I've had a mixed relationship with Star Wars as of late. The Book Of Boba Fett was the first Star Wars thing that I actively hated, not just being a disjointed paper-thin mess of a show on its own merits but by relying so heavily on hollow fanservice, CGI recreations of iconic characters, and a willingness to evolve and experiment. I really wasn't all that excited about Kenobi as a result. The focus on another legacy character, more scenes on Tatooine, another standalone miniseries with only six episodes. But hey, it's Star Wars, I was always going to watch it. And regardless of how it turns out, I don't think you can get much worse than Boba's show.
Part I: This... was actually a solid premiere. It's pretty slow-paced, lacking in action, and focused on setting the stage for the series ahead, but I honestly don't have too many problems with it. Compared to BoBF's pilot, this episode feels far more focused and simple. No useless flashbacks, the cast is quickly and efficiently introduced, and Kenobi goes through what is essentially the start of a classic Hero's Journey. Given how BoBF as well as most of the MCU shows, despite having the same episode count, try to do too much and have to rush the finales, I really like how simple Kenobi has been so far. Ewan McGregor hasn't quite had the chance to show his stuff yet, Kenobi mostly did a lot of ruminating and introspection so far, but I do really like Vivien Lyra Blair as Young Leia. The fact that she captures Leia's wit pretty much perfectly shows that Disney really should prioritize recasting over digitally recreating its characters. I also like how quickly this show did away with Tatooine. Like 33% of this episode took place in Alderaan, and Kenobi already heads off by the end, it's so refreshing coming after BoBF. Deborah Chow's direction is really solid, especially that great long take at the beginning that shows Disney is somehow still able to make Order 66 feel fresh. She helps sell this show's surprisingly dark and oppressive tone (not just the fake dark of BoBF), so moments like Leia's kidnapping and Nari's death are given the gravity they deserve. I don't have too much else to say here, it's a fine start to Kenobi, but still the opening act. Hopefully, things get more interesting in Part II.
Part II: So... this episode is actually really good? Like leagues better than anything BoBF did including the Mando episode. It's fun and exciting and genuinely creative, and I actually really enjoyed it. The whole episode takes place on a grimy Blade Runner-esque planet called Daiyu, as Kenobi breaks Leia out and tries to evade the Inquisitors. Now that Kenobi is actually in action again, Ewan McGregor's charm is really starting to show again, and his dynamic with Young Leia is immensely entertaining. Look, Grogu's great and all, but you have a much wider range of interactions when the child character can actually speak and banter. Since it's almost entirely a chase scene, Part II is just full of fun and memorable setpieces, all made possible by how cool of a planet Daiyu is. We have a scammer who pretends to be a Jedi, Kenobi sneaking into a chem lab, several fun hand-to-hand fight scenes, a crazy rooftop chase, the Grand Inquisitor dying, and our first shot of Darth Vader. But even with all that, we still get some great slower moments like Kenobi using the force again, telling Leia about Padme, and learning that Anakin is alive (amazing acting from McGregor there). And best of all, with everything that happens in this episode, the storyline remains simple and the pacing remains steady. It just feels like a genuinely fun adventure and I was really missing that from BoBF. I may just be way too burned by most of Disney+'s offerings as of late, but it's just so nice to see Kenobi tell an actually cohesive story with good pacing, let's hope it keeps this up!
Part III: Coming after the pretty crazy Part II, this episode was a bit slower-paced, at least at first. The empire defector Tala is a cool character and a pretty sick idea, but aside from her debut, there wasn't too much to the first two-thirds of Part III. But then Darth Vader came in, and things got pretty interesting. I've become a bit disillusioned towards the infamous "Vader hallway scene" as of late for fanservice reasons, but I do like how his appearance here continued the trend of portraying Vader as a horror villain, lurking in the shadows. He's a real savage here, toying with Kenobi for the whole fight just to make him suffer. As much as I love Vader in the original trilogy, I genuinely really like to see this more sadistic side of him. However, I feel like maybe the show rushed Vader showing up a bit. I was expecting (and kinda hoping for) Vader and Kenobi coming to blows in the finale, with all that build-up paying off in this big emotional confrontation. Not to say this encounter wasn't impactful, but I don't think it was as impactful as it should have. But hey, if it means we get three more episodes of brutal sadist Vader, I'm perfectly fine with this.
Part IV: Yeah, this one couldn't quite live up to Part II either. I feel like, if the MCU shows are any indication, it's just plain hard to pace out a six episode show. Part IV's main storyline was mostly just about Kenobi going on a rescue mission to save Leia, an already pretty common Star Wars trope, but it's not like the show does anything particularly new or interesting with the premise. Hell, it's not even like the location is original, Fortress Inquisitorius was ripped straight out of Jedi: Fallen Order! It all led to an episode that felt mostly by-the-numbers and dull, though still not without its good moments. Reva had the most screentime so far, which was appreciated given that I still hadn't really gotten the time to know her, and her interrogation with Leia was pretty good. Kenobi also had some tense moments when he was sneaking around. Unfortunately, a pretty big part of this episode was the Path, that group that Tala is a part of. The show never really fleshes out anyone there, including Tala herself, so when a member (Wade) dies near the end of the episode, my only reaction was just "Who?".
Part V: Part V was definitely one of the best episodes so far, but it really solidifed the fact that the Path is hands down the weakest thing about Kenobi. They're as standard of a "rebellion group" as you could get, and the show never gives you a reason to care about them making Vader and Reva's siege on their facility way less of a gut punch than it could have and should have been. Still, this was a pretty fun and fast-paced episode, with some of the strongest action so far, and I especially liked Reva's role in it. Her moments with Kenobi were pretty fantastic, as was her fight (more like curb-stomp) with Vader. It took the base behind Luke's fight in TLJ, in which a character effortlessly dodges lightsaber attacks, and gave it a more sinister spin. I also really liked how Part V finally started to push the plot into high gear, even if most of its "twists" were incredibly obvious. Like of course Reva was one of the children in that Order 66 opening, it couldn't be more predictable. Still, with the Path facility destroyed, several characters either dead or alive, and Reva learning about Luke, I can't say things haven't changed a lot by the end of this one. Oh right, and there were the Anakin flashbacks! Those were just meh to me. I get why they were there and it was nice to see Hayden Christensen acting well for once, but it still mostly felt like hollow fanservice. At least it wasn't as overwhelmingly important to the plot as Luke in Mando was.
Part VI: One thing that the Star Wars shows will always have above the MCU is that they know how to pull off a satisfying and rewarding finale. Part VI wasn't rushed, or underwhelming, or predictable to the point of being entirely unremarkable. Kenobi's final episode was the best one because it paid off pretty much every single one of its plot threads in a manner that felt earned. Obviously, the highlight of the episode was the long-awaited rematch between Kenobi and Vader. I'm one of the rare types that thinks the Disney era has the best lightsaber choreography (prequels are too fast, originals are too stilted), so I thought most of the fight was pretty great, though a bit on the dark side. But even more than the actual action, I love how their character arcs ended. I really like the idea of Vader still needing to get over his anger at Kenobi before he could become the Vader we know and love, and Kenobi coming to peace only to be rewarded with a Qui-Gon cameo was also fantastic. The only gripe I really have is Kenobi leaving Vader alive, I get why from a character perspective but Vader is one of the worst figures in the Empire and I think there's a lot of people that wouldn't have died in the time until A New Hope if Kenobi had killed him. I don't have too much to say outside of the main duo, but I do feel like everyone got a pretty satisfying ending here, particularly Reva and Leia.
Overall, Kenobi was mostly pretty average. There is a lot to like about it, such as the darker tone, the action, the core arcs of Kenobi and Reva, and its stronger episodes such as Part II and the finale, but I also feel like it wasn't able to explore a lot of its unique ideas, like Reva and Kenobi in a Fugitive-esque cat-and-mouse game, a more sadistic Vader who toys with Kenobi out of spite and anger, and the banter between Kenobi and young Leia. This was probably because of the show's short length (please Disney, stop making six-episode-long seasons!) and the decent amount of fairly generic and predictable elements like the Path, the plot twists in Part V, and pretty much all of Part IV. I still enjoyed Kenobi and it has a lot of treats for those who were fond of the prequels, but I just feel like it could've been better.
3/5 Stars
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