“Star Wars: Rebels” 2.3– Always Two There Are (8 out of 10) – Based on characters and situations created by George Lucas; Starring: Freddie Prinze, Jr., Vanessa Marshall, Taylor Gray, Steve Blum, Tiya Sircar, David Oyelowo; Special Guests: Dee Bradley Baker, Phillip Anthony-Rodriquez, Sarah Michelle Gellar; Rated TV-Y7, Aired on Disney XD 10/28/15.
This review contains spoilers.
This episode opens and closes in the galley of the Ghost with an ever growing crew getting comfortable, including Captain Rex playing Dejarik with Zeb. The pre-credits opening establishes a mission, that some of the Rebels need to go to an abandoned outpost to retrieve needed medical supplies, and it also establishes the new interplay between Kanan and Rex, adding a new and interesting tension to the show.
Because of this tension, Ezra decides to stow away aboard the Phantom and tagalong on the mission with Zeb, Sabine, and Chopper. Circumstances working out as they tend to, this leads to not one but two Inquisitors discovering their location and homing in on them.
The episode is played as a game of cat and mouse between the good guys and the bad guys and looks visually very much like “Alien.” The darkened hallways lit by nothing but flashlights (and the glint of lightsabers) feels very much like a move Ridley Scott or James Cameron would make in a very similar environment. The tension is played evenly against the laughs, which help make this episode feel like one of the most balanced in the feeling of “Star Wars.”
My one complaint about the episode is that the show seems to be settling into a pattern where it seems they decide what story the writers want to tell and then come up with reasons to isolate just a few members of the crew and so far Hera has been left of the team every time. I want more Hera. To be honest, the thing I loved about the first season is that all the characters, with the exception of a few episodes, got to be spotlighted in each story, and with a growing cast it seems like those episodes might be fewer and farther between.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is a wonderful addition to the show and she has a menace in her performance that I admire, icy but confident. But I’m not sure what the distortion on her voice is trying to tell me. Is it supposed to be reminiscent of Father, Son, Daughter, and Mother Talzin? Or is it supposed to be modulated like a Sith Lord? I know nothing on this show happens by accident, so we’ll find out soon enough.
That is, perhaps, the thing I loved most about this episode, that it dropped hints of things we didn’t know where in play. When the Seventh Sister casually drops that it was the Grand Inquisitor who had perished and that the Fifth Brother was also on their tail, it opened up a world of possibility for how the Inquisitor program is laid out. It also makes me wonder why Inquisitors have not been a thing in the comics we’ve been getting in the post-Battle of Yavin era. “Darth Vader” and “Star Wars” from Marvel would surely be introducing an element this important if it were still around, right?
Add to that the hint Dave Filoni dropped on Rebels Recon that we’ve seen the Inquisitor before on“The Clone Wars” and we’re left with some tantalizing questions from this episode to chew on for the future.
Overall, I felt this episode was balanced well between story, adventurous tension, and comedy, but didn’t have the emotional impact to make this episode the sort of home run other episodes have been. I’d give this a solid 8 out of 10, though. It’s definitely not something you should miss.
Season 2 Scorecard:
- The Siege of Lothal (10 out of 10)
- The Lost Commanders (7.5 out of 10)
- Relics of the Old Republic (8 out of 10)
Season Average 8.375 out of 10