2x3
Well, that was certainly something. Again, a very slow burn until the final 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes were such a stellar payoff that it's well-earned (and it's not like the slow burn stuff is boring). I legit had sweaty palms by the end. The show remains a tour de force in anxiety-inducing scenes, but the extremely uncomfortable (as it should be) failed (thank Christ) rape of Bix might have set a new record.
I kind of figured Brasso would die, since the stakes needed someone the audience actually cares about, and he made the most sense. It didn't lessen the impact, though. The show had me cringing and gripping the sofa, marking out for Cassian clearing house in the TIE fighter, then feeling genuinely sad when Brasso bites it. Well done, show.
Of course, the Mon Mothma, Luthen and Tay tension is once again operating on another level. I don't always love being kept on edge constantly. This show does lean into that a bit too much sometimes, but it's all so, so well done that you just go with it. Obviously, Tay has to die. “Liability” doesn’t even begin to explain his nonsense. But I have a feeling it’s not going to go smoothly.
I'd be remiss not to mention Dedra. Her scenes with Syril and his nightmare of a mother are properly uncomfortable, but weirdly gripping. Their dynamic is deliciously fucked up and borderline cringeworthy. He's obsessed, and she’s… I’m not sure yet. They’re both emotionally stunted, but what’s motivating Dedra is less clear. Sometimes she looks disgusted, sometimes intrigued. Either way, every interaction between them feels like it's building to something awful, and I can’t look away.
What I really liked is how each of the storylines builds their version of tension, but in totally different ways. The farmstead stuff with Cassian is a very different type of creeping tension than with Mon’s side of things, which is this slow, suffocating kind of dread where everyone’s pretending everything’s fine while you know it absolutely isn’t. Then you’ve got Dedra and Syril, which is just deeply awkward and psychological. Like something awful is lurking just beneath the surface. It's very well done.
Onwards!
Well, that was certainly something. Again, a very slow burn until the final 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes were such a stellar payoff that it's well-earned (and it's not like the slow burn stuff is boring). I legit had sweaty palms by the end. The show remains a tour de force in anxiety-inducing scenes, but the extremely uncomfortable (as it should be) failed (thank Christ) rape of Bix might have set a new record.
I kind of figured Brasso would die, since the stakes needed someone the audience actually cares about, and he made the most sense. It didn't lessen the impact, though. The show had me cringing and gripping the sofa, marking out for Cassian clearing house in the TIE fighter, then feeling genuinely sad when Brasso bites it. Well done, show.
Of course, the Mon Mothma, Luthen and Tay tension is once again operating on another level. I don't always love being kept on edge constantly. This show does lean into that a bit too much sometimes, but it's all so, so well done that you just go with it. Obviously, Tay has to die. “Liability” doesn’t even begin to explain his nonsense. But I have a feeling it’s not going to go smoothly.
I'd be remiss not to mention Dedra. Her scenes with Syril and his nightmare of a mother are properly uncomfortable, but weirdly gripping. Their dynamic is deliciously fucked up and borderline cringeworthy. He's obsessed, and she’s… I’m not sure yet. They’re both emotionally stunted, but what’s motivating Dedra is less clear. Sometimes she looks disgusted, sometimes intrigued. Either way, every interaction between them feels like it's building to something awful, and I can’t look away.
What I really liked is how each of the storylines builds their version of tension, but in totally different ways. The farmstead stuff with Cassian is a very different type of creeping tension than with Mon’s side of things, which is this slow, suffocating kind of dread where everyone’s pretending everything’s fine while you know it absolutely isn’t. Then you’ve got Dedra and Syril, which is just deeply awkward and psychological. Like something awful is lurking just beneath the surface. It's very well done.
Onwards!