Critical Hits & Misses #178

• We have feelings about this! Over the weekend at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, it was announced that the fourth season of Star Wars Rebels would be its last. EW has the story and the trailer for the final season. 


• Get out your tiny violins, folks, this one is going to require an orchestra. Last week on the reality tv show Survivor, Jeff Varner outed fellow tribe member Zeke Smith as transgender in a failed attempt to appeal to the inner transphobes in his tribe, suggesting that Smith staying in the closet was a "deception" that the tribe ought to know about (you can read that story here). In a move that strengthened my frail faith in humanity, the tribe thought Varner was a right proper asshole and kicked him off the island. Varner came out last week with a wonderfully-prepared apology that he probably paid a lot of money to some PR firm for. But this weekend we've learned that Varner has since lost his real estate job, and this Entertainment Weekly story really begs for people to feel sorry for him (you know, instead of the guy who actually got outed to millions?). Trigger warning for cishet victimhood. 

For today's musical hit, we have The Avett Brothers and "No Hard Feelings"

Today's critical rolls: Happy belated Easter! Even if you don't celebrate it for religious regions, did you do anything fun yesterday, or eat anything special?


Critical Writ has a super-duper strict comment policy that specifies a single rule above all others: we reserve the right to ban you for being a terribad citizen of the internet.

Star Wars Rebels Recap - S03E07-08 - "Imperial Supercommandos" + "Iron Squadron"

It’s been eight episodes since the start of the season (seven, if you consider the premiere a single episode), and it’s pretty clear what the producers have building for this half of the season. They’ve been crafting a bigger Rebellion, increasing its numbers by gathering more and more allies. Now, after "Imperial Supercomandos" and "Iron Squadron", the unified resistance against Empire got even bigger.

(Spoilers beyond this point.)

Our primary focus for the two episodes are Ezra, Sabine and Ghost’s astromech droid Chopper, though the second episode features the rest of the crew more heavily. In "Imperial Supercommandos" the trio assist Fenn Rau, the leader of the Protectors of the Concord Dawn turned prisoner of the Rebels, in investigating a sudden loss of contact with his people. First introduced in the second season, Protectors were a Mandalorian (Star Wars’s "proud warrior race people") faction controlling a crucial hyperjump spot the Rebellion needed to find their new base planet. Their position and skill were so good, the Empire bribed them to keep anyone from passing near Concord Dawn. But the Imperials, being who they are, always want to take full control over everything. That’s what Fenn and the Rebels find out upon reaching his base — which they find completely destroyed. The Protectors were wiped out by other Mandalorians, ones openly and completely allied with the Empire, led by Gar Saxon. More importantly, they are of House Vizsla, Sabine’s people — in fact, her defection to the Empire is the primary reason for that alliance.

The episode definitely is setting up Sabine’s future subplot, especially with the mention of her mother, and her burgeoning rivalry with Gar over House Vizsla. It’ll be exciting to see more of it — as exciting as the episode’s action sequences. Generally speaking, the ground level fights in Rebels are not the show’s most spectacularly choreographed ones, unless they involve Force users. This time, we have Mandalorian aerial combat with jetpacks, and it’s a sight to benhold; dynamic, creative, and thrilling. It’s a damn shame we won’t see it for a while, after Sabine’s jetpack gets destroyed by the end. Sigh.

The next episode, "Iron Squadron", introduces a new group, the titular squadron. Under the impressive name hides a trio of teenagers and an astromech, fighting the Empire in a cargo ship in such a bad shape, it makes the Millennium Falcon look like a Star Destroyer. The group’s leader is Mart, revealed to be the thought dead nephew of the Rebel fleet leader, Commander Sato.

Mart and his friends start out — there’s no other way to put this — annoying as hell. They’re basically a trio of Ezras from the first season, thinking themselves a big thorn in the Empire’s side when they barely made an impact. In fact, after Thrawne sends a light cruiser to mop up any resistance in their system, they’d be dead. Thankfully, the Ghost arrives and with the help of first Sabine, Ezra and Chopper — and later the entire crew and Sato’s cruiser — everyone manages to get out safely.

The episode helps develop the thus far very static character of Commander Sato. Sato spent the entirety of last season and the previous episodes this season as the authority figure to the Ghost crew, as someone to send them on missions and react to some of their more insane plans. "Iron Squadron" gives him some depth; a brother lost to the Empire, a nephew thought lost, and what sounds like a history with Grand Admiral Thrawn. The last one especially looks like it’ll be important in future episodes.

Finally, the episode shows how far Ezra’s come since the start of the show. By contrasting him with the teen members of the Iron Squadron, we can appreciate his development. Especially after his short speech, during which he attempts to convince them to leave with the Ghost. The words "How we choose to fight is just as important as what we fight for" sound like something Hera and Kanan would say to him in the earlier episodes. The kid, and the show, have come a long and satisfying way.

And now, an announcement: as of next week, I will be leaving the coverage of the show in more competent hands. As much as I love the show and the Star Wars universe, I’m not an expert in it, which I think could be felt in the previous posts. Thus, I leave in the Stephanie Maynard’s hands, and can’t wait to read her reviews. I’ll see you in other recaps.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy demisexual lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Star Wars Rebels Recap - S03E06 - "The Last Battle"

Like I mentioned last week, I may not have watched the entirety of Clone Wars, but I dabbled. Thanks to that, I knew the importance of Rebels reintroducing Captain Rex, a major clone character from its predecessor. Sadly after around the midpoint of last season, he started falling to the sidelines, reappearing only once in a while. Thankfully, "The Last Battle" returns him to the fold, with a whole episode devoted to him.

(Spoilers beyond this point.)

The Ghost is on a salvage run, seeking resources for the Rebellion. To cover more ground, they split up: Hera and Sabine take the ship to a fuel station, while the rest remains on an old Separatist outpost to search for weapons and ships. They find some, and a still active Separatist battle droid battalion, unaware of the end of the Clone Wars. Once their leader, the hyper-intelligent tactical droid General Kamali, realizes the war is over, he decides to use his captives to prove once and for all who would win the conflict.

It’s actually nice to see the droids again; the prequels are, for the most part, justly maligned, but they’re still a part of the Star Wars canon. Yet, a few connections aside, it often feels like they and the original trilogy are two separate parts of the canon. So it’s nice to see the return of the droids and, once the Empire enters the arena (forcing everyone to work together), to watch them interact with Stormtroopers. For a while, it feels like it’s all part of the same Galaxy. And the episode doubles down on it, providing us with one last Clone Wars — the previous series in miniature.

It also finally uses Rex to his full extent, with his droid counterpart, Kalani. Both are veterans of the same conflict and both want to prove once for all who would’ve won. But Kalani never stopped fighting, unaware until now that the war ended, and focused on analyzing from the data he had how the conflict would end. Rex, on the other hand, has it worse. While able to avoid following Order 66, Rex was still discarded by the Empire that took the Republic’s place; a being built and programmed for war, trying to find his own identity. His muscle memory is intact, but psychologically, he’s all over the place, practically living through a PTSD flashback. It’s a bit of a shame we never get to delve deeper, but it is a 20-minute episode of a show aimed at kids, so it’s somewhat understandable.

The episode ends with both sides working together to survive an Imperial attack force, and with Kalani’s droids leaving the Ghost crew on somewhat friendly terms. It’s a pleasant ending, I only wish the execution was better, as it hinges on Ezra being able to deduce from very limited information he had that the Emperor manipulated both the Republic and the Separatist in his goal to create the Empire. It’s very flimsy, and it all seems to be in the service of crediting him with "ending the Clone Wars." Still, it’s a minor flaw in an otherwise terrific episode.

The show is taking a break this week, so there won’t be a new recap next week. The next episode after the break is "Imperial Supercommandos." I’ll see you then.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy demisexual lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Star Wars Rebels Recap - S03E05 - "Hera's Heroes"

At the end of last week’s Rebels recap, I mentioned "Hera’s Heroes" will continue the trend of episodes focusing on non-Jedi Ghost crewmates. And that’s true but it’s also connected to the season-long main plot.

(Spoilers beyond this point.)

The Ghost arrives with another supply mission to Hera’s homeworld, the Twi’lek planet Ryloth, and its crew finds out a lot has changed since their last visit. The previously incompetent Imperial Captain Slaven has started showing surprising strategic skills, which allowed him to capture, among others, Hera’s home province. More importantly to her, the Kalikori, a traditional Twi’lek family heirloom and her only remaining link to her mother, has been lost to Slaven. With her friends’ help, Hera takes it upon herself to retrieve it.

This is the third Hera-focused episode since season 2 started exploring its non-Jedi characters and their backstories. "Wings of the Master" tested her pilot skills to their limits; "Homecoming" dealt with her past with her father, Cham Syndulla (a returning Clone Wars character). This time, the show shines more of a spotlight on her connection to her family.

This is explored upon by her desire to retrieve the Kalikori. It’s a traditional Twi’lek totem, representing its family’s history, with each generation adding a new piece of art to the whole – resembling Earth heritage quilts in that regard. The Syndulla Kalikori was important to Hera’s mom, and with her gone, the Ghost’s captain is determined to get it back.

But that’s not exactly easy, as the characters finally meet their new antagonist and the architect behind Slaven’s new strategic achievements – Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn once again proves his superior intellect by quickly realizing the Rebels have infiltrated his headquarters in the Syndulla home and by deducing Hera’s identity. She is visibly more disgusted by him then Slaven; the latter is openly xenophobic, but the man’s a complete moron (in fact, it’s amazing he was promoted to the rank of a Captain). Thrawn meanwhile fetishizes Twi’lek culture and art, treating Hera herself as a work of art to be admired, and the Kalikori as another piece in his collection, explaining his treatment as a method of "honoring" it, while ignoring its value in the Twi’lek culture. It’s a more subtle form of racism than Slaven’s, but racism nonetheless. No wonder Hera would rather destroy the Kalikori than let it fall into his hands.

This is a neat foreshadowing of how she manages to escape Imperial clutches with Ezra and Chopper. When Slaven sets up a trap – with Thrawn as the brains, obviously – for Cham Syndulla in exchange for Hera’s freedom, she comes up with a plan to distract the Imperials by blowing her entire family home up. She’s able to let go of the past in order to protect her current family – the /Ghost/ crew.

Next time, we’ll cover "The Last Battle," an episode with connections to The Clone Wars. I’ll see you then.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy demisexual lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Star Wars Rebels Recap - S03E04 - "The Antilles Extraction"

Episodes showcasing main Rebels characters that aren’t Ezra and Kanan are always a welcome change of pace. And since Dave Filoni mentioned multiple times during the hiatus that Sabine Wren would get more focus this season, it’s about time she got one of her own.

(Spoilers beyond this point.)

The Rebellion is losing pilots and after the recent failed attempt at a relief mission, their need for them only grows. Luckily, a few cadets from the Skystrike Academy would like to defect. The mission to retrieve them falls to Sabine, Ghost’s Mandalorian demolitions expert. Sabine once was an Imperial cadet, and is the natural choice for the task, with Ezra, Kanan and Chopper acting as support and an exit strategy.

Sabine started out as one of the series’ most disliked characters. Aside from the usual misogynistic jerks who don’t like any female character that isn’t a window dressing, a vocal number of Star Wars fans were outraged at the creators taking a Mandalorian – the universe’s proud warrior race – and giving a bright personality with love of art. Since then, it seems that most of them warmed up to her, and a lot of that comes down to the character simply being awesome. She’s both a skilled action girl and a fun character. We get more proof of that this episode, after the mission (inevitably) goes south. Captured in a room with Governor Pryce and two Stormtroopers, she easily takes down the latter two, defeats the former and manages to free the captured cadets.

This includes Wedge Antilles, the character the episodes is named after. After the Disney takeover and leaving behind the entirety of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the biggest problem that came with that choice was that a number of popular characters and storylines technically didn’t exist anymore. This is slowly being fixed, Rebels already brought back Thrawn (with more on the way), and if the rumors of a post-Return of the Jedi series are true, it’s likely the same will happen with Mara Jade. Hopefully.

Wedge never had that problem. He was introduced in A New Hope, the very first movie, where he was the only survivor (except Luke Skywalker) of the X-Wing attack on the Death Star. Since then, he’s been one of the fan-favorites, a sort of proto-Poe Dameron with a number of books dedicated to him and fellow Rogue Squadron members. But despite being the universe’s fixture, he never really got a backstory of how he joined the Rebellion. The episode fixes that by making him an ex-transport pilot recruited by the Imperials, who, along with two friends, became disturbed by the increasing radicalization of the Empire.

Sadly, one of them dies, and frustratingly, it’s the trio’s only Black guy, Rake. In fact, he’s the first named character to die in this episode. It’s terribly annoying to praise a series for its writing on its Asian female character, only for it to pull a tired old trope like this. You can do better, creators!  I’ve seen it.

Ignoring that misstep, it was a fun episode, as it’s generally the case when Rebels decides to focus on one of its non-Jedi characters. And we’ll be getting another one next week, in "Hera’s Heroes." I’ll see you then.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy demisexual lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Star Wars Rebels Recap - S03E03 - "The Holocrons of Fate"

The downside to recapping Star Wars Rebels without watching the entirety of The Clone Wars is being a little clueless when the events of the preceding series start making an impact on the series. I know a little bit. but not enough to do my job perfectly. This is something I intend to fix. In the meantime, let’s talk about "The Holocrons of Fate."

(Spoilers beyond this point)

Darth Maul returns into the lives of the Ghost crew, demanding from Kanan and Ezra the Sith holocron from Malachor, and the Jedi one Ezra let it slip they have in the season 2 finale. The problem is, they don’t have the Sith one; Kanan took it from Ezra and left it with the Bendu, as thanks for his lessons.

Kanan and Ezra’s mini-quest to retrieve the Sith holocron continues last episode’s storyline of both of them reuniting with each other as teacher and student. While they’re still trying to grow back into that relationship after six months of separation, and despite Ezra’s Anakin-like thick-headedness, they’re on the way to fixing it. The little trip into the bowels of the Earth where the Bendu hid the holocron parallels the two going deeper into their bond. As Kanan imparts upon his padawan the techniques he learned in the last episode to get their prize, the time-created gap between them finally mends.

Maul, meanwhile, continues to surprise me. Like I wrote earlier, I don’t have a lot of knowledge of The Clone Wars, so beyond the fact that he was a major villain in the show, having survived The Phantom Menace (unlike George Lucas’s popularity), I don’t know much about him, and the season 2 finale didn’t help all that much. Well, after this episode he’s become one of the major reasons for me to check out the original cartoon alongwith Ahsoka’s journey. Voiced by Sam Witwer, he’s a very flexible villain, changing between subdued menace and rage when dealing with the Ghost crew, and then showing genuine affection towards Ezra, whom he dementedly considers his apprentice.

Ezra brings him the retrieved Sith holocron, and while Kanan saves their friends, he helps Maul with both holocrons (Maul found the Jedi one earlier on his own). The reason the Zabrak ex-Sith went through all this trouble is a special property of both types of holocron when used together: they allow their users to peer into {the Force} and find the answer for any question they want, though this being the Force, going too deep has disastrous consequences. Ezra jumps at the occasion, looking for a way to stop the Sith once and for all; while Maul claims to be looking for "hope." We don’t get to see their visions; all we hear from Ezra is "twin suns," suggesting he saw Tattooine, where a certain farmboy is living. He didn’t see much more than a few other places – some he knew, some he didn’t. Maul meanwhile leaves positively ecstatic, laughing to himself about how "he’s alive."

The nature of these visions will have to wait for another Jedi-focused episode. In the meantime, we’ve got next week’s "The Antilles Extraction," suggesting a certain Rogue Squadron pilot... and possibly a new clash with Thrawn. I’ll see you then.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Star Wars Rebels Recap - S03E01-02 - "Steps Into Shadow"

Welcome to Critical Writ’s recaps of the third season of Star Wars Rebels! When we last saw the crew of Ghost they had finally found a secure location for the Rebel fleet and barely survived an encounter with Darth Vader on an ancient Sith temple world. Ahsoka is lost, presumed dead, Kanan lost his sight, and his padawan Ezra, under the guidance of Darth Maul, took another step into the Dark Side.

(Spoilers beyond this point)

The third season premiere, "Steps Into Shadow", takes place six months later and introduces the new status quo before future episodes (presumably) tear it all down. Following the loss of one of his senses, Kanan cut himself off from the rest of Phoenix Squadron and, most importantly, leaving his student without a teacher. This, and the feeling of blame over Kanan’s injury, in turn caused Ezra to seek Force training elsewhere: in the Sith holocron he found during last season’s finale.

Thanks to it, and the mysterious Presence dwelling inside it (voiced by Nika Futterman, also known as the voice of Asajj Ventress), Ezra grew exponentially more powerful. He also became more brash, bold, and dangerous. Which he proves during the episode’s opening mission: the rescue of Hondo Ohnaka, lovable scoundrel and a recurring character on both Star Wars animated series. When he and his team are faced with overwhelming odds, Ezra uses his new skills to take over the mind of an AT-ST Walker pilot and turn him against his fellow Stormtroopers. It’s unnerving to watch, both for the audience and other characters.

When finally confronted by Kanan, who finally finds about his new "study book," Ezra defends his choices by saying he’s going to use the Sith holocron for good. But he is definitely changing, the new powers and skills making him more ruthless and impatient. He proves it during a mission that’s the main focus of the episode: following up on Hondo’s tip about an Imperial Reclaim Station, where the Rebellion hopes to find a fleet of old Republic Y-Wing bombers that they could use in their war. What is intended as a quick recon mission goes sideways when Ezra and his team’s ship is discovered by an Imperial patrol, which in turn causes Station command to start melting down the Y-Wings.

Ezra, eager to prove himself after his fresh promotion to a Lieutenant Commander, practically strong-arms everyone into turning this recon mission into a recovery mission. And when the Station Commander (amusingly, a former Admiral that already had his life take a turn for the worse after meeting the Ghost crew) locks down the ships and destroys the console, Ezra doesn’t spare another thought before destroying the core powering the entire flying station. Naturally, everything takes a turn for the worse – the Y-Wings don’t have the hyperdrive, so Ezra’s team isn’t able to escape a newly arrived Star Destroyer. And Ezra himself ends up stranded on a falling station after his only escape shuttle gets destroyed.

Luckily, Kanan and Hera arrive to save everyone with three Rebel cruisers. Kanan is fresh after a lesson with a new Force-sensitive master, The Bendu (voiced by the Fourth Doctor himself, Tom Baker). The Bendu, named after George Lucas’s original name for the Jedi, "Jedi-Bindu," is effectively the Stick to Kanan’s Daredevil, teaching him how to replace his lost sight with the Force, and in the process helped him rebuild his connection to Ezra. That connection is what allows Kanan to find his wayward student and reach out from a light-filled vessel to the dark outside where his padawan was trapped, falling to his death.

In the end, Ezra gets seriously chewed over by Hera, and the salvaged Y-Wings are sent to General Dodonna, whom Star Wars fans might recognize as the head of the Yavin cell from A New Hope. The goal is to start building an intergalactic resistance movement that’ll be able to form a unified front against the Empire. It’ll be an uphill battle, especially now that they’re facing an antagonist like they’ve never faced before. And if you were following news about the show, you know who I’m talking about. Yes, Grand Admiral Thrawn: a mainstay of the now defunct Expanded Universe – makes his debut, and he’s everything we ever wanted.

Requested from Moff Tarkin by Lothal’s new Governor, Pryce, Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen) proves his reputation by deducing from three seemingly unconnected facts (a sighting of a Ezra’s ship, recent rescue of Hondo and the identity of Hondo’s cellmate) what the Rebels aim for. And when later he learns his Star Destroyer engaged only three Rebel cruisers, he quickly realizes that it’s merely a fraction of the entire, and orders for them to be let go, not wanting to lose his new lead. The Rebels are facing their most dangerous foe yet, and they don’t even know about it.

Next week, we’re likely getting another Jedi-heavy episode with "The Holocrons of Fate." I’ll see you then!

Dominik Zine is a nerdy lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.