ST Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico) in Episode IX

KMT is great. The main saga series is getting too crowded with new characters. I understand they are trying to world-build SW right now. Perhaps the main saga isn't the best platform at this time? Rose would be great in a future Anthology film.

We were pumped when we heard TLJ was 2-1/2 hours long. Then we realized the extended play time was to tell peripheral character stories; while main characters were minimized. Rose hate results.

 

There were also parallels for Poe too, like how Rose didn't believe Finn about using the escape pods go save Rey where as Poe took Finn trusting him with the beacon very seriously. At the beginning, Poe is blasted from the hangar and Finn is holding him, attentive, concerned, the complete opposite of how he was when Rose was injured at the end. I felt like Finn and Rose were a less twisted mirror of Rey and Kylo's interactions, where Kylo fully believed he understood Rey (you're nothing but not to me) like how Rose thought she knew Finn, so well that she could kiss him. Rey and Finn spent time with people who didn't truly get them, but once they are reunited and/or with Poe, things are fine because they are with people who truly do care and don't presume to know them better than they know themselves.

 

Well they cannot just drop it though.

 

Well, sure, Ep IX can't ignore what happenned in TLJ : it needs some form of resolution ... but that doesn't mean these two have to get together :
TLJ never showed Finn reciprocating Rose's feeling, while it did show Rose's attraction wasn't exactly 100% healthy (that's an understatement).

So their story can still be resolved in several different ways from here : romance is only one of the option (and not the most satisfying one, IMO).

 

Is Rose's kiss really romantic? I think it's just because Finn turned out to be the hero she thought he would be.

 

Do her action figures sell well? That's what will determine her fate. If the Rose Tico merch is flying off the shelves, then they'll keep her. If it's all in the discount bin, they will likely reduce her role.
Personally, I say just ignore her. We can just all assume she was killed. I thought she was a horrible character. She was barely even a character. It's like she was put there to give Finn someone to talk to. The times she did open her mouth, it was just awful. She was like on of the extras on that least season of Buffy The Vampire awful.

 

It was meant to be that way without a doubt, IMO. It was one of the lamest screen kisses in recent memory and totally devoid of passion. But it was meant that way.

 

She was put there just to give Finn someone to talk to. Originally it was Finn and Poe going to Canto Bight, but when RJ decided that didn't work, he had to create a new character. Enter maintenance worker, Rose.

I like KMT but I agree, Rose was as boring and irrelevant character you could imagine. Put her back on maintenance work in IX and only put her in a few scenes where maybe she needs to help another character with something technical.

 

Rian Johnson left a number of things ambiguous. I figure he did this so as not to lock the director of the final film into anything in particular. So, if JJ doesn't feel a Finn and Rose romance works, you'll likely see them just being really good friends by the time the final movie hits theaters.

 

I kind of want her to die so that she learns the hard way that you cannot win a war with "love"

 

Well you can't win it by driving a junkheap down the barrel of a deathstar canon either so...

 

I think it honestly would've worked given how close he was. Basically a reversal of the Holdo scene, except Rose is Leia saying, "So many losses. I can't handle anymore." Though done in a pretty meh fashion.

Otherwise the "lessons" that Finn is forced to go through are really inconsistent. First Finn's a bad guy for caring too much about Rey and not dedicating himself completely to the Resistance. Then he's an idiot for...dedicating himself to the Resistance enough to sacrifice himself for the Resistance. Suddenly now that it's not Holdo or Paige, heroic sacrifice is framed as an irrational move and character flaw #14 that Finn has to deal with.

So...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it would've worked, and that Rose is the one with the character flaw to overcome. Maybe her story in IX (if she even has one considering JJ can't even remember to mention her as a lead) should be about her being less attached to Finn all the time and making better decisions.

@Adept @Aetius888 I think RJ had Rose kiss Finn so that it could fit the tradition of the second installment having a kiss. Like the example of Snoke's death including an arm falling off, or BB-8 saying "I have a bad feeling about this. And she falls into a coma right after so that it's not something that he had to commit to or had to explore 100% right after.

Almost seems like kind of a cop out but whatever.

 

The novel is about to come out. We'll see if Finn's suicide assault would have made a difference.

 

I'm saying that regardless of whether or not it would've worked, the message is inconsistent and all it does is give Finn another useless character flaw for him to overcome. He's either a coward, or whenever he tries to be heroic he's seen as irrational or in over his head.

 

Well.....I mean.....he's on a hero's journey.

If he were flawless in the first and second movie, he wouldn't have a journey at all.

As for Rose. I hope we see more of her tech skillls in IX. And people being impressed.

 

The problem is that it was the SAME heroes journey in both films, and he's accomplished pretty much nothing through two films.

There's a difference between "not being flawless" and "being the butt of jokes constantly and failing across the board."

 

Finn has always been flawed, yes. The problem is that in both in the end of TFA and TLJ, he overcomes his flaws in ways that don't give him a payoff. First he overcomes his fear of Kylo Ren to face Rey, only to be put in a coma. Then in TLJ, he accepts being a Resistance hero, only to, once again, but stopped from saving the day and called a dummy. And again, the message is inconsistent. Finn's either a coward or a hero, but even when he's a hero he gets punished for it instead of rewarded in a way that gives him an actual heroic spotlight. So the message falls flat.

But since this is the rose thread, I can't help but think that her role isn't going to be as big as it was in TLJ. She obvious isn't a fan favorite, and she honestly wasn't the most likable person in the film either. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that JJ would mention Rey Poe Finn and Kylo Ren, as three men and one woman, but somehow omit Rose's development at all.

 

The message is pretty consistent in regards to Finn, Poe told him to back off since they are all going to die for nothing, he screams "I won't let them win!". And Rose knocked some sense in his selfish ass again. The kiss i think was a moment of selfishness for her too, girl was banged up pretty bad and probably pretty lonely after her sister died, and has a crush on him. And going by that last scene on the Falcon, it seems he finally learned his lesson.

 

What development did Rose have anyway? Because I didn't really see much, aside from deciding to kiss Finn at the end out of nowhere.

Rose was the one being selfish at the end, and that might have been the most out of place speech that I've ever heard in a SW film. It didn't fit the situation AT ALL!!

 

First off, how are you gonna call Finn selfish. The First Order took everything from him and ruined his life and the lives of countless others. Calling him selfish for literally being ready to kill himself just to ensure that they weren't able to take any more lives is just wayyy wrong. But then justify everything Rose selfishly does as trauma and emotions? And his lesson? Rose is the one who put herself in a coma so Finn had to drag her back to the base (with Walkers right behind them that could've got them killed easily). The only one who should've learned a lesson in the end was her because she voluntarily put herself in danger when he was ready to go on his own and save them all. But then two seconds later she gives him a speech about saving what we love? Again, when is heroic sacrifice supposed to be a good thing in this trilogy? What is she supposed to learn in Episode IX? What lessons does she learn in TLJ?

 

Shes support for Finn's arc. As a character her history, convictions and alliances are very clear and already set. Probably in IX she will evolve some more but she can't go very far.

 

So what's the point of her character then? Can Finn not hold a subplot by himself?

 

But still, even then she doesn't really support Finn. She drags him down and around both verbally and in a narrative sense.

 

1. There to play 'Angel' to DJ's 'Devil'
2. Finn needed someone to interact and bounce off of during his character arc. RJ felt that required someone who would argue with and push Finn, thus Rose was created.

 

Well yeah because she is the one with the wisdom to impart on him. Thats why she supports him and helps his character thru the arc. When he wants to bail the resistance she drags him back to the fight, when he starts gushing at the glitter in Canto she drags him back again etc. Thats the point of her character.