REVIEW: Star Wars Resistance: "Station Theta Black"
As Star Wars Resistance enters its season one midseason finale, the show as a whole is getting a lot closer to catching up to the Force Awakens, as aspects of this episode set the stage for the First Order's actions in the sequel trilogy. Fitting then, that this episode, "Station Theta Black," contains more of the traditional elements of Star Wars action than in all of the other previous episodes.
Kaz and Poe meet up with Leia, who we finally meet in the flesh for the first time in the show. She entrusts Poe and Kaz to spy on a nearby First Order station...Station Theta Black, and tells Poe to "not engage," which of course means he totally will.
It was nice to see and hear Leia again, as her demeanor and character are in line with how we see her in the sequel trilogy. However, I have to admit, and this is petty and personal, I wasn't the biggest fan of her voice. I felt it was a weak imitation of how Carrie Fisher sounded in the new films, but of course that is just how I felt.
Eventually, Poe and Kaz go inside the station and find out the First Order is mining materials to make blasters, a lot of blasters, and that the station is set to detonate to eliminate all evidence. I like how the First Order and the Resistance have been portrayed so far, as both sides don't want to make the first move yet, due to, at the time, the steady Cold War and "peace treaty" that has been going on for years.
I also like how, for once, Kaz is the smart and cautious one, and Poe is the reckless one that eventually provokes the First Order into attacking this episode. That, to me, falls in line with his character in the sequel trilogy, as he only really matures and understands the true cost of war towards the end of the Last Jedi.
Once shit does hit the fan, the rest of the episode is basically one giant action sequence filled with Star Wars motifs you know and love: tight corridor shootouts, the good guys fighting their way and barely escaping, a tight dogfight with fighters, a giant explosion, and the heroes somehow managing to survive against all odds and reason. It's been done before, but it was all still pretty entertaining nonetheless.
However, much like Rebels before it, it was pretty frustrating how bad the First Order's aim were, especially from Captain Phasma, who is supposed to be a badass fighter. I get it, plot armor, but it's still stupid regardless.
Eventually, Poe and Kaz report their findings back to Leia, who laments that the information will probably do no good in convincing the New Republic to fight, as people are profiting off of the fighting, which is once again in line with what we see in the Last Jedi. However, Kaz says there will always be people willing to fight, which might be a prediction to the state of the galaxy in Episode 9.
Overall, I thought the episode was pretty good with fun action sequences, even if we've seen it before. I especially like how the episode presented so many elements to how the state of the galaxy will be like in the sequel trilogy, which has me very intrigued what the show will do in the future once it does cross over and passes the films time wise.
