Originally published March 5, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Chris Cooper reviews Star Wars Rebels – ‘Secret Cargo’…
From a story sense Secret Cargo is a very simple episode of Star Wars Rebels. In fact if you stripped everything away and really got down to what happens, you’d be a left with only two or three bullet points.
The story is quickly setup, before giving us so much awesomeness that my head nearly exploded. Then it closed down with a scene that will make a big impression on anyone who’s been following it this long. You’ll know by this point that I try my hardest not to spoil things in my reviews. I’m going to stick to that, but it’s not going to leave me much to talk about.
The main thing you need to take away from this episode is that it’s fantastic and you shouldn’t miss it. I’d be very happy if you stopped reading now and just watched it.
If it weren’t for the way certain things were presented I’d have called this a filler episode. Having learnt some important lessons about banding that term around, I still say it could have been if it had been handled even slightly clumsier. A variety of ideas, relationships and new rivalries have been set up here that stop the episode being a glorified twenty-two minutes of pew pew. There’s nothing that’s going to offer payback soon but lots to think about.
Are the Rebels team spying on me? Do they know my personal preferences when it comes to Star Wars? They might do, as Secret Cargo ticks several boxes in the list labelled “what would Chris love to see happen?” All I can say is bravo.
Chris Cooper
