Star Wars Rebels Season 3 Episode Guide:
3.01 Steps Into Shadow Part 1 - Review
3.02 Steps Into Shadow Part 2 - Review
3.03 The Holocrons of Fate - Review
3.04 The Antilles Extraction - Review
3.05 Hera's Heroes - Review
3.06 The Last Battle - Review
3.07 Imperial Supercommandos - Review
3.08 Iron Squadron - Review
3.09 The Wynkahthu Job - Review
3.10 An Inside Man - Airs December 3
3.11 Visions and Voices - Airs December 10
Star Wars Rebels 3.09 "The Wynkathu Job" Review:
Directed by Mel Zwyer & Written by Gary Whitta
The Wynkathu Job reunites the crew of The Ghost with Hondo in order to perform a heist of an abandoned Empire storage facility which contains large amounts of cargo as well as weapons that the Alliance badly need. It's something that the Empire would pass by without a second thought due to their immense resources but the Rebels need everything that they can get, and it's therefore that Ezra and the rest of the crew have to put aside their differences with Hondo in order to work together to transport the cargo, with Ezra excited at the prospect of working with Hondo again.
The episode itself is a fun one if a bit standard and features a blatant copy and paste of the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica as the villains. Given the structure of the episode it almost feels very close to Firefly as well in how it plays out, with a simple salvage job going south on board an abandoned Empire facility that could crash at any moment. It's a nice mix of influences from Mel Zwyer and Garry Whitta. Zwyer herself has worked in the art department on How to Train Your Dragon and King Fu Panda as well as several other animated DC Comics movies and TV shows, whilst having directed Steps into Shadow and Hera's Heroes from this season. She's also behind several Legend of Korra episodes as well as Young Justice. Meanwhile, Garry Whitta is responsible for the script behind both The Book of Eli and After Earth, and was originally attached to Rogue One before departing.
The episode is a mixed bag but benefits from some good pacing and a decent, if unremarkable plot and some nice action sequences. The tensions between Zeb and Ezra are explored as Zeb is given command of the job much to Ezra's distaste, as he was the one responsible for setting up the mission with Hondo in the first place. Azmorigan is also involved to make things even more complicated, and that's where one of the problems come in when things go south. Given how little trouble Azmorigan had in destroying the Sentry Droid surely Zeb and Ezra, who is a Jedi - should have been able to make light work of them? Especially when you consider that this episode went to show just how good Zeb can be as a leader much to Ezra's disappointment, even if he did tease Zeb about getting captured by the Sentry Droid. However, either way, we got a great action sequence that took centre stage with Ezra and Zeb pushed into a corner against a drop that would certainly kill them should they fall, and on top of that they also had to protect their cargo, with the weapons running the risk of exploding should they suffer from too many hits.
There isn't really anything too unique about this episode and now the momentum from the start of the series is pretty much dead as it has relied a lot on standard individual episodes so far since the first couple, and aside from the occasional appearance of Thrawn, there hasn't been much plot advancement this season. Then again it is still only the ninth episode so there's plenty left to get to. I really hope that we get to see more of Asohka in the near future though, as the show benefits all the more from her involvement and it's no surprise that some of the best episodes of the series have come from her presence.
Melch was also an interesting addition to this episode and it made for a great moment when the reveal showcased that he was in the chest that Hondo saved. It does mean that the treasure goes unexplained as we never actually got to ese it but the idea of both Azmorigan and Hondo bickering over the ownership of Melch was a fun one and hopefully we'll get to see more of these characters in the future. They may not be vitally important to the series and it usually means that this is a standalone episode that follows with their appearance, but it's a fun and welcome one.
Ezra's character is taking slow leaps into becoming an even more arrogant and unlikeable teenager and it's going to be interesting to see how the writers continue this arc. They have to tread carefully lest they make him too unlikeable and the audience will hate him, but for now they're doing fine and like I said, there's still plenty of time left in the season for things to change, for good or for ill. Therefore with everything taken into account, The Wynkahthu Job may have not been a standout episode of the series so far but it's a fun, action packed and enjoyable episode that balances humour with a solid if unremarkable plot.
Overall Episode Verdict: C+
Positives:
+Humor.
+Action.
+Pace.
Negatives:
-Danger of making Ezra too unlikeable.
