Following the cancellation of ‘The Acolyte’, many fans are taking a step back and asking questions about the state of the franchise. And rightly so, considering the confused state that many have been left in. Especially considering that Lucasfilm continues to leave us in the dark, with no official word following the recent cancellation. They've also done very little to inspire trust in their current creative process given the number of high profile project announcements that have never come to fruition. Meanwhile, the fandom is imploding on itself. Creators and influencers in the community are pitted against each other, seemingly in a fight for influence over control of the narrative surrounding each new project. Debates over what is or isn’t "Star Wars" wage on the internet as fans dodge bad-faith landmines across their social feeds. Julian and Rachel look at where things stand with Star Wars today, how we got here, and what the future might hold.
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SSSW - Tales of the Empire
Last year on Star Wars Day (May the 4th), Lucasfilm Animation surprised us with 'Tales of the Jedi' a mini-series of shorts dedicated to showing some untold stories from before the fall of the Jedi. This seems to have become somewhat of a tradition, as this year, on the same day, we got 'Tales of the Empire'. A darker twist on the same concept. This time though, it was bit more focused. Two stories, told in three parts each, for a total of six shorts. The first story follows Morgan Elsbeth and her journey of revenge, which begins with her as a young girl on Dathomir to where we fist met her in 'The Mandalorian' season three. Unfortunately, despite another noticeable step forward in animation quality throughout, this first story-arch leaves a lot to be desired. While 'Tales of the Jedi' revealed secrets of Jedi's pasts, Morgan's doesn't really provide the audience with any new information. Instead, just expanding on a lot of which we already knew or could have inferred. The second half of 'Tales of the Empire' however does pack more of a punch. We follow Barriss Offee, a young Jedi Padawan we had not seen since she framed Ahsoka for the Temple bombing in 'The Clone Wars', as she's recruited to become an Imperial Inquisitor. These final three episodes are filled with fascinating glimpses into the Inquisitorius Program, insightful dialogue into the psyche of the fallen Jedi that make up their order, and some genuine twists that keep you guessing throughout. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack each mini-episode, and discuss the package as a whole.
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Episode 192 - The 2023 Tobie Awards (7th Annual) - TV
The prestigious Tobie Awards returns for it's 7th annual ceremony. In a bit of a change from tradition, the decision has been made to split the show into two parts. Part one, today, will cover the best of television from 2023. There was a lot of great shows to chose from, but your hosts, Julian, Jeremy, and special guest, Vince, deliver a varied list that has something for everyone. Of course the breakout hit from HBO, 'The Last of Us', gets it's fair share of love but outside of that, I dare you to guess where all the pieces fall. Next week, we dive into the best in film!
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SSSW - 2024 Star Wars Kickoff
Maybe time works differently in the Star Wars universe because it feels like it was just yesterday that we were flipping over the calendar from 2022 to 2023. We were so young and naive. We didn't know a Hollywood strike would bring production of all our most anticipated projects to a grinding halt, and we hadn't yet learned to never trust a movie announcement from Lucasfilm, or that Mando S3 would land with such a thud. But here we are, a year later, looking ahead at another year of Star Wars. We are still waiting for the next movie in the franchise, while some of the best animated content is about to come to an end with the final season of 'The Bad Batch'. Plus, some intriguing new live action shows are just around the corner in 'The Acolyte' and 'Skeleton Crew', though we still don't know much about either one. It's a tumultuous time, so to kick things off on the right foot, Julian and Rachel take a moment to enjoy their Star Wars themed Christmas gifts before diving back into the nitty gritty.
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SSSW - Ahsoka - Series Premiere
After only a short 4-months since ‘The Mandalorian’ season 3, Small Screen Star Wars returns with more reviews and breakdowns. After having to (fairly) bow out of covering the season finale of Mando, Rachel returns to the podcast chair, alongside Julian, to unpack the two-part series premiere of ‘Ahsoka’. With these episodes coming in at nearly two full hours combined, there’s a lot of lore, character and details to sift through, so buckle up for a comprehensive exploration of every action-packed moment in this overstuffed exploration of the latest Star Wars story! (which just so happens to basically be a semi-sequel to ‘Rebels’)
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Bonus Episode - Daily DVR - The Best TV Shows of 2023 (So Far)
Two bonus episodes in a row? What is this Christmas in July?! Well no not really, but Julian did guest spot on the ‘Daily DVR’ podcast again last week (along with a whole plethora of other great guests) to discuss the top 5 best TV shows of year 2023 so far. Unsurprisingly, things like ‘The Last of Us’, ‘Succession’ and ‘The Bear’ make a lot of the respective lists, but there’s still a lot of room for surprises and if all goes as planned you should be able to add a few new shows to your watch list after listening to this.
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SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E8 “The Return”
'The Mandalorian' brought it's third season to close with a climactic battle for Mandalor, capping off a rocky eight episodes that have left some fans disappointed after what was such a stellar conclusion to season two. "The Return" ties up many of the loose ends from this season and the action set-pieces alone are worth the price of admission (more jetpack heavy battle sequences please) but taking a step back, we're left with a feeling of emptiness, as we may have a worse understanding of our lead characters psyches than we did coming into the season. With so much to do in the finale, and only 39-minutes to do it in, there just isn't any time left to hear what anyone thinks about the major events that just took place. It's plot in absence of character, and it's a real shame. It's not that the show is now bad, it's just that it certainly took a step back this season in pacing, plotting, character development and probably even musically with the absence of Ludwig. The hope being that it can learn from it's mistakes and course-correct going into season four.
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SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E6 "Guns for Hire"
Most people seem to agree that season 3 of 'The Mandalorian' seems to be a bit lost in the woods. Despite strong episodes, like last week's "Pirates", overall the larger plot seems to be a bit directionless at times. It's a cloud that is hanging over the show and seems to be casting a primarily negative shadow on it's reception this year. This week's episode unfortunately continues that trend, but it also continues the trend of having extremely entertaining side missions, with the inspiration-de-jour being a 'CSI' or 'Law and Order' style procedural/neo-noir detective caper. With cameo's a plenty from well known actors, an extremely jovial escapade to a new outer rim planet that is actually wealthy for once, and plenty of Clone Wars era callbacks, it's hard not to be entertained. Thankfully, the final moments of the episode tie us back into the larger plot (in a pretty clunky way if we're being honest), and setup the last 2 episodes of the season. Which are complete mysteries at this point. Plus, Rachel and Julian discuss the three new Star Wars movie projects announced at 'Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023', and dive into the brand new 'Ahsoka' trailer.
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SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E5 "The Pirate"
Just as Din seemed to be fairly aimless since his bath in the living waters, so to did the show itself. Wandering from plot point to plot point with no regard for pacing or sense of direction. That largely changed this week as Din is recruited to rescue Nevarro at the behest of an unlikely ally, all with the possibility of using the opportunity to create a new home for his cohorts. The threat of pirates brought many dangling plot threads together and helped establish a new purpose for our heroes, with the mystery of a reemerging threat lingering in darkness. That's without even mentioning some absolutely stellar action sequences realized with top tier visual effects, adding a much needed sense of quality to the whole affair that has felt oddly absent as of late. Oh, and don't forget about our boy Zeb!
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SSSW - The Mandalorian S3E4 "The Foundling" + The Bad Batch S2E14 "Tipping Point"
A big reveal accompanied by a nice surprise are the highlights of this week's episode of 'The Mandalorian', that otherwise felt mostly inconsequential. Not quite a bottle episode (but close), we spend much of the relatively short runtime with the Mandalorian covert as they attempt to rescue a child from what is essentially a dragon. Meanwhile, over on 'The Bad Batch' we are treated to one of the best episodes of the entire series. Table setting for a finale has never been this exciting or engaging. Between prison breaks, escape attempts, and political intrigue, there isn't much more you can ask for from this show. Superb!
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