Star Wars is a franchise that gives me a lot of hesitation due to how varied the quality is throughout all the works. After two seasons of The Mandalorian I had good faith in their live-action series, but The Book of Boba Fett was a weird idea to me that further ended up falling short in ways I didn’t expect. I suppose since the plot of Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t too strange and even I was excited to see Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprise their roles from the prequel trilogy, I really found myself looking forward to the series. Having seen all six episodes now, I’m left satisfied and yet torn because of some awkward aspects.

I won’t dive into spoilers or anything that wasn’t confirmed from the trailers so to provide a very general synopsis the series follows the titular Obi-Wan Kenobi as he tries to avoid the eyes of the Empire while continuing his exile watching over Luke Skywalker. When he is needed to leave his exile, he soon finds himself in conflict with an Inquisitor named Reva as well as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader himself.

Focusing on the characters in-between the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is simultaneously risky and high in potential. There’s a lot of time in between those films, although there is a constraint on what they can do with the characters.

Miraculously, it somehow all works out. The goal of this series was to bridge those two films closer without disrupting the already established canon and it manages to do it. That’s not to say that it feels like nothing happens in the end or that there’s no substantial character development because there certainly is.

As much as characters were already on track and at the end of the prequel trilogy to become who they are in the original film, this series sets them up better. Even some smaller lines and scenes from that original film feel like they carry a new weight to them. I do have to credit the writers for that.

That being said, the writing and nearly every aspect of the show are at their best during the incredible finale. The same can’t be said for the rest of the show. In regards to plot and narrative, a lot of events feel so clumsy and unbelievable that I’m surprised they were approved.

So many moments feel like they needed to get the characters from point A to point B and just couldn’t manage that coherently. Whether they couldn’t think of a decent reason how or they needed to pad out more time, the result is a lot of unnatural story advancements that feel like they happen because the plot demands it.

The first instance coming to mind is a terrible chase sequence in the first episode where multiple bounty hunters trip over snags and lightly jog into frail branches in their attempt to catch a slow child. If it was entirely portrayed in a cheesy way like some Anakin Skywalker moments in the first prequel film it would have been better. Instead, it’s played straight and feels extremely out of place.

There are many moments like this throughout. A villain appears in front of a character even though they were initially behind them in a maze of tunnels and it would make more sense that they wouldn’t know their way through. Stormtroopers fail to kill their targets because of a row of fire in front of them that they for some reason couldn’t walk around or shoot through. Obi-Wan asks somebody for help who immediately retorts with a strong moral reason for their own priorities and then just as quickly gives in to help him. It feels impossible to not notice how strange and unnatural these scenes are.

Something that does not help is the occasionally questionable camera work. A lot of the landscape shots and scenes that introduce characters are admittedly pretty well shot. Once again, the finale holds a lot of examples of the best work done in the series while the other episodes noticeably suffer.

Starting the series off is an opening scene that’s meant to be harrowing and it is undermined by a shaky camera straight out of a B-rated disaster film. The aforementioned awful chase sequence is compounded by the same cinematography quality of an early Power Rangers episode. A major shootout in the second half is already a bit difficult to follow with blaster bolts filling the screen and then made exponentially worse by chaotic zoom-ins, very quick cuts, and the return of the shaky camera. Plenty of fun action sequences can be found in this series and many are regrettably soured by the camerawork.

Visually I’m happy to say it’s a whole lot better than The Book of Boba Fett was. Variety in locations truly does a lot to keep each episode fresh and distinct from one another. Although I’d still prefer we see even more locations that aren’t the desert planet Tatooine from now on, I didn’t mind it nearly as much while watching Obi-Wan Kenobi.

This does come with a caveat though. A lot of the show has a dark palette to it because many scenes take place at night or inside caves and such. These darker scenes provide a great atmosphere for some characters, however, it does undercut a bit of that visual variety. It inadvertently makes a flashback to a planet featured heavily in the prequels even better just as a palette cleanser.

When it came to the characters I also found it to be a bit of a mixed bag, but in general, I did enjoy them. Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job showing how Obi-Wan is haunted by his grief and trauma after the events of the prequel trilogy. Hayden Christensen meanwhile returns as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and he does a phenomenal job. Both characters are the highlights of the series and steal every scene they’re in.

Another important character is Reva, who is played by Moses Ingram. She is the inquisitor that’s putting her all into pursuing Obi-Wan. Barring that I didn’t mind the acting, the character unfortunately just wasn’t very compelling to me and she isn’t given enough time as needed for proper character development. There’s also an important child character in the series who pairs very well with Obi-Wan and does develop well as a character throughout. She is written a bit inconsistently at times though and early on is essentially used as liability for the plot more than anything.

This show takes place at such an interesting time between the first two film trilogies. That inherently limits what they can do with certain characters. Fans will of course be very vigilant towards anything that falls out of line so to speak and everything the plot introduces in the series further tightens the limits of what can happen.

It genuinely amazes me that they were able to tell the story they wanted to tell without it feeling like they ignored the canon. However, there are some unfortunate missteps here and there that can’t be denied. Some elements feel underutilized or underdeveloped. Many of them further feel mixed in quality.

Even when it felt a little awkward and left me scratching my head, there was always an awesome moment, an enthralling fight scene, or simply the anticipation of seeing Obi-Wan and Anakin on-screen together again that kept me invested. The entire crux and heart of this series are the history and relationship between those two characters and this series wonderfully adds to it all.

Cementing this is the nearly perfect finale and sendoff that practically wraps everything up in a bow. It doesn’t fix all of the questionable moments and elements, but everything from the individual character arcs to the relationships amongst them feels earned and better by the end. Despite having a journey that’s a bit rocky at times, it accomplishes the goal that all works taking place between others strive to achieve by elevating key characters without retconning their previous portrayals. Obi-Wan Kenobi is worth watching for that reason alone.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Obi-Wan's Character Development
• Darth Vader Still Has Great Lines and Does Cool Things
• Visual Variety
• Fun Fight Scenes/Duels

Cons

• There Are Noticeably Awkward Scenes
• Camera Work Is Questionable at Times
• Some Characters Needed More Time/Development