Ricky Church reviews the fifth episode of Star Wars Resistance…
After taking a couple episodes to establish the workings of the Colossus and Kaz’s adjustment to becoming a spy and pretend-mechanic, Star Wars Resistance went back to the main plot of the Kaz’s mission to find out what the First Order wants with the Colossus and discover their spy. It delivered the strongest episode since the premiere, if not of the series thus far, with a tight story, good chase scene and welcome development of some supporting characters. ‘The High Tower’ may be remembered as what got the ball rolling even further.
While the spotlight was on Kaz and his mission to find out why the First Order was visiting, one of the best aspects to ‘The High Tower’ was learning more about Tam, one of Kaz’s fellow members in Yeager’s crew. The spotlight has been on Kaz so much since the series began with not enough of one on the supporting characters, which makes the episode’s focus on Tam so refreshing. We learn a little more about her backstory, specifically her rocky relationship with one of the Colossus’ Ace pilots who used to be her best friend before seemingly forgetting her once he made it to the big leagues. Suzie McGrath made the pain and anger within Tam quite clear and showed she’s more than a wise-cracking mechanic giving Kaz a hard time.
The story also offered more insight into how the Colossus works with our first look inside the High Tower and the Ace’s Lounge, including the introduction of the Colossus’ leader Captain Doza. It was a very upstairs/downstairs situation of how differently the two worlds of the station lived with the pilots getting by lavishly while the rest of the citizens were down in the gutter. Kaz found, though, it came at a prince as Doza had a bit of an arrangement with the First Order for fuel, something not all the pilots agreed on, but it was a price that is coming back to haunt Doza as Major Vonreg reappeared to blackmail Doza into handing over the station to the First Order.
It creates an interesting look at how the First Order operated before Starkiller Base was fully operational. Tied together with their actions in ‘The Triple Dark’, the First Order relied more on under the table methods of gaining power and, ironically, threatened to expose people’s crimes to the New Republic should they not relent to their demands. It re-establishes how they maneuvered their pieces before making a big power play and Kaz’s discovery led to an entertaining chase through the Colossus, though the Stormtroopers chasing him have just as terrible aim – with stun blasts no less – as their Imperial predecessors had. It took a little bit of the suspense out of the chase to see the Stormtroopers so dim-witted and lacklustre, but it was still a good chase nonetheless, especially when Kaz was forced to scale down the outside of the station while being shot at.
With a stronger focus on the story and character development rather than humour, ‘The High Tower’ is the best episode of Star Wars Resistance. The development on both Kaz and Tam, particularly the latter, was great to see alongside the continued world-building of the series’ central setting. While the Stormtroopers could have been depicted better, it still built up the First Order’s threat and their methods to gain power before their big powerplay. With the First Order and Doza’s eye now on Kaz, things on Resistance should get a bit more interesting.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
