Obi Wan Kenobi “Part 3” Review
Obi Wan Kenobi “Part 3” is the third episode of the Obi Wan Kenobi original series. Following their close shave escape in episode 2 Obi Wan and Leia end up on the mining planet of Mapuzo. Making their way through Empire ruled areas to get to the coordinates where they’ll be picked up. Obi Wan loses patience and doesn’t trust the area they’ve been sent to so Leia flags down a random passer by, Freck, who turns out to be as untrustworthy as Obi Wan said. Taking them to a check point and handing them in, Obi Wan puts up a good fight but just as it all looks over for them they’re saved by a friend dressed in Empire garb. She turns out to be Tala, the friend they were meant to wait for. She gets them to a safehouse, of which there are many around the galaxy, but Darth Vader shows up. Obi Wan sends Leia and Tala ahead and says he’ll catch up. Obi Wan does his best to draw Vader away without conflict. But eventually he has to fight him, it’s less of a fight and more of a “Obi Wan guarding until he can run away.” But all part of the plan and perfectly highlights just how rusty Obi Wan’s connection to the Force is. Vader is barely even trying and he’s making his opponent look like a joke. Obi Wan is saved from Darth Vader’s torture (in which he deliberately watches Obi as he gets burnt in a fire) by Tala who creates an explosion big enough to grab Obi Wan and get the droid to se up the transport. The episode ends with Leia getting to the transport area but Reva is there and has killed the pilots.
Obi Wan Kenobi The Untrusting
This was a great episode, definitely the best so far. Obi Wan shows off once again how his connection to the Force and his lack of embracing who he is has damaged him immensely. He doesn’t practice patience and immediately springs to the wrong conclusion that they’ve been set up, leading them to actually be set up. Whilst I appreciate the need to show just how bad shape he’s in now, mentally and spiritually, if this becomes a trend I’m sure it’s going to get tiresome. He’s got 3 episodes to reclaim his connection to the Force and I’m worried that if it’s not handled carefully it could easily come off as cheap. That’s a worry for another day though.
A lot of the themes in this episode are exactly the same as the last two, except, Obi Wan doesn’t seem to be making much or any progress. It’s fine to show him as rusty but at times the episode shows the usually street smart Obi Wan as a bumbling idiot. Yes he’s changed but not that much, Obi Wan’s main strength has always been his ability to be smart and patient in times of need whilst always keeping his wits about him. He was always known as someone who could outwit his own reflection if he needed too, now he’s making the dumbest mistakes that even a child wouldn’t make. A big change and loss of connection with the Force is justifiable but just because you’re a new person now doesn’t make you an idiot.
With all of that out of the way, the Darth Vader fight was awesome! And unexpected. This is where the episode gave m hope that actually it knew what it was doing. Obi Wan knew not to engage with Vader so he spends most of the time hiding but when he does engage he basically just blocks, looking for a way out. Similar to Obi Wan’s preferred fighting style (after the death of Qui Gon) Soresu but a clunkier version, honestly his expertise in Soresu likely helped him here. He’s obviously still got it but something key is lacking and it’s all said without words. Also, Vader’s not so subtle burning of Obi Wan as revenge for what he did to him was brutal. Vader is generally brutal and cruel here, snapping kids necks and strangling people for the sake of it, the show makes no mistake of showing how his reputation built as the most feared man in the galaxy and it’s fantastic.
Despite the small issues here and there that will mostly go overlooked by most this is by far the best episode, so much so that I’d say it feels like an entirely different show. Even Reva was intimidating. Perhaps because she wasn’t screaming all the time and actually showed that she’s a forward thinker who can not only keep up but outwit the best of them. I’m starting to like, even want to know more about Reva, something I thought impossible just a few days ago.
