I was excited about this TV show; let’s get that straight, which is fascinating, considering how Ahsoka was introduced back in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008, my review here) and quickly became one of my least favourite Star Wars characters. Luckily, there was significant growth for her character over the entire course of the TV show with the same name (Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 – 2020, my review here)) and it made sense for her to start like that, given she was supposed to be the stereotypical “annoying teenager”. Thanks to the Clone Wars, she became one of my favourite characters, possibly even my favourite “newly created” character, so when I learned about this live-action show, I was thrilled. Plus, we have already seen what her life-action character looks like due to Rosario Dawson and her minor role in The Mandalorian (2019 – ?, my reviews here and here) and even The Book of Boba Fett (2021 – ?, my review here). The final result left me optimistic for the upcoming season(s), but it hasn’t landed as well as it should have.
Let’s get the biggest “problem” out of the way here. If you have never seen Star Wars: Rebels (2014 – 2018, my review here), I wouldn’t blame you if you felt lost and almost betrayed, as Ahsoka doesn’t feel like “her own thing/show” often it felt like Star Wars: Rebels, season 4.5, with a special guest star, Ahsoka Tano. Many emotional moments hit you only if you are deep into the Star Wars lore and already know names like Ezra Bridger, Chopper, Kanan Jarrus… If those mean nothing to you, then Ahsoka might be a bit confusing to watch at times, as the show tries to make you care about these characters, but many viewers (I would bet) have never even heard of them. I understand them “making Rebels canon”, but honestly, at times, as much as I enjoyed Rebels, I wished we would have stayed more on some “non-Rebels” characters.
The casting worked for me. I have already mentioned Rosario, but it bears repeating she is perfect as Ahsoka, especially in her later stage in life, where she is wise and mature but still can kick ass or two. I thought David Tennant as Huyang was great and brought much-needed levity to this show; I also liked Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine, who I thought did a great job and had an actual story arc. I did like Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera, despite her character being one of those “side” characters we don’t know much about. And let me be clear here; I know of Hera and what she is about, but all my knowledge comes from Rebels. If I were to judge her character from Ahsoka, I would say she had a few great comeback lines and felt like there was something bigger in the store for her. The same can be said about Ray Stevenson. Firstly, may he rest in peace; I was shocked to hear the news of his death. He was an underrated actor I loved ever since I saw him in Rome (2005 – 2007). Secondly, he, quite honestly, might have been the most interesting character we have had in Star Wars since… well, it’s been a long time. He obviously has an agenda and, at first, seems to be “pure evil”, but then you can see not only shades of his performance but his monologues about good and evil and his character looking for something… The writers must have had some plans with his character, so it will suck to see him recast and him not finishing this role. And there was one character I won’t discuss, as we would have to delve into the spoiler territory, who was great, but to repeat myself again, he didn’t have much to do, but obviously, there is a plan for that character for the future season(s)…?
I think you can see where I am going with this. Ahsoka‘s biggest problem was that it had to set up so much it didn’t feel like its own show at times. It also gave us many half-cooked characters, almost as if the writers said: “Well, we don’t have much time, but if you watch it and give us another season or two, believe us, these will be awesome, just trust us!” I get they work within certain borders and limitations, but in this case, it felt strange.
Where the show worked for me was everything related to Ahsoka and her past with her old master, Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader. I won’t go into any major spoilers, but there are episodes dealing heavily with Ahsoka’s past, and those ones were the highlights. When a show called Ahsoka actually focused on her and gave us a better understanding of her perspective on her past and how she has dealt with… well, everything. I also liked the expansion of the Star Wars lore, the whales, and the dimension where you can see the past (as introduced in Rebels) was also great. And, of course, we finally get Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who is as menacing as he always was. But again, I ask, for people who have never seen Rebels, how impactful was his appearance? We can see how afraid everyone is of him returning, but unless you watched Rebels, you don’t get “why” because you haven’t seen his diabolical mind on full display. As far as villains go, he is, by far, the best “new” villain, hands down. And I hope the upcoming season(s) will do justice to his character; Star Wars could use a sharp, menacing villain.
It’s almost not fair to judge Ahsoka based on the first season, given how much they leaned into the Rebels lore and having to set up those characters. That is why I remain cautiously optimistic about the future season(s) of this show, because there is definitely room for growth and improvement and if the writers deliver on everything they tried to set in this season, Ahsoka should become one of the best Star Wars things we’ve gotten. Now, we just have to sit and wait.
Overall, Ahsoka came, saw and didn’t conquer as much as I would hope she would. The highs of this show are high, especially if you are (like me) caught up on all things Star Wars. But even I, an unapologetic Star Wars fan and defender, thought this should have been better and more focused as this season felt, at times, not coherent. However, the word “hope” is almost associated with Star Wars, so I hope they deliver on everything they set up this season, and we will get a great TV show.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke