Star Wars Resistance Season 2 Episode 13 Review: Breakout

This Star Wars Resistance review contains spoilers.

Star Wars Resistance Season 2

So it looks like “Breakout” is indeed the second and final part to last week’s episode, and taken together, “The Missing Agent” and “Breakout” are, as usual, a fine, fairly mediocre pair of episodes that don’t do much but provide a generic, average adventure. There really is so little here to get into–every issue and conflict is solved just as you would expect, mostly because characters verbalize their ideas and plans (mostly in really bad “comedic” scenes), then just… execute them, with very few problems and even fewer moments of tension.

Nothing is bad per se, but everything is so uninspired. The only moment that seems to possess any spark is when Kaz stuns Commander Pyre. It’s a sudden move, and pretty humorous! Nothing comes of it though. Is it much of a surprise that I actually forgot about that moment until I started writing this review a few days after seeing this episode?

Truth be told, it feels like all the villains have gotten either too soft or too evil. Pyre being knocked out but not really responding to it feels like a missed opportunity–sure, he shouldn’t take it personally, but it would be cool to see him unload a little more. And Agent Tierney? She always seemed like a smarter, “two-steps-ahead” kind of commander, but her most clever act is trying to bait Yeager by teasing him about how much Tam hates them now (Yeager doesn’t buy it), and then just constantly telling her troops to torture CB-23 until he gives up information. Where’s her keen sense of manipulation? Any sense of her skillset? CB breaks out of his torture restraints so easily (how is there only one Stormtrooper left in that room?) and then takes out Tienry with ease. So much for her character amounting to anything.

In fact, CB does everything this episode. He escapes his own torture prison, he retains all the data about the Resistance information and gathered secrets, and he even quite intelligently takes out Ax with the shuttle–first by ramming into him, then turning the booster rockets on him (the episode keeps things vague for S&P purposes but I think its safe to say Ax was fried). Why even keep Kaz around? Honestly, I’m only being half-facetious. Kaz’s goofy, half-heartedness is only mildly entertaining at this point, and he lacks any type of commitment, or clarity of purpose, or goals, or anything.

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As mentioned last week, Norath’s appearance is meant to be a foil to Kaz, but I don’t think he functions as the creators may have intended. I want to watch The Norath Show now, because at least he has a driven sense of purpose. Kaz refusing to join/help Norath at the end exemplifies this: sure, Kaz has his loyalty to his friends on the Colossus, but could he also do something outside of volunteering? He’s not interested in anything, nor really has a specific value or skillset anymore. He’s boring. It’s all so boring.

Case in point: Kaz and Norath spend a lot of time sneaking around … a lot of time, to which even Norath lampshades how all they’re doing is sneaking around and wasting time (hint, hint). So they finally do the thing that has been obvious from the beginning: they knock out a few Stormtroopers and take their uniforms. Well, they try to, which includes an eye-rolling interlude with a random alien citizen. And look, I haven’t seen The RIse of Skywalker yet, but by all accounts, it’s just so… run-of-the-mill, and I couldn’t help but think about that when watching these Kaz/Norath scenes.

When they finally take down those Stormtroopers, the citizen just throws fruit at them and literally shakes his fist. When an actual Stormtrooper walks by Kaz and Norath while they’re in their ill-fitting disguises, the Stormtrooper scoffs out a curt “Rookie,” then keeps on walking. Is… is this it? Is that the best we’re going to get? That alien citizen and that Stormtrooper could have said or done anything else, but those responses are so cookie-cutter, so boring, that it’s hard to believe that these writers are doing nothing but cashing in quick scripts to pad for time and make a quick buck. Back in Star Wars Rebels’ final season, they had a droid singing in space. It made no sense, but it was ridiculously bold. Resistance will never have that, but it can’t even try to push things a little?

This review is harsh, and I don’t mean it to be. The episode on its own is fine. Torra suggests a plan to save everyone, and her father refuses at first, but then they just do the plan. I guess that was supposed to be a “gotcha” moment, but it’s just another obvious beat you could see coming a mile away. The episode also has a lot of winking bits–Kaz saying “I have a bad feeling about this,” Neeku commenting on the uselessness of Stormtroopers uniforms–and that’s all well and good. But it isn’t particularly unique, exciting, funny, or memorable. I’m just going to coast through the rest of this season since the writers are going to do the same. “Breakout” is just not a breakout episode.

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