Lol, I feel like the making of the prequels could be nicknamed “Summer at the Ranch”. Maybe the making of the ST could be “REAL sets, PRACTICAL effects”, or maybe “Everything’s Changed but Nothing’s Changed”.
I do agree that it would’ve been cool to have seen a grungier neo-Empire, or Imperial Remnant.
But to be fair, I do think we will be seeing more Outer Rim adventures, and even Imperial Remnant stuff, in stories outside the Saga. The Mandalorian being the best example.
I think it easy to not realize that there’s 30 years worth of stories in between ROTJ and TFA. I totally get how seeing the Empire lose in ROTJ but then the First Order fully-equipped and upgraded raises questions.
I think it would be great if a lot of stories during this 30-year time period showed these grungier Remnants and the New Republic able to combat them with small, but efficient fleets and squadrons. Basically, seeing a lot of stuff that fans expected to see after ROTJ. It would help explain why the New Republic didn’t see the First Order as a threat, assuming it was just another fringe group that has basically devolved into a gang. You can get a hint of this when Poe is in the First Order hangar for the first time, he looks totally stunned.
I think that is partly why a lot of people are frustrated with the new films. They want to see that kind of stuff, but the ST isn’t doing that. Once we get more stories like that, and see the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic at a different time period, we’ll get that itch scratched, plus we’ll see the actual evolution of how the Empire went from the Galactic Empire, to scattered Imperial remnants, to a reunified First Order.
It makes me think of the relationship between the prequels and the Clone Wars. The Clone Wars added a lot of context to that era that made people enjoy the movies more. I think the same thing will inevitably happen with the ST. We’ll get a new series or two that bridges that gap between ROTJ and TFA that provides context that a lot of fans were curious about.
Sometimes I compare it to WWI and WWII. Imagine we were telling the story of those wars, and in the first book is set in the 1910s, and we see America, Britain and others defeat Germany by the end of the War to End All Wars. The second book jumps all the way forward to the 1940s, right at the beginning of WWII. Wait, didn’t they defeat Germany at the end of the first book? How are they at war again and have somehow rebuilt their army? How did the Allies let this happen?
You can see how that might be confusing when you skip ahead 20-30 years. I do agree that they could have provided more context in the films, but the existence of the similarities doesn’t break it for me. I think that really is the weakness, because I think with the right context your audience would say, “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Again, not trying to say that this is the ONLY way they could have told this story. For me it boils down to that this is the story we got, and although I do enjoy most of it, I try to understand/rationalize parts that I don’t like as much. It’s the same thing I did with the prequels.
As far as metacommentary, I think of things like how the writers wondered how they could top a villain like Darth Vader, so they made a villain that is actually afraid that he can’t live up to Darth Vader.
Maybe as time goes on I’ll post about similarities between the OT and ST that I think strengthens the saga as a whole.