Jacinto and Jung-jae are carrying this show hard. They should've been the sole leads. Jacinto in particular has really impressed me with his dramatic depths, particularly in this episode. He's been straddled with some truly wretched monologues, but his delivery makes them sound cool.
On the whole, the first two thirds are the best 20 minutes of the show thus far, and arguably the best non-Andor SW tv. Not particularly a fan of how some of the mechanics of Jacinto's armor works, but the action was incredibly well choreographed. The writing is still very bad, but this is the first time in a while I've genuinely been surprised with choices made. The reveal of Darth Bortles was obvious, but him killing Hot Jedi and X-23 was not something I expected, so I applaud them for that especially since these deaths seem like they'll be committed to.
The worst characters of the show continue to be the leads. Osha and Mae suck. None of the choices they make have any rhyme or reason. I don't want to say anything overly negative about Stenberg because she's clearly trying, but she just either doesn't have the range to elevate the awful dialogue she's given, or she's being directed in such a boringly stilted way.
Considering the dramatic heights this episode reached, it really felt like a conclusion that is being extended for no good reason. These next three episodes better be good because as of now it seems like they're just useless fluff to get back to where we just were before Team Rocket blasted off.
