My Long Overdue Review

When Ahsoka was first announced, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement.
“Finally, we’re getting a live action show that explores a key character from the Clone Wars!”
I was expecting deep lore, backstory, and above all, a trailblazing path forwards for Ahsoka, especially her spiritual progression post-Rebels.
Then, things started unraveling when it was announced that Sabine, Ezra, and Hera were being cast. Suddenly, my expectations went from “best show on earth” to “Disney capitalizing on their Rebels IPs.”
I tried my best to stay optimistic with an open mind, but I always feared this was going to be “Rebels: Season 5” more than an exploration of the character Ahsoka.

After seeing all 8 episodes, I am sorry to admit my fears were realized: this series was an excuse to establish live action cameos for the fanbase; this show is 2 parts drama, 8 parts cosplay. The episodes failed to move me in any emotional way, as character seemed to exist with little purpose, with hardly any character progression for anyone. I will break down my disappointments in the following sections:

STORY STRUCTURE
During these past 8 weeks, my family and I were watching not just Ahsoka but Stranger Things 3. The big irony is that everyone in my family, (including myself,) found Stranger Things 3 to be much more riveting. The stories were better structured, the characters were sharp, and there seemed to be some peril in the characters’ journeys. Ahsoka and Stranger Things are both mainstream shows, both have a die-hard fanbase, both are rated TV-14, and both are deeply rooted in past nostalgia. Ahsoka, in contrast, was long, plodding, and did not feel in a hurry to get anywhere. There was no sense of urgency, especially in the finaly 3 episodes (when one would expect the pace to pick up significantly.) Why would Sabine lazily chit chat with Ezra while moving at a snail’s pace (alongside literal snails,) when she was so adamant about getting to him? So many episodes featured Hera crowing: “Thrawn’s back! He’s a threat!” with nobody in the New Republic paying any heed, (apart from maybe Mon Mothma.) The show has a tendency to create unbelievable coincidences just to move the plot along. Ahsoka and Sabine just HAPPEN to land on the same planet as Thrawn and Ezra. When the Eye of Scion takes off, all the x-wings get destroyed, EXCEPT (conveniently,) Hera’s ship, as well as that other guy who still needs to guest star in the Mandalorian. There is a terrible precedent in this show where lines of dialogue and phrases seem to break the fourth wall: Balan says in episode 6 “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” So Star Wars is now quoting from Socrates? Episode 8 finale is titled “The Jedi, The Witch, and the Warlord,” So Star Wars is now parodying C.S. Lewis? The robot in one episode begins his story “In a galaxy far, far away” which is a ‘wink-wink’ to audiences, not characters in the tv show. I am starting to think this new galaxy is called The Milky Way.


CHARACTERS
Grand Admiral Thrawn did not demonstrate any of his wit or intelligence from Timothy Zahn’s novels. Apart from looking like Elon Musk emerging from the freezer, I would never have guessed this was the same guy. His smarts were on-par with Orson Krennic. But he should have been much, much more.

Apart from Ahsoka herself in the later Clone Wars arcs, I do not care for the way Dave Filoni constructs female characters. While this show was notable for having more prominent female characters than any past Star Wars project to date, none of these people felt real or likable. Ahsoka and Sabine hardly see eye-to-eye in the majority of the 8 episodes. Ahsoka’s powers were weakened when she was taken down by an ex-Jedi in episode 4 and rescued in the following episode by a 10-year-old boy untrained in the Force. Hera Syndulla acts like an impetuous child during her trial hearing. Sabine runs around for an entire episode screaming: “Where’s Ezra? Where’s Ezra? Where’s Ezra?” Morgan Elzbeth has a dramatic witchy transformation, (complete with black eyes,) only to be killed 10 minutes later. Huyang, (who Filoni wrote as having a higher IQ than both Sabine and Ahsoka combined,) says his goosebump-inducing “May the Force be With you!” only to accompany the characters a few scenes later.



FAN SERVICE
Fan service, in small amounts, is fine. But the inclusion of characters for the sake of telling fans “I’m here!” has dragged down every Star Wars show since Mandalorian (apart from maybe Andor.) The fan service in Ahsoka was particularly uncomfortable because I was not the biggest fan of Rebels to begin with. Hera and Chopper should not have had as much screen time as they did. Kanan Jarrus was name-dropped for the sake of being name-dropped. Lothcats were there to be there. The World Between Worlds and Clone Wars dreams were included for viewer enjoyment rather than story importance. A recent article (I think from Screen Rant?) described it well: The Ahsoka tv show is like watching a toy unboxing video on youtube. “Here’s Anakin Skywalker, but now he’s wearing his Clone Wars armor!” Which is nice, but I want a bit more substance with these cameos.



AMBIGUITY
This show fails in its inability to commit firmly to a central theme or idea. What exactly did Ahsoka learn from the World Between Worlds? Nothing. She had the same motivations, the same distrust of the Jedi order, the same desire to train her padowan, and the same powers. (She visually changed to Ahsoka the White, but re-read my comparisons to Toy Unboxing Youtube videos in the previous paragraph). I was left feeling unsure of whether Anakin Skywalker in episode 5 was truly Anakin Skywalker, or simply a memory. The lack of a firm explanation is frustrating. I questioned the decision to leave Shin and Baylan’s character threads dangling at the end of episode 8. Both were left, literally, staring, into the void with unclear future actions. Would it have hurt the show to have Shin approach Ahsoka and say “sorry, I was wrong, I wish to join your team!” Such a conversation would give Shin some depth, an arc, and a topic of discussion for the fandom. Her non-ending robbed her of essential character growth. A similar thing was done with Baylan. What exactly does the man WANT? It’s hard for me to connect with him because I understand so little of his motives. Now that I think of it, what does Thrawn want? If it’s simply to be the next Palpatine, he is the most predicable and boring Star Wars villain ever created.


DEJA VU SCENERY
One of the weakest aspects of the Disney era of Star Wars is its flat, homogenized scenery, which resembles Earth more than the fantastic alien dreamscapes of the prequels. When we were transported to the new galaxy via space whales, I excitedly hoped: “Yes, we’re going to see things we’ve never seen before!” But when we got to Thrawn’s planet, I honestly thought I was back on Ach To, or Aldhani. Imagine my further disappointment when, after traveling all the way to another galaxy, we end up seeing… more stormtroopers (fans: “but these have cracks on their helmets, so that makes them unique, by golly!”) The shipyard in episode 2 could have been cut-and-paste from Solo: A Star Wars Story. In addition to this, Thrawn’s planet stole too many visual cues from Lord of the Rings.


THE ENDING
One thing I despise about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that the most discussion-worthy part of the films are generally the post credit sequence. Each Marvel movie is, in essence, a bloated toy commercial advertising the next toy commercial. This style of filmmaking has trickled its way into Star Wars. The final minute of every Star Wars show concludes where it should have started: Andor reveals the building of the Death Star (most interesting moment in the twelve episodes.) Qui Gonn speaks to Obi Wan and tells him: “let’s go do some training!” This is the essence of how Obi Wan Kenobi turns to Old Ben. Book of Boba Fett ends with: “we’re all together as a team, now let’s rule Tatooine!” Ahoska continues the frustrating trend: Anakin’s ghost finally arrives, as if to give Ahsoka and Sabine council and direction on how to move forwards. That was what I wanted to see from this show from the start, but we as audiences were cheated of this spectacle. Anakin’s appearance was, literally, identical to his appearance at the end of Return of the Jedi.


CONCLUSION
I want to conclude with a weird observation I have with the fandom. As we all know, the fandom disagrees, bickers, squabbles, and is often out for blood. The reason why I gave up commenting on Starwarsnewsnet’s message boards on a frequent basis was because I felt harassed by certain opinionated individuals who feel higher than the rest of the lot because they were remember watching a certain movie in 1977. I was expecting more squabbling and bickering from these individuals when analyzing Ahsoka.
But then…
Mother Talzin must have slipped these guys a love potion because I have heard very few real criticisms of this show whatsoever. The plot holes have been overlooked and the sub-par characterization has been swept under the rug. Disney+ would have gotten extreme heat from fans if this show was written by Robert Rodriguez or Leslye Headland. I find this tribal behavior of fans huddling around their man Dave Filoni, as if he was a god incapable of wrongdoing, disturbing. Ahsoka is no better than the other Star Wars shows, (and is my least favorite, personally.) Am I through with Star Wars? Heck, no. My belief is that the best Star Wars show/movie ever created has yet to be made. Acolyte and Skeleton Crew are coming out 2024, and these are the two most interesting projects Lucasfilm has announced. I get the shivers thinking about the potential of these two projects, for a variety of reasons. I will watch those shows with great interest, but unfortunately, I will not be revisiting Ahsoka Tano’s tale anytime soon.