I will be interested in other MouseOwners' reactions to the new
Obi-Wan Kenobi series (hereafter O-WK) on Disney+. Although I have tagged this post with "Spoilers", I have tried to minimize them.
Everyone has their own benchmark standards for made-for-streaming series. In my case, I feel Rosamund Pike set a
very high standard in the "Weep for Manetheren" history lesson in Episode 2 of
The Wheel of Time. From Disney, DW and I are very fond of
The Mandalorian, and we also thought highly of
WandaVision. Having watched Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan Kenobi decades ago, I was looking forward to O-WK with a mixture of enthusiasm and trepidation. The remarks below follow the first three episodes of O-WK.
On the positive side, the character Obi-Wan has some good moments in O-WK when he is acting as a natural teacher. For example, at one point he implicitly reflects upon and repents of his past criticism of Padme (... she's a politician. They're not to be trusted...") and re-characterizes her in a way that is touching. He also describes the use of the Force in a memorable way.
On the minus side, and unbelievably parallel to Luke's portrayal in
Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, we are given another helping of "Lo how the mighty are fallen", courtesy of current
Star Wars management at Disney. Plot-wise, that might work more conveniently for the perpetrators when they can have the Jedi master perish in the same work in which the degradation appears. However, because of his roles in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and
Episode IV: A New Hope, Obi-Wan presents management with a two-point boundary value problem. His arc must travel smoothly and plausibly departing from III
and arriving at IV.
That will take some fancy writing footwork in follow-ons to three initial plots that appear full of holes. Moreover, the finance folks will have to be persuaded to fund all the needed screen-time. A comparison of Rotten Tomatoes ratings of
The Mandalorian (Tomatometer 93% and Audience 91%) versus current, "early days" ratings of O-WK (Tomatometer 87% and Audience 61%) might suggest a reason for financial caution.
Absent both the necessary fancy plot footwork and episode funding, I fear that O-WK will follow
Episode VIII: The Last Jedi into
Star Wars quasi-canonical never-never land.
Here is just one, specific supporting criticism. In Episode IV, Darth Vader famously remarks to Obi-Wan, "When I left (
sic) you, I was but the learner. Now (
sic) I am the master." In Episode 3 of O-WK, Star Wars management has apparently -- certainly arguably -- ret-conned the relationship of O-WK and Darth as presented in George Lucas' original film. My goodness.
06-13-2022, 01:29 PM
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