Review: Obi-Wan Kenobi, "Part IV"
The big ideas are still working, but the moment-to-moment execution of this show is inconsistent at best, outright dumb at worst
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a series that works fine as an abstract idea. The decision to make this a story about young Leia instead of young Luke, the choice to deliver a mid-season showdown between a vengeful Vader and an out-of-practice Obi-Wan, the integration of the inquisitors: it all works in theory, and suggests that the big picture thinking attached to the show understood the mythos at play.
But “Part IV” reached a breaking point for me in terms of the execution, which feels divorced from that big picture thinking. I find myself consistently perplexed by the show’s inability to tap into the abstract energy of the piece in a meaningful way, particularly in any circumstances where procedure needs to be completed. A perfect example of this comes early in the episode, when Obi-Wan wakes up in the base of the Jedi sympathizers. They’re reluctant to help him infiltrate Fortress Inquisitorious because it would turn them into soldiers, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. talks about how h…