Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
Former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) embarks on a journey to find lost Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and prevent the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). The latest “Star Wars” show from the co-creator of “The Mandalorian” comes at a time when the franchise is in an odd spot. “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and season three of “The Mandalorian” all received mixed reviews due to weak stories and poor visuals, whereas season one of “Andor” was critically acclaimed across all fronts from both casual and hardcore “Star Wars” fans. With the negative trend of the shows that use the StageCraft, fans were cautiously excited for “Ahsoka” and eager to see how the original animated characters would translate to live action. After the premiere of season finale, the show is a step up from the previous “Mando-verse” shows, but is not without its flaws.
The biggest flaw in the show is easily its story structure. “Ahsoka” starts extremely slowly and is heavy with exposition in the first three episodes. This is mostly due to catching up viewers who did not watch “Star Wars: Rebels,” the animated TV show that Dave Filoni created nearly a decade ago. “Ahsoka” is essentially the live action sequel to that show, with the majority of the Ghost crew returning and the story picking up where “Rebels” left off. However, the show could have condensed this to two episodes at the most, leaving us with that extra time elsewhere in the season.
While definitely an improvement over the beginning, the ending feels fairly disappointing and oddly anti-climactic. Many of the storylines are left unfinished and on cliffhangers which would normally be fine, but the show was promoted as a mini-series and there is no confirmation as to whether or not there will be a second season. With the popularity of the show, it would be natural to assume a second season will happen, but current reports state that it is up in the air. Not only are there multiple cliffhangers, but the two storylines that are resolved are done in a lazy and ineffective manner. It largely felt as though this season was simply meant to set up future events, in both “The Mandalorian” movie and future shows.
With the two big negatives out of the way, we can now revel in just how much fun “Ahsoka” is. The characters, unsurprisingly, are a complete joy to watch on screen, especially if you are caught up on “Rebels” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” While they are not required viewing, it helps flesh them out tremendously and is more rewarding for the viewer. Dawson does an incredible job as Ahsoka and it is a lot of fun to watch her on screen again and see her growth in an uncertain period of her life. Nearly all of the characters from “Rebels” made their live action debut and their respective actors all portrayed the characters to a tee. Esfandi as Ezra is a particular standout, as he embodies the character so well and it is awesome to see the character back after so many years. Baylan Skoll, played by the late Ray Stevenson, is an extremely intriguing character with lots of potential. It will be interesting to see where they take the character with Stevenson’s unfortunate passing.
The live action debut that most people are talking about is Grand Admiral Thrawn. Making his first appearance in Timothy Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire” book in 1991, Thrawn has been a fan favorite due to his vast intelligence, military expertise and unique allegiance to his race. He made his canon debut in “Rebels” and Zahn wrote two trilogies, one with his time with the Empire and the other with his time with the Chiss, his race that are located in the Unknown Regions. Fans were ecstatic when he appeared in the first trailer and seeing Mikkelsen’s excellent performance is nothing less than a joy to watch. He will most likely be the villain of the entire “Mando-verse” and will be a formidable force to take down.
From a technical standpoint, “Ahsoka” is far ahead of its StageCraft predecessors, while not quite on the level of “Andor.” The visuals are crisp and everything looks believable for a sci-fi show, which could not be said for “The Book of Boba Fett” or “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” All of the lightsaber duels are top notch and are filled with Samurai techniques, mixed with the classic “Star Wars” twist. Even the cinematography is a step up from the standard camerawork of the Disney+ shows.
“Ahsoka” is obviously a must watch for every “Star Wars” fan, with lots of gratifying moments from previous shows and sets up future shows and movies very well. It is just disappointing that there was not more done in this isolated season one. With season four of “The Mandalorian” reportedly beginning to film this fall, we can hope that some of the storylines begin to be resolved and the bigger picture starts to be revealed.
Rating: 8/10
