Hello there. Your pod-catcher isn't on the fritz, this is actually a new episode of Give Me Those Star Wars. Ryan Daly and the Irredeemable Shag reunite to discuss the Disney+ miniseries OBI-WAN KENOBI more than a year after its release on the streaming service. Sorry, but it took that long for Shag to watch the show, and it took that long for Ryan to find his joy in Star Wars again.
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.
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Aww! The return of Mr Pew-Pew! Glad Ryan is into this space wizard opera thing again!
I very much enjoyed this discussion even though I haven’t even watched it yet. I may have to check it out now. Ewan McGregor is a fantastic actor and his portrayal of Obi Wan is the best part of the prequels. (By the way I actually liked Attack of the Clones so I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one, Shag!)
If you’re a fan of AotC and Ewan in general, I definitely think you’ll dig this show.
Thanks for recommending it — since Monday I have binged the entire series! I definitely liked it a lot. Ewan as Obi Wan is still amazing. This was the perfect time to make the series in terms of Ewan’s age, i.e., he’s now middle aged and conveys a certain amount of gravity and weariness but he’s still young enough to be the vital main character and the center of the story. The other actors were great also. I’d love to see more Obi-Wan, although it is hard to imagine how they could justify having him leave Tatooine again.
This show was a death by a thousand cuts for me. It was well-acted, well-cast, and made better use of the projected cgi screen than Book of Boba Fett did. But this is the Platonic Ideal for why prequels are a bad idea, and why “interquels” are an even worse one.
The show spends so much time making sure that the events of this completely unnecessary early/late meeting between characters don’t break Canon and also give a handwave as to why we never heard about this before, but makes bizarre and frankly lazy choices throughout the rest of the show. There are so many moments that seem to be working off of a script that says, “and then they get away.” Or “then The Sister apparently teleports to the other side of the tunnel with no other access ports because we need Leia captured again” Really bad script decisions and editing. Yes, we got an incredible duel between Obi-wan and Anakin, but…why? It doesn’t add anything to the overall narrative of these characters and seems to be there only to clean up continuity errors that this show and previous prequels caused. I could go on about the epidemic of people not bothering to check if their opponents were dead or Bail Organa’s “We need all of the principles together so I’m sending you a message where I speak openly about stuff that I spent the entirety of my last scene warning against doing” hologram, but that’ll just send me down a rabbit hole of other nitpicks. This show was endemic of Disney’s recent inability to balance style and substance in their franchises, and is not likely something I’ll revisit
Those are all good points and solid criticisms. And I know they bothered me a lot more when I watched it the first time, so maybe it was just seeing it again a year later and knowing the lazy plot contrivances were coming that made me just roll with it.
Keep in mind this is based on the Alan Dean Foster novelization, but I always took “The Academy” to be the equivalent of the Merchant Marine Academy. Biggs signs onto a freighter right out of the academy, which he wouldn’t have been able to do if it was a military academy. Again, not in the actual films, but my experience with the original Star Wars is all wrapped up in the movies, novels, and comics, so it’s really hard for me to separate them.
Yes, I’m avoiding talking about Obi-Wan because I watched some of the first episode and never had the urge to go back before canceling Disney+.
Gene, I was thinking Merchant Marine Academy when Shag and Ryan had the discussion. You were way ahead of me, but great minds…
Merchant Marine Academy is a great comparison for a probable Star Wars equivalent. Good thought! Like that much better than the Imperial Academy.
Are there legit criticisms about this series? Sure. But, as I try to do with Star Wars, I try to gravitate back to my 5-11 year old mind, and enjoy it as a Saturday Afternoon Matinee. Although 51 year old me thoroughly enjoys hard hitting stuff like Andor, 11 year old me 5-11 year old me, doesn’t always want his Star Wars to be deep. Kenobi was fine for that. I try not to dwell on inconsistencies, or whether the story makes sense in canon, or needs to explain things that were said elsewhere. I just enjoyed a good romp with the very first Jedi I ever met, having an epic fight with the very first truly evil bad guy I ever knew.
Very enjoyable episode gents. I really enjoyed the conversation. Ryan, I’m glad you went back to revisit it, as I could hear an enthusiasm for the material in your voice during the entire episode, and after seeing enough dislike for this project last year, it was nice to hear. You didn’t have to like it all, and you told us about the blemishes you saw, but you were still upbeat and enthusiastic and that made for a good listen.
Shame on you Shag, for waiting so long to watch it. 🙂 But I’m glad you overall enjoyed it.
PS – Mara Jade will *always* be the correct answer.
Mara Jade is in fact always the right answer. I’m ashamed for being tempted.
A thing of parts, but I like how well it withholds the lead’s lightsaber and builds to a climax we actually want to see (compare to Revenge of the Sith which is wall-to-wall lightsaber duels and therefore tiring and boring), but like Rogue One (except more so), its interstitial nature means there are a lot of foregone conclusions. We know what CAN’T happen, and that naturally undermines the tension, and being a sequel to the Prequels meant I had to sit through Anakin flashbacks (I will never not have cognitive dissonance attacks thinking Anakin is under Vader’s helmet). Since Luke is really off the board, it was a clever idea to match Ben with little Leia instead – they never meet in Episode IV so why not? It does give Obi-Wan: The Professional a certain feeling of déjà vu given that Mando also runs around with a minor. The best we can really get in terms of interest (in addition to the action) is an expansion of the Star Wars universe (at least to those of us who didn’t see the cartoons) – a couple new planets, con men filling the vacuum left by the Jedi, and elite Jedi killers.
Watchable without being electrifying (Obi-Wan is too sad for that), it nevertheless gives you a cool final battle that gives closure to the Kenobi-Anakin relationship, which I’m sure does work better for fans of whatever those animated series are called.
Marty was telling me just this week that people at his office were saying that the third trilogy was a piece of crap and would never be anyone’s favorites and he reminded them that a whole generation grew up with the prequels and now they’re kind of considered cool and being reexamined, and the person choked on their coffee. Well it’s true!
I’m like Shag, by the way. The middle films all the way (or for the prequels, the Obi-Wan plotline in Attack of the Clones, jeers to the wooden romance in the Anikin bits).
Good observation about the restraint of Obi-Wan with lightsaber usage in comparison to Episode III! Yes, Episode III just makes you numb to the excitement of a lightsaber battle, and that should never happen.
This was just as enjoyable as I’d expect listening to two knowledgeable friends discuss a cool Star Wars story to be. (That’s a good thing.). I enjoyed Kenobi for all the reasons you discussed. I also appreciated the glimpse of the Rebel Alliance in what Mao would have called its latent incipient phase. That included appreciation of the Tala Durith character and her moral dilemmas.
I agree the series was padded, but not enough for me to mind. I hear a lot of fans talk about whether or not a story is “necessary.” It’s a limitation on my part, but I don’t understand it. Aren’t they all unnecessary? It’s the same confusion I had as a kid when I saw “Not an imaginary story!”
I had no idea The Book of Boba Fett was so poorly thought of. I enjoyed it, and not just for Ming-Na Wen and.Jennifer Beals. I take this as confirmation of what I’ve always suspected — that I’m a fake fan. That’s fine. We fake fans are easily entertained.
My wife made homemade miso soup for the first time tonight. It requires something called dashi crystals. I think she picked them up at Tosche Station.
No such thing as a fake fan. If you like something, your fandom is just as valid. ❤️
First thought, Bail Organa is the Commissioner Gordon (1960s television version) of the Star Wars universe.
Second thought, there’s a lot that I liked about Obi-Wan: Obi-Wan’s character arch, his relationship with young Leia, the introduction of Reva, even getting to see Hayden Christensen play Vader. The biggest problem I had (which others have already mentioned) is that the story was too constrained by continuity. Why didn’t Obi-Wan finish off Vader when he had the chance this time? Because, continuity required that Vader survive.
Thanks for another remarkable episode.
A recent article says Ewan McGregor was pitching ideas for a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi as soon as they wrapped shooting on the first season. Heck I’d gladly watch Ewan in this role again even if he’s on Tatooine fighting the Sand People the whole time.
https://www.ign.com/articles/obi-wan-kenobi-director-ewan-mcgregor-pitched-ideas-season-2
Hooray! Give Me Those Star Wars (GMTSW) is back! I’ve longed missed this show, but there wasn’t too much to talk about in media, unless it was the Marvel comics (which I’ve been devouring every Wednesday), so it’s great to hear Ryan talk about a Star Wars show again!
Ryan, I’m glad Obi-Wan has somewhat rekindled your love for Star Wars again. Like you, I really don’t like where Star Wars fandom has gotten with a lot of gatekeeping, sexism, and racism but I’ve been able separate the art from the, well, I guess not the artist, but the consumers? Either way, I can enjoy the shows as I see them and try to make sure that Star Wars is open to all. On to the episode……
Like Ryan, I’ve come to really enjoy the prequels more since I watched them with my kids. When I saw Episode 1 in my early 20’s, I was like a lot of fans and complained about how this Star Wars wasn’t great. In fact, Episode 1 wasn’t too bad for me, but it got worse as the prequels went along with Episode 3 being the worst, by far. But I don’t think I really understood that I wasn’t really the target audience. I’m not saying they are masterpieces, but I enjoy them a lot more now since I watched them with my kids when they were young. To see the joy on their faces for Jar Jar, manic Anakin and clones, and the all the lava jumping made me get these movies a little more and now I can enjoy them for what they are.
For the actual series being talked about, this definitely felt like an Obi-Wan/Leia/Vader movie to me. I agree with Ryan that, while I liked the Inquisitors, they felt a little tacked on to the story. I would very much a Reva and Obi-Wan show
I like how Shag gave an explanation on how to kill Vader, like he’s a vampire. Though I do get why some people are complaining why Obi-Wan didn’t finish off Vader, to me, this scene was so full of emotion and I totally get where Obi-Wan is coming from. I keep thinking what it would be like if one my children, that I loved unconditionally, grew up to become evil. Could I kill off my own son? Logically, this would save so many lives, but emotionally??! You can see how this tears Obi-Wan apart and is just me echoing on how what a great job Ewan McGregor did.
Love Troops!!! So well done and was great to see a lighter side of Star Wars. It’s why I also like Tag and Bink!
Hahahaha, as Ryan was asking the band question to Shag, I was thinking my head, “Max Rebo original or Max Rebo Special Edition?” only to hear Shag say the EXACT SAME THING! Get out of my head, Shag!
This was another fantastic episode, everyone! I love hearing more Star Wars talk and can’t wait to hear how you feel about Ahsoka (btw, I’m loving it so far.)
Keep up the great work!