Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV Reviews

  • REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Episode 5 Shows the Power of the Longform Narrative

    REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Episode 5 Shows the Power of the Longform Narrative

    As Loki nears the completion of its second season, it continues to stand as the nonpareil of what Marvel Studios television was initially intended to be and should endeavor to continue to be. Thanks in no small measure to the continued brilliance of Tom Hiddleston, the show continues, in modern parlance, to slap, slay and dish out weekly bangers. While it’s illogical, even preposterous, premise all but guarantees it’s not for everybody, Loki continues to embrace its place as a true sci-fi show and seems with each passing episode to submerge further into those depths. To that end, it’s no surprise that Season 2’s fifth episode, “Science/Fiction” turned out not only to be the most convoluted and nonsensical entry to date but also one of the series’ best and maybe one of Marvel Studios’ best episodic efforts.

    As the penultimate episode of Season 2, “Science Fiction” does what penultimate episodes do. It makes real the consequences of the season’s ongoing concerns about the stability of the Temporal Loom which finally gave out in Episode 4’s cliffhanger. The destruction of the Loom, which refines raw time into the timelines where people live their lives, resulted in both the destruction of the TVA and, as revealed in Episode 5, the destruction of those timelines. When the Loom isn’t Looming, entire realities and their inhabitants are reduced to spaghetti, something that not even Sylvie, the colder-hearted Loki Variant, can abide. The loss of the Temporal Loom also puts Loki back in a familiar predicament as his time-slipping, thought to have been remedied in the season’s first episode, resumes albeit with an interesting twist as he bops about to different realities where familiar faces from the TVA are living their lives. By episode’s end and with the help of Ke Huy Quan’s A.D. Doug, PhD, Loki is empowered to control time-slipping, creates a bare-bones TVA and puts himself on the path to make an effort to save all of reality in the Season 2 finale. Job well done.

    (L-R): Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Owen Wilson as Mobius, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Eugene Cordero as Casey, and Ke Huy Quan as O.B. in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

    However, as part of Marvel’s longest longform episodic narrative to date, “Science/Fiction” serves as a linchpin not only for Season 2 but for the series as a whole. Season 2 head writer Eric Martin’s presence as a key contributor to Season 1 allowed for continuity of the creatives behind the series which means that the big ideas from the first six episodes are far from forgotten. Indeed, “Science/Fiction” may have just put Loki and Sylvie right in the same boat in which they found themselves when they met He Who Remains in the Citadel at the End of Time. In that meeting, He Who Remains offered the pair the power to be curators of the Sacred Timeline as his replacement as the man behind the curtain of the TVA. By assembling an all-new, all-different team and learning to slip time at will, Loki has put himself in position to prevent the destruction of the TVA (man, the time wimey stuff here is so fun–and painful–to think through) and, with no leadership left to speak of, take control. Take a bow, Al Ewing, as Loki is about to become the God of Stories.

    There is, however, one fairly large question left to ponder as we wait for Episode 6: is Loki really writing this or any other story? Should Loki end up in charge of the TVA, isn’t that right where He Who Remains wanted him? Of course, as the God of Stories, Loki may somehow find a way to use Victor Timely’s Multiplier to allow the newly branched timelines to continue on but if not, if the decision is made keep all of reality intact by refining time back into the Sacred Timeline, won’t He Who Remains have accomplished exactly what he wanted? While he’s not the most trustworthy narrator, He Who Remains made it very clear that he was the architect of Loki’s existence and it was through his machinations that Loki ended up in the Citadel in the first place. As this Variant of Loki who has come so far on his road to redemption finally finds himself on the precipice of becoming the hero of all time, always, would Marvel Studios dare take his agency from him and reveal that he’s simply been He Who Remains marionette all along? With one episode left to go, it looks like we’ll all find out together just how much of this story has truly been written for Loki and how much has been written by him.

  • REVIEW: ‘Invincible’ Season 2

    REVIEW: ‘Invincible’ Season 2

    In a market increasingly filled with comic book adaptations, there truly is nothing quite like Amazon’s Invincible. Like Robert Kirkman‘s long-running comic book, the turbulent first season of Invincible took unsuspecting audiences by surprise and was almost universally well-received, something that’s just about impossible given the present climate around comic book-based media. Over two and a half years after Season 1’s debut, the first half of Season 2 is set to premiere on Amazon on Friday, November 3rd and the four episodes that comprise it are every bit as riotous, unrestrained and sublime as the hit first season.

    While the savage and sanguinary nature of the superhero action depicted in the series attracts the lion’s share of attention, it’s hardly what makes Invincible great. Another Amazon superhero series, The Boys, is equally disruptive in that regard and is even more jarring in its live-action depiction of just how brutal superheroes can be when they unleash the true depths of their powers. Rather what truly sets Invincible apart and keeps it on top through the first four episodes of Season 2 is its ability to make the audience succumb to its pathos. That’s a consequence, of course, of having one of the most sympathetic and relatable main characters in the genre in Mark Grayson. As is the case with Peter Parker–a hero to whom Invincible is often compared and even teamed up with once–there’s as much time spent on Grayson’s everyday dilemmas as there is his time in the suit.

    What truly makes it work is the fact that there’s so much overlap between the two. While Season 2 is absolutely loaded (almost bloated) with new plot elements, the first four episodes take place in the wake of Mark’s battle with his father, Nolan, aka Omni-Man. The revelation of Nolan’s true nature took as much, if not more, of a toll on Mark’s life as their fight did on Chicago. The sophomore season tracks Mark as he tries to re-anchor himself in his personal life while being pulled exponentially harder into the void as Earth’s savior that was created by his father’s disappearance. Gone, not forgotten and destined to return, Nolan has a major presence in the second season even before he’s seen on screen.

    Further excavation and exploration of just why Invincible continues to work so well when other adaptations often fall short of expectations present an interesting possibility for other studios to consider. While it’s not a perfect one-to-one page-to-screen adaptation of the comics, Amazon’s Invincible is far more direct than any of the recent works presented by the competition. That’s almost certainly a result of having Kirkman, who created the character in 2003 and has curated him now for over two decades, deeply involved in the development of the series. While it’s not a hard and fast rule, nobody loves and understands characters quite like the people who created them. Kirkman’s role in overseeing the translation of the comic into the animated series has ensured that any changes made to the source material are in line with who the characters were intended to be. While it’s a show full of violence, gore and things you may wish you’d never seen, the love and care taken to develop, produce and present Invincible as an animated adventure gush forth in every episode.

    If there’s anything to bemoan in the first part of Season 2 it’s that for as wonderful of a job as it does continuing Mark’s story and the story of the stories of the supporting cast, it also feels just a bit too busy. Interestingly enough, it’s Invincible’s coherence to comic book conventions that create that quandary. With plans for a third season already established, some of the screentime in Season 2 is spent introducing characters–I’m looking at you, Angstrom Levy–who played a role in the 144 issues of Kirkman’s comic but don’t really have much of a role in THIS season…at least so far. Truth be told, there’s no mountain to be made out of this molehill and most fans who aren’t familiar with the comics will likely forget about the characters and subplots entirely until they need to Google or rewatch episodes in order to remember.

    Every bit as frenetic and enjoyable as its first season, Invincible Season 2 looks to be a can’t-miss/must-see for fans of the genre. From the animation style reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons like Inspector Gadget and Transformers to the inclusion of iconic voice talents such as Mark Hamill and Peter Cullen, ’80s kid Kirkman is having a blast bringing his comic series to the screen and it shows.

  • REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episode 1

    REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episode 1

    In the wake of the widely panned Secret Invasion and the shuffling of Echo into 2024 and Ironheart into who knows when, Marvel Studios’ hopes for streaming success in 2023 rest squarely on the shoulders of the second season of Loki. While it’s foolish to judge an entire series by its first episode, if “Ouroboros” is any indication of what to expect this season from the creative team of writer Eric Martin and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who previously teamed up with Marvel Studios on Moon Knight, Marvel may be able to rest easy.

    “Ouroboros” comes out of the gate swinging. Opening in the moments immediately after the Season 1 cliffhanger, the episode quickly dismisses the most prevalent fan theory about where Loki ended up when Sylvie kicked him through the time door. Whereas the belief was that Loki was transported to an alternate TVA, the first quarter of the episode establishes that he has in fact been transported to the same TVA in the past…and what an interesting past it was. By grotesquely “time slipping”, Loki learns that He Who Remains once openly ruled the TVA before installing the Time Keepers and slipping away to the Citadel at the End of Time. Taken in concert with the recent revelations that all TVA employees are Variants who were ripped from their lives, the very foundations upon which they believed the TVA stood are now entirely reframed as the implications of He Who Remains’ actions become crystal clear. These people’s minds have been wiped repeatedly in the service of the TVA and anything and everything they think they know about themselves is just a fraction of their actual lives.

    Once the episode moves forward under those implications, finding a solution to Loki’s time slipping becomes the central focus of the episode. Finding a solution to that problem leads Mobius and Loki to one of the second season’s key new members in Ke Hey Quan’s Ouroboros. The march to find OB, the TVA’s resident tech guru, not only allows for an exploration of some of the unseen nooks and crannies of the TVA but also time for the series’ marquee characters, Loki and Mobius, to shine. Much of the success of Season 1 came from the chemistry between the two and even under the direction of a new creative team, the pair continues to cook. Tom Hiddleston continues to be so wonderfully charismatic and catalytic as Loki which means that it’s nearly impossible for him to share an awkward scene with anyone and so as funny as his scenes with Owen Wilson continue to be, his split-time scenes with Quan’s OB are equally brilliant. By working together, Loki and OB come up with a solution to Loki’s issue but in attempting to solve that issue, the larger mystery of Season 2 is revealed.

    Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

     In pursuit of curing Loki’s time slipping, OB discovers that the Time Loom, an object which he explains is used to refine raw time into physical timelines, has been overloaded as time broke free following the death of He Who Remains. The second half of the episode ends up being some of the MCU’s best hardcore sci-fi to date as it attempts to address the madness erupting in the multiverse. The back half is full of imaginative set designs and mumbo jumbo jargon (a dial on the ceiling keeps track of the chronons being emitted per hour) that allow for the audience to have some footing in what’s actually taking place. Sci-fi, time travel and mulitversality have never been for everyone but the writing team, lead by Martin, did an admirable job of making it palatable and as relatable as possible under the circumstances.

    While “Ouroboros” solves Loki’s time slipping issue and resolves the Season 1 cliffhanger, it ends on one itself. In the absence of Ravonna Rennslayer, the headless TVA is now subject to the whims of an interesting group of folks led by General (Paradox), Judge Gamble and another fellow with all the energy of Ray Winstone’s Dreykov. Just as Loki is pulled back from the time stream, several brigades of Hunters are seen taking off through a series of time doors into the newly created branches in search of Sylvie. While her location is unveiled in the show’s post-credit scene, the actions of these Hunters and are sure to have some pretty heady consequences for the show and set up one of two ongoing plot points for the season.

    Though in many ways it feels like more of the same (great writing, great characters and timey-wimey mysteries), the opening episode of Season 2 also gives the MCU something brand new. While Loki’s glorious purpose, established over a decade ago in the MCU’s timeline, seems like old news to the audience, it’s important to remember that this Loki Variant was plucked from 2012 where he only very recently attempted to kill the Avengers and sought to rule all of humanity. “Ouroboros” give this Loki room to grow into a new glorious purpose: becoming the hero of all time. From the moment he first appears on screen, Hiddleston plays the part with a distinct desperation we’ve never really seen. Even in the Season 1 finale, there was some hesitancy to become the hero but now, having been Lokied by another Loki, this Loki now seems fully committed to an all-new, all-different path. And maybe, just maybe, the sun will shine on Loki and his brother again at the end of it. If you thought there wasn’t room for more Loki in your life, “Ouroboros” did its level best to make you think twice and set up one hell of a first two-thirds of a season of streaming TV at its best. In an increasingly entropic MCU, Season 2 of Loki seeks to return order and remind us all what’s always been so great about this shared universe.

  • REVIEW: The Season Finale of ‘Ahsoka’

    REVIEW: The Season Finale of ‘Ahsoka’

    With a dense eighth and final episode directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the first season of Ahsoka has come and gone; however, much like seasons of its animated prequel series, Star Wars Rebels, just as much as–if not more than–was left in limbo for the next adventure as was resolved. In many ways, “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord” feels much like the second acts in each of the Star Wars trilogies (Attack of the Clones, The Empire Strikes Back and The Last Jedi). Tough choices are made, heroes are separated and there’s a strong sense the bad guys won though a glimmer of hope remains. And so perhaps, given creator Dave Filoni’s deep understanding of the style, structure and rhythm of Star Wars, Ahsoka will eventually be seen as the second act of the New Republic era of stories that Filoni and Jon Favreau have been crafting for Disney Plus and which will eventually culminate in an as yet undated theatrical release. However, as is true about nearly every Star Wars project, its place in the even larger narrative is incredibly relevant as well.

    Taken as a complete series, Ahsoka seems to fill three roles. It serves–potentially equally but certainly simultaneously–as a sequel to Star Wars Rebels, the second act of the New Republic era of stories and a prequel to the sequel trilogy or, at the very least, the Rise of the First Order. Set around 11 ABY, Ahsoka takes place roughly 10 years after the events of Star Wars Rebels and, coincidentally, roughly 10 years before the establishment of The First Order which makes the series–and perhaps the character–the fulcrum on which the fate of the galaxy pivots. Given its equidistance (and there’s no way any of that is coincidental) between the before and the after, it was requisite that it service both the before and the after and the finale did just that. Thus the Talzin Sword, the Mortis gods, Morai and any other Rebels callbacks were just as front and center as Thrawn’s next step in becoming heir to the Empire, the open-endedness of what awaits Ahsoka, Sabine, Baylan and Shin on Peridea and any other foreshadowing of the next story in the New Republic timeline. So just as The Empire Strikes Back is the second act of the original trilogy and the original trilogy is the second act of the Skywalker Saga, Ahsoka finds itself as the second act of a second act because as begun by George Lucas and continued by Filoni, Star Wars stories will always fit a role in a familiar pattern.

    (L-R): Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Huyang (David Tennant) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved

    Despite falling into that pattern and feeling very much like the Star Wars fans around Filoni’s age grew up with, Ahsoka also feels like something brand new and all its own. The finale continued Filoni’s career-long crusade to expand the nature of the Force. Sabine finally tapped into the Force (is it stronger there than in the “home” galaxy?), Thrawn and the Great Mothers set a course for Dathomir (what exactly is in that cargo hold?) and Baylan’s last scene teased a potentially monumental deep dive into the origins of the Force through a further exploration of The Ones (is Peridiea where they left The Mother when they went to Mortis?). It also left Sabine, Ahsoka, Baylan and Shin in a galaxy far, far away from THE galaxy far, far away allowing for the potential for stories (past, present and future) to be set there. In that way, and taken as a whole, Ahsoka feels expansive both within the framework created by Lucas and outside of that same framework where it seems Filoni is becoming more comfortable carving his own path. And just as it seems the right path for Ahsoka–as the appearance of Morai indicate–to explore Peridea and all its strange unknonws, it seems the right path for Filoni, as well.

    As the finale of an eight-episode season, “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord” did plenty to resolve what was unquestionably the biggest question: will Ezra get home? He did and got to wear his favorite disguise in doing so; however, given Ezra’s eturn went hand-in-hand with the inevitable return of the Heir to the Empire and where the galaxy is bound to end up in a decade, his happy reunion with Hera and Chopper will certainly be short-lived. But Ahsoka’s role in the larger narrative, while still to be fully realized, is clearly greater than one season’s worth of stories but if the first season is any measure of what to expect from more, fans should be excited. If, in fact, Ahsoka is the fulcrum upon which the fate of the galaxy pivots, the finale just tipped the scales: up is headed down and down is headed up and balance will be elusive if not impossible for everyone along for the ride…including you.

  • REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episodes 1-4

    REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episodes 1-4

    Though it’s undoubtedly at least partially revisionist, Marvel Studios has a history of success that seems strongly weighted by the Infinity Saga. The internet is full of talking heads who will tell you that following Avengers: Endgame, the MCU just hasn’t been the same and that the quality of the projects, both theatrical and streaming, has fallen off drastically. 2023 has added fuel to the fire with projects such as Ant-Man: Quantumania and Secret Invasion failing to impress the majority of fans–and even fewer critics–leading to an even louder refrain of “The MCU is dead” than ever before. Leave it to the ultimate agent of chaos and the most entropic entry in the Multiverse Saga to date to restore order to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The God of Mischief has heard your concerns and Season 2 of Loki answers them authoritatively.

    Picking up directly where Season 1 left off, Loki quickly reframes what fans thought happened in the prior season’s cliffhanger and puts Loki up against the clock. As the MCU builds towards an adaptation of Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars, the first episode–and then again the first four–certainly have the feel of the Time Runs Out prelude Hickman weaved through his Avengers and New Avengers titles. While Season 2 of Loki is certainly no adaptation of those–indeed it seems not to be an adaptation of any particular comic run or set of stories but rather an original idea from the production/writing team of Michael Waldron and Eric Martin–the first four episodes are fast-paced, intense and make it very clear that time is running out for all time. Getting down to brass tacks, the premise of Season 2 is this: the death of He Who Remains has created a multiverse that the TVA simply is not prepared to manage.

    (L-R): Ke Huy Quan as O.B., Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

    Starting with but certainly not limited to that premise, it’s amazing just how often these first four episodes of Season 2 of Loki work as an allegory for the criticisms faced by Marvel Studios. As He Who Remains’ death allowed the timeline to break free and grow into something far too large and chaotic for the TVA to handle, so has the Multiverse Saga opened the doors to criticism about Kevin Feige and co. potentially adopting a quantity over quality approach with, at one point, 8 projects planned in a calendar year. The technological MacGuffin of the first four episodes, a Multiplier that allows the Temporal Loom to be able to collar and manage the new timelines, provides the impetus for Loki and Mobius to take a trip through time and allows for the introduction of Jonathan Majors‘ Victor Timely. As the buddy cop duo sets off to find a Variant of the man who built the TVA to restore it to its rightful status as a timespace behemoth, so has Bob Iger returned from retirement with a renewed focus on curating and managing projects and characters amid jeers that there’s simply too much content for fans to consume. And as an all-new, all-different Loki is mocked, reminded that he’s a villain, not a hero, and told to stick to what he’s always done, so too do the critics hammer away at Marvel Studios for breaking away from the “Marvel formula.” Much as the future of Marvel Studios seems up for grabs, the first four episodes of Loki’s second season end with a truly shocking cliffhanger that will leave fans suspended in uncertainty…but not before a return to form and a reminder of what these streaming series should be.

    Like its predecessor, Season 2 of Loki allows Tom Hiddleston all the room in the Multiverse to explore the nooks and crannies of the title character. Hiddleston has filled the godly shoes for well over a decade now and as easy as it might be to question what else there might be left to do with Loki, the first four episodes–and Hiddleston’s continued brilliance in the role–provide plenty of answers. Keeping in mind that this particular Variant of Loki, Variant L1130, was created when he escaped with the Tesseract in the aftermath of the 2012 Battle of New York during a botched effort by the Avengers during their time heist, allows the audience to truly see the realtime (sort of, since it technically takes place out of time) evolution of the character. Not far removed from seeking to subjugate all of humanity, Loki now seeks glorious purpose in keeping them free and, as such, Hiddleston finds space for an empathic Loki who recognizes the true beauty and power of humanity–a truly heroic version of the character, though thanks to some fun plot devices is able to get back to some fun magical mischief.

    (L-R): Owen Wilson as Mobius and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth Gatrell. © 2023 MARVEL.

    However, Season 2 is not simply the Tom Hiddleston show. So much of what made Season 1 work so well was the chemistry between Hiddleston and his co-stars, specifically Owen Wilson and Sophia Di Martino and, thankfully, a new creative team did nothing to change that. The Loki-Mobius dynamic is just as strong as always and the fractured relationship between Loki and Sylvie allows for an even deeper exploration of both characters. The brilliant addition of Ke Huy Quan as TVA tech guru Ouroboros will rightfully draw plenty of praise as Quan is an absolute joy in his surprisingly extended role; however, don’t underestimate Rafael Cassl’s saucy X-5/Brad Wolfe who ebbs and flows throughout the first four episodes as an agent of chaos in his own right. Majors‘ brings a definite strangeness to Victor Timely, who isn’t exactly what you think he might be and returners Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Tara Strong all get more to do to the benefit of the project as a whole.

    As is always the case with pre-release screenings of Marvel Studios projects, critics and press have not seen the whole series which makes a true analysis of Season 2 of Loki impossible. Simply put, no matter how entertaining the first four episodes are, if the last two drop the ball, the project won’t be seen as a success and that’s not something Marvel Studios can afford at the moment. However, what can be said is that for four episodes, Marvel Studios leaned on one of their strongest and most veteran talents to put together what is unquestionably their best effort–theatrical or cinematic–not only of 2023 but of the entire Multiverse Saga. A combination of strong creative work behind the scenes by writer Eric Martin and the directing duo of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson and an enormously talented cast make Loki a fun sci-fi mystery that will fill the Void-sized void you may have been feeling.

  • REVIEW: Reunion and Separation in the Midst of “Dreams and Madness”

    REVIEW: Reunion and Separation in the Midst of “Dreams and Madness”

    For every way that Ahsoka has felt very, very Star Wars-y, there continues to be the personal touch that creator Dave Filoni has always put on his work for Lucasfilm. And so, while Episode 7, “Dreams and Madness” has plenty of lightsaber fights, space scenes, a touching reunion between friends and even a cameo from everyone’s favorite protocol droid, it once again gives us something new to think about hope we see come to fruition at some point.

    There’s no questioning that Baylan Skoll, played magnificently by the late Ray Stevenson, has quickly ascended the hierarchy of very impressive characters created and curated by Filoni. In case you missed the declaration, he’s no Jedi but as we’ve learned through his relationship with his apprentice, Shin Hati, and their ongoing mission in the service of Morgan Elsbeth, he’s no Sith either. Skoll is rather a pretty damn enlightened Force user who saw the Jedi order for what it was: a wonderful idea that fell to pieces as the galaxy changed around it. Skoll wants something “more” and he has eaten a lot of shit from some pretty evil people in order to get to the far reaches of ANOTHER galaxy to find it and now, with whatever it is he seeks just outside of his reach, he imparts one last piece of wisdom to Shin and abruptly bails on Elsbeth and Grand Admiral Thrawn. For as long as we’ve seen the Master/Apprentice relationship in Star Wars (and if you’ve watched Filoni’s animated series, that’s a lot), we’ve NEVER seen something remotely similar to what Skoll just pulled here…and it is fascinating. Is he displeased with Shin? Has he taught her everything he thinks he can? Whatever this man wants on Peridea, it was worth losing everything to find.

    Balancing out the separation of Baylan and Hati is the reunion of Ahsoka with her apprentice, Sabine, and, of course, with Ezra. While it takes all of the episode’s run time to get there, Ahsoka’s warm embrace of Ezra feels incredibly authentic and wonderfully earned. It’s hard to remember sometimes that much of Star Wars has always centered around wonderful friendships and this warm and fuzzy moment reminds us just how important to their survival these friendships have been. Sooner or later, however, Ahsoka and Sabine are going to have to come clean with Ezra…

    Speaking of coming clean, with–as Thrawn points out–time working against the trio of heroes how long will it be before one of more of Ezra’s secrets will come to light. As fans of Rebels may remember, Ezra has quite an interesting history with Dathomiri folks and owes a debt to the Nightsisters. His being on their ancestral home of Peridea simply cannot be a coincidence. It’s possible, no matter how terrifying, that he and Baylan could be on a collision course and Ezra’s bill may just come due.

  • REVIEW: “Far, Far Away” Provides Some Calm Before the Storm

    REVIEW: “Far, Far Away” Provides Some Calm Before the Storm

    Episode 6 of Ahsoka, “Far, Far Away” left fans feeling pretty fantastic…and we should all have a bad feeling about that. Dating back to his work on Star Wars Rebels, Dave Filoni has occasionally chosen to end seasons of his series with two-part blockbusters. Those blockbusters, however, don’t typically go well for the heroes and often leave things unresolved until the two-part premiere of the next season. With only two episodes left in the first season (to be directed by Geeta Vasant and Rick Famuyiwa, respectively) of Ahsoka, things are trending in that direction again.

    With most of the action taking place on Peridea, “Far, Far Away” gave us the first Star Wars story set outside of the galaxy far, far away we’ve all come to know and love and that means, to some extent, all bets are off. No matter what you think you know about Star Wars, things are likely to be a little different in this new galaxy. And indeed despite intentionally layering in some of the familiar Star Wars tropes like marauders reminiscent of Tusken Raiders and horseshoe crabs who dress like Jiminy Cricket reminiscent of Jawas, Ewoks or whichever strange species you want to compare them to, something just ain’t quite right on Peridea. Revealed to be the ancestral home of the Nightsisters of Dathomir–a group of witches who have already been well-established to view and use the Force quite differently than groups like the Jedi or Sith–Peridea, as explained by Baylan Skoll, is a place of great and terrifying power. “Far, Far Away” reveals just the tip of that iceberg as any further exploration of it takes a back seat to the reunion of Sabine and Ezra and the return of Thrawn. However, as wonderful as Ezra looks sporting a beard reminiscent of his father’s, as perfect as Lars Mikkelsen is bringing his Thrawn to live-action and as terrifying as Thrawn’s Chimaera full of some interesting-looking Stormtroopers is, Ahsoka isn’t done with Peridea just yet.

    Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    First and foremost, it’s made very clear that Ahsoka and Huyang–who may have been revealed to be the narrator of every Star Wars story we’ve ever been told–are indeed on their way to Peridea thanks to the Purrgil. Ironically enough, while Sabine and Ezra are entirely unaware that Ahsoka is on her way, Thrawn is, as Thrawn does, preparing for the possibility of her throwing a monkey wrench into his long-gestating plans. The Grand Admiral has already indicated that he’s low on troops and it now seems only a matter of time before Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati face off with the reunited, Ahsoka, Sabine and Ezra, who could do quite a bit of damage to the Heir to the Empire’s plans.

    And so it seems that “Far, Far Away”, while a very neat episode of the ongoing Filoni-verse narrative in its own right, is the calm before a very nasty storm and likely the conclusion “second act” of the New Republic era of stories. Though the cavalry, in the form of Ahsoka, is coming to Peridea, there’s almost certainly nothing she can do to prevent Thrawn and his minions from making the jump back to the galaxy from whence they came. Expect, as is often the case in Filoni’s stories, for the heroes to suffer–and perhaps even die–as they fight valiantly against the evil Empire. While Filoni has done a masterful job of putting his own spin on Star Wars, specifically the Force, he still loves to follow the path laid out by George Lucas and the master storytellers from whom he drew inspiration. So, if Ahsoka is the end of the second act of a larger story–in the way that Attack of the Clones, The Empire Strikes Back and The Last Jedi were in their corresponding trilogies–the next two episodes are going to hurt.

  • REVIEW: ‘Ahsoka’ Episode 4 is the Star Wars You’re Looking For

    REVIEW: ‘Ahsoka’ Episode 4 is the Star Wars You’re Looking For

    Marrok theories be damned, Episode 4 of Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars streaming series, Ahsoka, provided just about everything a fan of the franchise could hope to see in 40 minutes or less. Wonderfully choreographed lightsaber duels, heroes doing what’s right instead of what’s easy, an homage to the samurai films that inspired the franchise, complex villains and the sort of twists that have largely been missing from some of the more recent theatrical efforts combine to make “Fallen Jedi” a very entertaining,–and tantalizing–end to the first half of the first season of Ahsoka.

    Without counting minutes, it seemed as though half or more of the episode was spent watching warriors clash their lightsabers against the beautiful backdrop of Seatos with each battle carrying its own weight. Though fairly quickly dispatched by Ahsoka, the mysterious Marrok slowed the former Jedi down and ultimately separated her from Sabine (when are these guys going to learn to listen to Huyang??). Better prepared and fully armored, Sabine was able to survive her rematch with Shin by relying on her training as a Mandalorian though the extended duel kept her from having her master’s back. It’s Ahsoka’s battle with Ray Stevenson’s fascinating Baylan Skoll, however, that deserves the attention.

    (L-R): Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    Clearly deeply connected to the Force, Baylan is the type of non-traditional villain that the franchise has been missing. While he’s no Jedi, he’s a man who though he’s lost his religion still holds on to some of the tenets of the faith. He serves the will of his benefactor–for now–but harbors no ill will for neither Ahsoka nor Sabine though as indicated in his first appearance, he also won’t hesitate to take on whatever challenge is presented to him. Though his own agenda is yet to be defined, he seems far to complex of a character to simply be serving Morgan and his past seems far too interesting to simply have him killed off quickly. Though Ahsoka and Sabine are the series’ leads, creator Dave Filoni certainly hit a home run with Baylan.

    And finally, no discussion of the episode would be complete without addressing Ahsoka’s surprising return to the World Between Worlds. While the nature of how she arrived there remains a mystery, her presence there–and the presence of her former master–is a promise of a whopper of a next episode. Knowing that Filoni was behind the camera for next week’s Part Five only makes the week-long wait more tantalizing. Ahsoka has been part “what happened” since Rebels and part “unfinished business” and it now seems that Ahsoka may just find herself in the same scenario she talked Ezra out of when he hoped to use the World Between Worlds to save Kanan.

    Ahsoka has quickly become “must see TV” for Star Wars fans because it, like Star Wars Rebels before it, draws on what made the first three films so memorable; however, Filoni has proven capable of not just rhyming with the fun beats of the original trilogy but also adding to the mythology. While Tony Gilroy’s Andor stands as a shining example of how to make a Star Wars show that’s not very Star Wars, for fans of the original trilogy (and don’t ever forget that’s exactly who Filoni is) Ahsoka is the Star Wars you’re looking for.

  • REVIEW: ‘Ahsoka’ Gives Its Characters Time to Develop in “Time to Fly”

    REVIEW: ‘Ahsoka’ Gives Its Characters Time to Develop in “Time to Fly”

    Patient storytelling is becoming a staple as Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s New Republic era of stories continues to unfold on the small screen. While the urge for all action all the time is undoubtedly present, the creative teams behind the Mandoverse properties continue to follow the way of the Jedi and the latest episode of Ahsoka, “Time to Fly”, is another example of their patience.

    Picking up right where the two-episode premiere left off, “Time to Fly” opens with Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang tracking the warp drive transported off of Corellia in “Toil and Trouble.” However, instead of having the heroes hop out of hyperspace and enter into battle with Morgan Elsbeth and her band of Force-wielding mercenaries, Filoni and director Steph Green (who also directed episode 2) wisely invest some time into the master and apprentice relationship between Ahsoka and Sabine. Additionally, through Huyang–voiced the wonderfully talented David Tennant–a clear picture of Sabine’s not-seen-onscreen struggles to become a Jedi is painted. Meanwhile, as Hera plays politics with Chancellor Mon Mothma and some New Republic talking heads only to get stonewalled, the stunning failures of the new system to be any better than the old system continue to pile up.

    (L-R): Huyang (David Tennant) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    And so while it was 20 minutes into a 35-minute episode before any big action took place (and that was a very fun dogfight), seeds have been sown that will certainly pay off not only over the course of the remaining episodes of Ahsoka but also over longerform narrative taking place in the Mandoverse. Unfortunately, that’s a fairly tough sell that’s further complicated by the fact that not everyone watching Ahsoka is incredibly well-versed in the preexisting relationships between the Star Wars Rebels characters. That having been said, enough exposition and work is being done to do most of the heavy lifting for the uninitiated audience even if they don’t quite know why Jacen Syndulla is a much better candidate for being a Jedi than Sabine.

    Asking the audience to be patient for the third episode of an eight-episode series shouldn’t be asking too much, especially since it seems all the pieces have been put into place for the Peter Ramsey-helmed Episode 4 to be bursting at the seams with action and lore before Filoni resumes directing duties in Episode 5. With most of the major players having converged on Seatos, it looks as though that Baylan vs. Ahsoka lightsaber duel is right around the corner…but what of Sabine’s second chance with Baylan’s Dark Padawan? The seeds were all smartly planted. Patience, you must have.

  • REVIEW: Dave Filoni Proves to Be the Heir to the Empire in ‘Ahsoka’

    REVIEW: Dave Filoni Proves to Be the Heir to the Empire in ‘Ahsoka’

    The Filoni Ascendancy has begun. Following the sequel era of Star Wars films–an era seemingly plagued by the lack of long-term planning as to how the trilogy would unfold–fans of the franchise hoped desperately that someone would come forward and take control of whatever it was that Star Wars was to become. With the debut of Ahsoka, the next installment in Dave Filoni‘s New Republic era of stories, there’s no longer any question about who should have dominion over the franchise.

    The master and apprentice relationship is as foundational to Star Wars as nearly any other aspect. The Jedi and the Sith, for all their differences, are both beholden to the tradition of taking on apprentices, and, for quite some time, it’s been pretty clear that Dave Filoni was, in almost every way, the apprentice of George Lucas. Filoni worked closely with Lucas as he created two of Lucasfilm’s most widely beloved projects in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. And, over time, it became clear that more than maybe anyone else who had worked on Star Wars projects, Filoni truly understood what made Star Wars tick. Not EVERY episode of those series was perfect but they resonated with fans so well because they were longform narratives that more deeply explored the things fans so dearly love about Star Wars. When he made the jump to live-action with The Mandalorian, Filoni brought many of those characters with him and as he continued to dig into what Star Wars was, it started to seem as though he was coming to understand it better for himself. And again, not every choice was perfect and not every episode was for everyone but his passion for the material was built into everything he created or helped create. With Ahsoka, it seems clear that the learner has become a master.

    (L-R): Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) in Lucasfilm’s AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    Appropriately enough, Part One of Ahsoka is titled “Master and Apprentice.” That title is equal parts appropriate to the relationship between Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren, the relationship between Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati and Filoni’s ascendancy from apprentice to master. There’s no small irony that Filoni has staked his claim as heir to the empire in a series that will seemingly begin an adaptation of Timothy Zahn‘s beloved Thrawn novel nor is it a coincidence that Filoni’s best work to date comes with Ahsoka Tano at its center. Ahsoka is not only Filoni’s most popular creation but also the one he seems to have taken the greatest care in curating over the years. Much like wielding the Force, directing takes not only talent, but training, and is best done when the director is calm, at peace and feel the flow. Reuniting her with the cast of Star Wars Rebels has seemingly put Filoni at ease and the result–at least through the first two episodes–is peak Star Wars.

    Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    From a storytelling standpoint, Ahsoka acts and feels like a fairly straightforward continuation of the overarching plot of Star Wars Rebels. While those who haven’t watched the animated series can quickly be caught up to speed, there are enough Easter eggs, nods, references, call backs and appearances packed into the first two episodes to make devoted Rebels fans feel rewarded. Filoni’s growth within his craft as a director is evident here as he continues experimenting with shot choices and finds wonderful ways to bring familiar locations like the road to Lothal and the Communication Tower into live-action. However, it’s not only when he’s playing around with familiar characters in familiar locations that he’s at his best.

    In the past, Filoni has made it clear that many of the action sequences in Star Wars Rebels took inspiration from the Indiana Jones films and he doesn’t hesitate to go to that well again in Ahsoka. One of the opening episode’s most beautiful sequences finds Rosario Dawson’s former Jedi tomb raiding during a scene wonderfully reminiscent of Indy’s Well of Souls expedition. Paired with the very A New Hope-inspired introduction to Ray Stevenson‘s Baylan Skoll and Ivanna Sakhno’s spicy Shin Hati, Filoni demonstrates an ability to by homage to what’s come before without stealing or making it too rhymey, which was a common complaint among fans during the sequel trilogy. Imitation and creation. And Filoni is getting very, very adept at pairing those two tools to great effect.

    (Center): Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) with with New Republic Security Guards in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    It’s not all about familiarity in Ahsoka, though, as the series–specifically in the second episode directed by Steph Green–looks as though it will continue the New Republic narrative that’s so far been spun in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. “Toil and Trouble” calls back to The Mandalorian’s revelation that Imperial Loyalists have infiltrated all levels of the New Republic and that today’s good guys were probably just yesterday’s bad guys. Thematically, the episode examines the postulate of horror vacui that’s been building in the Filoni-verse series and–with a bit of shocking twist–reveals Morgan Elsbeth’s true nature and her plan to retrieve Grand Admiral Thrawn and install him atop the New Empire. By the end of the shorter second episode, it seems clear that Ahsoka is destined to be a convergence point of “what came before and what’s really possible” in the Star Wars universe, just as Filoni explained it would be.

    And just what might really be possible moving forward as Filoni grows in confidence and ability as a director is a thrilling mix of everything we always loved about Star Wars set on a new and fertile narrative landscape. The first two episodes hint strongly at Ahsoka taking the audience on a journey not only to new places but to new interpretations of long-held beliefs about the way things work in the galaxy far, far away and that’s exactly what the franchise will require to stay alive and well.