Well that was a shit show of an episode. Where did the budget for this series go, swept up under a carpet somewhere?
The production value is just atrocious.
Peace is a lie
There is only passion…
Honestly 5’s probably my favorite episode now. All that’s built up is beginning to pay off, and the flashbacks to the Prequel era were really cool, especially using a sparring match between Anakin and Obi-Wan as essentially a framing device for the whole episode.
Plus seeing Vader destroying ships and kicking someone’s ass is always cool.
Sounds great! Looking forward to checking if this show can land better than it took off. Fingers crossed.
So long 🙌
I liked it a lot too. A few nice twists and I’m happy Vader is portayed scary, tactical, and powerful as ever. Even Reva worked for me in this episode, and with a little more work might turn into an interesting character going forward.
Easily the best episode imo. Biggest complaints are still how it looks, special effects are really letting this show down, but there was a lot to love. Great twist with Reva, some real stakes and tension, and flashbacks that served the story in a very character-specific way. Loved seeing Hayden back as Anakin too.
It feels like this series could have done even more with the potential it had, but I’m happy with what they did with this episode. With only one episode left, I think I can say that this is at least a good show.
“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”
Was there de-aging done in the flashbacks? I couldn’t tell if it was used conservatively or not at all, but either way both actor’s looked great!
Easily the best episode imo. Biggest complaints are still how it looks, special effects are really letting this show down, but there was a lot to love. Great twist with Reva, some real stakes and tension, and flashbacks that served the story in a very character-specific way. Loved seeing Hayden back as Anakin too.
It feels like this series could have done even more with the potential it had, but I’m happy with what they did with this episode. With only one episode left, I think I can say that this is at least a good show.
This is more or less my take on Episode 5 too.
I do find it weird that more and more people are living through being impaled by lightsabers. “Revenge does wonders for the will to live” we are told. Unfortunate for everyone else previously impaled by lightsaber who did not have that will to live!
The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.
Hot & cold on it, but overall not bad. As I’ve said plenty through the years with regard to the entire franchise, I don’t find Vader at all interesting. Not in 1977, not now. That said, he’s been well handled in this series. He looks strong and sounds strong (his voice was off in Rogue One, but that’s for other discussions). He seems very 1977 in this and that’s nice to see.
Also interesting, to me at least, is how much better Obi Wan and Anakin both work as characters at their current ages. I don’t really remember Phantom Menace, but I do remember how I felt about it. Something I thought back then was that Obi Wan would have worked better if we picked up the story when he was older. Same for the kid. I’ve seen a few clips and screencaps to have the same feeling about the other two prequels. Anakin and Obi Wan look too young (to me).
One of the things that most interested me way back when this series was first announced was how perfect Ewan looked now for the role. That has sure been the case now that the series is here. Same for Hayden. I’ve never seen him in anything before, so I’m going in fresh with this series and his portrayal of Anakin looks and feels correct for the character at this point in his journey.
Surprisingly, I thought having that training duel as an ongoing parallel throughout the episode was a very interesting way to show the parallels of who both men have always been through the years. When it first started, my thought was “oh, hell, a Prequel flashback. Not interesting, not interested.” It turned out to be, to me, the most interesting part of the episode. Well done for both characters and by both actors, as well as my first time seeing Hayden in anything. Consider me pleasantly surprised.
The rest of the episode was mostly filler, including the Reva twist. Handled well, Moses on top of her game, but too short and too late. That last 10 minutes felt rushed. It could have been an episode on its own and been a deeper narrative. Leia was hardly in this one, which I think was a good thing. We need a break to keep her from being over-used. This episode wasn’t about her, so it was good they didn’t shoehorn her in unnecessarily. Yes she was valuable to the story, but I doubt she had more than three or four minutes of screen time.
Minor nitpick; Way more civilians should have\would have been killed in that firefight.
Overall, Episode 5 truly cemented my feelings that this show needed a bigger budget, or atleast a wiser set designer or crew that could work with small budgets to make lived-in worlds ala George Lucas Prequel-Trilogy style. I’m digging this show more and more despite the few hits and misses and I really like the story it’s trying to tell here, especially with the flashbacks on this episode serving as a framing device as mentioned here earlier.
Just a couple things linger on my mind now:
I don’t think Hayden does a good job portraying David Prowse’s body language as OT Vader, although that can be justified as hes like in his mid 30s in the timeline, so theres still that brash anger, hatred and angst in his movements.
It’s funny how Lucasfilm spends so much money for deepfaking Luke, but they decide to throw Hayden in his Prequel-era clothes and went “that will work haha” on it.
I also have a wild theory that since Episode 6 most likely has the actual duel on it, and thus the biggest percentage of the small budget this series had to work with, the earlier duel (from EP3 or EP4, I can’t remember) was sort of an after-thought and looked like a sleazy low-budget fan film, which also works unexpectedly since the original Star Wars also ran with a shoe-string budget for it’s sets. (However comparing to Kenobi, they do look alot more authentic and lived in rather than the spray-painted dirt on the buildings like in the show)
Just one more thing… (POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 6)
I read the rumors or leaks(?) that Reva will save Luke and thus ret-con the entire OT, which I think gets more and more unlikely as time goes on as long as Luke doesn’t even know about it and is happily playing in the homestead, which I think is what the show will likely do. Reva will probably do some self-sacrificing manuever like convincing Vader that nothing is on Tatooine, or killing herself off or something.
Weird episode on many instances such as giving lil Leia some stuff to do (why are they trying to make her a lil Anakin) and creating a very circonvoluted plot around Reva (twist no one could see coming because it’s out of the blue so it feels quite off). Not to mention Bail sending messages with classified info to Ben who loses it (come on Ben, stop drinking booze !).
However, I like the pre AOTC flashback (something which could work within the movie if the actors were not looking a bit older) and most of the Vader scenes. On a production value perspective only the PT scenes look good (because they have no choice but to match good looking movies perhaps ?) whereas the « nowadays » stuff is really, really problematic and feels like a Star Trek TNG set… i won’t comment the music or the cinematography, aligned with the cheap looking I just mentioned.
It’s getting better but still not convince by how it seems to be forced to land in ANH shoes after playing that much with continuity (oh so Vader says he was still the learner because… he made the same mistake he did during a PT-era flashback… i mean that is for audience only and not intra diegetic right ?).
So long 🙌
I do feel worried for the future of Star Wars Disney+ series if the Obi-wan Kenobi series - a project people have anticipated for years and clearly a flagship series for Disney+ - can’t even look decent half the time. Either they need to sort out why it doesn’t look good, or they need to up their budgets asap.
“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”
I still get a chuckle every time someone says the production quality is low, or the FX are bad, or they didn’t spend enough money, or it looks 90’s TV. Boy, some of you have really retconned the past in your heads to believe that. This series looks like the movies. TNG and B5 are 90’s TV and they looked nothing like this… ever. They look like the Star Wars Holiday Special compared to Kenobi. I think there are some creative choices that not everyone likes and they are blaming the wrong thing. The sets are fantastic (even the virtual sets) and the quality is excellent.
This series looks like the movies.
Just compare the exact same shot of Vader on the ship bridge with the same in Rogue One. If you don’t spot any difference then lucky you…
So long 🙌
I mean… the actual story for Episode 5 was decent enough, probably the best so far. But… oh my god, this budget.
I mean watching this episode really reminded me of an episode of Star Trek: TNG from the 90s. Maybe even Star Trek: TOS from the 1960s. Most if it takes place in a boring cave set. The background extras are all humans. The Empire makes plans to lay siege to a small rebel base, so naturally I’m expecting you know, some AT-ATs and a big spectacle. But no, they just send like a small SWAT team that infiltrates a cave set left over from an episode of 90s Star Trek. There’s not even any establishing shots of the planet surface or anything. It seriously feels like TV from the 90s. What is going on here? Is Ewan McGregor’s paycheck really THAT exorbitant?
I found myself mentally adjusting my expectations for what I knew would be possible to show on screen - you know, like we used to do back in 90s/early 2000s when watching TV. And this is a show made by a company that, just recently, actually blew away my expectations regarding what is possible to see on screen when they showed me a pretty convincing CGI Luke Skywalker. And now somehow we’re back to a 1990s-level production with bland, shitty-looking caves and badly lit phaser fights.
Anyway, in order to enjoy this you really need to lower your expectations regarding the budget. Maybe pretend you’re watching it on VHS or something.
OK. After five episodes what’s the general consensus among you guys? Is this series worth watching?
I feel no real desire to watch it.
OK. After five episodes what’s the general consensus among you guys? Is this series worth watching?
I feel no real desire to watch it.
I like it. It isn’t perfect, but it’s entertaining, and I only want to be entertained, not analyze everything to pieces
It’s a good show. Not amazing, maybe not even great, but worth a watch.
This series looks like the movies.
I don’t think there’s anyone who’d agree with this though. What should be awesome scenes are let down by poor, uninteresting visuals, and in every episode so far there’s at least a couple of bad special effects which take me right out of a scene.
“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”
Some overall take-aways about Episode 1-5 as far:
There is a weird decline in production quality compared to Mandalorian. When watching the Mandalorian I feel like I am watching a movie. Watching Obi-Wan, you definitely feel like it is a TV series.
Disney is very committed to keeping Vader as “the ultimate villain”. He is portrayed as extremely menacing and much more powerful than he seems in the OT. I am pretty satisfied with how Vader is handled in this series. However, nothing so far beats the Rogue One hallway massacre for sheer visceral excitement/fear. I also think force-users being able to stop moving starships is a bit over the top, crossing the line into “super-hero” territory.
Before this series began, there was a lot of chatter around the Internet about how the new character Reva would turn out to be the star of the show, stealing the spotlight from Kenobi in some way and perhaps being unreasonably powerful (echoing earlier complaints about Rey). But this has not happened at all. Kenobi is clearly the star, and Reva is easily defeated with minimal effort by Vader. Reva is not a bad character either. The actress portrays her commitment and desperation very well when she fights a hopeless battle against Vader. The main problem is that Reva is much more interesting once you know her backstory. But the show doesn’t really go into her backstory until Episode 5 unfortunately, so from Episode 1 through 4 she often just comes off as a generic villain.
Anakin (Hayden Christiansen) is really underused. I’m not even a Prequel fan, but I feel bad for the Prequel fans who were expecting more recurring flashbacks showing Anakin/Obi-Wan throughout the series. I was also curious to get a glimpse of Anakin as a young man directed by someone else other than Lucas. But we get barely any footage of this, except for this brief lightsaber sparring in Episode 5. I feel like these flashbacks should have been a recurring thing throughout the series.
OK. After five episodes what’s the general consensus among you guys? Is this series worth watching?
I feel no real desire to watch it.
I’d say it’s really good if you know how to be fun and not overanalyze everything.
Yeah just watch it. It’s not even too long to sit down in front of: 6 episodes for a total of around 4 hours of show.
About PT era flashbacks it’s surprising how well they blend with Lucas vision. PT has recently become as respected as the OT when it comes to continue merging both eras as one. Something that went progressively since Rebels S01 to now.
So long 🙌
With Episode 5, I’m happy that the Inquisitors have some sort of interest now.
But I’m sad that this conflicts with the fanedit idea that Anakin wasn’t part of the Temple Massacre. I guess if somebody does this in a ROTS edit they will have to accept the conflict with Kenobi.
You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)
But I’m sad that this conflicts with the fanedit idea that Anakin wasn’t part of the Temple Massacre. I guess if somebody does this in a ROTS edit they will have to accept the conflict with Kenobi.
I mean, if you’re gonna delete chunks of canon plot material from your edit, you’ve already kinda agreed it’s its own continuity lmao.
People (including myself, I think) had pointed out that Hayden has a deeper voice now, and sounds more like The Clone Wars’ Matt Lanter. I was very happy to hear a couple of lines in the flashback scene sounded exactly like Matt’s portrayal of Anakin as well. If you closed your eyes it could have been a scene from TCW.
I’m really happy with the scene and how it served the main story, but I do wish there had been another flashback in Part III as well. Call me greedy but it does feel a bit strange to suddenly drop this on us when the show’s about to wrap up.
“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”
But I’m sad that this conflicts with the fanedit idea that Anakin wasn’t part of the Temple Massacre. I guess if somebody does this in a ROTS edit they will have to accept the conflict with Kenobi.
I mean, if you’re gonna delete chunks of canon plot material from your edit, you’ve already kinda agreed it’s its own continuity lmao.
Exactly - fanedits shouldn’t be beholden to series continuity. They can pick and chose whatever they like (see: “Rey Nobody” preserved, Chewbacca getting a medal, or Padme surviving ROTS among others).
Overall a good episode. So now there’s a new reason for the attack on the Grand Inquisitor. I thought the lightsaber training session with Anakin worked very well, and showed further insights into how Obi-Wan thinks and the flaws in Anakin’s own thinking and his obsessions, and how it leads him into error time and again. Oh and Vader really schooled her in that duel, clearly not in his league.
The Star Wars trilogy. There can be only one.