes of any series is largely about building up the basics of the characters and their connections and Star Wars is no exception. We get the pieces of Ezra learning a bit about himself and what he can do while also learning to be a member of the crew of the Ghost. This lets him be our eyes and ears to the crew and their connections and personalities, which isn’t a surprise but is done decently. What we’re mostly getting are some of the expected pieces of how this group will form tighter and stronger with Ezra on board. The last episode did some fun stuff in bringing Ezra and Zeb together in a better way, though they’re still not exactly best buds by any stretch of the imagination. That gives us some of the comic relief here as the two of them are like a couple of big kids in how they deal with each other.
Naturally, Hera forces a way for the two of them to spend time together by sending them to market to get things they need, but also to just get them off the ship with a bit of a wild goose chase for certain items. That item, a fruit called a meiloorun, doesn’t grow on Lothal but they luck into a case of them. A case that’s now the property of the Empire. So that gives them the incentive to get the item they need by any means possible, which includes a little Force attempt by Ezra that doesn’t quite work but shows he has some potential. Of course, it all has to go bigger and messier than it should when you get down to it, but putting Zeb and Ezra in the mix with Imperials just leads to such situations. How else to explain Zeb getting into trouble with some Imperials only to end up with him taking over a TIE fighter after tossing its officer out of it. His fun if flying one for the first time certainly has its moments that are almost TRON-like in how it plays out at first.
Not surprising, even though the two of them end up together in the TIE fighter, they don’t exactly get along well here, though it does even out some of their problems. The two can get along but it’s easier to just antagonize each other because they’re so alike. Having that play out with a few cute moments on board the Ghost as well, seeing Sabine and Hera as well as some fun with Kana helps to humanize the crew a bit more. The Imperial side of the show is still a little wonky for me in a way, but I like parts of it. There’s an inherent goofiness to part of it that’s hard to shake unfortunately. What we do get is fun with the TIE fighter, but I also loved seeing the old troop transports from the toy line that I don’t think was ever in the original movie. Having had that toy, seeing it gain a new life like this warms my silly fanboy heart. It does factor into the story decently enough and it provides for a bit more bonding for Ezra and Zeb as they have to pull off a rescue mission that means something to Ezra.
In Summary:
Ezra’s coming to understand his abilities is one of the focal points here as he’s starting to get the hang of the Force in some minor ways, but a start is a start. The other focal point is just giving us time with Ezra and Zeb together to try and work through their issues a bit, though it mostly seems to cause them to just get into more trouble together than anything else. Which certainly has its fun. But at the same time, I hope they move past the easy gags like this and onto something more interesting. For what the series is trying to do at this stage, it does it well in getting us to know the cast a bit more, a little more of their quirks while also firming up the relationships a touch. The big win for me though is the representation of the troop transports in here. That’s how you know they’re working the original trilogy material – and the toys – well. The show is finding its place and pacing and I’m curious to see where it’ll be in another dozen or so episodes when it hopefully starts working more interesting, longer arcs.
Grade: B+
