'Obi-Wan Kenobi': These aren't the folks you're looking for

I have a confession to make. I like the Prequel Trilogy. Nowadays that’s not even the most shocking opinion - the Sequels have taken over the position as the universally hated Star Wars thing on the internet. But liking the Prequels used to be basically heresy. I think it’s important that I clarify, then, for my own peace of mind, that I like the Prequels for what they are. What they are is prime ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ movie magic. The dialogue is clunky and feels forced and fake. The characters are two-dimensional and indistinguishable. The whole plot feels like it was dunked like a digestive into a hot mug of angst. One of the only good aspects, other than the comedic gold that the trilogy provides, was the casting of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is a talented actor and his charisma let him bring some life into a script that was desperately in need of resuscitation. He was campy and cheesy when he needed to be (“Hello There!”), and he had the raw emotion to almost hold up the dramatic scenes that he featured in all on his own (almost). So when it was announced that Disney+ would feature an Obi-Wan show I was actually intrigued and excited. Perhaps a spotlight on McGregor’s Kenobi is what was really needed to let the character shine - to give him a script that might actually give him the justice he deserved.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is an interesting beast. The show takes place after Star Wars Episode III - Obi-Wan is hiding out on Tatooine after Order 66 killed most of the Jedi Order and forced the survivors underground. An exiled Jedi trying to find peace in the desert and watching over the son of his nemesis sounds pretty promising. I expected - or hoped for -  something of a character study. Instead, the primary plot follows Kenobi being called back into service by an old friend from the Clone Wars, Bail Organa, who asks the Jedi to save his kidnapped adopted daughter Princess Leia Organa. This immediately raised some eyebrows. If Kenobi and a ten-year-old Leia had an emotional journey together supposedly only 9 years previous to A New Hope then why isn’t Kenobi more worried about the imprisoned Princess, why don’t the two have a meaningful reunion and why does she only acknowledge him in her iconic ‘my only hope’ message as someone who worked with her father. This is handwaved away in the final episode with the explanation that “nobody can know that we know each other”. It feels like a lazy plot contrivance when this is the only piece of writing that actually allows it to fit into established canon.

If Obi-Wan Kenobi were a show about a different Jedi and a different child in danger then I probably would have enjoyed this show more. But if it hadn’t featured Kenobi then they could never have used Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader himself is a huge part of Kenobi. The show has Kenobi slowly returning to his position as a Jedi who values the Force and does what is right - meanwhile, he is being relentlessly hunted by Vader. This is probably the biggest problem with the show; it is confused between an Obi-Wan story, a Vader story, and a Leia coming of age story. Evaluating each of these stories proves how lacking the whole show is - Obi-Wan isn’t given enough time to really feel like he grows, Vader and Kenobi’s final confrontation is essentially just what the final scenes of the Prequels should have been and Leia starts and ends the show as a plucky trouble maker who is really strangely written. The only thing pulling up the whole show is the acting.

Ewan McGregor makes the most of the script and puts so much passion and hurt into a broken Obi-Wan that it sells his parts of the show. Leia’s actor is another standout, although she really suffers from a writing perspective. Moses Ingram plays Inquisitor Reva and it feels like this show could have been replaced with an ‘Inquisitors’ show that would have been amazing given her performance. But this is the problem. When I watch a Star Wars show, I shouldn’t be thinking about all the other things I would prefer but I so often am. The characters that we all love can’t continue to be in every piece of Star Wars that releases. The reviews for Book of Boba Fett scared me away from that show.
I find it hard to hate Obi-Wan Kenobi though. It feels bloated like it wasn’t supposed to be a show (perhaps because of the plans for it to be a film), but it is still a return to characters who were let down by the Prequels. If I blur my eyes and plug my ears whenever a plot hole with Leia arises then there is a lot to love here. Amazing visuals, funny moments, heartwarming sequences. If you have given up on Star Wars and are prepared to turn your brain off, this could just be the thing to pull you back in. Watching the final fight it feels like the promises of the Prequels are being lived up to now. Will I return to Kenobi? Well, the number of times that references to the Prequels alone made me laugh out loud made up for everything else, although I’m not sure I’m watching it for the right reasons!