Mini Series Obi-Wan Kenobi - Part 1 - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

I know what you mean. They went through the whole checklist of precocious Disney princess tropes, including the more fun/ understanding father vs. the stricter mother. And the writing was pretty animated cartoon-level at times. Overall, though, it was so much fun to spend a day on Alderaan! I just need to adjust my expectations re: the dialogue, and accept this as tonally consistent with both ROTS and ANH (which I think it is).

The weakest bit, though, is the kidnapping. Flea and gang just looked too much like low rent TV characters. And the little pocket droid is sort of an uninspired design. Which I’m surprised by, given the brilliance of the BB-8 and K-2SO designs.

 

R2 is there too.

How does Kenobi forget him?
Reva tortures Ksnobi to the point he has memory loss.

 

Hmmm... Started strong...but then slowly lost me bit by bit. Anytime a child runs off from someone, and they have to slow the adults down to give the illusion of not being able to catch them - it loses me. This trope actually got worse in ep...nevermind.

The "Flea gang" were terrible. What an uninspiring lot.

 

The slow build up was helped by having the next episode straight after, this is a story that's going to be drawn out until the last moment. It's always going to be more character than action but when the action comes it will swift. It was a solid 7 1/2 out of 10 for me.

 

Yeah, the Flea gang were the worst part of the episode and the chase through the woods was kind of unbeliavable. They could have catched Leia several times.

The overall feeling of the episode was good though, and I liked Leia scene with Bail.

I think we will get an explanation for Reva's obsession with Kenobi. Maybe she was a padawan that felt abandoned by him when Order 66 happened or something similar.

 

I loved that so much. Everyone seems to have their own idea about what Star Wars “is”, and Chow’s vision aligns perfectly with what captures my imagination with Star Wars. I loved Obi-Wan’s wordless introduction that rhymes with Rey’s in TFA, I loved the introduction of Alderaan (and, to my own surprise, love child Leia), and am so interested to learn more about Reva and what is behind all that unbridled rage. Is she one of the kids we see presumably surviving Order 66 at the beginning?

9/10, only minor knock is some shaky acting by some of the supporting cast. The main crew’s performance was exceptional

 

Great first episode.

The kid running got me as well, but in every film it's the same until they get caught, so not a nitpick really.

 

So. I loved about 80 percent of the premiere.

I'm not gonna lie. The Leia stuff is rough. Vivien Lyra Blair tries. This is not an easy part for any actor, especially a child actor. It's a shame Bella Ramsey is too old for the part because the dialogue and what the story calls for fits her delivery.

Ewan is great. He hasn't missed a beat. Loved the mundane stuff and frankly wish this series was 8 episodes so I could get 2 full of Obi-Wan just doing slice of life things.

Jimmy Smits is great. Alderaan looks great. Uncle Owen is delightfully sassy. Kind of hope we get more Joel Edgerton.

Reva is fine. I'm already seeing the grifters online are giving her hate and that's obviously a reaction from the trolls and the worst parts of the fanbase who already began their campaign to actively hate this character because of the stupid narrative that said shes takes up 80 percent of the show, when she's only been 30 to 40 percent of the show so far.

Off to a solid start. Not sure how I feel about the Leia subplot but it does track that it's the one thing to get Obi-Wan out of hiding.

 

“Then I guess I don’t need manners when I’m talking to you”

 

First episode, a amazing intro for the series, even the Flea scenes, that wasn't that incredible, the other parts of the episode works amazing.
10/10

 

Oh my, the level of emotion. I'm constantly drawn in by the emotion in Star Wars. The character interactions and story are more important to me than technical aspects. I'm giving this a 10.

Some of my favorites;

Padme's voice naming the children as the flashback from ROTS shows them being separated made me teary eyed.

From the very beginning it was hard to watch Obi Wan living his normal life. His struggle to hide was well done by Ewan, especially in the scene where the fellow worker is upset over the cut in pay. His nightmares and his plea for Qui Gon to speak to him were heartbreaking. As was his inability to respond to Owen's jab about Anakin. Not sure what he could have said in that moment but it was rough to watch.

Reva's exasperation over the long winded speech by the GI and her trick with the knife to draw the Jedi out was badass. I liked the antagonistic relationship between the Inquisitors. This episode really showcased how determined and smart her character is. I think Moses did a great job.

Joel Edgerton is great. " I didn't do it for you."

The huge expanse of the desert and just Obi Wan on the eopie were great shots.

"If you are going to steal my parts and then sell the back to me could you at least clean them first as a courtesy?"

Teeka trying to sell him his own Jedi belt

Luke's "flying" motions definitely made me think of Anakin shoving the throttle forward on a pod racer. Cue more tears.

Obi Wan's speech to Nari made me better understand the line from the poster.

I loved kid Leia the moment Breha said "Don't make anyone cry." This little girl did a phenomenal job. From this I can see the character ten years into the future, no questions asked. The relationship between Leia and her parents is a highlight of the episode for me. Bail is the fun parent but you can tell Breha, as Queen, has been preparing Leia for her duties so I had no trouble believing Leia would absolutely be able to converse the way she does. Her intuition with the cousin made me think it was partially force related.

"I'm not even a real Organa"

I said before that Obi Wan's tie to Bail was going to be catalyst for Leia's kidnapping. The chase though was hard to find believable since an adult could have outrun her at any time. Initially I was annoyed at Obi Wan's refusal to help find Leia as if Luke was more important but I get that he has no faith in himself and he was using Luke as an excuse. I still felt if he was harboring guilt over Anakin that he wouldn't have put up such an objection to saving Anakin's daughter.

Bail's speech was perfect.

Leia asking Lola to untie her. Always the self rescuing princess.

The hidden lightsabers.

That last glimpse of the lightsaber on his belt

 

This or maybe it's Vader she's after. Perhaps she just wants Kenobi as bait.

 

(Post moved to part 2)

 

Reva, the GI and Bail are my favorite characters so far. Moses Ingram is electric.

 

I think whats gonna split people with Reva, at least for time being, is what their expectation is towards her character. She doesn't act like the other inquisitors. She says the evil lines, but she comes across as uncomfortable in the line delivery and its hard to determine whether that was intentional or not. I'm gonna assume it is intentional. I have heard other say they also haven't quite figured out her character yet.

But we are only 2 episodes in. People alwyas pre-judge anyway.

 

She comes across as being a great actor.

 

I thought the first part was pretty good. I can agree on the Leia subplot, but, I'm just glad that we are getting a series of this caliber. Much like the Boba Fett series, these were supposed to be movies and because of Solo were changed to streaming series. I'm just glad to see more live action star wars.

 

I find her to be the weakest actor out of the main characters so far which just goes to show how subjective it is. I do like her character though, it will be interesting to see where her story goes.

Overall I love the first two episodes. Can't really judge until I have seen the whole series but this definitely has the chance to be up there with Mando and RO as my favorites of the Disney era.

 

Very few pages not a good sign, have not seen it yet

 

I think it would’ve been more effective to get limited glimpses of kid Leia rather than to hang out with her as essentially the lead of a kid’s show or movie. It just sometimes feels like…Pixar in Star Wars, if that makes sense.

Also, there’s an oddly kiddy tone across a number of scenes, and then a woman gets her hands chopped off. There’s a tonal inconsistency that’s getting to me.

I think I need to take a nap and then watch these tonight instead of during the day. My opinion could change a lot.

 

I like it. Although the shows lacks a certain sense of wonder that Mando Eps 1-2 had, I buy the premise and where Obi-Wan is physically and emotionally. I came in somewhat spoiled, was aware of the Leia angle, and figured that would be the aspect bringing criticism, if any. IMHO, the precocious kid angle here is done far better than most. The actress is endearing and (as someone with a 10 year-old who is not a future Jedi) what she says and does rings true.

Give them this much credit -- the show could have had the pursuers running into fruit stands or taking object blows to the crotch, and it did not. I liked how Leia got away using child-like moves.

Agreed with the above that the town scenes seemed ... small.