Hello there!
Welcome to my latest review for Star Wars Resistance. It took me a few weeks to get into the show, but by the end of “The High Tower” I knew that I was in for the long haul and have decided to start writing about it. This post will be focusing on episode 17: “The Core Problem”
Plot Summary
Poe Dameron sneaks onto the Colossus to pick up BB-8 as he has a big mission to go on to Jakku. While there, Kaz and Yeager show Poe the information on the data rod from the last episode. Kaz gives a theory that the First Order want the Colossus not so much to help them but to ensure it does not fall into Resistance hands and points out an area on the star map where something appears to be going on. Poe decides to investigate before going to Jakku and invites Kaz to join him.
“You’re… you’re taking BB-8?”
“I’ve just got orders from General Organa, we’re leaving tomorrow for Jakku. I need BB-8 on this one.”
The pair and BB-8 sneak off the Colossus in the Fireball by pulling a Widowmaker manoeuvre – attaching the ship to a much larger freighter so that it does not appear on First Order scanners – and make there way to where CB-23 is flying Poe’s X-wing.
The group jump to the coordinates Kaz had identified and find the remains of a system that is missing its star. A number of the planetoids they fly pass appear to have been cored and then broken apart, but they do find one planet that has been cored right through but not broken up. They fly through the hole and successfully manage to navigate their way through despite encountering a gravity well. Coming out the other side, Kaz picks up a fain signal coming from a nearby moon.
“Did you ever think about painting this in a less conspicuous colour?”
“Well it’s a racer, not really a combat craft.”
They go to investigate the signal and land in an abandoned village, CB-23 staying with the ships while the rest go to investigate. They find a temple which has been damaged by blaster-fire and Poe finds an abandoned tooka doll. Giving Kaz the doll, Poe surmises that the villagers were eradicated.
The group are attacked by a First Order probe droid, which sends out several remotes. Poe deals with the remotes while Kaz and BB-8 take out the probe droid. A squadron of First Order TIEs arrive, led by Vonreg. The group get back to their fighters and are chased by the First Order forces, so lead them through the planet with the gravity well. Kaz and Poe’s experience with the gravity well helps them through unscathed, but the TIE pilots struggle and are destroyed, while Vonreg turns around and flees.
The pair prepare to leave the system, but before they do perform a droid swap, BB-8 returning to Poe while CB-23 replaces him as Kaz’s droid. The group bid their farewells to each other and jump to hyperspace, Poe and BB-8 beginning their journey to Jakku, Kaz and CB-23 returning to Castilon.
“Whatever I thought the First Order was capable of, it’s much worse!”
Back in Yeager’s garage, Tam is complaining that Kaz has disappeared with the Fireball again when there is work to do. Kaz arrives back and when Tam and Neeku question where he has been, where BB-8 is and where CB-23 has come from, he explains that he had to take BB-8 to Takodana for repairs and has CB-23 on loan until he’s back. Kaz goes to one side with Yeager and tells him the First Order are capable of worse then he thought, before leaving with the tooka doll. After he leaves, Tam and Yeager argue over him keeping her in the dark over Kaz’s activities.
Review
On the whole I liked this episode, but I did have my problems with it. This episode perfectly encapsulated the issues I have had with Kaz’s portrayal this year as some sections – briefing Poe and the bits involving flying – made Kaz look like a character who had developed really well through the season and could be trusted (even his lie to Tam and Neeku at the end was probably his most convincing all season), but then he is given a gun when they land on the moon and is made to look like a complete idiot again, tripping over nothing and unintentionally firing his blaster. I understand that they want to make it fun for children, but there is surely a line between funny and stupid.
“Looks like there was a system here, but there’s no star.”
It was great having Poe back again and I even he appeared more serious this episode while still being able to have a joke, which makes sense considering we are now just a matter of days from when we first met him in The Force Awakens. I also like how Yeager again plays more of a part in Kaz and Poe’s briefing and is becoming more involved in Kaz’s mission now that the First Order are on the Colossus, compared to before when he was more like a grudging host. I also really like the rift growing between him and Tam as he is likely keeping her out of the loop to try and keep her safe especially considering she trusts the First Order, but I like how she sees it as preferential treatment for Kaz and Yeager keeping secrets, which would make sense from her point of view considering she does not know about Kaz’s mission or true identity.
I have frequently found the sections that involve flying to be my favourite parts of the series and this was no exception. I liked the Widowmaker manoeuvre and its similarity to what we have seen in other stories, but I do find it odd that none of the First Order saw the Fireball with their own eyes considering some fighters flew overhead. I will say though that while that stretched credibility, I liked Poe’s comment on the Fireball‘s colour scheme standing out. I wish that there had been a different way to finish the dogfight as once again, the First Order’s star pilot Major Vonreg has failed to kill anyone, despite Kaz and Poe both having to make it back to their ships and take off. I wish there had been some way to show him successfully navigating the gravity well and following Kaz and Poe all the way through the planet to show that he is a quality pilot and then find some other reason for him to flee. The scene following the battle however, with the droid swap and the farewells, may actually be my favourite scene of the entire how so far, while what it represents with us losing BB-8 and entering the same time period as the movies is so exciting.
“Kids! It’s got kids!”
While I didn’t enjoy Kaz’s actions during the fight with the probe droid, I loved its design and with the remotes inside it really felt like a logical step along in the development of the probe droids we saw the Empire using.
I really like how this episode hinted back to moments from previous episodes, with Poe joking about Kaz being the greatest pilot in the galaxy a lovely nod to “The Recruit”. But most importantly, it showed that the First Order’s need for mining equipment had been used to core the planets to hold the Starkiller Base weapon, it would appear that this system was used to test the weapon and the base’s ability to hold the energy from a sun. I also like how this moon and the village is strongly hinted to be Kel and Eila’s home (shout out to Star Wars Explained for picking up on the symbol from “The Children From Tehar” appearing on the temple, I completely missed it on first viewing!) but was not specifically said to be so as this allows a reveal in a later episode.
“Bye kid.”
Looking ahead, I will be shocked if the tooka doll is not revealed to belong to Eila and be the way that it is revealed to Kaz that this was Tehar that he and Poe found and I think that this reveal will also tie into Tam’s realisation that the First Order are evil. With there only being 5 episodes left and the mid-season trailer showing that we still have a lot to get to, I think that we will see the plot starting to move forward at a faster rate. We already know from the trailer that the Hosnian Cataclysm will take place during the time of the show and with Poe now on his way to Jakku, I will be shocked if that has not happened by the end of the next 2 episodes, which will then leave a couple of episodes for the Colossus to fight back.
Moments in Canon
- Poe and BB-8’s mission on Jakku is the search for Luke Skywalker that we see at the start of The Force Awakens
- In the comic Poe Dameron 26: The Awakening, Part I Poe mentions that he had to take a detour to pick up BB-8, that detour is this episode
What did you think about the episode? Thanks for reading and May the Force be with you…
The Canon Padawan 