SPECULATION Star Wars Rebels SO2E15 The Call Episode Review.

Was it released today...Ineill need to find it to see it but I'm just making sure .

 

Almost as bad as last week

 

I enjoyed it

good

*weird space whales and the visuals for the episode. Them lighting up and jumping to hyperspace was so bizarre, I loved it.

*seeing the rebels struggle to have basic resources. Gives it a slight BSG feel and shows that the empire is good at denying the Rebels aid.

*the brutality of the show. We see main bad dude get eaten by whale-squid monsters.

bad

* they must have said "pergill" 50 times. It is ok to use pronouns sometimes.

*Hera's disdain for the creatures. Hera never struck me as someone who would mow down innocent creatures just for being in her way. I mean people get killed by cows in real life, but I'd never shot them just because they walked in front of me.

 

I liked it fairly well. The pergill were an interesting species and I like their interactions with Ezra. I also thought that Hera had some good characterisation here (but it was a little rushed, I'll admit).
Overall it was good, but I just can't shake the feeling that were almost spinning wheels until we get to the 'cool' stuff from the trailers.

 

It was a very odd episode, but I enjoyed it after all was said and done. Unlike many, I'm not in a hurry to get to the cool stuff, so long as the stories they tell are interesting and add to the texture of the Star Wars world. I wasn't sure if this was going to do that while I was watching it the first time, but the final hyperspace jump by the Pergill won me over. Rewatching it a second time, Hera's early line of "Old pilots say it was the Pergill who inspired us to jump from system to system" confirmed what I thought they were getting at - that Hyperspace travel is a natural thing, and the people only discovered a way to access it. I like that a lot. It gives more reason for Hyperspace to exist than just for "manmade" space travel.

Of note:

• In the last episode and this one, they have better shown the spacial relationship between the front gunner cockpit and the flight cockpit - having someone in each and carrying on a discussion. Nice way to expand our understanding of the Ghost over time.
• Hera's aversion to the Pergill seemed a bit abrupt for her character, but only because I think previously she was too perfect in her reactions to everything. I like it better when she has issues like everyone else
• Ezra's connection to nature - they are definitely building this up over time and it will probably have major implications down the road. Even if not, it is nice to see other ways the Force presents itself, other than just pushing things around
• I was glad to see the Mining Guild but hated the models for them. The leader was a bouncing buffoon (even though he was taken from a Bounty Hunter concept art) and the Rodians (is that what they were?) were way too generic looking. I realize they are saving resources on animation, but these guys just looked unfinished. No textures at all.
• I liked the IDEA of alternate TIE fighters for the mining guild, but in the end they just looked like a bad "hey I know how we can make them different!" concept art
• The banter between the Ghost crew was a definite improvement over most episodes. Funny, snarky, but still respectful and casual
• Kanan is finally starting to become the cavalier, cowboy jedi I've wanted him to be, not just posing the part. I have always liked the idea of Kanan's character, but until recently when I tried to find an example of that in the show, I came up short.

 

Pergill were an iteresting concept. It made me wonder if their ability of hyperspace traveling is biological or somehow Force related.

 

I really liked it. I can completely understand why people wouldn't. I personally like the idea that there are creatures out there living in space. To me it isn't too far fetched because they played it off like they need to feed/use the gas and then hold their breath the same way whales can get a few breaths and then go into the deep sea. The things I didn't like were how quick Hera was to dismiss the animals and want to kill them. Also, I get he was being disrupted by the Pergill but Ezra was too distracted.

I liked it though. I'm still waiting for the stuff we saw in the trailer though.

 

The new continuity is amazing. If you check out the new Obi-Wan Anakin comic you will see how hard it was for Anakin to connect with animals and in this episode it's so natural and effortless for Ezra to connect. They are finding very interesting ways to crossover between media besides the obvious character crossovers.

 

I started to mention this earlier, but the whole topic of animal connection was hinted at in the Prequels, and moreso in the novels for the prequels (even though those are no longer canon, at least on the surface). Qui-Gon talked to his Padawan Obi-Wan a lot about the Living Force and using it to connect with animals and nature - which was a discipline of the Force that the Jedi Council downplayed most of the time. In the Episode 1 novel, Obi-Wan somewhat listened to his master, but also sort of treated those lessons as "the hippie teachings", and even pointed out to Qui-Gon that those were the topics that kept a rift between him and the Council.

In Episode 2 however, Obi-Wan uses that training in taming the lizard mount on Utapau. It's hinted at in the movies, but again is specific in the novels that this is how he could ride it.

I haven't read the comic mentioned above, but it does dovetail nicely to this concept - that Obi-Wan would have tried to teach that to Anakin, but Anakin's path was never aligned with the Living Force.

 

I just watched this episode and thought it was good in its own way. Hopefully next weeks episode will be better.

 

fyi, looks like the "space whale" is spelled "Purrgil"

 

Now that you mention it, those purrgils reminded me of the space slug that almost devoured the MF. Not saying they were the same but looked quite similar.

Well, the guys that made the "Everything wrong with The Empire Strikes Back" can find out in this Rebels episode how come animals can survive in the open space lol.