It’s been a long, cruel summer, but we’re back – Star Wars: Resistance premiered its second (and final) season this weekend, picking up exactly where season 1 left off.
As Kaz and company endeavor to keep the Colossus moving (slowly) toward safety (haha, they think… sob…), an old adversary returns – that’s right folks, the First Order ball droid is back and wreaking HAVOC. Meanwhile, Tam adapts to life under a totalitarian regime, and… kind of likes it? Agent Tierney and Commander Pyre continue to stoke her feelings of betrayal by her friends, while giving her the opportunity to achieve her dreams as a fighter pilot.
As a return to the action, “Into the Unknown” hit all the buttons for me, picking up where last season left off not just in terms of plot, but in terms of tone. The show knows its identity, and it nails it – the stakes are high, as the station floats through space on the run from the First Order, but it’s still a fun romp, as the afore-mentioned evil droid acts as a one-robot wrecking crew in increasingly entertaining ways. As for Kaz, Torra, Yeager, and Captain Doza all understand by this point that, Resistance heroics aside, he’s a little bit of an idiot; that leads to some easy but satisfying eye rolls at his expense. I’ve said it before, but where Star Wars Rebels never really found its identity in 4 seasons, Resistance knows exactly what it should be doing, and continues to do it extremely well.
The big part of this episode that gives me hope for the season, though, is Tam: we knew from the way season 1 ended that she’d play a huge role, but I love that we’re wasting no time in her character development. As one potential redemption arc comes to a close this December, one with actual promise and reason to hope for a happy outcome (send your hate tweets to @ChrisSedor, don’t bother the nice editors) is delving into what it really means to join the bad guys. After being underestimated, kept in the dark, and lied to by her found family, Tam is understandably angry and ready to start something new – the only problem is the whole fascism part. The episode shows Tam turning her back on her old friends and embracing her new life – I can’t wait to see how she reacts the first time she actual flies a mission and needs to decide whether she’ll pull the trigger on innocent opponents.
As the Colossus continues on to D’qar, so we continue our journey to the end of this show. Season 2 is already setting up to be a wild (and surprisingly emotional) ride, and we’re ready for it.
