The Antilles Extraction (Star Wars Rebels - S03E04) - Animated Series

"That's cute." SPOILERS. 

After the season began with two good but uneven episodes, Star Wars Rebels stumbled this week with another disappointing Sabine centric episode. With that being said, the opening scene was definitely a highlight. The episode began with a squadron of TIE fighters taking out a group of rebel fighters and an unarmed transport. Rebels has consistently struggled to portray the Empire as a legitimate threat, but this scene demonstrated how brutal and effective the Empire can (and should) be during this time period. Commander Sato received a transmission from Fulcrum that a group of Imperial pilots were looking to defect to the Rebellion. No, Ahsoka isn’t back. Fulcrum is code name she came up with for all of the rebellion’s undercover assets. It’s painfully obvious that Agent Kallus is the new Fulcrum. They barely even tried to mask David Oyelowo’s voice. They’ve been building up this idea that Kallus could defect for a while now, but this is the first time we’ve actually seen him overtly help the rebels. There is certainly potential with this storyline. After all, “The Honorable Ones” is among the series’ best episodes and that showed Kallus struggling with his role within the Empire. I just hope they don’t drag out the “Kallus is Fulcrum” reveal. It’s obvious at this point and dragging it out much longer would be tedious. The real potential with this storyline is the fallout of Kallus’ defection, not when the Ghost crew discovers that Kallus is Fulcrum.

Sabine was assigned to go undercover as an Imperial cadet in Skystrike Academy and retrieve the potential defectors. Skystrike Academy was introduced as the Top Gun of the Empire, only the best of the best are allowed to train there. Sabine is introduced to an Imperial cadet named Wedge during a training simulation. That’s right, Wedge Antilles has joined the long list of Original Trilogy characters to show up on Star Wars Rebels. Wedge wasn’t alone either, Hobbie was among the three Imperial pilots looking to defect. Unfortunately, I didn’t think the inclusion of Wedge was very successful. It felt like they used Wedge’s status as a fan favorite character to carry a fairly forgettable story. This has been a chronic problem in Rebels. Think back to the appearances of Princess Leia or Artoo and Threepio. In addition, having Sabine recruit Wedge is another example Rebels shrinking the universe. At least when someone like Leia showed up, I thought they did the character justice and portrayed them properly. Again, I don’t think they succeeded in their portrayal of Wedge. Maybe it’s just me, but Wedge seemed too young. This episode takes place roughly two years before the events of A New Hope, and it felt like this version of Wedge was significantly younger than the one we saw in A New Hope. In addition, I wasn’t a fan of the voice actor they found for Wedge. Wedge was also portrayed as fairly incompetent. A perfect example is when he accidentally gave up Sabine’s name to Governor Pryce. So that was also disappointing.

Moving on, Governor Pryce and Agent Kallus arrived to investigate the potential defectors. Governor Pryce was briefly introduced in the season premiere, but this was a better look at her character. In fact, I would go as far to say that Pryce was the highlight of the episode. In stark contrast to 99% of the Imperials we’ve met on Rebels, Pryce proved to be a competent and formidable opponent. When Sabine tried to escape with the defectors, Pryce disabled their ships and had one of them killed. Poor Rake. Pryce’s actions in that scene demonstrated a confidence and cunning we really haven’t seen from an Imperial that was first introduced in Rebels. Pryce also held her own in a fight with Sabine, which is impressive since Sabine is generally portrayed as invincible. Further confirming his status as Fulcrum, Kallus let Sabine and the others escape. Although this was a Sabine centric episode, I haven’t talked about her very much. This is because Rebels continues to struggle to develop Sabine as a character. This episode once again added nothing to her character, despite the ample screen time. She made a cryptic comment about her past, had a few snarky quips, and generally made everyone around her look like a fool. It was business as usual for Sabine. Sabine is my least favorite and the most problematic member of the Ghost crew and this episode did nothing to change that. Despite an excellent showing from Governor Pryce, “The Antilles Extraction” was a disappointing outing that failed to do anything interesting with Sabine and Wedge. Hopefully the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn will help the show rebound next week.

What Worked

• Governor Pryce Proved to be a Formidable Opponent
• Opening Scene

What Didn’t Work

• Sabine Struggles Continue
• Portrayal of Wedge
• Continued Reliance on Existing Characters to Carry a Weak Story

External Links:

• StarWars.com Episode Guide
• Wookieepedia Episode Summary