Obi-Wan Kenobi: a brilliant return to the force.

As a lifelong movie geek I have to say that Star Wars is one of my all time favorite movie franchises ever. With it's great sense of story and characters, as well as having a lot of real life messages incorporated into its storyline, Star Wars is not only one of the greatest film brands on a cinematic level, but also on a socially significant level as well. My top favorite character from the Star Wars series has always been Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have always admired him because of his wisdom as an elder added to his days as a young and active Jedi prodigy in my top favorite Star Wars film The Phantom Menace.

Of course it should be of no surprise that when I heard there was going to be a series made for Obi-Wan for Disney Plus that I was very excited and now that this first season of the show has come and gone, I have to say that this show certainly delivered and did not disappoint. If someone were to ask me what is my favorite time period of the Star Wars series I would have to say its the Prequel trilogy from the early 2000's, but ever since then I have had a somewhat rocky relationship with the series. I wasn't a big fan of the sequel trilogy that started with The Force Awakens in 2015. I felt like that part of the series was kind of all over the place with no real sense of story and direction to it, but ever since Disney Plus came along, Star Wars has seemed to move in a much more likeable direction for me. I saw the first season of The Mandolorian when it first came out a couple of years ago and I wasn't disappointed. I didn't get to watch Boba Fett yet, but I do plan on getting around to it at some point. When Obi-Wan was announced I knew I would be fully locked in and I'm glad I was because this series is a masterpiece.

One of the first details that makes this series so masterful is how it fills in the gaps of time between episodes three and four of the original George Lucas days. Like many other fans I always wondered what the details of life were like for Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker in the years immediately following the Jedi Purge of Order 66. I always wanted to see more of the dynamic between these two and through the flashbacks and series battles, this is certainly a satisfying return to exploring their relationship. As one can imagine, Obi-Wan became a societal hermit who took to the outskirts of Tatooine watching over a young Luke Skywalker in the distance while simultaneously believing that all was lost for the galaxy. At the same time, the viewer and Obi-Wan both know that the past he thinks is dead is eventually going to come back and haunt him and when it does, he will eventually have to join the rebellion. It was a great work of storytelling to see Obi-Wan Kenobi as what looked outwardly like a fallen hero, even though you knew underneath what looked like visible defeat you knew he had hope in his heart and that hope would be the driving force in him fighting endlessly to help save a young Princess Leia.

The performances of the two newcomers to the Star Wars universe including Reva Sevander portrayed by actress Moses Ingram and a young Leia Organa portrayed by Vivien Lyra Blair do a great job at moving the series along pretty well. What's great about the young Leia is how her personality mirrors the late great Carrie Fisher's original performance. We as the viewer are able to not only see the strong sense of connection she had with Obi-Wan before her adult years, but we were also able to see the origins of where the courage she had in the original trilogy came from. What's great about the newly introduced Reva Sevander is through her we get to see the living scars of what Order 66 left behind and how influential the power of the force is, even though the Jedi race is seemingly extinct. Being that she survived the ending of the season it will be interesting to see what her return will bring in the already announced season two in the future.

The series also does a great job at bringing back many of the older characters portrayed by the same actors and actresses as well as showing the earliest roots of the rebellion. I was very glad to see the return of Owen Lars, Beru Lars, Bail Organa as they play much bigger roles in the future of Luke and Leia, but the series finale really hit me over the head with the appearances of Darth Sidious and none other than the famous Quigon Jinn. Seeing Quigon made me jump for joy in a way that was most overwhelming, as I'm sure it did for every other Star Wars fan who loved the series. I have to say, this show has truly been incredible and I can't wait to see where it goes next season.