1x02 Part Two: Toil and Trouble

Storytelling continues to have some real weaknesses:
- The Ep 1 impalement finale is instantly undone & consequence-free. Combined with the fact that we're chasing after two resurrected characters, it's hard to buy into any stakes for the action of the show.
- We are still lingering for soooooo long on the faces of these poor actors at the end of every scene despite them having nothing to emote about. It feels like these scripts were written for a 24 minute cartoon and we're getting 50 minutes out of them by... lingering. Fun fact: the actual name of this show is Star Wars: Lingering on a Wry Smile. There are only so many times I can melt under the power of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's eyes subtly narrowing!
- Sabine demonstrates she's ready for training by giving herself a highly styled, very high maintenance haircut with a pocket knife. Does no one making decisions on this show understand how hair works, or is it all bald dudes in embarrassing cowboy hats behind the camera? Star Trek, not Star Wars, is supposed to be the fictional universe with unimaginably advanced hair and makeup technology.
- The greedy, traitorous shipyard owner is, of course, played by the most visibly Jewish dude possible. Star Wars does have a rich legacy of racist stereotyping, but maybe let's tone it down when anti-semitic violence is so widespread and on the rise?
- My bad for not having watched all of Clone Wars or Rebels, but, like, I have spent hundreds of hours in the Star Wars universe and I still don't know why we are supposed to care so much about keeping Thrawn from coming back. What is the premise of this show? What are its stakes? I have no idea yet.

Still very Star Wars and very cool:
- The design for the presumably-intergalactic Eye of Sion & it's under-construction blow-apart is absolutely delicious.
- Space stonehenge is a great set, though I am not so much vibing with the Ancient Occult Minority Report UI - feels very dated, too Phase 2 Marvel, not mystical enough.
- The choreography for this episode's lightsaber fight and simultaneous dogfighting-chase-into-outer-orbit were solid. The action in this episode has much stronger direction than Ep1, though the narrative and emotional stakes for it are still way too low.
- Morgan's styling is so damn witchy and cool. There's nothing that says "I will rule the galaxy and look good doing it" like long sleeves with thumbholes. And that hair is SERVING warrior grandma. I have no idea why she lets this out-of-shape, under-groomed Obi-Wan knockoff act like he's running things. She has to be the one to murder this Baylan bro and bake him into a pie and take on his apprentice and feed her full of Baylanberry pie because when is the last time she ate, she must be starving, dear?
- The waterfalling holograms on the Eye of Sion were a really cool effect, though I don't have any idea why they are so different from every other Star Wars hologram phone call?

Hopes and fears:
- I'll be a little bummed if the other galaxy stuff turns out to be the introduction of the Yuuzhan Vong. Timothy Zahn's novels are great (for 90s/00s licensed sci fi), but the things that made them work don't translate to live action. Specifically, live action Star Wars is too visually driven to do cultural alien-ness in an interesting way.
- The Sabine / Ahsoka relationship is not yet working for me, but with this episode's shift maybe it can start to develop? The actors can obviously carry this no problem, but the writing needs to step up. So far the only emotional arc they've been given is that they both blame the other for the end of their previous training relationship? Which is, like, something you should be able to work through over a cup of coffee.

[7.6/10] Ahsoka is doing a slow burn, and I can’t say that I mind. There are more teases and piece-moving than there are important plot developments, but that gives us time to get into the world and the story. The machinations of something as grandiose as the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn shouldn’t happen in a day. And something as emotionally potent as Ahsoka and Sabine reuniting as master and apprentice shouldn’t happen in a single episode. Taking the time to let these things simmer before they boil is a feature, not a bug.

Not that the cheekily-titled “Toil and Trouble” is lacking in narrative stakes or high-flying action. The latest clue as to Morgan Elsbet’s intentions leads Ahsoka and Hera to the shipyards of Corellia, where they uncover a host of ex-Imperials, still devoted to the cause, helping out their enemies with hyperdrives and other tech for the “Eye of Scion”.

The visit to Corellia serves a broader theme throughout the Mando-verse side of Star Wars -- that the transition from an Empire to a Republic is an awkward and irregular one. The “happy ever after” of Return of the Jedi gives way to lost causers, reactionary schemers, and in this case, people who profited off the old system who are just as ready to profit off the new one.

Peter Jacobson (of House M.D. fame) does a good job as the local shipyard functionary, trying to put our heroes off the scent and dissembling to keep his operation rolling. But he never comes off like a former Imp trying to raise the last vestiges of the Empire anew. Instead, he seems like someone willing to sell his wares to the highest bidder, whomever that may be. In the franchise’s continuing exploration of what it means to stamp out the embers of the last regime and build up the structure of the New Republic, it’s nice to acknowledge the problems caused by those simply out to make a buck, in line with The Last Jedi.

And it makes time for some action to keep the casual ans happy once more. We get another lightsaber fight, as Ahsoka makes quick work of the mooks in the control tower, bursts through a window with badass glory, and takes on a darksider and their assassin droid with sizzling aplomb. The sword fighting is crisp and clear, without too many cuts, and the choreography is exciting enough to hold your interest.

But this is really Hera’s coming out party. It’s a blast to see her flying with grace and dexterity in live action, as he chases down the ship headed to Morgan’s stronghold. The fancy darting through opposing fire throws her nimbleness at the controls. And what a debut for Chopper, her trust droid, who is as cantankerous, amusing, and potentially murderous as ever. The pair remain great, with a clear goal to place a tracker on the ship, some fun banter and gesticulating between them, and a nice display of their talents. Despite the deliberately placed plot movement, there's plenty of high octane moments here to keep the tempo up.

There's also some genuine intrigue on the villain side of the equation. Our mystery girl refers to Baylan as master, and seems to be genuinely ignorant of what this is all building towards. The episode reveals a new ally, a formidable foe who uses an Inquisitor’s lightsaber and can stand their ground against Ahsoka. And Morgan reveals the power of the map, lighting it up with her Nightsister magic and pointing the way to retrieving Thrawn. It’s all just breadcrumbs for now, but they’re compelling enough to whet your appetite for more.

More than that, Baylan gets a little shading in ways that make him a more interesting player. He derides Morgan’s theories about Thrawn’s location as fairy tales. He laments the possibility of killing Ahsoka, thinking it a shame to lose another Jedi with so few left. He seems steady, dignified, appropriately imbued with Jedi calm. And yet, he seems to desire unimaginable power, a sign of the fall of the dark side. While I’m impatient and, frankly, annoyed with Star Wars mystery boxes, I’m curious enough and satisfied enough with the early hints, to be on board waiting to find out what precisely Baylan’s deal is.

Despite all of this -- the latest rendition of the New Republic’s challenges, the action and excitement, the teases for our villains -- the main event here is the rekindling of the partnership between Ahsoka and Sabine.

I like the structure of how it plays out. You have Sabine’s closest ally, Hera, encouraging Ahsoka to take her on as an apprentice once more. You have Ahsoka’s closest ally, Huyang, encouraging Sabine to seek the path of a padawan once more. And you have both the former master and the former apprentice bucking at the idea, but eventually acquiescing when each realizes they’re ready.

You understand the distance that exists between them and why. The show does well to dramatize the ways in which Ahsoka is steady, thoughtful, and measured, as a Jedi Master might be, and also the ways in which Sabine is still recalcitrant, brash, and a little reckless, in the way a certain young togruta once was when she was a padawan.

Ahsoka is perceptive and deft, as her recovery of the attack droid in Sabine’s home reveals. Sabine is talented and capable, as her ability to retrieve the data from the droid’s head shows. But the near-explosion she causes when pushing the limits to retrieve it, and Ahsoka’s quiet but judgmental air, ably demonstrates why things fell apart.

But Hera and Huyang make the case that they need one another, for structure, for support, for purpose. They’re each too proud, and a little too burned from the last experience, to admit it, but their friends are right. Sabine gradually accepts it. A meaningful haircut is a trope, but also a good signifier that Sabine is done running away from her past, and ready to embrace the path she was on when the Ghost crew road high.

And Ahsoka speaks of both master and apprentice simply knowing they’re ready, the reason behind her reluctance to start anew. But when Sabine shows up, ready to take up her vocation once more, feeling more “her”, each of them lives up to that standard. It’s time to start again.

That start doesn’t happen overnight. I imagine they won’t magically be on the same page the whole time in episode three. It’s a process. A journey. A transition for both of them. But with a measured, even soulful rendition of their intertwining path, I’m willing to wait.