Well, we finally got there. An episode where Ahsoka gained agency, made decisions and took hold of the story. For me, this was the first episode this season I thoroughly enjoyed.
Not going to lie, the first time Anakin called her Snips? Big moment!
And was that Rex commending her on a job well done? I do believe it was!
I really liked what Hayden Christensen did with Anakin here. I know he’s a good actor (from roles besides Star Wars) but it’s nice to see him given the freedom to bring some subtlety to Anakin here.
Seeing Clone Wars outfits & hairstyles? Now I need a remake of Clone Wars as live action.
Loved the classic Chopper responses, where it’s not clear whether he’s swearing all the time or just mumbling.
Jacen’s force sensitivity played an important role, but was subtly done. But for Kanan & Hera’s son to play a role in saving Ahsoka? Great.
It was an episode of Ahsoka fully focused on Ahsoka, which was great. As much as I like seeing Sabine in action, this focus on Ahsoka is why we’re here—it’s in the show’s title and this week it was absolutely the focus of the show.
It seems like we’re moving into tighter plotting, with Hera now back to the fleet, our focus will be solely on this strange new galaxy. And we know what that means.
Thrawn.
(And hopefully Ezra)
The pacing issues with this season meant I still would’ve liked for us to get to this point two episodes ago, but let’s see what the final three episodes will bring. Where last week felt like a 6 / 10 for me, this one’s felt more like an 8 / 10. Good character work, subtle integrated callbacks, and a clear path forward into next week. Bring it on.
I thought Hayden melded aspects of Matt Lanter’s performance from TCW so well! It felt like he was both prequel Anakin and Clone Wars Anakin, delivering “snips” perfectly while also channeling his campy sith stare from Ep III.
Agreed! At first I wondered if they had mixed Lanter’s voice in there somewhere, to blend with Hayden’s during the initial transition. Don’t believe they did, but it was so nice to see a live version Anakin that wasn’t all petulant doom and gloom teenager. A bit of redemption for Christensen here too, which is well deserved in my opinion. The Obi-Wan show didn’t really give him much to work with, but this episode did a lot more.
Yeah I really enjoyed this episode. The live action clone wars bits got me so excited. Seeing Anakin in his clone wars armour was great. And when Ahsoka put her hand on the injured clone and he put his hand over hers, oh man.
I thought it was an exciting episode. Ahsoka actually showed some emotion in this one. I’m just not liking Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera.
Part of me definitely wishes we had gotten to the galaxy by episode 2 and had instead had the character-focuaed stuff be happening in a far more exciting context. It’s given me the same sort of annoyance I would get when you’re trying to leave town for a road trip only to keep getting delayed by needing gas, getting hungry, having to pee, etc.
I enjoyed the episode, but didn’t love it.
I can’t really put my finger on why, but I just don’t like Hera and her kid. Is it just the she-doesn’t-seem-like-general thing? Remember when Leia came back as a general? She was badass, Hera seems like a sarcastic teenager that always gets her way. I just can’t get behind Her. 🤷🏻♂️
All this new force stuff is weird. I think I’m tired of Star Wars in general not being able to decide what the force is and does. Any other franchise I probably would have been like, “whooooooaaaaa cool!” but I was like, “enh. Force does that now? Ok I guess. 🤷🏻♂️”
That being said, it was cool to see Anakin and the Clone Wars flashbacks.
And now I’m confused. Anakin turned to the light before his death, right? So why’s he being a massive asshole to Ahsoka? Is this some kind of post-death inner struggle?
The space whales were mega cool though.
I dunno. I love The Mandalorian and Andor. All the other shows seem to focus on fan service over story.
Yeah, all your criticisms sound fair to me. My issues with live-version baby-Hera haven’t changed over the past 5 episodes. I said it before, but I would’ve loved to see Vanessa Marshall try out for the role. Her voice is Hera to me. And Caretaker in the Marvel’s Midnight Suns game, but that’s a different story.
I truly enjoyed episode 5, but can’t escape the fact that I feel sour about episodes 1-4. If episode 5 had been episode 2 (and we condensed 1-4 into 1) that would’ve been much, much better. Just take me to the action, show me ass-kicking Ahsoka, that’s what I’m here for. Not the Ahsoka who apparently went through a difficult time and doesn’t have conviction. What? When?? I know she was shaken up about discovering Anakin’s true identity, but if that caused a deep soul-searching moment, show me that. The series as a whole has suffered quite a lot from “tell, don’t show” where even the “telling” is stilted and flat.
But again, I felt episode 5 gave me hope for the remaining few episodes left.
Weird theory, but where do Force Ghosts go when they’re not “ghosting around” the place? Maybe they go to the World Between Worlds. That would make some kind of story-sense, since Anakin became one.
How did he become one? Let’s gloss over that one, since apparently it’s a long-lost Jedi skill that Qui-Gon rediscovered, passed on to Yoda, who passed it on to Obi-Wan, after Padmé died. So not sure when Anakin was eavesdropping in on that thing, but oh well. That’s a prequel/CW issue, not an Ahsoka issue.
I think Andor’s something special. It’s such a unique show that adds a layer of depth to this universe that we’ve not seen before. Tricky one to use as a comparison for all the other stuff. For me, this series sits quite comfortably next to the latest Mandalorian season. Lots of lore, some CW/Rebels characters and a too-slow, but (hopefully) ultimately entertaining season arc.
