Julian Meush, Rachel Wilkinson, Daniel D'Souza, and Jeremy Kozier
130 episodes
5 months ago
Lucasfilm Animation has been hard at work on their next major project, 'Maul: Shadow Lord', but they've found the time to deliver another installment in their "Tales of" anthology series. The first ones covering the Jedi and the Empire, they now turn their focus towards the Underworld. However, be warned, this is a bit of a misnomer. Don't expect any crime syndicates or really any large scale criminality here. These 2 mini-arcs instead focus on Asajj Ventress (I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Underworld) as she assists a young Jedi on the run from the Empire, and the origin story of Cad Bane. Which admittedly is closer in line with the criminal underworld concept, but is really more interested in telling a western style revenge story instead. All in all, despite the always great visuals and sound/music design, and few interesting ideas, there's not enough meat on the bone here to satisfy most viewers. But most disappointing is its failure to capitalize on the potential of the Underworld concept.
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Lucasfilm Animation has been hard at work on their next major project, 'Maul: Shadow Lord', but they've found the time to deliver another installment in their "Tales of" anthology series. The first ones covering the Jedi and the Empire, they now turn their focus towards the Underworld. However, be warned, this is a bit of a misnomer. Don't expect any crime syndicates or really any large scale criminality here. These 2 mini-arcs instead focus on Asajj Ventress (I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Underworld) as she assists a young Jedi on the run from the Empire, and the origin story of Cad Bane. Which admittedly is closer in line with the criminal underworld concept, but is really more interested in telling a western style revenge story instead. All in all, despite the always great visuals and sound/music design, and few interesting ideas, there's not enough meat on the bone here to satisfy most viewers. But most disappointing is its failure to capitalize on the potential of the Underworld concept.
After a bit of a detour last week, spending an entire episode in flashback, we return to the main adventure. This week's episode, "Day", is largely a positive step forward for the series, bringing fun (if sparse) lightsaber action, improved character development, and an enhanced sense of place, as they spend less time in cramped sets and more time shooting on location. That all being said, it's the big finish that will leave the biggest impression. Unfortunately, the decision to cut things off right when the action was ramping up felt like a bit of a cheat. With a relatively short run time this week, and a story that really felt like it was hitting it's stride as we got closer to the end of the episode, the choice to not follow through on that momentum with a satisfying finish, instead using a cliffhanger, comes across as a means to brag about an extra episode in the season, as opposed to serving the story in the moment. Oh, there was also some very cool cameos this week. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack it all!
Small Screen Star Wars
Lucasfilm Animation has been hard at work on their next major project, 'Maul: Shadow Lord', but they've found the time to deliver another installment in their "Tales of" anthology series. The first ones covering the Jedi and the Empire, they now turn their focus towards the Underworld. However, be warned, this is a bit of a misnomer. Don't expect any crime syndicates or really any large scale criminality here. These 2 mini-arcs instead focus on Asajj Ventress (I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Underworld) as she assists a young Jedi on the run from the Empire, and the origin story of Cad Bane. Which admittedly is closer in line with the criminal underworld concept, but is really more interested in telling a western style revenge story instead. All in all, despite the always great visuals and sound/music design, and few interesting ideas, there's not enough meat on the bone here to satisfy most viewers. But most disappointing is its failure to capitalize on the potential of the Underworld concept.
