Evan J. Pretzer
Refugee advocate and freelance reporter
The Obi-Wan Kenobi show is super cool
Editor’s Note: This article will contain some spoilers, though I have done my best to not be too clear. Proceed carefully.
Hey all. Lately on my site my writing has veered towards the more personal due to my professional efforts being at a stable, uncertain (I may try making my own local news publication like a madman) and somewhat but not entirely satisfying state. Sure, it is not always interesting, to be fair, but once more you are getting it as I have been watching the Obi-Wan Kenobi show on Disney Plus, and yeah, I have a few thoughts about the whole thing.
In summation, so far it (mostly) rules.
At the start we pick up with Ewan McGregor’s character 10 years after we last saw him deliver baby Luke to his family on Tatooine. He is alone, has to deal with a jawa who steals his shit, has nightmares about the prequels and is a shadow of his former self. At one point, someone seeks him out and we see he has given up fighting.
But then, someone we know, but not in the way you think ends up in danger and so the pull of service proves too strong. Ben leaves the planet for the first time in a long time, shakes off the rust and learns some big truths also.
Parts of the plot so far are a bit similar to the work on The Mandalorian, to be fair. But, as I have watched this I am struck by how good Star Wars can be when it focuses on simpler stories. Here, there is no crossover media one needs to be familiar with, gaps in knowledge are easily filled in with a sentence or two and it made me wish the recent sequel trilogy could have been as well-structured, though those films have better action scenes so far.
Then there’s the performances.
McGregor is very impressive here. He is bringing out a side of an iconic character we haven’t seen before and when paired with the version of someone we know his efforts are downright haunting and delightful. We see him afraid; we see him longing for happier times and we see his Kenobi rediscovering his decency and his ability to help people through his interactions with another person. This is way more depth than the character as played by the actor got in his three films and it is a fortunate thing he opted to return for this standalone limited series.
Things could change, and I do worry about a The Book of Boba Fett situation, but right now this piece has a firm place in my recommendations. If you have Disney Plus, give it a watch and, if not, do get a subscription right now.
It will certainly make your Wednesdays until June 22 much more interesting.
Evan J. Pretzer 