Best episode of the series, enjoyed it for the most part... but damn, what a missed opportunity with the whole show. I think Chow became better as it went-- the back half is certainly stronger than the front-- but it's just not up to the quality something like this should have. Could also really, really feel that this was a film script that was broken up and extended.
Laughed/cringed at Roken and Haja's very unearned moments in this.
Lil Leia was way too much in the first two eps, but from the third on they found the right balance for her and was pretty fun.
The Grand Inquisitor was terrible in all ways, look, performance, use in the plot etc.
Loved Owen and Beru defending themselves. And IMO they successfully threaded the needle of having Luke in danger without revealing too much to him.
The fight was really enjoyable, really liked a lot of the moves, was great finally seeing the Force actually integrated it into combat more than usual (and I choose to consciously ignore the whole "should Obi-Wan be able to do that" thing).
McGregor, Christensen and Chow all did great in their final interaction, loved the look of the shattered mask and fluctuating voice. But in terms of the story of the scene... they're not actually saying anything NEW here. I mean, at a basic level it's--
"The boy you trained, gone is he. Consumed by Darth Vader." = "You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker... I did."
"I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you/Then you are lost!" = "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Anakin... for all of it/Then my friend is truly dead."
Palps cameo... I think the make-up's been weird on him from RotS onward simply because McDiarmid is older (was quite young in RotJ) and the prosthetics just sit on his face differently etc. But that dialogue... "I wonder if you're clear on this" sounds like a line manager talking about an upcoming project rather than a dark lord of the universe.
Qui-Gon's cameo was so pointless and weirdly executed on top of that. Should have been before the fight, Obi wondering if Qui-Gon was wrong about Ani or if he himself just botched it, insights into how he should approach confronting him next... hell, just about the nature of the Force and destiny etc since Qui-Gon surely now has a new perspective on things... Just something other than "Took you long enough! Alright come on follow me and my weird beard".
Reva's character in the end... Though it's a fairly rote and predictable arc, I think it would have worked really well with good execution. Unfortunately, the issues with the wring, direction and acting just leave it as... bleh.
On the whole... yeah, not a lot new was uncovered here. Some fun beats and definitely flashes of what could have been, but a lot of wrong turns were taken at fundamental levels.
