‘Star Wars: Ahsoka’ Review: Does the Series Live Up to the ‘Clone Wars’ Standard?
The long-awaited Ahsoka series has finally wrapped up for the season. But did it hold up to fan expectations and The Clone Wars legacy?
The season finale of Ahsoka just premiered. And after a season of ups, downs, big reveals, and bigger character returns, this show definitely has a few things going for it. But do those bright points make Ahsoka one of the top-tier Star Wars shows? Or did it fail to live up to the legacy of The Clone Wars and Rebels?
The Light Side
I’ve been excited about the casting of Ahsoka since the various actors and characters were first announced. Even when we were just getting names to speculate about the character choice wildly, it looked like this was going to be a well-cast and well-acted show. And for the most part, it is.
I’ve seen complaints about Rosario Dawson’s take on Ahsoka Tano herself, and I understand where the criticism is coming from. But it also felt very much like we were watching a tired, broken character who was forced to grow up way too fast and was struggling to find her humor again. After her mid-season ‘final training session’ we seemed to get that old Ahsoka back. So I truly think this was a purposeful choice either on Dawson’s part or the director’s.
That said, Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger? Absolutely perfect in every scene. You could tell that he’d studied the mannerisms, speaking cadence, and general snark Ezra was known for and brought it to life.
Plot-wise, I liked what we saw. This saw took off running from where Rebels left off, and it did so with lots of little references and nods. Early on in the season, a few scenes were visually nearly identical to what we saw in animation a few years ago. And that was pretty cool. But it was cool for fans of the animated shows, and I think that may be where this series hit the first of its problems.
The Dark Side
Before I get too critical, I want you to know that this show should have been a slam dunk for me. I’m a huge fan of the animated shows, and especially love both Ashoka and Grand Admiral Thrawn as characters–and don’t get me started on Chopper. My expectations were high, but really I was ready to enjoy just about anything that some of my favorite characters were going to show up to.
And I wasn’t disappointed, but I also wasn’t overwhelmed by excitement and joy. I’d say I was whelmed. I found the whole thing whelming.
The biggest issue with this show is that it really is Rebels season five. A time skip was involved and we were down a few characters, but let’s be real. This was a return to Rebels. In a way, I think if this had been billed as ‘Rebels 2‘ or presented in animated form, I would have liked it a lot more. But as its own thing, it was difficult. And frankly, it was a little difficult to understand.
Not for me or anybody else who’s been watching every show to come out of the Galaxy regardless of medium. In fact, probably not even for anybody who’s watched just a few key episodes. But for everybody else? For the more casual but still very valid Star Wars fans who show up for live-action shows and movies? So many things happened on screen with no context that viewers were just expected to know about already. I’m sure that a lot of it was able to be pieced together or looked up online after the fact, though.
Aside from that, the pacing of this show left something to be desired. While Andor started out good and only got better, Ahsoka started out okay and became more engaging every week. Which is a good trajectory, I was still pretty excited to come back every week knowing that it had only been getting better.
But then the season finale was…. fine. I wouldn’t say that it was bad, and there were many things that I genuinely liked and appreciated. But I wasn’t wowed. Multiple absolutely wild things happened, and we were left on at least two or three different cliffhangers. But it somehow failed to pack the desired punch.
It felt like Ahsoka was trying to end on that same defeated but hopeful note that Empire Strikes Back did. Only, it had failed to get me emotionally invested enough- in characters who I already loved, mind you- to get that same feeling. Some little bit of magic was missing, which is ironic because this is a Disney production.
And then there were little things that made me feel like attention to detail wasn’t a priority for the Ahsoka team. Costume continuity scene-to-scene wasn’t there, and makeup felt half-hearted. Mary Elizabeth Winstead did a great job as Hera Syndulla, but it looked like the makeup team put a flat layer of green makeup on her and called it a day. No contour, no depth, just one single shade of green. And if every cosplayer I know puts more work into their own makeup than the Ahsoka team puts into their actors’, there’s a problem.
Overall
Despite the criticisms I liked Ahsoka as a show, I really did. It was enjoyable to watch while I watched it. But it left me with no lasting impressions. I’m not excited to discuss this one with people, and despite the season’s ending, I’m not seeing a massive call for a second season. It doesn’t even look like Filoni knows if there will be a season two of Ahsoka. And if there isn’t, how do these loose threads get tied up?
If this were Rebels season 5, I think this same season would be a solid 4/5. It was good and set things up well, but not perfect. But as its own stand-alone show? It was clunky and left massive information gaps for many fans to fill in on their own. All of this while it felt like some aspects of the show were overlooked entirely.
As its own show, Ahsoka is just fine. I don’t regret watching it and I never felt like bailing on the show. But I’ll also likely not give it a re-watch or many more thoughts going forward.
