Review: Star Wars Resistance “No Escape Part 2”

Kaz tries to take down a TIE Fighter with a blaster. (And saves the day.)

Overview (Spoilers Below):

As the season one finale of Star Wars Resistance begins, Kaz and Tora are processing what they saw at the end of last week’s episode: the destruction of Hosnian Prime. There’s not much time to reflect, though, because they’ve got prisoners to rescue. After breaking Yaeger and Captain Doza out of their cell, Neeku provides a plan to rid the Colossus of the First Order. And it involves flushing.

While Tam and Kaz lure the First Order’s troopers out into the hallways, Neeku and his minions flood the halls and then flush the water out along with the troopers. It all culminates in a massive battle atop the Colossus, where Tam is forced to choose between staying with her friends or escaping with the First Order. Hurt by the lies Kaz and Yaeger have hidden from her, she sides with the First Order, and flies away from the Colossus as it jumps to hyperspace.

Our Take:

First off, let’s give the crew of Star Wars Resistance a big round of applause. What an epic finale! It’s a real testament to the directors, writers, animators, actors, and everyone else working on the show that they’ve managed to craft such a solid group of characters and make us feel so deeply for them in just one season on Disney Channel.

The first thing the episode presents us with, and probably one of the most important story beats in the episode, is the aftermath of Kaz finding out that his home planet has been vaporized by Starkiller Base. His family and friends are gone. Having lost everything in this way, many people would immediately shut down, or fly off the handle. But Kaz is able to keep his wits about him and focus on the mission comes first. I think this is one of the moments that help illuminate exactly what makes Kaz such an awesomely unlikely spy. His fun, somewhat silly nature may hinder some aspects of his ability to go up against the First Order, but in this case, it allows him to let go of the tragedy at hand and refocus on the friends currently needing a savior.

One of the best things this episode had going for it was the action sequences. There was a genuine sense of excitement running throughout the whole thing, from Kaz and Tora executing a prison break to the Aces retaking the skies. Part of this is due to the nature of the finale: we can finally allow the action to play to its logical conclusion without having to create further roadblocks or hindrances to our heroes. Now that the season is wrapping up, plotlines are wrapped up in satisfying ways and we get plenty of time to watch battles play out. Even ignoring the fact that it’s a finale, the sequences are just very well choreographed and edited. The sight of the Aces taking off was beautiful to behold, and I felt my pulse rise in time with the music. (Which was very good this week!)

One of my favorite gags in No Escape Part 2 was near the beginning when Neeku is telling Kaz all about how brilliant his plan is without actually informing him what the plan entails. Tora’s visual facepalm was so justified and feels like a perfect representation of me in the audience watching. Tora’s exaggerated personality makes her the perfect straight man to Neeku’s entire schtick. Kaz’s line to Commander Pyre made me literally laugh out loud. When the golden-armored Stormtrooper commands the Resistance fighters to drop their weapons, Kaz shoots back this quip: “Maybe we don’t feel like it, Goldie.” This kid has got something all Resistance fighters need, and that’s spunk. (You gotta have plenty of it to be brash enough to try shooting a TIE down with a handheld blaster.) Finally, the episode closed out with something both hilarious and heartwarming. After Kaz saves Yaeger from getting shot down, Yaeger mutters in his cockpit: “Man, that kid can fly.” A few seconds later, we hear Kaz over the radio: “I heard that. And thanks, Yaeger.” I love the relationship these two have cultivated over the course of this first season.

No Escape Part 2 was pretty much a perfect episode of Star Wars Resistance. It came through with an abundance of perfectly-timed action scenes. Gripping exchanges of blaster fire between the Resistance and the First Order, both on the Colossus and in the air. With everyone in the playing field, there was never a dull moment. We got to see Kaz take some heroic actions, proving he belongs with the Resistance. Meanwhile, characters like Synara and Tam finished off their arcs in ways that both made sense but were still surprised by the moment. I may not know where the Colossus is headed next season (and neither do they), but I know I’ll gladly follow wherever they end up.