The Call (Star Wars Rebels - S02E15) - Animated Series

This is a rough one. SPOILERS. 

“The Call” began with the Ghost grew searching for a Mining Guild outpost in hopes of stealing much needed fuel. Let me know if you’ve heard this before, the Ghost crew goes on a mission to an outpost in search of supplies and easily defeats their enemy. That synopsis could be used to describe any number of Rebels episodes, but this time we have space whales! Yes, space whales. From the beginning, it was clear that Ezra had a strong connection with these creatures. Ezra has demonstrated an ability to use the Force to connect with nature in the past, and that ability was the main focus for this episode. The space whales, known as the Purggil, led the Ghost to the Mining Guild Outpost. To enter the outpost, Kanan, Sabine, and Ezra jumped from the upper atmosphere. The sequence, while stretching credibility, was one of a few visually impressive scenes throughout the episode. The mission quickly fell apart as Ezra derailed the plan to help the Purggil. The Ghost crew’s battle with the Mining Guild very much felt like the writers were going through the motions and the Mining Guild boss was a laughably underdeveloped villain, even for Rebels.

During the battle, Ezra connected with the Purggil and worked with them to defeat the Mining Guild soldiers. Ezra did undergo some character development in this episode, but I’m still having trouble connecting with his character. His connection with Purggil was the driving force behind this episode, but it didn’t really work for me. The central story of this episode was really weak and felt insignificant. This episode honestly felt like a waste of time. It reminded me of some of the throwaway episodes of The Clone Wars. Think The Clone Wars episode that was all about poison tea on Mandalore. In addition, Hera’s subplot in this episode felt rushed. Hera’s disdain for the Purggil really didn’t go anywhere and was resolved rather quickly. The biggest problem with the episode was the Purggil though. Nothing about them worked for me. Ezra’s connection with them fell flat outside of a scene or two and I couldn’t get past their design. They were literally space whales. It completely took me out of the episode and just felt out of place. That’s not all though. Apparently the Purggil can jump into hyperspace which inspired early engineers to create the first hyperspace engines. I’m trying to understand the point of this episode. We had hyperspace-jumping whales and another generic mission of the week. If the point of this episode was to show that Ezra has a unique ability to connect with nature through the Force, I think that storyline was handled better in previous episodes. With all that being said, I thought there was a good balance in screen time for the members of the Ghost. Ezra remained the focus, but the other members of the Ghost crew still played a role in the episode.

I thought Zeb was the stealth MVP this week. Zeb had a few funny lines, but he didn’t come across as the childish clown he is sometimes portrayed as. The balanced screen time for the Ghost crew wasn’t enough to save this episode though. Very little in this episode worked for me. Hyperspace-jumping space whales, a weak central story, and yet another generic mission derailed Star Wars Rebels this week. With the conflict between Darth Vader and Ahsoka and other more interesting storylines still looming, “The Call” felt like a missed opportunity and waste of time. Unless you really wanted to see space whales jumping into hyperspace.

What Worked

• Some impressive visuals
• Good balance with the Ghost crew

What Didn’t Work

• Space whales…that can jump into hyperspace
• Weak, insignificant story
• Underdeveloped villain
• Rushed Hera subplot

External Links:

• StarWars.com Episode Guide
• Wookieepedia Episode Summary