Just finished the 2nd episode, and man, Favreau really gets the SW vibe. This was a really great episode. Only nitpick I have is that I’m so much more invested in the Tusken flashback subplot than the “present” day crime lord one, though its clear from this episode that they’re building up to something big.

A few random thoughts and observations:

Although I was never a fan of the Doctor Aphra comics (I read the first few volumes and found them just OK) it was really cool to see Black Krrsantan. It’s such a great design and he looks really fearsome in live action. I did really enjoy the one-shot comic where Obi Wan fights him, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with him. Hopefully, and likely, to be more than just a cameo.

I did not expect to see the Pykes unmasked. From what I gathered skimming through Wookieepedia this is the first time we’ve seen their faces, though it is pretty close to some concept art.

The western movie vibe was strong in this one with the whole train sequence, and I especially liked the train conductor droid. I’m so glad to see that Favreau is embracing the absurd and metaphorical logic of SW. The interior of the “locomotive” section with all the tubes and the blue-burning engine is perfect SW weirdness that is just similar enough to our past to be recognizable, but just ‘futuristic’ enough to have that veneer of sci-fi to it. I also got some strong Lawrence of Arabia vibes from this sequence, and the end credits concept art pretty much confirmed that that was intentional.

I did not expect the Tusken peyote trip. Nice to see some Force-vision type thing away from the Jedi, the Sith, etc. We’ll have plenty to theorize about for a while with that scene.

The Camie and Fixer cameo turned out exactly as I expected. It’s a fun little easter egg for SW fans, but to 99% of the audience they were just two civilians that needed to be saved from a swoop gang.