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.