Parts I and II (Spoiler Thread)

[BlackFox]

Solid start to the series and a bit more even footed and consistent in its first two episodes compared to BoBF, I have a few issues with the bad guys and killing one of them off (apparently?) so early seems a little strange when we have barely got to know them but Ewan is holding the whole thing together in a way Oscar Issac did with Moon Knight so I am ejoying it for that as he is in 80% of the scenes so far.

Its also nice to see a different part of the universe, more seedy and underbelly than the usual sands of tattoine all the time.

I do have some issues with the concept of the show anyway but that was before it even came out and doesnt really effect the quality of this but the whole thing of Obi-wan being so closely linked to Luke and Leia and involved now in their childhood makes it seem like the start of ANH is a little wonky in terms of timelines. I guess knowing where every character has to be at the end of this makes the tension a little shallow. Little Leia gets captured by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but there's no stakes as we know she will be fine. Its the whole problem of doing all these in between shows to fit in with movies in a weird out of order thing. Star Wars keeps feeling its boxed in, in these types of things, it just cant shake the Skywalkers. Star Wars Vision's remains the best Disney+ show so far for this universe for me because of it. Anyway perhaps thats a different discussion for a different time.

I shall just enjoy Ewan's performance and at only 6 episodes will come and go pretty fast.

 

[Michael Frost]

Ok, saw the first two episodes. Rant time. Ewan, as always is a solid actor doing a lot without that much to work with. But lets get nitpicky on the cartoonish level of contrivances, inconsistencies and weird choices they made:

Episode 1

• Kenobi is living half a meter away from civilization in Tatooine and is regularly walking around people there. Apparently, civilization gets visited by the Empire's Gestapo on the lookout for a Jedi around based on mere rumours - what are you doing near so many people that can ID you?
  
• Kenobi looks like RotS Kenobi (the one they have on in-world pictures and records) albeit with slightly longer hair. I don't understand this creative decision at all. If I was in hiding but had to keep being part of society, I'd at least make an effort to change my appearance as much as possible from the last known pictures of me.. At least have him sport graying hair and shave his beard... Hell, be bold and have him go full Trainspotting - anything would be better than just Clark Kenting it...
  
• Kenobi was able to be found by a random Jedi in the desert without much hassle. Doesn't this shout PROBLEM to us, as an audience who are expected to believe he's managed to succeed living a full life for 10 years there?
  
• Reva, a character who is actively looking for Kenobi, can't seem to come up with a better plan than to kidnap a Senator's child in hopes he magically appears to save her. Turns out the most basic "have you seen this man?", followed by a picture of him would have done the trick there.
  
• Reva, as a character, is shouty and felt very one note. Not sure if this is a directing or acting problem but it felt prequel level bad.
• Narrative-wise, it's plausible that Leia would be the only thing that would make Kenobi leave Tatooine but, godamn Bail, at least exaust your 10 other options before resorting to Kenobi? Bounty hunters, royal guard, anything... I know they address it by saying "why not this or this?" with the spectacular answer of "because we're in a Kenobi show". I could imagine the Pitch Meetings guy having a field day with this...

Episode 2
As soon as they stepped in the Blade Runner planet, the show instantly got dumber. Felt like we went straight into Clone Wars cartoon levels of logic:

• Kenobi openly trusts a guy who he saw conning a family 5 minutes ago.. In his own words - "Wait a minute, how did this happen? We're smarter than this.."
  
• Kenobi regularly walks around without a disguise and simply "acts sneaky" by pulling his hood closer to his face (only drawing further attention to him IMO)
• To add insult over injury, they actually finally get decent disguises to exit the building they were keeping Leia in.. only to exit it and go "come in here, we have to change" and go back to LOOKING LIKE THE GODAMN JEDI THEY ARE ON THE HUNT FOR - NOW WITH ACTUAL LITERAL PICTURES BEING DISTRIBUTED AROUND
• Kenobi stops by a market to get a disguise for Leia - a green coat. Wow. Much stealth, such incognito. Not to mention that he's still out in the open wearing his Jedi robes, saber on his hilt and "acting sneaky".
• Naturally, he gets spotted by a couple hunters (too few IMO given the plain sight evening stroll he just took), followed by a ridiculous chase after a running away Leia (more attention on them), which leads him to a rooftop shootout. During the rooftop shootout he's apparently pinned behind cover and Leia continues to want to escape but he acts like he can't leave his position because he'll get shot - of course, as soon as Leia gets in danger, he forgets this, turns his back to the ACTIVE SHOOTERS and has a very dramatic scene while bounty hunters stop firing at him. Very considerate of them.
  
• He uses the Force in a moment that, isolated, is cool and has actual dramatic development for both of them as characters. They take their slow time to talk it out and walk - except we were in a tense situation 5 minutes ago where they were running from and being chased/shot at by half the city, now with even more random civilians witnessing his Force use too. Again, not a bad moment in principle but terrible execution.
  
• Reva, who has been portrayed so far as an impulsive and very aggressive Inquisitor who was shown having no problem dismembering a random civilian "just because", is interrupted and is made to waste time by Kumail Nanjiani's character. Naturally, she mind-reads him and leaves him be, sparing him. Considerate of her. Here's my *shrug* at this plot armor.
  
• Reva, a low level Inquisitor is privy to the fact that Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader. Granted, this might be explained later (given the show's opening scene with the younglings I'd say that it's a given) with her being in the Jedi Temple during Anakin's betrayal but still.. It's not clear how common knowledge this is and why she would throw it around.
  
• Reva and the Grand Inquisitor bickering about who gets to capture Kenobi was cartoony and incompetent... Specially if he's so important to the Empire - capture him first, bicker and duel about who gets to take him after? Felt like lazy writing.

I wanted to like this show and I was really interested in Deborah Chow's vision since she directed important Mandalorian episodes. But after these 2 episodes, Im thoroughly frustrated with this series. Premise-wise it's fine but the execution has me pulling my hair.

Will I continue to watch it? Sure. Am I eating the hype? Not really... It feels like prequel-level writing to me, we deserved way better.

 

[Astro13Zombie]

It took me a couple days to actually finish episode but I finally did it.
I don’t wanna bring a bunch of negativity into this thread but I just wanna say that I cannot ****ing stand Reva
She’s such a dumb character and the girl playing her is awful. I fell like I need to look away whenever she’s on screen.
“Obiiiii waaaaaaaaan”
Yikes

 

[Blade Hoarder]

I don’t blame the actor. The direction is just awful.

 

[Sithborg]

So, the name of the kid the con man sends to Corellia is Corran...

 

[Gaultheria]

The Inquisitors are an interesting take on the Dark Side. They’re brutal, but their motivation seems to be order rather than ambition. I get the impression that they truly believe their methods are the best way for them to serve society. I can see how former Jedi might choose that path when their old methods didn’t work, and why they’d resent someone like Reva who sets personal gain over the greater good.

 

[Michael Frost]

It took me a couple days to actually finish episode but I finally did it.
I don’t wanna bring a bunch of negativity into this thread but I just wanna say that I cannot ****ing stand Reva
She’s such a dumb character and the girl playing her is awful. I fell like I need to look away whenever she’s on screen.
“Obiiiii waaaaaaaaan”
Yikes

Hear, hear. Not sure if it's an acting choice problem or a directing problem but it's prequels-level cringe.

 

[Perfect Cell]

The Inquisitors are an interesting take on the Dark Side. They’re brutal, but their motivation seems to be order rather than ambition. I get the impression that they truly believe their methods are the best way for them to serve society. I can see how former Jedi might choose that path when their old methods didn’t work, and why they’d resent someone like Reva who sets personal gain over the greater good.

Yeah, that's been an interesting little wrinkle with this series so far. That Reva is the "loose cannon of the force", and the other Inquisitors are constantly trying to reign her in. It's almost strange seeing a Dark Side user like the Grand Inquisitor prevent someone from getting killed or harmed, but he's constantly holding Reva back from taking things a step further. It could make sense that they have remnants of their old lives and a twisted sense of morality or justice. Especially since they're not Sith, and don't explicitly follow that ideology.

 

[Sithborg]

It makes sense, given the Inquisitors don't view her very highly. They hold her back because they view her as their subordinate, and don't want her to get any credit in Vader's or the Emperor's eyes. The Grand Inquisitor was absolutely going to take the credit for Kenobi's capture. I do enjoy that little competitive edge the Inquisitors have with each other over kills.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

The episode started, and I was watching with my daughter, and that opening shot I jokingLy shouted “Younglings! Run, Anakin might be coming!” And then, the Clones stormed in two seconds later and I died laughing.

 

[Yellow Cyclone]

what's going on with the volume tech

it was pretty good in mando, but here's it's blatantly obvious/any green screening as well, especially darker scenes aka most of the entire 2nd episode

i expect better production values tbh, it's really detracting, then you start to notice other things

really makes me think how things might have been rushed vs the original scripts/writing

 

[Sithborg]

I think we are seeing the limitations of the tech. It can be very good when used well, but we are getting to the point where the creators are running headlong into its limitations.

The very obvious line between extras and the screen is getting real obvious to my eye.

 

[Boom]

The writing is kinda bleh and Reva is not a good villain.

Hope it picks up. Mediocre start though.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Okay; I have a few questions for people who know this stuff a little better than I do.

So… Vader knows Leia is his daughter and knows exactly where she is. We can presume this because Reva refers to her as his daughter. But if I remember correctly, in ROTJ, Vader only realizes he has a daughter during the final light saber duel when he reads Luke’s mind (“If you cannot be turned, maybe she will” or something like that). So he just… forgot?

I haven’t watched any of the animated stuff but the Grand Inquisitor is an important character isn’t he? And doesn’t his death come way later? So I guess this is a different continuity then? I guess he could still be alive but that would be kinda cheap. Then again, Maul survived being cut in half lol.

Overall, I enjoyed these episodes for the most part. It’s great to finally have a SW show with a character who shows his face AND is a charismatic lead. It’s amazing what Ewan can do with this role when he doesn’t have a George Lucas Inhibitor Chip dulling all of his acting abilities.

But some stuff just feels unintentionally silly. I love the Chili Peppers but I still can’t take Flea seriously, at least not in a role like this. And Leia seems WAY too chill for a small child who has just been kidnapped. It annoys me when they do this with children in movies and TV shows; they can’t resist making kids quippy and cute when they should be scared out of their wits or at least have some awareness of the gravity of their situations.

But at least we got off of Tattooine for a little while. Hopefully we won’t be headed right back there in the next episode.

 

[Deck Rickard]

So, you are telling me Third Sister is 20?

Hey, in this universe, Boba Fett (at the time of his TV series) is only in his early 40s. I guess people just age really fast in Star Wars.

 

[Sithborg]

Okay; I have a few questions for people who know this stuff a little better than I do.

So… Vader knows Leia is his daughter and knows exactly where she is. We can presume this because Reva refers to her as his daughter. But if I remember correctly, in ROTJ, Vader only realizes he has a daughter during the final light sabre duel when he reads Luke’s mind (“If you cannot be turned, maybe she will” or something like that). So he just… forgot?

I haven’t watched any of the animated stuff but the Grand Inquisitor is an important character isn’t he? And doesn’t his death come way later? So I guess this is a different continuity then? I guess he could still be alive but that would be kinda cheap. Then again, Maul survived being cut in half lol.

Overall, I enjoyed these episodes for the most part. It’s great to finally have a SW show with a character who shows his face AND is a charismatic lead. It’s amazing what Ewan can do with this role when he doesn’t have a George Lucas Inhibitor Chip dulling all of his acting abilities.

But some stuff just feels unintentionally silly. I love the Chili Peppers but I still can’t take Flea seriously, at least not in a role like this. And Leia seems WAY too chill for a small child who has just been kidnapped. It annoys me when they do this with children in movies and TV shows; they can’t resist making kids quippy and cute when they should be scared out of their wits or at least have some awareness of the gravity of their situations.

But at least we got off of Tattooine for a little while. Hopefully we won’t be headed right back there in the next episode.

Reva doesn't know Leia is Anakin's daughter. She just knows that she is Organa's daughter, and she found evidence of Bail and Obi-wan working together during the Clone Wars. She assumed that he would go to Obi-wan for help if his daughter was kidnapped. My only real issue in this scenario is that there are at least 2 other people Bail was in contact with that would be well trusted to save Leia, even if they did not know the secret. And if they found out, could still be trusted. Though, I get it for story reasons, just a minor bug to me.

Much like Cobb Vanth, I just assume the Grand Inquisitor isn't dead.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Reva doesn't know Leia is Anakin's daughter. She just knows that she is Organa's daughter, and she found evidence of Bail and Obi-wan working together during the Clone Wars. She assumed that he would go to Obi-wan for help if his daughter was kidnapped. My only real issue in this scenario is that there are at least 2 other people Bail was in contact with that would be well trusted to save Leia, even if they did not know the secret. And if they found out, could still be trusted. Though, I get it for story reasons, just a minor bug to me.

Much like Cobb Vanth, I just assume the Grand Inquisitor isn't dead.

Oh okay. I must have misunderstood when she said that; I thought she was talking about Vader.

Yeah, the Grand Inquisitor needs to survive or else he was a pretty useless bad guy here. Not once but TWICE his public dressing down of Reva allowed a Jedi to get away.

Speaking of which, I’m really glad that one Jedi died in the first episode. I can’t believe, with all the resources that Disney has, they couldn’t find a better actor. That dude was straight up terrible.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Much like Cobb Vanth, I just assume the Grand Inquisitor isn't dead.

Spoiler

He's the main villain in season 1 of Rebels which takes place several years later, where he was actually a pretty damn good villain

 

[misjuevos]

So how does Kenobi protect Luke if he doesn't have his weapon, or practice the force anymore? All he has to do is keep meditating to keep his power up. We really only saw Yoda or Mace meditating and never do any physical training. Yoda especially we would see fight mostly with the force. So you could say all you really need is the force and not a lightsaber. But Kenobi does neither.

 

[Gaultheria]

Speaking of which, I’m really glad that one Jedi died in the first episode. I can’t believe, with all the resources that Disney has, they couldn’t find a better actor. That dude was straight up terrible.

I’m glad I’m not in show biz. I mean, I’ve watched Ahmed Best’s video about how "fan" backlash to Jar-Jar nearly drove him to suicide.

As for the performance in 1x01, that actor looks like he was playing the part of a youngling or a padawan who’d grown up with incomplete training. He wasn’t supposed to be a super-ninja.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I’m glad I’m not in show biz. I mean, I’ve watched Ahmed Best’s video about how "fan" backlash to Jar-Jar nearly drove him to suicide.

As for the performance in 1x01, that actor looks like he was playing the part of a youngling or a padawan who’d grown up with incomplete training. He wasn’t supposed to be a super-ninja.

Did I comment on his fighting skills or how the character was written? He came off like a guy who never acted before. That’s what I was referring to.

And it’s quite a jump to equate me criticizing his performance with toxic fans badgering Ahmed Best to the point that he became suicidal. I said I was glad the character was killed off. I don’t REALLY want anything bad to happen to the actor.

 

[Da-Scribe]

Benny Safdie ain’t that bad of an actor. Moses Ingram is also super talented. I actually liked her in ep 1, but ep 2 was rough. Feels like an issue with the direction. Like the show is almost laser focused on redeeming Ewan and Hayden so the other performances are kinda lacking. Eh, we’ll see how it all plays out.

 

[Drizzle]

Benny Safdie ain’t that bad of an actor. Moses Ingram is also super talented. I actually liked her in ep 1, but ep 2 was rough. Feels like an issue with the direction. Like the show is almost laser focused on redeeming Ewan and Hayden so the other performances are kinda lacking. Eh, we’ll see how it all plays out.

That man needs no redemption.

Sure, the prequels could have been better, but most people point to Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan as one of the best aspects about that trilogy.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Benny Safdie ain’t that bad of an actor. Moses Ingram is also super talented. I actually liked her in ep 1, but ep 2 was rough. Feels like an issue with the direction. Like the show is almost laser focused on redeeming Ewan and Hayden so the other performances are kinda lacking. Eh, we’ll see how it all plays out.

Yeah I was just listening to the DT review and I had no idea that Jedi was the guy who directed Good Time and Uncut Gems and starred in the former. Poor guy just needed better direction here.

 

[Gaultheria]

Did I comment on his fighting skills or how the character was written?

No, just on the actor. What about his performance seemed off to you?

I thought you might have meant the character's giddiness and lack of a ninja's silent stealth and stoicism when he met Obi-Wan, which some on this forum have criticized him for, and which I thought was in character for a young trainee who finally felt a surge of hope after ten years on the run.

And it’s quite a jump to equate me criticizing his performance with toxic fans badgering Ahmed Best to the point that he became suicidal. I said I was glad the character was killed off. I don’t REALLY want anything bad to happen to the actor.

Most critics by far of a performance don't want anything bad to happen to the performer, but many harsh comments heard together add up to something worse.