"Fighter Flight" - Star Wars: Rebels Season 1 Episode 2 review

Despite seeming to have smoothed over their tumultuous relationship last week, Ezra and Zeb are portrayed constantly bickering, to the point that they almost cause damage to the Ghost. Hera orders the pair to go to the nearest town on Lothal and pick up some much needed supplies. Hera emphasises that they shouldn't bother returning without picking up a meiloorun fruit, which she knows full well is not indigenous to Lothal. One of the major problems I had with this episode was the degradation of the close-knit crew into a transparent symbolism for the average family- Ezra and Zeb are the bickering brothers, Sabine is the annoying sister, Hera is the mother and Kanan the father. The previous episodes have done a fantastic job of highlighting the close relationship of the crew members and the well-oiled machine they operate as during heists, con-jobs and battles with the Empire. This episode did the opposite.

Ezra and Zeb quickly find all of the supplies they were ordered to collect, apart from the meiloorun fruit. Eventually, Ezra is told by an old friend, Mr Sumar, that an off-world importer might have some of the fruit. Although the pair do find an off-worlder selling the merchandise, they learn that it has already been sold to the Empire.

The pair are of course caught in their attempt to steal some of the fruit for Hera, causing Ezra to flee for his life and Zeb to make his getaway in a stolen TIE fighter. Zeb eventually rescues Ezra, but only after forcing him to agree that they are now even for having both saved each others lives. This was another part of the episode that irritated me. Zeb is a grown Lasat, but has been mentally downgraded to the level of a child for the purposes of this episode. What adult would allow their friend's life to hang in the balance until they agreed to their demands? In fact, what child would?

After escaping in the TIE, the pair notice Mr Sumar and his family have been taken prisoner by a convoy of Imperials. Ezra takes out the stormtroopers and frees the prisoners whilst Zeb provides cover in the TIE fighter. This sequence was probably the best part of the episode; it was animated well, the suspense was there, and the characters finally began acting like the characters we have started to get to know over the previous episodes.

Kanan and Hera begin to worry because the pair have been gone so long, Hera having expected the pair to give up after not being able to pick up any meiloorun fruit. When they learn what has transpired they order the pair to get rid of the TIE and return to the Ghost immediately.

Overall rating: ★★½

"Fighter Flight" was by far the weakest episode produced by Rebels so far. I understand the idea was to teach the younger members of the audience the importance of harmony and working together in a family, however, I felt that the writers laid it on a bit thick. Let's hope this is simply a rare slip in an otherwise strong show!