SPOILER Rebels Season 3 Ep 8: The Wynkahthu Job

We have to be aware of the dates when this episode and the previous one were aired. This one was aired during the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the US and the previous one was aired during Saturday before Thanksgiving. A lot of people goes out on vacation. Kids are off school for a week. People is spending time with families, traveling or shopping. So I was not actually expecting much from these two episodes taking that into account - however, I found them quite entertaining.

AP-5 is so endearing. And yeah, I'm there with you at the similarity with late Alan Rickman (sigh).

I laughed at that point. Poor cocky Ezra.

Before watching this episode, the most recent TCW material I had seen was in fact the Jedi younglings with Ahsoka arc and I terribly missed the Padawan. (Please, Filoni, just tell us what happened with her!!! #AhsokaLives)

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Please accept a bottle of the finest Alderaanian wine as a compliment to your post's wisdom.

 

Hondo: 9/10, everything else: 5/10

Was a lot better than last week's episode but then it would be hard not to be. It was entertaining but yet another one episode filler and yet another example of how all the best parts of Rebels revolve around The Clone Wars characters. Just go finish seasons 6, 7, and 8 of TCW and hopefully by then someone will have figured out how to make Rebels and its non-characters stand on their own. Suspect Ezra's hair cut was so Disney could spend even less money on this show.

 

I'm honestly not sure what show many of you have been watching...this series has followed the EXACT same pattern each season. Start with a couple of larger plot episodes, followed by 4 or so standalone light-hearted episodes - that introduce new characters, and leave nuggets of plot that get brought back together later, and generally keep the show on a more light hearted feel. Then there are 2-3 larger plot episodes before and after the break, then repeat the 4 or so standalone, then building episodes toward the finale.

Every season. Like it's...planned that way or something.

And every season, people come on here and sound surprised for the standalones, and call them "filler," as if every episode has to be totally plot driven...which would just lead to rushed, meandering plots and rehashes by the 4th season, like other shows that have tried to do the same and burn themselves out.

Season 3 is not my favorite so far, and this stretch of standalone episodes has been weaker than previous ones, but please stop acting surprised that they even exist. It's going to be that way. They are NOT going to suddenly switch to TCW-style 4 episode arcs (which is a good thing IMO - many, many of those could have easily only been 2 really good episodes, instead of 4 extremely thin episodes).

I'm going to guess that this season is thinner due to the group being expanded slightly, and spread out more. That will likely somehow get "reset" somewhat later this season, likely in a big way.

</rant>

As for this episode, I really enjoyed the tension toward then end, in trying to get back onto the Ghost. Hera showed how good of a pilot she was in this episode, rather than just have everyone say how good she is, which I appreciated.

 

Eh, pattern or not, it still isn't acceptable when they have so many plot points that there is no reason for filler episodes. The notion that they would burn themselves out when they have introduced so many plot points is silly. Also, as you yourself said, this stretch has been weaker than others.

Let's say that these episodes aren't just filler though, and they introduce key plot points that will be used later on. That still doesn't excuse the quality of the episodes themselves. Even if Sato's nephew is crucial for instance, that still won't retroactively make Iron Squadron a good episode.

All discussion of filler aside though, just give us good episodes, and most of us will be happy. I enjoyed this week's episode more, seeing as how I like Hondo, but I can totally see why it would be unsatisfying for other fans, especially if they are getting tired of Hondo.

 

I love your reviews Paul. I look forward to them every week!

For me, this was indeed a filler episode but it was fun. I liked seeing Hondo and I loved seeing more Zeb! I thought the Droids were meh.. so I'm glad we didn't get to see too much of them.

I can't wait to get to the meatier part of the season!

 

I agree with regard to season two, and pretty much said the same thing in another post, but not sure I agree as much about season 1. Season 1 had 7 less episodes, so more was on point, or when they had fillers it was our first real time getting to know the crew.

I've liked most of the filler episodes, but I can almost see the improvement, pace-wise if they cut 7 episodes of fluff. People new to Thrawn might not get why he keeps popping up for just a few seconds at a time, doing nothing each time.

 

I caught up on, like, four episodes this weekend, and while Iron Squadron was the weakest, both of the most recent episodes were fairly middling. I think we see the puzzle pieces building each week—Sato's nephew, new bombs, Thrawn, Hera's backstory, Ezra's struggles, etc.—and I'm still pretty excited to see the pieces come together. I think the creative team is sharp enough to make that happen really well. I wish the pacing could be more complex, giving more time for character development, but then I remember that this is a show that has to plow through three acts in 20 minutes and is written for children, so.

That said, Ezra's willfulness was a little on the nose, Zeb was fairly one-note as a foil to that. Hondo is always great, and I think it's worth pointing out, well written. His dialogue is fairly complex. Fun to watch.

Anyway, hopeful to see everything fall into place as the season progresses.

 

Like many of you here, I too was a big disappointed in this episode. (Not to be pessimistic, but the past few episodes have seemed like mere "fillers.") At this point in the season we should be getting more Thrawn and Maul, not Hondo. I also was not impressed by the new battle droid designs, which reminded me of Lego Bionicles.
On the bright side, the Rebels did acquire A LOT of new weapons, which they will surely use to their benefit.

 

Very true! As a non-EU person (it just never happened for me, okay?!) I'm intrigued by Thrawn. From what I've read, he seems great, and I'd love an investment in his character and the politics between him and, say, Kallus (who may prove a turncoat) and the governor. I think all these things will come together, as I mentioned, but the "mission of the week" with tiny pieces of the endgame being added does feel like filler.

I think the end of the season will be great. I just want the threads of the climax to feel built-up-to rather than hinted at. I guess we'll find out!