- Title: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Part II
- wiki: link
In a twist from the Jedi looking after one twin to instead go save the other, “Part II” begins Obi-Wan‘s (Ewan McGregor) mission to save young Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) from her kidnappers. The second episode of the series hits some highs and lows before settling on the big reveal where Obi-Wan discovers his former apprentice is still alive. Before that we’ll get some random alien market backdrop, Kumail Nanjiani having some fun as a fake Jedi (yes, he’s fun, but can we agree he would been killed in three-seconds or less by any competent Inquisitor?), and several supposedly smart characters continuing to make bonehead decisions against their own self-interest. Oh, and we get the dumbest smart kid ever introduced to the Star Wars universe who continues to make her rescue far more difficult than it needs to be. I know they are working from a basic formula at this point, but not every Star Wars property needs a cute kid.
While the entire Empire is after the Jedi, the focus stays on Third Sister (Moses Ingram) as the main bloodhound here, even going so far as to murder another of the Inquisitors creating one hell of continuity issue as the show pulls the characters of the Inquisitors from canon of Star Wars Rebels only to completely ignore how/when a character such as the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) who already has a death scene (and even events following that death) on the show he was created for. So… apparently death no longer matters? Maybe Obi-Wan and Leia will get knocked off in this series too? Because nothing here matters in relation to other Star Wars properties? Say what you want about the original Expanded Star Wars Universe, but the care taken to make sure everything fit together in a cohesive whole avoided exactly these kinds of problems over a much wider and complicated variation of stories than are necessary to keep straight here.
Even aside from continuity problems in using them, the less-interesting, and far-less dangerous, Inquisitors are a problem in this new live-action incarnation. While Ingram is fine in the role an obsessive member of their order (and certainly doesn’t deserve the racist attacks towards her), it’s the writing of the paper-thin character that doesn’t work for me. Throwing in the show’s complete disrespect for the continuity only compounds the problem. Speaking of continuity issues, anyone else think it’s weird that Leia’s heartfelt plea to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars mentioned him working for her father rather than her make use of her close personal relationship with the Jedi who saved her life? I don’t know, but don’t you think that might be something worth bringing up when trying to enlist his help in saving the galaxy?
