Some spoilery talk, then...
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When they put out Clone Wars in 2008 I said out loud, "Why don't they just do a TV show about the OT heroes from between movies?"
When they put out Rebels in 2014 I said out loud, "Why don't they just do a TV show about the OT heroes from between movies?"
So, now I feel like I have finally gotten what I keep coming to the table for. Little Leia and Ben off on an adventure together is exactly what I have been waiting for them to do. Maybe by the end of this we will understand why she named her son "Ben."
My son stayed home from school yesterday, not so we could watch this neccessarily but because his Mom was bothered by the recent school tragedy and some corellations with a shooter drill they did at his school earlier in the year (where he was in the bathroom at the time and got locked out of his classroom and had to find a place to hide for the duration of the simulated lockdown.) He is all caught up with his work and just has a few days to go anyway before summer break, and...Kenobi!
All of that is to say we had just had a big talk about the protocols for a school shooter situation and this time in particular with an emphasis on law enforcement, to open the show with some kids trying to escape their school which was full of law enforcement officials as the shooters. We all kind of galumphed at that.
Both my son and his mom took it as a given that, when the Inquisitors appeared in the next scene, that they were the grown-up versions of those kids, which only struck me as a possibility once they suggested it. So yeah, that's probably Reva's origin.
The escape through the woods chase made me think of the Vespa chase, too, and how this must be a limit for how they are making these shows because this one didn't work well either. We were all laughing at the bad guys' problems with branches and stumps. I no-prized it away as her subconsciously using the Force to befuddle their minds, and in doing so explained away a lot of the issues with Stormtrooper aim and plot armor for the heroes that have lingered since the beginning anyway.
Reva stabbing her boss (apparently to death but we know better) was no issue for me. Yeah, we know he's not dead, but this was about her making the decision that will end her allegiance to the Inquisitors. It had to be something big, and something that he couldn't come back from in the immediate moment so that she has genuine freedom to make her next move. I'm sure he'll go get fixed up by that mod doc on Tatooine who gave Fennec a robot digestive tract.
I genuinely enjoyed the characterization of Bail Organa and Jimmy Smit's acting was perfect. Ditto with Owen Lars, though his life being threatened was a bit over-the-top. It went to show how far off the Jedi path Obi-Wan has gone, at least until Bail showed up to make him confront it himself.
Another detail I adored was Leia's Alderaanian wardrobe, which really brought back the "Bespin Gown" costume in my mind and started tying it all together as Leia's intended "classy civilian" attire. And then she would go play in her "battle togs" attire. Great costuming. And not for nothing, but she was probably the best-written character of these two episodes.
Alright, I will stop gushing now though I could easily keep going. I really enjoyed it, warts and all.
