Finally, the pieces begin to come together. The final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi seems to be looked on favourably by the fandom, as if the pay off for struggling through the preceding five episodes. While I enjoy the first half of the season, it is true that the journey to the story’s third act has a fair few stumbles. But I don’t just consider the finale to be a step up in quality, this rewatch has highlighted to me that the penultimate instalment is worthy of the same praise. Much of the story hinges on these forty minutes, and while it still suffers from some flaws in the production, I consider Part V to be a great and underrated episode of Star Wars television.
We knew the show would reunite Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor as rivals, with the former now clad in Vader’s armour. But everyone was also expecting a flashback of some type. A way for Kenobi and Anakin to act as master and apprentice one last time, back when they were like brothers. Fans were theorising a clone wars flashback, with them wearing their armoured outfits from the animated show, maybe with Ahsoka or perhaps even Mace Windu appearing, too. Instead, the flashback is much simpler and more personal. It’s a wise call, even though at the time it aired I felt a little disappointed. Now that I’ve worked through those expectation issues, which is my problem rather than the show’s, I really like the flashback and how it is utilised.
The flashback is presented as a memory, with both Vader and Obi-Wan recalling the event due to how it relates to their present situation. There’s a purpose for its inclusion rather than it simply being fan service, and it’s used like a framing device throughout the episode, cutting back to it whenever it once again becomes relevant. It highlights how Kenobi has returned to his Jedi state of being, can remember his former teachings, while Vader still hasn’t learnt the lesson his master tried teaching him years ago, the practice duel being transposed to their current situation as more of a psychological test than a physical one.
But, of course, the actual fighting is great. Vader in the suit has to fight differently than pre-burn Anakin so getting an opportunity to revisit how the two previously fought, fast and balletic, is brilliant. Attack of the Clones was my favourite Star Wars movie as a kid so the episode unexpectedly harkening back to that more than Revenge of the Sith is a wonderful surprise. The mullet returns! The two actors look older than they should, Hayden in particular does not look 19, even with some subtle de-aging, but I don’t care. I’d rather they look as they do, able to emote, than go full Mandalorian season 2 with CGI Luke. I also still haven’t gotten over the excitement of seeing Coruscant in live action again. The training room itself is one of the few locations I think really works in the show. The backdrop is beautiful and it has a grand opulence that contrasts well with the dingy cave the rest of the episode is set in. The duel reflected in the shiny floor is a nice touch.
Throughout this show Obi-Wan has been cursed with inaction, resigned to believing he can do nothing to help the galaxy under the oppression of the empire. Now, finally, he’s come to regain some belief and is able to help a whole group of people escape the empire. He’s not only more like the Kenobi of the prequels but also the Kenobi of The Clone Wars, too. I love seeing Ewan getting to embrace this side of the character. He acts like a leader, giving a speech and delivering instructions. Obi-Wan also acts as a military commander, a general, organising his troops and shouting things like “fall back to second position”, which, while generic, sound great coming from Ewan for once rather than James Arnold Taylor.
The initial blaster battle is a solid action scene. Director Deborah Chow’s use of shaky cam works much better for hectic gun battles, with multiple people running and gunning, than it does for the lightsaber duels. The assault does feel very small scale, though. I don’t need it to be like the third act of The Last Jedi but there has to be a middle ground. This is Vader finally going after Kenobi after ten years, yet, despite a star destroyer overhead, there’s only a single squadron of stormtroopers and just one Inquisitor. The other Inquisitors have departed the story now, without an explanation why. The TV budget is felt very deeply this episode. The use of The Volume virtual set is apparent; you can literally see the join between floor and wall.
The episode also suffers from some plot conveniences to explain the setup. The Path are trapped in their base because the big hatch in the ceiling won’t open and Roken explains that it’ll take three or four hours to unlock. That’s quite ridiculous as excuses to ramp up the tension go. And they also have to refuel the ship even though they reveal as a twist they had a fuelled-up backup ship anyway. But one trope I did enjoy was the little vent that only Leia could fit through to fix the wiring inside. It’s silly but it feels silly in a Star Wars way. If anything, it reminded me of the Lego Star Wars games where only small characters could squeeze through certain doors. The evil droid we know is evil because their eye has turned red is also a cliché I’m willing to forgive.
Tala dies in Part V and I realise now I’ve barely mentioned her in these retroactive reviews. The truth is, I don’t have anything to say about her, much like the show doesn’t. Indira Varma tries her best but there’s no real insight into the character. Despite the conversion from film to series, there’s no added expansion of the character. She’s paper thin. We get the minimal generic backstory of her turning against the empire, with Reva proclaiming Tala is “betraying everything you are” and she fires back “this is never who I was.” This is all we get before her death, which has little impact because we barely know her. It’s played as a big moment, complete with slow motion, the music swells, and Obi-Wan gives a big reaction, but I just don’t feel anything.
For Reva, this is the episode I’ve been waiting for. The episode the show and character have been begging for. Finally her backstory is revealed and it turns out Reva is quite interesting when we actually know stuff about her. The reveal happens far too late in the show. She’s stuck doing generic villain things for the first four episodes and then suddenly all the good character drama is contained to this one episode, both the reveal of her motive and her enacting her plan. It would have been fine pacing for a film but not for a series.
Moses Ingram is great as Reva when she’s given material she can work with. I really like her performance in Part V. Reva’s past as a Jedi youngling almost killed by Vader, the sole survivor of his youngling massacre, and her desire for vengeance pushing her to the dark side, becoming what she hates, is a great new take on a classic Star Wars idea. Becoming a villain to kill the villain, becoming what you want to destroy. It also offers a literal and thematic connection to the trauma of Order 66, just like Kenobi and Vader are struggling with. She’s a consequence of Vader’s actions, and I admire the balls of showing us Vader kill kids rather than just cutting away like in Revenge of the Sith. The idea of Reva and Obi-Wan begrudgingly working together to set a trap for Vader is an idea worthy of more than the five minutes it’s given.
Vader finally entering the battlefield and pulling the evacuating ship out of the sky is a great moment. It shows his power but also how blind he is in his rage. The show needs to present him as a most dangerous adversary yet also the story requires him to constantly fail, and I think the series does a good job handling it. Anakin has not overcome his need to prove himself and he’s still a padawan who has not learnt his lesson, which is a clever but not completely necessary retcon of a line from A New Hope.
But if Vader is still a padawan, then Reva is still a youngling. Her plan to strike while he is distracted fails spectacularly and history repeats. I really love the Reva vs Vader fight. Watching it for the first time, it was a relief to have a lightsaber fight that impressed knowing the big rematch would be coming in the finale because up to this point they had been disappointing. Vader doesn’t need to be agile, he can be a big hulking presence that is a danger despite his limited mobility, while Reva has great energy and anger, clearly trying to kill when in so many other lightsaber battles it feels like the combatants are just trying to hit their opponent’s blade. Vader fighting without a lightsaber is great, using the force to predict and fend off attacks, and slow her spinning blade. I’m a big fan of this ‘force fu’ combat, and thankfully The Acolyte is doubling down on it. This scene in Part V feels like the origin of the action scenes in that show.
It’s only on this rewatch that I’ve realised that Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fitting fourth prequel. I enjoy the show, I think it does some things very well, but it has its flaws. Yet those flaws feel right in some sense. There’s a good story here, some great ideas, but problems with the execution. The writing is lacking, the dialogue can be awkward, and the visual effects drastically range in quality. But it would feel strange if everything was perfect. This is a show spawned from three films that I love yet have their problems. Obi-Wan Kenobi is in line with the prequels, accidentally being very fitting as a continuation of that story. It suffers from many of the same issues, like the prequels’ reliance on green screen connecting to the show’s reliance on The Volume. I’ve come to enjoy the series for that reason, warts and all. Part V is a step up from the previous episodes, I think it’s very good, yet enough of those problems remain and I think part of me is glad. It feels right.
