I woke up at 3:30 this morning because of going to sleep at 8 the previous night. I had a medical procedure that required sedation and it took a bit to shake off. Lucky me though, I was wide awake and the season (series?) finale of Kenobi dropped on Disney+ at 3 so I slowly shuffled out of my bed and put it on. The following is my thoughts after the haze of such an early morning viewing wore off and of course - spoilers ahead!
I legitimately do not understand how Kenobi as a series can get so much right while also getting so much wrong? The show is both poorly written and able to deliver epic moments? How does this happen? I’m so mixed on this finale. Darth Vader is my second favorite character in all of fiction (Atticus Finch being my favorite) and while I think overall they did an amazing job with how Vader looked and carried himself, the surrounding story, character decisions, and even choices he made literally make no sense. But, before I go further, let me talk first about what worked for me overall and then I’ll go into my issues.
What Worked
*Ewan McGregor was born to play this role. We’ve now spent more time with him as Obi-Wan than Sir Alec Guinness and when I hear Obi-Wan I think of McGregor. He really sells the emotional moments, his interactions with Leia were some of the best scenes in the show (especially when he tells her about her parents, filling in the plot hole of Leia knowing things about Padme in ROTJ), and he captured the physical presence of Obi-Wan so well. I don’t want a season 2 of this show, but I’m torn because I’d love to see McGregor come back.
*Hayden - I love giving Hayden a second chance to play this character. And even though he was barely in the show (false advertising again by Disney) the places he showed up in were great.
*Leia - I’ve been baffled by people who did not like the young actress playing Leia. She did an incredible job as the character. I never got annoyed with her and even though she sort of served as a plot device to move Obi-Wan from one area to the other, she was a great addition to the show regardless.
*Vader - I love evil Vader and man did this show deliver on it. From killing innocent people to drawing out Obi-Wan to torturing Obi-Wan as revenge this is the most fierce we’ve seen Vader yet. I always get nervous that the physical acting of Vader is going to look as clunky as the “Frankenstein” scene in ROTS, but throughout his time on screen, the physical presence of Vader was amazing, along with the AI they used to recapture his voice. This show gave us, overall, an epic Vader and I loved it.
*Episodes 1, 3, and 6 were pretty good episodes. I enjoyed them and even though they had some inconsistencies they weren’t as glaring as the others. I enjoyed episode 1 probably the most because it felt like a good start and left me feeling like there was a lot of promise.
What Did Not Work
*Plot Holes - I am not sure what happened here because there are so many glaring plot holes in this series I’m not sure how it passed the editing room? Let me give some of the most obvious:
Bail Organa said in episode 5 he was going to Tattoine yet he never did? What stopped him from going?
Bail Organa sends a message with HUGE secrets and Obi-Wan hands over that message to a literal scoundrel. I was screaming at my TV at how stupid this move was.
The Grand Inquisitor knows Leia drew out Ben so how does this not cause the Empire to move against the Organas?
How did Reva get to Tattoine? What did she use to heal herself? Why was Reva trying to kill Luke? What did she actually know about Luke because the message she saw was broken up pretty bad?
Vader and Kenobi allow each other to live after each saying they’d finish the job.
At the end of episode 5 Obi-Wan is sensing a disturbance in the Force towards Luke, but in episode 6 it’s not mentioned again?
Where’s Yoda throughout all of this? There’s no doubt in my mind these events would and should have drawn Master Yoda off Dagobah. Why wasn’t he there?
Why was Vader using Reva? He knew she was the Youngling so why allow her to live?
Why didn’t Darth Vader SEND THE TIE FIGHTERS after the ship with the force sensitives? In fact, why weren’t Tie Fighters used at all throughout this show?
Episode 4 is a plot hole on it’s own. I can’t even begin to start on that one.
*Episode 2, 4, and 5 I think were mediocre to downright awful episodes of Star Wars. Episode 2 was mediocre, but it gave us a lot of great character moments with Leia and Ben. Reva knowing Vader is Anakin was stunning, but not in a good way. Especially because we know later Vader knew she knew, but Vader would not have kept her alive, so that does not make sense. Add to that killing the Grand Inquisitor off caused the internet to go nuts because it seemed like a retcon. I think Episode 2 started the ill-will towards the show because you had two seemingly glaring canon breakers back-to-back and I left the episode feeling a bit jaded.
Episode 4 was some of the worst writing, plot contrivances, incoherent character choices, and just plain awful television episode. From the spy (forgot her name) using a communicator in front of other imperials within earshot to Leia hiding under Obi-Wans jacket, the episode asked us too many times to suspend our disbelief.
Episode 5 was actually a pretty good episode. Vader’s fight with Reva was incredible and the flashbacks to Hayden and Obi-Wan pre-AOTC were nerd heaven. However, what makes it mediocre for me was Obi handing off that message that would reveal Luke and Leia to the Empire and Vader and the Grand Inquisitor inexplicably letting Reva live. Again, Darth Vader knew she knew who he was. It’s just ridiculous to ask us to believe he’d let her “die in a gutter”. Especially WHEN HE KNEW she had previously survived a lightsaber stab.
One Quick Word on Reva
After episodes 1/2 were released, some Star Wars fans allegedly began to bombard the actress who played Reva in Kenobi with racial and mean-spirited messages. I don’t have a reason to doubt the actress here, but it’s important to note that LucasFilm sort of set her up for this even before the show began by saying in the press this could happen. I do not like how LucasFilm continues to do this and it’s very interesting that the only time we ever hear about it is before a divisive movie or show comes out. We never hear this type of leak before Mandalorian and that has a much more diverse cast of characters. It’s hard not to see LucasFilm continuing to shield themselves from criticism by alleging a large portion of their consumer base is an “ist” or “phobe.”
Final Thoughts
When Luke Skywalker showed up at the end of Mandalorian season 2 I actually cried. This was the first time I was seeing one of my childhood heroes on the big screen as a full Jedi master. I never had that moment in all 6 episodes of Kenobi. The closest I ever got was when Ben was explaining to Leia how she resembled her parents. I loved that scene. Vader telling Ben that it was Vader who killed Anakin was also an incredible moment. It actually makes sense, from a certain point of view.
But overall, this season was kind of a letdown. I don’t feel good about the high moments because the lows are so glaring they ruin those moments. I’m sure once I can isolate some of those moments out I’ll enjoy them more, but for right now I feel like the show left me hanging. And I’m disappointed because Deborah Chow (she directed every episode) easily directed the best Mandalorian episodes.
So, overall I’m going to give Kenobi a 6 1/2 out of 10.