At first I was wincing at the free-fall scenes, since they were doing the usual cartoon thing of having people "swim" through the air, which isn't possible since air isn't dense enough. But once they got into the action sequence against the First Order droid, they actually seemed to get the physics more or less right, with the characters pushing off handholds and walls to move around. Odd that they'd make the effort there but be so sloppy with it earlier. And even in that sequence, there were bits where characters magically turned or lowered themselves without having a grip on anything. Really, in this day and age, it shouldn't be hard to get free-fall movement right. There must be hundreds of hours of ISS videos online by now that animators could study. And you could probably program a computer to simulate how a body would move in microgravity, and use that as an animatic/reference for the final animation.
Well that was underwhelming as far as season premiers go. Not bad per se, but it's weird when there's only one season left to do a filler episode (not a term I like, but it seems apt) right out of the gate. Only minimal character development, Kaz is right back to being a bumbling klutz, when he should really be more than just passingly curious whether or not his whole family was just vaporised. Tam's side of the story has at least some substance, but it's really just playing connect the dots. Side note: for some reason Gwendoline Christie didn't reprise her role as Phasma. Not sure if anything should be read into that, but there we are...
Now I'm wondering if this entire season is going to take place over a very short period of time, just like TFA and TLJ.
S2E2 was one of the best episodes yet of the whole series IMO. All of the elements worked together to make an engaging adventure. By the way, this is a discussion with spoilers? If so, can we get the tag in the title for that?
Indeed, a very good episode. Space battle, betrayal, adventure, pirates, they crammed it all in there! And even better, Kaz's entire family was having a family reunion off-planet when it blew up. What are the odds of that? (At first I thought that message might have been a lure from the First Order, but it seems to have been genuine.) Would have liked to see the Aces shoot down a TIE or two, but oh well. Nice to see them use the wreckage of the Dreadnought from The Last Jedi, that's a quality tie-in. (It helps that they could wait 2 years, as opposed to something like Agents of Shield trying to do it in real time.) Interesting final conversation there at the end. Kaz and Neeku were wrong about Tam never betraying them, and Synara was actually right.
Awesome, thanks. --- One of things I enjoyed about S2E2 was that we're now within the time frame of TLJ. That was done very smoothly. Indeed. Actually, I'd say they were both half-right. Tam (probably) would not have betrayed them were it not for her roommate. What Tam did, she seemed to do out of self-preservation more than loyalty. Her face emotions were pretty clear I thought, IMO conveying veiled shock at the FIrst Order's actions and feigned determination to go along with them, which itself is a noteworthy achievement in a CGI-based cartoon.
That felt like a copout, sparing Kaz from having to face any real loss. But I guess this is a younger-skewing show. Besides, not having to face the death of his parental figures keeps Kaz from being as much of a clone of Luke as Ezra Bridger was. And it lets them keep the focus on his betrayal by Tam, rather than overshadowing it with grief about his family. So this was going on simultaneously with TLJ, then. They'll probably hear the transmission from the rebel fleet in the next episode. By herself, she probably wouldn't have, but she was subject to pressure from Tierny and Rucklin. Plus she feels that she's the one who was betrayed and that Kaz is on the wrong side. Her arc is probably the most interesting part of a show I find generally mediocre, in the way it explores how decent people can be led astray and radicalized by extremist groups or tyrannies.
The episode was certainly an improvement. For once, Kaz's screw-up wasn't a result of bumbling buffoonery but rather a somewhat believable (if rather questionable) desire to reach out to a friend.
There may yet be a First Order connection there somewhere. I mean we know from the 'Bloodline' novel that the FO had at least some senators under their influence, knowingly or otherwise. So maybe Kaz's father is such a one and was warned about the attack ahead of time? It's a hell of a coincidence either way and I'm not sure which possibility seems less likely.
Into the Unknown - A filler episode, including more mind-numblingly irritating buffoonery from Kaz. A Quick Salvage Run - This one, on the other hand, had everything. Exactly! Why they didn't just pair this episode last week with Into The Unknown for a satisfying 1 hour premiere seems like a mistake.
So, episode 3 Live Fire was really good. I got to say, despite a rough premiere so far season 2 is turning out to be a complete 180 compared to season 1. And with this episode actually focused on the Ace Pilots, it seems to be a lot more in line with how the pre-season 1 publicity material was promoting the show than how the first season actually turned out. Yeager and Kaz begin training the Ace Pilots to be a more effective combat force while we see Tam undergoing First Order flight training on her Star Destroyer. The two storylines end up counterpointing each other in that Yeager is trying to develop teamwork among the Aces while Tam is punished for trying to work as a team with her fellow Tie pilots. They definitely seem to be improving the stories this year. Kaz wasn't bumbling about and screwing up this week, Neeku had a minimum role in this one. Tone wise, this could easily have fit in among Clone Wars or Rebels.
I really love the music they use during Starfighter scenes. Something about it reminds me of the old X-Wing and TIE-Fighter game's dynamic midi soundtrack.