Ten years after the destruction of the Jedi and the establishment of the Galactic Empire, Obi-Wan Kenobi is in hiding on the desert planet of Tatooine, where he watches over the young Luke Skywalker.
Kenobi's mission requires him to keep his head down and avoid drawing any Imperial attention. The Empire's Jedi-hunting Inquisitors are ruthless and effective, and respond to even the faintest hint of Jedi activity.
Despite many temptations to take a stand against injustice, Kenobi refuses to abandon his charge. Nothing is important enough to abandon Luke. Or so he thinks.
Despite many temptations to take a stand against injustice, Kenobi refuses to abandon his charge. Nothing is important enough to abandon Luke. Or so he thinks.
But then word comes that the young Princess Leia Organa has been kidnapped, and - as you almost certainly already know, unless you've lived under a rock for the last four decades - Leia is every bit as important as Luke. It seems that Kenobi will have to buckle on his light sabre for one more mission, after all.
Obi-Wan Kenobi never quite managed to make me forget that the fates of many of these characters have been thoroughly defined over the past four decades, but it is honestly about as good and exciting an adventure as it can be, given the canonical narrative straight-jacket within which it must work. While the futures of major Star Wars characters like Obi-Wan, Leia and Darth Vader are already established, the show wisely looks to introduce new characters about whose lives and fates real tension can be established. It also does a surprisingly deft job of allowing Kenobi to have a planet-hopping adventure that could reasonably have gone unmentioned before now. Smart scripting work, overall, even if it can't entirely take eliminate the weaknesses from being a 'flashback' story.
Obi-Wan Kenobi never quite managed to make me forget that the fates of many of these characters have been thoroughly defined over the past four decades, but it is honestly about as good and exciting an adventure as it can be, given the canonical narrative straight-jacket within which it must work. While the futures of major Star Wars characters like Obi-Wan, Leia and Darth Vader are already established, the show wisely looks to introduce new characters about whose lives and fates real tension can be established. It also does a surprisingly deft job of allowing Kenobi to have a planet-hopping adventure that could reasonably have gone unmentioned before now. Smart scripting work, overall, even if it can't entirely take eliminate the weaknesses from being a 'flashback' story.
The show also profits from strong central performance. Ewan McGregor is predictably excellent as Obi-Wan, very much channelling that Alec Guinness vibe for the role; but he is well-matched by the precocious Vivien Lyra Blair as young Leia. She's an excellent choice, believably a younger, spirited-but-still-naïve version of the character as played by Carrie Fisher.
On the villainous side, Moses Ingram does good work in the role of the Jedi-hunting 'Third Sister', slowly revealing a more complex character than her brash aggression initially suggests. Regrettably, Ingram suffered a lot of racial abuse and death threats online over the role, which were completely unjustified and hateful, and regrettably show how many people still want Star Wars (and for that matter, other media) to go back to just being all white dudes.
Another thing I enjoyed was the show's choice to depict Owen and Beru as much more than just the querulous aunt and uncle of A New Hope. It's a nice acknowledgement that, with all that was ultimately revealed in the films, they had to be very brave to take him in. Of course, when the original film came out, little of that context was there! It's good to see the writers recognising that it makes sense to change their characterisation, given the way the franchise has developed since then.
On the subject of the franchise's development, I do hope to see less trading on nostalgia in the future, with Star Wars. For one thing, there's really only so much space between the lines to fill in this earlier material. For another, a franchise that is constantly feeding on its own history like this is not growing or evolving, and will ultimately become stale.
Another thing I enjoyed was the show's choice to depict Owen and Beru as much more than just the querulous aunt and uncle of A New Hope. It's a nice acknowledgement that, with all that was ultimately revealed in the films, they had to be very brave to take him in. Of course, when the original film came out, little of that context was there! It's good to see the writers recognising that it makes sense to change their characterisation, given the way the franchise has developed since then.
On the subject of the franchise's development, I do hope to see less trading on nostalgia in the future, with Star Wars. For one thing, there's really only so much space between the lines to fill in this earlier material. For another, a franchise that is constantly feeding on its own history like this is not growing or evolving, and will ultimately become stale.
Until then, though, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a solid show, and well worth your time if you are a Star Wars fan. Just don't be a Star Wars fan who is also a racist dirtbag, please.
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