Ricky Church reviews the fourteenth episode of Star Wars Resistance…
After getting some pretty light episodes that didn’t have much impact on the main story, Star Wars Resistance delivered one of, if not the best, episode of the season so far with ‘The Doza Dilemma’. The focus on Kaz trying to rescue Torra, Synara’s conflicted feelings and a fairly significant First Order presence made it an engrossing story that relied on the character’s feelings and actions to drive the conflict.
Slapstick comedy has been a huge part of Resistance and the last two episodes were rife with it. Unlike ‘Dangerous Business’ though, which had a good balance of comedy and story, ‘Doze Dilemma’ was all story with very little in the way of comedic moments. Right from the opening scene, the build-up to Torra’s kidnapping was well done thanks to the position it put Synara in. It still feels a little fast that the pirate spy considers Kaz, Tam and Torra her friends rather than just a simple cover, but previous episodes have shown she’s not as bad as her cohorts and does have some redeeming qualities in her. While more time could have been better spent showing how attached she’s become to some of the Colossus gang, it’s not quite a stretch to imagine she’d have very conflicted feelings about lying to them, much less partaking in a straight up kidnapping.
Kaz again got time to shine as he took it upon himself to save Torra and inform the other Ace pilots where to find them. The past few episodes have seen his self-reliance and initiative really rise. The only part that didn’t quite work was just how convenient it was story-wise for Kaz to stumble onto Synara with the other pirates. It felt too forced for Kaz to figure out Synara is in league with the pirates through accident than on his own. The climax wouldn’t have even happened if it weren’t for that and it may have been better for both Kaz and Synara’s characters if she went to him instead. Aside from that, Kaz and Synara benefitted from how the story advanced their development.
The animation showed off a pretty cool chase sequence as Kaz caught up the the pirates. The flight on Resistance has always been well done, but it was nice to see something a little different as the pirate’s ship skimmed over water with Kaz only feet above them. The design on their main ship was also one of the best things Resistance has done with its mismatch of ship parts from all over the Star Wars saga, from the body of a Separatist ship to the markings of Imperial and Rebel pieces. It really gave the pirates a different feel from stuff we’ve seen before and gave their ship a unique look. It was alos a nice touch to play even more on the pirate feel by having the skip come out of the fog and be reminiscent of an actual pirate ship with masts, flags and a makeshift deck.
‘The Doza Dilemma’ is perhaps the best episode of the season yet with its strong focus on the characters and story. While it was a little too convenient for Kaz to stumble on Synara’s meeting, the story was well paced and did just what it needed to with the character.s Hopefully this marks a turning point for the show now that the First Order is done using the pirates as intermediaries and are ready to have a permanent presence on the Colossus. It will be even more interesting for Kaz now that he knows Synara is a pirate, putting another thing to worry about on his plate.
Rating: 9/10
Ricky Church
