REVIEW: Star Wars Resistance "A Quick Salvage Run"
Well, that was certainly a lot better. This week's episode of Star Wars Resistance, "A Quick Salvage Run," was better than the season premiere in every single way. There was more intrigue, there were actual real stakes, and had a great set-up for the rest of the season. Minor complaints aside, if the rest of the season has the same quality as this episode, than I think we can go from an average to good season like season 1, to a great season by the end.
The episode starts out with the Colossus running low on everything, fuel, food, and water. Before they can deal with those problems, Kaz hears a message from his father, a former New Republic senator, who was apparently off Hosnian Prime with the rest of Kaz's family before it was destroyed. I'll admit, this development kind of takes away from the initial impact that Kaz went through last season. It also doesn't help that Kaz's father doesn't really care about his son, stating that bounty hunters are going after the family and Resistance members, and that it is entirely his fault. Father of the year.
However, the fact that Kaz's father is alive brings up an interesting development for the state of the galaxy. In one of the new canon's novels, Bloodline, we find out there were two groups of senators in the New Republic. There were the Populists, who wanted the different planets to have more independence, and the centrists, who wanted a stronger central government, many members of whom secretly supported the First Order. I have no doubt now that Kaz's father was a centrist, who either feels shameful for supporting a regime like the First Order, or will only do whatever it takes to keep himself alive. I'll be interested to see if his father makes another appearance this season.
Eventually, the Colossus makes its way to D'Qar, where we see the aftermath of the battle during the beginning of The Last Jedi. The show, for the time being, has now crossed paths with Episode 8. It was really cool seeing these elements from the film together, as this is this show in general is the first time a Star Wars show shows events that recently happened in the movies.
Eventually, Kaz decides to try and salvage coaxium, or the hyperdrive fuel, from the remains of the First Order dreadnaught that was destroyed by the Resistance in the film. Sadly, to help him and Neeku with the task, Kaz enlists the help of Kragan's pirate crew. This was the lone blemish in this episode for me, as every member of the pirate crew, minus Synara, is either one-dimensional, annoying, or both. Seriously, Synara should have been the only one who was allowed to join the Colossus at the end of season one.
Meanwhile, Tam decides to give the comlink that Kaz sent her a message on to Agent Tierny and Commander Pyre, which they use to track the Colossus.
I like the development that Tam is going through so far. I can tell there is a lot of conflict inside her, as she still feels betrayed by the actions of Kaz and Yeager, and yet still feels guilty for informing the First Order about them, as well as nearly watching them get destroyed. I hope we see more of the internal conflict with Tam throughout the rest of the season, as a major theme of the sequel trilogy appears to be conflict within oneself, and who and what you choose to place your faith and beliefs in.
In the end, Pyre suggests "conditioning" or brainwashing Tam, while Tierny thinks she will be more useful with the mindset she has now to find the Colossus. I used to think Pyre was the best original villain the show had, but now, I think that honor belongs to Tierny. She is such a great manipulator to Tam, as she keeps pressuring her with the idea that she should be angry with Kaz, when she doesn't even really now herself.
Oh, and I guess I should mention that Kaz's "rival," Jace Rucklin, from last season, joined the First Order as well. I honestly could care less.
The rest of the episode deals with Kaz, Neeku, and the pirate gang getting the coaxium, while the Aces defend the ship when the First Order arrives and attacks. It was a pretty good and tense series of events, and I liked how this episode payed tribute to Solo: A Star Wars Story by touching on the dangers of moving coaxium around, which was touched upon in the film. Of course, everyone escapes in the end.
However, Synara and Neeku now know that Kaz messaged Tam, with Yeager and Captain Doza having their suspicions on how the First Order found them. More than likely, we will get the same story of everyone finding out and everyone getting mad at Kaz for awhile. I just hope when that happens, it is handled a lot better than most stories.
Overall, this was a great episode, with the only complaint being the annoying pirates. This show not only has me intrigued on how it furthers ties into the sequel trilogy now, but how the stories of these individual characters will end.
