Hello there!
I’m back with another episode review for Star Wars Resistance. This is the second and final season of the third animated show in canon, focusing on Kazuda Xiono and his friends on the Colossus as they attempt to get away from the First Order and find the Resistance. These will take a very similar format to previously: an overview of the plot (so it goes without saying, there will be spoilers!), my thoughts on the episode and a few Moments in Canon – things I picked up on that linked to other stories or the larger galaxy as a whole. Today, I will be looking at episode 6: “From Beneath”
Plot Summary
Kaz, Torra, Flix, Orka and CB-23 travel to a fuel refinery on Drahgor III that is owned by Flix’s family, as the Colossus is desperate for fuel. Conditions are poor but Kaz and Torra successfully land their shuttle. Flix is nervous about seeing his family again as they left on bad terms.
Arriving at the refinery, they run into 4 of Flix’s cousins, including Flanx, who says that he has taken over running of the business. Flix says that as a member of the flock, he is entitled to fuel supplies, which amuses Flanx and the cousins as they have recently made a windfall from deep-core drilling. Flix is shocked and reminds his cousins of the dangers of drilling deep as Karnex dragons can be found deep underground.
Flanx notices that one of the drills as showing as offline and Kaz offers to fix it in return for fuel. Flanx agrees with this, as long as the rest of the group also help. On their way down in the lift, Flix tells legends of the dragons, until a shape in the fog gets the group’s attention and makes them stop the lift. Many of the group notice a pair of red eyes, before some loose debris causes the lift to begin falling. They manage to stop it long enough for Torra and Orka to jump off, before the lift falls once again right to the bottom, where they jump out just in time, Kaz finding himself on the opposite side of a chasm to the rest.
“Let’s never tell Yeager about this… or my father… or anyone.”
While Torra and Orka climb back to the top of the refinery, Kaz has to circle around alone to join up with Flix, Flanx and CB-23. On the way, he finds one of the dragons, but it leaves him alone before climbing away. Flix and Flanx find the drill next to a cavern. While Flix reiterates that the drilling is releasing the dragons, Flanx focuses instead on the need to get the drill working to get the production quota back up and refuses to believe Kaz when he arrives and says he saw a dragon.
They get the drill working again, which attracts a dragon. The dragon initially chases Kaz and CB-23 before going after Flanx. The dragon gets hold of Flanx, while Kaz shoots at it by a blaster CB-23 grabbed for him. CB-23 shines a torch at it, which temporarily blinds it and forces it back into the cavern, still carrying Flanx. Kaz, Flix and CB-23 follow it into the cavern after Kaz tells Torra to bring the shuttle down to help them.
At the top of the refinery, Torra and Orka make it out of the elevator shaft, but the cousins won’t let them take the shuttle without Flanx’s (who makes all the deals) agreement. Orka convinces the cousins of their need to take the shuttle and the pair fly it into the abyss.
“Wait! Did he just say ‘dragon’?!”
In the cavern, the group find the dragon as it attempts to eat Flanx. Kaz shoots at the dragon, distracting it enough for Flanx to escape. The four flee the cavern with the dragon in pursuit, but when they reach the drill they find another 2 dragons. Kaz correctly surmises that the dragons are attracted by movement, so Flix and Flanx act as a distraction to allow Kaz to switch on the lights around the drill. The bright lights stop the dragons and the shuttle arrives to force the dragons back into the cavern. Flanx uses the drill to seal the cavern with the dragons inside.
Flanx and Flix make up and when they return to the top of the refinery, Flanx tells the cousins that the ancient dragons are real so they will need to stop digging to deep, recognising that the dragons are only trying to protect their kin. The group return to the Colossus with 2 large tanks of fuel.
Review
While there were some good moments, I feel comfortable saying that this has been my least favourite episode of the season so far. Aside from getting fuel for the Colossus, there wasn’t really anything to connect it to the rest of the season and it felt very isolated as a result.
“Are you finally the cantina singer you always dreamed you’d be?”
“Cantina singer?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t talk about that anymore.”
Flix and Orka had some good moments in this episode, but I think that the narrative did not use them enough, either by putting enough focus on their relationship or Flix’s relationship with his family. Their impact was so limited that I would argue the story could have been largely unchanged by taking the pair out and having it as just Kaz, Torra and CB-23 going to the refinery.
The narrative heavily reminded me of the Zillo Beast episodes of The Clone Wars, except with a much happier ending for everyone involved: the established population’s use of technology draws out a supposedly extinct creature that causes mayhem. Luckily in this case, nobody is hurt and the population choose to adapt what they are doing to not disrupt the native wildlife. I must admit though that I find it hard to wrap my head around Flanx surviving once he was fully in the dragon’s mouth – yes it’s a kid’s show but then why put him in such an unrealistic position.
While I have been quite negative so far, I do want to make note of some things I did like from this episode. This was Kaz much closer to his best: he seemed a decent shot with a blaster, but more important than that, he paid attention to what was going on around him, being the one to notice the dragons reacted to movement and had an aversion to bright light. I just wish that this growth would continue, yet find it hard to imagine him not being incredibly stupid again in the next episode or two. I also like them showing Flix and Orka as a couple, though I do feel that it could have been more open to make clear to everyone given the importance of finally having a homosexual (not to mention interspecies!) couple.
“The only thing causing stress is your stupidity!”
Perhaps the best bit of news from this episode is that everything the Colossus needed as the start of the season – food, fuel, hyperfuel and working systems – has now been supplied, so we will hopefully see the story start to move forward as they are now able to look after themselves. I find it hard to imagine we can have many more adventures before getting Leia’s call for help, bringing the Resistance back to Resistance.
Moments in Canon
As I mentioned above, this was a very isolated episode. The only real link to other material was the continued gathering of supplies needed for the Colossus.
What did you think about the episode?
Thanks for reading. May the Force be with you…
The Canon Padawan 