Chris Cooper reviews the fourth episode of Star Wars Rebels, ‘Breaking Ranks’…
Last week’s episode set a high bar, and whilst Breaking Ranks doesn’t quite match the same height it’s still a great episode with plenty of action and tension.
It’s very intriguing to get a look into how the Empire is run on a day to day basis, and though this isn’t your standard training course it’s cool to get more detail into Imperial operations now that they can’t rely solely on clone troopers.
We see this through Ezra’s eyes as he infiltrates an Imperial facility to discover the location of a deadly weapon. Juggling his mission with relationships he has built up with his fellow trainees Ezra uses his abilities to make him top of the class, but has he made himself too noticeable?
I found myself wondering how I’d do in the tests this group of youngsters face. Not sure I’d pass the first one but I’d love to give it a try. I’m not sure I’d want to spend much time around the Imperial commanders though, who always seem to have a whiff of Moff Tarkin around them to me. Maybe it’s the sneery attitude. On the other hand the banter and bonds between the trainees was spot on, with enough friendliness and competitiveness to give it an edge when things turned nastier.
Not only do we get to see Ezra in action, but my need to see ships ‘pew pewing’ is satiated by seeing the Ghost in action (a very cool toy it would no doubt make). In fact, the balance of explosions and story is very nicely matched.
Hera and Sabine still haven’t that much time to shine (next episode perhaps…), but Hera proves herself to be quite the pilot. It’s still early on in the series so there is plenty of time. I’m hopeful that then they do get their chance they’ll be dealt with well.
Without giving anything away it seems as though there are things going on in the background that may come out later in the show, which had me very intrigued. Planting the seeds now for future stories is nice way to start out.
For an episode centred on teenagers I was pleasantly surprised. At no point did they annoy me! They also cracked some skulls and turned out be very useful in a fight. Another solid episode.
Chris Cooper is a Flickering Myth Staff Writer, and owner of the blog Super Duper Stuff. Follow him on Twitter @SDCCooper or visit the blog’s Facebook page.
Originally published November 13, 2014. Updated November 7, 2019.
