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 18: “The Disappeared”
Plot Summary
Captain Doza is watching a race from the tower when he is contacted by Commander Pyre. The pair debate the merits of the racers, Pyre sees them as a risk while Doza sees them and the races as a means of maintaining positive morale on the Colossus. Doza reminds Pyre that he is in charge of the Colossus and that the races will continue as long as he is in charge.
While Kaz, Neeku and Tam are in Aunt Z’s tavern, a pair of stormtroopers and a First Order BB droid come to recruit volunteers and put up recruitment propaganda. Aunt Z objects to the poster being put up in the tavern but the troopers do it anyway.
“I’m still in control of this platform, Pyre. And as long as I am, we will continue to race.”
“Of course. For now.”
In the tower, Captain Doza and Torra watch another troop transport arrive. Torra notes that the First Order presence is growing and asks her father when it will end, to which he replies that he doesn’t think it will. Commander Pyre arrives at the office so Torra leaves, after which Pyre announces that all races are cancelled until further notice due to the security risks.
In the Aces’ lounge, none of the Aces are happy when Doza breaks the news to them. Hype tells Doza to fix things and storms off, Freya stopping Torra from going after him. Hype arrives at his hangar to find stormtroopers locking down his ship. As Hype tries to protest, he is surrounded by the troopers.
At Yeager’s garage, Tam, Kaz, CB-23 and Bucket are repairing the Fireball. Tam notices the damage on the hull and asks Kaz if he has been in a battle, but Kaz makes excuses. Neeku arrives to tell them that the races have been cancelled by Doza. The trio go to Aunt Z’s tavern, where Kaz and Tam get into another argument over the First Order’s motives. Torra arrives and asks them if anyone has seen Hype, as he has not been seen since he stormed off. Aunt Z blames the First Order, saying that they will make people they don’t like disappear, however she is overheard by a First Order BB unit who brings back two stormtroopers. Tam tells them that Hype is missing and one of the troopers contacts his command centre for a check-up, before telling the group that Hype has left.
“Cant race, can’t fly… what are we supposed to do?”
Torra doesn’t believe Hype would have gone without saying goodbye but Tam thinks it sounds exactly like him before thanking the trooper, who suggests they could have a future int he First Order. Aunt Z tells them to leave the group along and throws the propaganda poster at them. Not believing the trooper’s story, Kaz and Torra (with CB-23’s help) sneak into Hype’s hangar, where they find his ship grounded. Both agree that Hype wouldn’t leave without his ship and return to Aunt Z’s tavern, where they find that Aunt Z has now gone missing and there are a number of propaganda posters up.
Aunt Z, Hype and 2 of the criminals on the Colossus are trapped in a container, where the First Order are keeping them until they can be transported offworld.
Kaz and Torra go to Yeager’s garage to ask Yeager for help. Yeager is shut in his office and does not want to be disturbed, but Kaz refuses to leave and says that the First Order are behind the disappearances of Hype and Aunt Z. Yeager allows Kaz, Torra and CB-23 inside, where they find that he is with Captain Doza and they are trying to find a way to get in contact with the Resistance. Doza tells them that anyone the stormtroopers round up are being held at the West Docks and Kaz, Torra and CB-23 go to rescue their friends.
“I’m too handsome to die!”
The trio sneak to the docks and find the cargo container. Kaz tells them that they will have to steal the ship as if they simply escape on the Colossus then the troopers will tear the platform apart looking for them. Kaz and Torra jump the stormtroopers as they are loading the group onto the transport. Aunt Z and Hype help them take down the troopers and take the transport away to Takodana, where Aunt Z says she has an old friend who can help.
Kaz and CB-23 return to Yeager’s garage, where they find Pyre and a squad of stormtroopers. Pyre announces that Kaz and his friends are under arrest by the command of the First Order.
Review
I really enjoyed this episode! It is no real surprise, but as we come towards the climax of the season, the story is really improving! I really like how Doza has been hesitant about the First Order throughout the series and now that it is clear he has lost control, it is great to see him and Yeager – who I still think has been underused this season – working together against the First Order.
“It seems like every day there’s more of them. When will it end?”
“I don’t think it will, Torra.”
While I do find myself a little frustrated with Tam’s insistence in trusting the First Order, I do like how she is given reasons to believe them, from Yeager and Kaz’s secrets to her previous falling out with Hype. I have to feel that the arrest will now lead to her realising that the First Order are not the answer, however I would be very interested in her continuing to support them, leading to animosity between her and Kaz in Season 2.
While the story on the whole was good, I can’t help but think that it would have been even more impactful if we had got to know hype and the Aces more throughout the season, as this would have led to us being more invested in them being grounded and Hype going missing.
“This ship is everything to Hype, he would never leave without it!”
This episode has probably been one of my favourite portrayals of the First Order throughout the entire season as despite once again being on the losing side, they were at least made to appear menacing, which makes the stakes feel even higher at the end of the episode when Pyre and the troopers come to arrest Kaz and his friends. Even the moment with the gorgs being used as a distraction for Kaz and Torra to sneak into the tower did not feel overly stupid. It was also nice to once again see some general conversation between the troopers when they think they are alone, something that reminds me a lot of the movies, where you get to hear snippets of conversation, like the easter egg in the new-era movies of Sam Witwer and David Collins always voicing 2 troopers talking about the T-15s or T-17s as a homage to a line from A New Hope.
On the subject of that distraction, I really like how Kaz acts tactically in this episode. He guesses that the stormtroopers will search any containers so instead uses that as a distraction rather than a means of entry. He was also smart enough to realise that he can’t just free his friends but must instead help them steal a ship to escape the Colossus as the results would otherwise be bad for everyone on the station. He has had some awfully dumb moments this season, but this was much better and I expect more of the same over the coming weeks.
I’m very interested to see what evidence the First Order has against Kaz and his friends and wonder how much it is just a suspicion due to Kaz being a former New Republic pilot and Yeager being a member of the Rebel Alliance. If it is that they have been followed, then it is possible that they are also aware of Doza’s meeting with Yeager, which could lead to them threatening Torra to keep him in line.
“If you know what’s happening, you have to tell us!”
Moving forward, with just a few episodes left I think we are now going to see a lot more action and intrigue as the residents of the Colossus are forced to rise up against the First Order. I think the fact that Hype’s ship is still on the Colossus could have a payoff if Tam does turn against the First Order as it has been set up throughout the show that Tam is a good pilot, which could lead to her and Kaz both flying, with one of them in the Fireball and the other in Hype’s ship.
Moments in Canon
- The transports used in this episode are the Atmospheric Assault Landers as used for troop deployment in The Force Awakens
- This is the second time Takodana is used as a place to escape to after leaving the Colossus – the ship Synara was set to escape on was heading there
What did you think about the episode? Thanks for reading and May the Force be with you…
The Canon Padawan 