Review: OBI-WAN KENOBI Episode 1 & 2

Obi Wan Kenobi started streaming on Disney + today. As you may know, I’m not a fan of Disney. I have very little confidence in them after the sequels. I liked That Mandalorianbut The book about Boba Fett was below average for me.

When I saw that they were making a series about Obi-Wan, I was in doubt, but I had to give it a try. Here is my relatively spoiler-free review.

Section 1

The first four minutes of clipping from prequels annoyed me. They have been shouting about Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen for the past month, so why they should adorn the audience with a reminder of who Obi-Wan and Anakin were was not a good start.

We then cut to the Jedi Temple moments after Order 66 has been executed, and a brave female Jedi saves the lives of some little ones. I was hoping to see Hayden back and do what we wanted him to do Sith’s revengebut no … it’s Disney.

Ten years after this, we find Obi-Wan on Tatooine. He works a low-paying job, feeds his Eopie and lives in a cave near Owen and Beru. He keeps an eye on the young Luke Skywalker from a distance.

Suddenly some inquisitors appear. They are all evil and behave as if they were written by a 10-year-old and were instructed to write their manuscript and get them to “speak in an evil way”. They are Jedi hunters and are looking for a local who can be Jedi.

I have to admit, it was not that bad, even though the bad guys were a little lame. One of them is a third sister. She’s out to pick up Obi-Wan and bring him to Vader. Why I do not know why yet, but she is angry, relentless and seems to ignore orders. She just wants to Obi-Wan.

Then we change to Alderaan, where we find young Leia. The actress who plays her looked younger than 10 years, but she was supposed to be about 10 years old and already a strong, independent woman. Shocker. Bail Organa and his wife are doing their best to raise her, but she’s more of a free spirit and does not really want life as a senator.

From the start of the show, it shows Obi-Wan as a dirty Jedi who has given up. Not really a knight anymore. Like Luke was with The last Jedi. However, Leia is strong, smart and independent. You know, like Rey.

There is some filling of characters, such as the interaction between Obi-Wan and Owen. Basically, Owen does not like Obi-Wan. The Inquisitors are on the hunt for the Jedi, and oh no, the third sister is threatening Owen! It’s the same Owen we know lives in A new hope, so that was all right. The Inquisitors are sure there is Jedi on Tattooine. When they finally find one, they deal with him.

Back at Alderan, Leia is kidnapped by Three Stooges. I mean it almost literally. Three grown men run after her and she escapes them … for a while. It turns out that the third sister has hired these thugs to kidnap Leia, as she knows Obi-Wan will come after her.

She seems to know this, but she does not know it Luke Skywalker is on tattoo but it does not matter because you know Star wars.

Bail contacts Obi-Wan and apparently he is the only person in the entire galaxy who can save Leia because Star wars. Obi-Wan goes out, digs up his lightsaber and so do Anakins, getting ready to take off from the planet.

I have to say that Obi-Wan is now an idiot for carrying his lightsaber, a Jedi weapon. Three naughty Sith show up looking for a Jedi, so he just cuts it on the belt and leaves. Fool.

Section 2

Obi-Wan ends up somewhere, I missed the name of the planet. He starts looking for Leia with his lightsaber still on his belt. He finds another Jedi who seems to be helping people out … but he turns out to be a cheater, so a dead end for a character.

Obi-Wan finds the gang and gets into a fight, only to discover that he is out of shape and can not fight as well. You know, like Luke in The last Jedi. He saves Leia and then spends the rest of the time being pushed around by Leia, as Rey did with Luke in The last Jedi.

The third sister knows that Obi-Wan is on the planet somewhere, so go up to the roof to look for him. Out of the whole planet, she happens to be on a roof near where there is a shot on another roof, and she finds him because Star wars.

The big shock at the end of the second episode was not really the big shock, to be honest. No gasping loudly here. I just thought “Well, ok then” and kept going.

That’s when they reveal that Darth Vader is alive, which is not a revelation at all, as they have announced that he has been involved in this for several months. No way! I did not see it coming at all!

Overall

The overall show is OK at best. There are pieces that you have to say are pretty good, but there are pieces that are just poorly written that then undermine the good pieces. Almost every 5 seconds there is an Easter egg with a nostalgia hit, due Star wars.

I will predict now, right here, by writing that:

The third sister will become a better person, form a romance with Obi-Wan, according to Mara Jade, but not end up marrying him because we know it does not happen, and a strong, confident woman like her does not have to nop man to complete her.

Any match with Vader will have zero stakes as we know both to survive and cope with it A new hopeso there is not really much to look forward to there.

I give this about 2 out of 5 stars. I finish it, but I do not expect much else. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. But that scenario involved Kathleen Kennedy turning everyone on for an hour and then calling all the fans toxic.

That’s my opinion, how did you find it? Is the most amazing show ever created by mankind? Or is it the TV version of The Rise of Skywalker?

Side note

Just to say, we have not forgotten Stranger Things, which I’m going to see now. We’ll talk about that at the Live Team on Sunday. We’re doing an extra livestream with Yoda, Eggy and myself about Obi-Wan tomorrow. Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel to check it out.

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