Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 Review: An Empire Of Contrasts, In The Heart Of The Inquisition
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Moses Ingram, Vivien Lyra Blair, Hayden Christensen
Director: Deborah Chow
Streaming Platform: Disney+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (Three and half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
One more Wednesday comes to our appointment with Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4, the new Star Wars series that we have available on Disney Plus every week, with Ewan McGregor returning 17 years later as the iconic Jedi. Third to last episode, if no changes, of the series. In many ways, Deborah Chow should lay the groundwork for the final duo of episodes. As always, we remind you that we are not going to delve into episode spoilers until we warn you otherwise. However, we will refer to events from previous episodes. we bring you our review of the fourth episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi. You already have it available on Disney Plus, so… attack!
After a humiliating defeat at the hands of Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi was wounded in every way in his last fight. Not only did he discover that his apprentice was still alive and killing everything in his path, but his body was almost completely burned. Poetic revenge, so to speak. However, with Leia’s fate still at risk, he had to ensure her safety. Being taken by the Inquisitors, the girl ends up trapped inside one of the Empire’s bases. From this, we see a real rescue mission and escape from the place. To be honest with you, I felt a true homage to what we saw in A New Hope in this Episode 4, which also didn’t feel like a mere coincidence. A princess in trouble, a Jedi coming to her rescue, and a real war going on there.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 Review: The Story
Following the last episode, we find our Jedi Knight (Ewan McGregor) in a delicate condition for the burns that the clash with Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) caused him. Just the time for a wonderful parallel with his former pupil and for a further taste of the terrible feelings of guilt and nightmares that haunt Obi-Wan and then the actual episode kicks off: Leia (Vivian Lyra Blair) is in fact prisoner of Reva (Moses Ingram) and she must be saved at all costs before the fearsome inquisitor steals vital information on the position of the rebels. And here comes the sense of déjà-vu immediately, because it is again a rescue of Leia, without however the revelations – for the protagonist to say the least shocking – that had accompanied the mission on Daiyu.
So what’s left? A “simple” infiltration – not so full of suspense – in a location of great charm, namely the fortress of the Inquisitorius on Nur, and little else. A narrative intertwining that unfortunately does nothing but highlight the logistical shortcomings, so to speak, that the series carries with it from the beginning, that lack of care in some details that makes the nose turn up a bit. For example the abused cliché of the resentful helper who doesn’t want to help the hero first but two seconds later he does, the non-existent preparation for an almost unexpected undertaking or even the way they escape from the base, really clumsy to see on screen.
After the harrowing end of the third part of Obi-Wan Kenobi, we resume the action with the two protagonists separated. Ewan McGregor’s character needs healing, while a terrible threat looms over the young princess of Alderaan. 95% of the episode will take place in a location widely known to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order players. This is not a spoiler we have known about the presence of this location since the first trailer of the series. Broadly speaking, this is a “search and release” episode. The Mandalorian has already had some chapters of this style that have worked quite well.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 Review And Analysis
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 picks up on an old Star Wars cliché that doesn’t always work right. Script conveniences are used to avoid plausibility in some scenes, without much success. We get some action towards the end of the episode. Star Wars action sequences have always had a lot of “buts,” not just Obi-Wan Kenobi. Protesting about it at this point, ignoring that story, doesn’t make much sense. Towards the end of the chapter, too, you won’t be able to recall a certain scene with Cal Kestis in the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Within the computation of the series, it is a weak episode. Try to add drama to characters that have no development, but nothing at all, when that time could be used in scenes that lack the necessary time. If this drama will have an impact later, of course, it is something we do not know. In the last few episodes they were aspects counterbalanced, if not outclassed, by the goodness of the rest, but this time there is simply too little. And that little is still fascinating, we do not deny it: Obi-Wan’s evolution still seems perfect to us; the Jedi is slowly regaining familiarity and confidence with the Force, as well as his swordsman skills, also driven by the needs of the moment.
His relationship with Leia gradually becomes more intense and open; Nur’s fortress hides some surprises and Reva shows intoxicating cruelty, which we hope will come regardless of the revelation of his past. In short, some ideas are present, but they do not form the main components of the episode and what replaces them does not have the same effect, on the contrary, it is a climax of the weak points of the entire miniseries. Obi-Wan Kenobi is practically awaited at the decisive passage because he needs a substantial acceleration from any point of view – narrative, creative, emotional – in order not to risk an ending that is not only excessively quick and superficial but also unsatisfactory, which does not give the right credit to an iconic character.
Obi-Wan slowly rediscovers his connection to the Force. A good part of the series deals with the recovery of the bond of the old Jedi, after 10 years. The main issues come from that old dilemma of the Empire in Star Wars and how accommodating the security officers are. This cliché has been used recurrently in Star Wars, that’s not a problem, but too often script conveniences are used to solve them. If you go to CIA headquarters and say you have sensitive information and they let you in, they stop you. The same should happen in the Fortress of the Inquisition unless you are Tala Durith (Indira Varma), who with a brief threat already gives you access. I insist, that it is very common in Star Wars and in the movies, which does not mean that it is right.
We get to see a somewhat more confident Obi-Wan, fighting with his lightsaber against the forces of the Empire to free Leia. Ah, focusing a bit on the character of Vivien Lyra Blair. The interrogation scene once again demonstrates the essence of the character that we remember from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The little girl is being criticized even though she is carrying with great dignity an iconic role that has 45 years of history. There is a lot of Carrie Fisher in his portrayal of her, even if some refuse to see it.
Don’t get me wrong, dear readers. It was a good episode and I don’t take that away from it. Seeing little Leia arguing with Reva, for example, is a lot of fun. Watching the Jedi wielding his lightsaber and facing everything in front of him has always been spectacular and is what drives Star Wars. As well as seeing the subplots of the Empire’s army, showing that there may be more to explore there than they show. And I felt this way, they scratched a lot of surfaces, but they didn’t search for anything important to those characters.
With just two episodes to go, I expected to see a great sequence of action and combat in the last two. Including a rematch between the hero and Vader, showing that somehow he managed to play dead for a few more years to train Luke. I still hope, to be quite honest. I just didn’t want them to invent any kind of flashback or sentimentality that high, which I think will occur in them.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi chapter squandered that chance on this one, seeking to streamline the content to move us to the big fight that will take place at the end. By the way, this is the shortest episode so far, clocking in at just over 30 minutes. Thank you, Lucasfilm for that, but I truly believe you could have put another ten minutes in there to clear up a few questions as we’re getting closer to the series finale. I believe that will be the impression that others will have when watching too.
If in The Book of Boba Fett they abused context, here’s what else we need to see. Not that the story is too complex, but I didn’t feel at any moment that the protagonist was moving towards an inner redemption. He still feels that he was wrong with Anakin, and his failure as a Jedi still haunts him. The hero knows that there are others across the galaxy helping people. We have little Luke living on Tatooine. Inquisitors behind him, Darth Vader himself…and none of them received decent treatment outside of the action. Now it only remains for the next ones to show us otherwise.
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 Review: The Last Words
Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 turns out to be the weakest so far. Which is not the same as terrible; it’s just that it’s an episode that is a bit too full of déjà-vu and of those little cared for logistical aspects that the product has been carrying around since its inception. It is nothing more than a new rescue of Leia, without however the shocking revelations the protagonist received during the mission on Daiyu. So, what is left? An episode with too many clichés, with an unexpected mission carried out almost without preparation and carried out too randomly, with tricks that are too clumsy to see on the screen. Intriguing insights always remain, only they are not the absolute protagonists of the episode as happened up to now. When pushed into the background, unfortunately, Obi-Wan Kenobi drops somewhat drastically in quality. A series that is awaited at the gate, we just have to wait.
