Obi-Wan Kenobi [2022]
“Some things you can’t forget. But you can fight to make them better.”
Ever since the end of what we know as the “Prequel Trilogy”, fans have been clamoring for the return of Ewan McGregor into the role of the titular character from this series. A lot could have gone wrong in the face of 17-years of expectations, and yet, with the fantastic vision of director Deborah Chow… A lot went very, very right instead.
The Obi that greets us on a now familiar desert planet is haunted by a past that many of us remember well, troubled by the possibilities of a future that we – as an audience – have already seen come true, and doubtful of his own abilities to make a difference in this galaxy far, far away. While the series could have leaned heavily into the charisma factor of Ewan’s return and the wave of successful Star Wars material on the market; it decided to take a different, more mature, more thoughtful, and more complete direction instead.
The story that Kenobi follows is mostly great. It has what I would call the most dynamic conflict in any of the Star Wars films, and probably more dynamic than any of the shows as well [I haven’t made it through Rebels or Clone yet]. The villains aren’t simply BAD and the heroes aren’t simply GOOD. Sure, the Empire is still BAD, but there’s a little more going on in this one than usual; and that is a mix-up that I think this series has desperately needed for a very long time. Star Wars seems to show a strange disdain for anything more complex than “at one point Vader was called Anakin and he was a confused and scared teenager”. While they don’t stray too far from that here, they do expand in a way that is refreshing and interesting to watch.
If you go into Obi-Wan Kenobi expecting the flashy, silly characters of the prequels or the loose, frivolous plot of The Mandalorian; I am not sorry to say that you will be disappointed. Where Mando shines is its ability to be a bite-sized piece of ultimately meaningless television that is fun for all ages. It’s fast food – fine, but nothing that will sate a deeper nutritional need. While Kenobi certainly isn’t a 4-course meal, it does fulfill more than the Applebees down the street or the build-your-own grand slam from your local Denny’s.
Scenes are mostly tightly shot, edited well, and paced in a way that doesn’t make the viewer feel like they’re being pandered to. The score is redolent of Star Wars staples without feeling derivative or hokey. Choreography of fight scenes is fast, fluid, and interesting to watch while the aforementioned camera-work keeps us engaged – like we’re a part of the action – instead of like we’re watching a practice match before the real deal; something I criticize Mando about quite heavily. All in all, I liked Kenobi quite a lot… though that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its hang-ups.
If you’re even vaguely interested in this series, none of these will come as a surprise to you… because they are Star Wars issues that the franchise simply seems uninterested in resolving. In certain scenes characters will be pulled along the ground, flames will be extinguished, and or they will be forcibly thrown, all for that to be suddenly forgotten in the following scene. Where previously said wall of flames was exactly the tool we needed, now it’s an impenetrable barrier. Ships can be interacted with using the force… but only the first time and when it’s convenient. Characters will shoot things they could have easily walked around, storm troopers will line up 50-deep in a hallway 3-bodies wide and hit absolutely nothing even as their targets stand still, or key pieces of equipment will be unplugged rather than destroyed when the villains are trying to cause a ruckus… just so the heroes can plug them back in later.
While these are some of the sillier and more “Star Wars” of the issues I had with it that you may not, there is one scene in particular that I found especially problematic. I won’t spoil it here, but it ends with a strange decision that shapes all of Star Wars as we know it… and there is no practical explanation for the way it ends. Alongside a couple of improbable life or death outcomes for various characters and a weird scene where a character’s death becomes the main focus despite us having met them once for about 40-seconds prior… Kenobi is not totally safe from the hand-waving “it’s Star Wars lol” explanations that run rampant throughout most of the franchise. The most upsetting part about this?
It could have been solved if the show was two – or even three – times as long. Similar to 2021's Midnight Mass, even a single extra episode could have done wonders for the overall narrative and meaning of certain events. In an effort to remain succinct, the show has cut itself short of deeper development that it could have desperately used.
While the pacing of each episode is mostly well done and doesn’t linger on any one thing too long or make any episode too empty, we could have had a significantly longer amount of time with damaged and distraught Obi, which would have made his resurgence much, much stronger [Think Dale Cooper in 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return]. We could have used that time to forge real relationships with characters and give them memorable things to say and do instead of simply act as meat-shields for the plot to move through. With more runtime, Kenobi could have easily been a 9+ as it would have had the time to develop past the silly inconsistencies, forgettable characters, or confounding decisions.
That being said, Deborah Chow has done an incredible job breathing real, meaningful life back into a series that I mostly roll my eyes at now. Star Wars has become such a joke after the total rehash of A New Hope with The Force Awakens, the utter waste of time that was The Last Jedi, and the comedy that was Darth-Hospice in The Rise of Skywalker. Solo is forgettable at best and there’s so many series out now that it all just feels like a cash grab… and yet…
Here I am salivating for more of the universe after Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I hope we get more content with this level of quality. I hope that content is given more time to flourish, and grow and evolve; And I hope that, one day soon, there is more worthwhile Star Wars content to which I get to say,
“Hello there.”
