A tough choice ahead.
What They Say:
Ahsoka makes a deal to free the Martez sisters. As she executes her own plan for escape, Ahsoka discovers the identity of the mastermind behind the Pyke spice operation.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Though this arc hasn’t been thar barnburner that some had hoped for, I’ve definitely enjoyed getting some new time with Ahsoka at the start of her post-Jedi career and exploring events from this time. There’ve been some good moments to be sure in an otherwise straightforward arc with how the characters play out. The sisterly bond is facing some tension with how things are unfolding and both of them have really made problems throughout this with Ahsoka an easy one to focus blame on. With them now in Pyke’s hands and trying to figure out the best way out of this situation, it’s come down to the need to truly trust each other. Ahsoka makes it clear that they’ve all made this worse and now have to work together, and to trust Ahsoka.
With Ahsoka making a deal with the Pyke leadership that gets her to stay behind while the sisters head off – supposedly to get the spice that’s been hidden but was actually dumped – it gives Ahsoka a chance to focus on just herself at the moment while not protecting the other two. What’s amusing is that Rafa isn’t taking this as a get off-world for free kind of thing as she doesn’t intend to be shown up by Ahsoka. She’s intent on getting a new shipment of spice through some creative means, her usual bullshitting, and have Trace fly it back to Pyke in order to save Ahsoka. Ahsoka, however, is using her skills to find out more of what’s going on here with what the syndicate is up to. It’s definitely an interesting situation in how the syndicates are handling things with what the Republic is up to at this point, and the changes that are coming as the Empire rises, but getting to see how Maul is involved here just adds a really nice layer and segues into aspects of Solo in the future.
Like any good final act segment in the series over the years, there’s a good bit of action to be had, though it’s mixed with some stealth as well. It’s fun to watch as the sisters deal with some base level guys because even though you know there’s no real threat here, it’s no Jedi or really experienced people fighting so it has a bit more variety to it and a sense of danger as they scam for spice. Bringing everything together on Pyke is a bit fast and loose but it follows events as expected and as the Pyke guys had set up but allowed for the reveal of who Ahsoka really is. It’s a good sequence overall with the minor history overall but we also see how Trace is smart enough to use what’s in front of her to stay alive, even if it is a Jedi. The epilogue does wrap things up about as you’d expect, which is nice, but I love the little moment with Bo-Katan finally showing up and revealing herself after the shadowed moments. Bringing Maul as a common enemy between them, it sets into motion a potentially engaging piece for Ahsoka.
In Summary:
I’ll admit, I’m still happy they managed to get Katee Sackhoff even for what little dialogue she has here and in this arc overall since she’s got a character that I like and it ties in well with Maul based on past events. Though it’s easy to get more excited about where this goes rather than where we’ve been, this has been an important arc for Ahsoka to see how she and the Jedi were viewed from a different angle and the impact they had on people’s lives without realizing it at times. She’s still trying to find the right path for her and even in doing that she had to lie and obscure much of who she is and that never feels good. But this new path could lead her back to the Jedi and that alone scares her, even if we know it’s not where it takes her in the end. It’s not the greatest of arcs but it fills in a tiny nugget of a hole that I’m not complaining about.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Disney+
