Let there be space whales.
What They Say:
The Call – The crew works to protect space creatures from the Techno Union asteroid mining operation.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sometimes I feel like I need to step back with this series as some of the frustrations I have with it are still part and parcel of how serialized kids entertainment is done. I don’t watch the show through a gender lens but I grew up playing with the figures from both genders and had a lot of fun with it. So I get frustrated with the seemingly mediocre at best and usually underserved roles that Sabine and Hera get. The series is trying to do the whole ensemble thing but it really does focus on Ezra and Kanan more. So I wasn’t as miffed by the last episode where it let Zeb get some quality time because he’s been such a minimal character for most of this season and he’s been even more underserved than the women. When the show lets everyone work together with the missions it tends to work best, but I do want good standalone tales for each of them.
The opening premise of this episode has the team heading to a mining belt to find a refinery there that has a shipment that the Empire is coming to pick up. It’s more than enough fuel to keep Phoenix Squadron running for a full cycle and that’s beyond tempting. The problem is that they’re running very low on fuel themselves while trying to find it and they end up dealing with a group of space whales, er, purrgil, that are floating through the belt at the same time, creatures that Ezra is able to hear with their song that nobody else can – not even Kanan. The piece is good for Ezra as it show another instance of his growing abilities with the Force and also gives him something that separates him from Kanan a bit as everyone has their own specialties. Both of them do play well with the creatures her, especially compared to Hera as she just views them as a menace.
The purrgil are a bit of a help though as they, along with some mining guild TIE fighters, lead them towards the refinery itself. The refinery is definitely fairly well protected and with the limited resources of the team they’re not able to do a whole lot in their usual manner. The show goes for some expected angles when it comes to the clouzon cloud that the refinery works with when it comes to the purrgil, though I can’t bring myself to complain too much because it does work nicely. And I like that we get an actual aerial drop from the team alongside some purrgil to get to the refinery. Sometimes the majesty of space and its creatures is lost in the Star Wars storytelling in favor of the adventure itself, so simple moments like this with Ezra’s sense of wonder hits some good notes.
Seeing how the team improvises here as they discover bits and pieces of the truth about the purrgil is definitely a lot of fun since we get Kanan accepting what Ezra tells him about things. There’s a good growing trust between the two as Ezra becomes more attuned to the Force and that combined with the mildly deferential side of the rest of the team towards Kanan means that events can pivot as needed. Ezra may be coming across as too concerned about the purrgil, but it fits in with the whole connected aspect of the Force. Thankfully, we do get some good action scenes within it, especially with Kanan getting to use his lightsaber, and combining that with Ezra and Sabine against the mining crew has a very smooth feeling about it. The team has definitely grown together in how well they work with each other even when there are changes to the plan that Hera hasn’t approved. Hera’s still the least flexible of them all when it comes to the ensemble missions, unfortunately.
In Summary:
While the story in this episode of Star Wars Rebels doesn’t do much for me in general with the purrgil and their connected aspect, there is a lot that I like. The TIE fighters used here provide for a good bit of creativity in design and the action sequences are solid once it gets underway. The ensemble aspect of the cast mostly works well, though it’s no surprise that Zeb gets a reduced role after the last episode that focused on him, but I’m still miffed at how Hera gets treated. The nature of this episode allows for most of them to have solid interactions here while focusing on the trio of Ezra, Kanan and Sabine and even then narrowing it down to Ezra. It works well and keeps the episode fast paced and engaging.
Grade: B
