Well, as usual I’m apart from the board on this. I thought that was a fantastic episode. Much better than the two before. Ben and Leia walking along in the mining area at the start was perfect. That little girl is a perfect little kid Leia and Ewan really is the best he’s been yet, here or prequels (what little I know about them). Obi Wan just works much better as an older, weathered hermit. I’m assuming it’s because that’s who he was for me when I first met him. For me, all of that first half of the episode worked really well. As a friend of mine pointed out, this is a lone wolf and cub story now and the sparse production value suits this character-driven style really well. No complaints here.

As has been the case since 1980, I just don’t find Vader interesting. In 77 he was a second or third tier military member and suddenly in 1980 he was this omnipotent super human who everyone fears and answers to. He’s that here also but he’s been that way for so long, I just roll with it.

James Earl Jones sells it and he sounds every bit as deep and strong as the 77 version. It worked really well. Also, his choice not to over explain (Vader, in-universe) works perfectly for their scenes together. Adding to the depth is their sword fight being the slower and heavier non-spinning, non-behind the back silliness of the Prequels.

That fight looked and felt like a 1977 fight. That made me very happy. As soon as little Leia ran into Reva, I thought “well, here goes the credits/cliff hanger”. Damn. I wanted more.

Which brings me to my last thought for tonight. Just like that, Reva is a deeper more realistic character. I thought she was a cardboard cutout baddie in #1 and #2 and suddenly she’s well rounded, believable, and more interesting.

I’ll probably watch this again in a few minutes. Yes, I thought it was that strong.