'Star Wars Rebels' Review/Recap: "Fighter Flight"

PT Philben ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Stupid puns aside, the third episode of Star Wars Rebels throws you off a bit. “Fighter Flight” begins with our heroes contemplating about being short on supplies. They decide to make a supply run and Hera sends Ezra and Zeb out together in hopes that by making them work together, it will make the two of them more civil than they had been. This is already a tired premise exemplified by the wild goose chase that she sends the two rascals on in order to make sure the errands will take a while. The fact that this is a tired premise is made worse by the fact that Ezra and Zeb’s hostile relationship turning into more of a friendly sibling rivalry was already a visible subplot in the previous episode.
And, of course, all they are doing is running errands with some hi-jinks and fight scenes. So, at least at the get-go, it does not appear that the plot is being driven forward in any way and the character development seems to be mostly insubstantial. The end of the first act leaves anyone familiar with the episodic structure to moan at the idea that the series second actual episode is probably a filler.

Given how many episodes animated series usually have in order to put out a season to make money, it is to be expected that some fillers are going to come in but it is nonetheless, disappointing as it coming so early in the premiere season. What’s most disappointing is the fact that the point of this episode was essentially to achieve a childish nerd fantasy; to fly a TIE fighter. The protagonists manage to get their hands on a TIE fighter and flew it around, which was very cool for a Star Wars fan. But the fact that the episode’s story was built and molded around this mediocre piece of fan service is disappointing for a TV fan.
Also, it’s probably safe to say that, for older Star Wars fans, the childish nature of the story is likely a bit too reminiscent of Ewoks and pod racing for them to be comfortable.
To be clear; this episode is by no means bad. It is easily the worst part of the show yet, but that isn’t saying much. The episode is passable and the sequences both action and otherwise are entertaining. The problem is that you walk away with the impression that they first asked “wouldn’t it be cool if” and then asked what story could work with that instead of the inverse; how a TV show should be done. Good, but not great. However, there is still a lot to look forward to in this show even if this episode does shake faith. Every show will have fillers and the people who run the show are too smart to go in this direction more than every once in a while. Hopefully never again, but you can only expect so much from a cartoon that is meant for kids even if it tries, and has mostly succeeded, in pleasing adult fans of the franchise. There just is not a lot to talk about in “Fighter Flight” besides the interior of a TIE cockpit.
Overall Episode Rating: C-