Quick Thoughts #4 - Star Wars on TV Kinda Rocks Part 1

I didn’t realize that 2020 was the last time I really talked about anything Star Wars here. It’s not like I haven’t been watching what Disney+ has been putting on. I will say that with the overload of content (Star Wars or otherwise…) getting through it all has been kinda tough with a 2 year-old in tow. Besides, my binges into other shows (Grimm, Different Strokes, Picket Fences, and now Legacies) with Liz have been really fun. So, I’ll start off this little project with the shows and seasons I’ve actually finished. It honestly hasn’t been that many. Since these may get a little long, I’ll leave it to three shows today.

 

Star Wars: Rebels

Yeah, it’s not part of the current Disney+ roster, but it’s time to get this out. I ended up binging Rebels toward the end of 2019 during Christmas break, so this has been a long time coming. For those who don’t know, Star Wars: Rebels aired on Disney XD from 2013-2017. It was about… well, Rebels! Basically, the show’s about a group of the Rebel Alliance fighting against the Empire a few years before Episode 4: A New Hope. We got two Jedi (or 1 ½ Jedi),  a Mandalorian, a Twilek, a… thing that’s from Ralph MacQuarrie’s concepts (I don’t know what Zeb is!), and a cussing droid making the Empire look like idiots.

While it took a while for me to take to the show, this was pretty good. It does its best to introduce new characters and concepts while being pretty familiar. I thought that the crew of The Ghost were pretty good. Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) was an awesome character and is probably one of the best Jedi put to screen. I also like Sabine Wren (Vanessa Marshall), Hera Syndulla (Tiya Sircar), Zeb (Steve Blum!), and… I guess Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray). There was a reason it took me a while to like this show after all.

Random Thoughts On... Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7

Next up for the month is something that I didn’t think would ever come: the 7th season of The Clone Wars. I wasn’t watching the show when it first ended, but when I caught up with it on Netflix, I fell in love with it. While it was a good show on its own, it helped make the prequel trilogy a little better in my eyes. When Season 7 was announced, I was psyched. What happened to some of our favorites like Ahsoka, Rex, and the others at the end of the war? Even though Rebels was out there filling in holes, this was one hole that definitely needed filled. Most of our answers were revealed through 12 weekly episodes that started to air on Disney + on February 12th, 2020. We got three arcs:

• The “Bad Batch” arc - The first four episodes follow Captain Rex and Anakin as they team up with a group of special clones called “The Bad Batch.” Imagine the Suicide Squad but as clones. They have their own set of special abilities. Rex uses the team to find an old captured squadmate of his and help get a victory on a Separatist stronghold.
• Ahsoka’s post-Jedi Order adventures - This takes place sometime after Ahsoka has left the Jedi Order. She’s still on Coruscant when she meets two kinda annoying sisters: Trace and Raffi. Trace takes on to Ahsoka immediately, but Raffi’s is wary of her. Ahsoka gets pulled into a smuggler deal Raffi is running and shenanigans happen. They end up dealing with the Pyke Syndicate. It all ultimately leads to Ahsoka ending up on Mandalore for the final arc.
• Siege of Mandalore/Order 66 - This final arc pretty much takes place during the events of Revenge of the Sith. We get to see our main characters have one final goodbye before all the major stuff goes down. For the arc itself, we get to see the return of Maul as he tries to lead Mandalore. After what may be one of the best lightsaber fights on the show happens... we get Order 66 involving the show’s favorites. Tears may be shed.

TV Talk - Darkwing Duck: "It's a Wonderful Leaf"

Next on the list is one that I sort of have vague memories of: Darkwing Duck. Yes, you read that right. Darkwing Duck was essentially a spoof on the hero genre. It found his inspirations in Batman as well as other heroes like the Shadow, Crimson Avenger, and other older heroes. I used to watch the show back in the day on ABC. I don’t exactly remember when it went off the air though. I do remember the slammin’ theme song. It’s still good to this day.

The show was a spinoff to DuckTales, another show with a catchy theme song. Still, I don’t know if I want to grab onto some duck tails especially if danger lurks behind me and strangers are out to find me. The creators found inspiration from a couple of episodes of DuckTales for this show. It was originally going to feature Launchpad (a supporting character from DuckTales) as a James Bond knock-off called Double-O-Duck. That didn’t happen since someone actually owned the “double-o” phrase. By the way, that’s really weird. Darkwing Duck was the next name they decided to use for the show and it was decided to create a main character.

The show ran for 91 episodes and stayed on for two years. After its run, it stayed in syndication. On the show, Darkwing Duck, aka Drake Mallard, protects St. Canard from a bunch of baddies. He gets help from Launchpad, his daughter Gosalyn, and others.  For today, I’m only looking at one episode instead of the whole show. I found them all on YouTube. “It’s a Wonderful Leaf” was the show’s 54^th episode. As you can tell by the title, it’s a Christmas one. After all, it is the season!