Star Wars Rebels: “The Occupation” and “Flight of the Defender” Review

Star Wars Rebels season four, episodes five and six premiered on Oct. 30 with “The Occupation” and “Flight of the Defender,” respectively. These episodes were again a step up from the previous week.

In “The Occupation,” the Ghost crew got smuggled onto Lothal to gather intel on upgrades to the TIE-Defender. When the Ghost crew is flying down on Lothal it looks drastically different than when they left the planet in season one, in such a way that it looks like the planet is dying.

As the Ghost crew landed on Lothal, they were escorted by Tie-fighters so that the empire could check the ship. The crew then had to utilize the puffer pigs to help them escape. Once they were on the ground, the group split up, with Sabine and Ezra going to Old Joe’s bar to find out information, and Hera, Kanan, and Zeb going to the streets of the city.  Kanan and Hera almost kissed as they were discussing the nature of their relationship but were unfortunately interrupted by Zeb. Sabine and Ezra learned that Old Joe has been executed for conspiring with the Rebels. Sabine and Ezra get in a sticky situation due to Ezra’s emotions and were rescued by Jai Kell. The group ended up getting chased into the sewers and were rescued through clues to a safe location by Ryder Azadi.

In the second episode that aired, “Flight of the Defender,” the Ghost crew were spying on the Tie-fighter factory and found out that the new Defender has major upgrades which makes it even more dangerous to the Rebels. The kids of the group, Sabine and Ezra, decided to go in and steal the flight data recorder and hyperdrive. While they were in the middle of this process, however, Thrawn showed up and forced the pair to steal the ship instead and crash land the vehicle. Once on the ground, a mysterious White Wolf (which we are later told is a Loth Wolf) came to their rescue and brought them back to their friends who were searching for them.

Overall, I think that the episodes are getting better as we go on. The seriousness and danger in the episodes have been increasing as this season goes on. What I didn’t like is how incompetent the empire seems to be. I get that the show is marketed towards kids, but you can have a kids show without having the enemy being so incompetent.

Rebels season four returns Monday Nov. 6 on Disney XD at 9:30 p.m.