Note: I wrote this post while I was watching the episode, so it’s more of a live blog than a proper review. Hope you enjoy anyway!
We start out the episode with Ezra being late for training with Kanan. When he gets back, Kanan reads him the riot act and calls him unfocused and undisciplined. (Like you aren’t, Kanan.) I’m torn between feeling sorry for Ezra always getting dumped on, wondering what the hell Ezra was doing wandering around Lothal by himself when they’re wanted by the Empire, (more on this later), and being annoyed at Ezra. Kanan tells Ezra he made a dangerous connection with the Force in that asteroid field (yay continuity!) and he needs to undergo a test that could determine if he’s meant to be a Jedi. First of all, Kanan, weren’t you the one who encouraged him to make that Force connection? Second, way to put the pressure on.
Jacob Evans doesn’t have very much going for him. His mother’s dead, his father routinely leaves for months at a time, and he hasn’t seen his best friend Emilia in four years. In The Tethering by Megan O’Russell, Jacob doesn’t have much to lose when he’s abruptly pulled into a world filled with magic, a whole new set of rules, and most importantly: his best friend again. What he could definitely do without though is this slowly building war amongst the magical community that he’s about to find himself pulled smack dab in the middle of.
No one should want to live in Panem and no one should wish they were Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games has never been a series to shy away from showing the horrors of war and the oppression of a people and Mockingjay wipes away all the glamor of the Capital to give its viewers an unblinking view. It’s unapologetically grim and bleak in a way that young adult geared films haven’t quite been before but that doesn’t stop Mockingjay Part 1 from succeeding as a thoroughly enjoyable film even if you likely won’t leave the theatre with a broad smile on your face.
Rebels gives its viewers a chance to catch their breath this week after a heck of a brutal ride the episode prior. Breathing doesn’t mean the creators slacked in any way shape or form though with this week’s episode: Breaking Ranks.