[6.8/10] On the one hand, I’m glad that the growing conflicts between Kaz and friends, The First Order, and Captain Doza are coming to a head. On the other, it means putting more focus on Kaz, which is rarely a mode that makes me like Resistance more. The fact that he and Yeager’s crew have to evade the First Order makes for some convenient escapes and attacks, but really the only thing this one has going for it on that front is the heightened stakes.
Well, I take that back. It does have Neku being his hilarious self, taking Kaz’s espionage confessions to be jokes and having an adorably literal understanding of the situation. But otherwise the core of this one is Kaz’s stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid plan. I guess it’s good that the episode features a clear goal -- in this case disabling the comms jammer at the top of the spire -- but it also features an insane way of trying to accomplish that. Kaz’s “let’s sink the whole station” plan makes for a dramatic setpiece, but as Neku puts it, “it’s so crazy it’s crazy.” The fact that everyone goes along with it, and eventually compliments Kaz on his ingenuity, is just as nuts. But whatever, it gives enough of a brush with the real Resistance and removal of competent authority figures to where Kaz can be forced to take charge and fulfill his destiny and blah blah blah.
The one thing I did really like here was Tam being questioned by the First Order negotiator. I’m still not the biggest fan of Tam given the performance, but I like that she’s a character who’s sympathetic to the First Order since it’s only helped her family, and so she’s uniquely situated to be receptive to Agent Tierny’s spin. She obviously wouldn’t want to give up her friends, but learning that they lied and kept things from her, and when Tierney makes an interesting case against the Resistance, gives her legitimate reason to have conflicted motivations here. It’s far and away the most interesting part of the episode.
But overall, that’s just a small part of this one, and the rest of the episode is the usual “hooray for Kaz” nonsense. Hopefully the finale can take this table-setting and turn it into something better than the “fine, more or less” material we got here.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-03-07T15:40:56Z
[6.8/10] On the one hand, I’m glad that the growing conflicts between Kaz and friends, The First Order, and Captain Doza are coming to a head. On the other, it means putting more focus on Kaz, which is rarely a mode that makes me like Resistance more. The fact that he and Yeager’s crew have to evade the First Order makes for some convenient escapes and attacks, but really the only thing this one has going for it on that front is the heightened stakes.
Well, I take that back. It does have Neku being his hilarious self, taking Kaz’s espionage confessions to be jokes and having an adorably literal understanding of the situation. But otherwise the core of this one is Kaz’s stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid plan. I guess it’s good that the episode features a clear goal -- in this case disabling the comms jammer at the top of the spire -- but it also features an insane way of trying to accomplish that. Kaz’s “let’s sink the whole station” plan makes for a dramatic setpiece, but as Neku puts it, “it’s so crazy it’s crazy.” The fact that everyone goes along with it, and eventually compliments Kaz on his ingenuity, is just as nuts. But whatever, it gives enough of a brush with the real Resistance and removal of competent authority figures to where Kaz can be forced to take charge and fulfill his destiny and blah blah blah.
The one thing I did really like here was Tam being questioned by the First Order negotiator. I’m still not the biggest fan of Tam given the performance, but I like that she’s a character who’s sympathetic to the First Order since it’s only helped her family, and so she’s uniquely situated to be receptive to Agent Tierny’s spin. She obviously wouldn’t want to give up her friends, but learning that they lied and kept things from her, and when Tierney makes an interesting case against the Resistance, gives her legitimate reason to have conflicted motivations here. It’s far and away the most interesting part of the episode.
But overall, that’s just a small part of this one, and the rest of the episode is the usual “hooray for Kaz” nonsense. Hopefully the finale can take this table-setting and turn it into something better than the “fine, more or less” material we got here.