Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ahsoka’ On Disney+, Where Rosario Dawson’s ‘Mandalorian’ Character Battles A Threat To The Universe’s Fragile Peace

People who watched Star Wars Rebels should be familiar with most of the primary characters in the new Disney+ series Ahsoka. The live-action version of Ahsoka Tano, played by Rosario Dawson, was introduced to many other fans during The Mandalorian. Now Ahsoka gets a series where she’s the main character, the first time a Star Wars franchise entry is about a female character.

AHSOKA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: As in most Star Wars movies and series, a scroll sets up the situation of Ahsoka, which takes place after the Empire’s defeat at the hands of the Rebels, and a New Republic is in place. Then a large transport ship comes into camera view.

The Gist: On the transport ship is Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto), who is aligned with the presumed-dead-but-maybe-not Imperial Grand Admiral Thawn (Lars Mikkelsen). She’s being held prisoner, but it doesn’t take long for a mysterious vessel with an old Jedi signal docks on the ship. Out of the vessel comes Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson), a former Jedi who is now a mercenary, and his mentee Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). They lay waste to the crew and spring Elsbeth from her cell.

Meanwhile, in an ancient temple, former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) finds what she was searching for; a small globe that is a map to where she might be able to find Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), who disappeared with Thawn. She has to battle some droids, who then blow themselves and the temple up, but she barely makes it back on her ship, piloted by Huyang (David Tennant), the light saber-making droid that remains at her side.

When they return to Home One, they’re informed by General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) that Elsbeth escaped; Ahsoka’s main concern, though is being able to decipher the map, which Huyang couldn’t do. Syndulla’s suggestion is to find Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a Mandalorian who was Ahsoka’s former Padawan apprentice. The two had a falling out, and Ahsoka was the one who broke off the working relationship years prior. But Syndulla thinks that Sabine is the only one who can decipher the map; she also thinks it’s high time the mentor and her student reconnected.

On Lothal, we see Sabine blow off a ceremony honoring her and her team, including Ezra. She just wants to go back to her home and feed her Loth-cat. In the meantime, Elsbeth orders Baylan to send Shin Hati to Lothal to find the map.

Ahsoka arrives at Lothal to see Sabine for the first time since their working relationship ended; Sabine wants to take the map back to her place to decipher it, but Ahsoka refuses. Despite that, Sabine leaves with the map. Ahsoka reflects on their relationship, telling Syndulla that she also walked away from her master, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), at the end of the Clone Wars.

While Sabine is deciphering the map back at her quarters, Shin Hati bursts in and the two battle; before Ahsoka can get to her former mentee, Shin Hati runs her light saber through Sabine, takes the map and escapes.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Ahsoka is a spin-off of The Mandalorian, where Rosario first appeared as Ahsoka Tano, and the characters themselves were introduced on the animated series Star Wars Rebels.

Our Take: The first two episodes of Ahsoka, created and written by Dave Filoni, who directs the first episode, move a touch slowly. They serve as the limited series’ introduction, where we reestablish Ahsoka’s working relationship to Sabine, get an idea of the threat that’s facing the New Republic, and send Ahsoka and Sabine off into the universe’s nether regions, hoping to defeat Elsbeth and Thawn and reunite with Ezra.

That slowness is fine, because there are enough sequences of light saber battles and Sabine trying to outmaneuver a blockade to satisfy fans of the franchise. But something about Ahsoka feels different, and in a way that may bring a new dynamic to the Star Wars franchise that was in short supply.

There definitely seems to be a higher emphasis on relationships than we’ve seen through most of the franchise’s movies and series. In the first two episodes, there are a lot of discussions about the people Ahsoka left behind, when she walked out on Anakin when she was a Padawan, then again walked out on Sabine when it was her turn to be the master. We don’t get a ton of insight into exactly why she did what she did, but we do know she’s filled with regret: “Sometimes even the right reasons have the wrong consequences,” Ahsoka tells Syndulla. In Episode 2, Huyang talks to Sabine about her relationship with Ezra, via the fact that she modified his light saber to make it her own.

How much we’ll see of this as we get in the thick of the battle remains to be seen. We do enjoy both Dawson’s subtle but powerful take on Ahsoka as well as Bordizzo’s bold Sabine. When the two of them shared scenes during the first two episodes, you can see the chemistry that will lead to more bonding as they reconnect. In general, the fact that most of the combatants in this series are powerful women is a refreshing change from the Star Wars norm.

We’re just not sure if this franchise is structured properly to handle scenes where people do nothing but talk about actual human (or humanoid) emotions, and how much of this fans of the franchise are willing to tolerate. Andor was the canary in the coalmine for fans; the moral ambiguity of that series was well received by fans and critics alike. Let’s see if there will be a similar reception for Ahsoka.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Shin Hati leaves with the map, and Sabine collapses after being stabbed by Shin’s light saber.

Sleeper Star: Mary Elizabeth Winstead feels like her character, General Syndulla, is going to be the calming factor on this show, given how much sage advice she gives both Ahsoka and Sabine in the first two episodes. She’s a pretty mean pilot on top of it all.

Most Pilot-y Line: Listen, we found the Loth-cat to be adorable. But we also know that stuffed versions of that cat are already being shipped to Targets and other stores all over the country. Well, it’s just a feeling, but the cynic in us thinks that cat is there just so kids can demand yet another sickeningly cute toy from their parents.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Ahsoka starts a little slow, but the relationships established in the first two episodes make for a promising story for the rest of the show’s first season.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.