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Ahsoka Episode 5 (Disney+): It’s cool that Hayden Christensen came back and it is cool that Ariana Greenblatt gets to play young Ahsoka after playing young Gamora in Infinity War but the fundamental issue with this episode is that Ahsoka doesn’t actually learn anything between arriving in the World Between Worlds and leaving. Fundamentally she is the same character and does not learn a lesson which is something the episode claims she has to do at this point. Anakin doesn’t teach her anything, the flashbacks don’t teach her anything, all she has to do is make the choice to live and, up until this point, she doesn’t indicate that she has any desire to die. Since she’s also only interacting with Anakin, it leaves a good amount of her character unexplored. This episode probably would have been better served to do more of the Arrowverse trope from episodes like Three Ghosts or The Runaway Dinosaur (this will not be the last reference to the Arrowverse this week) where the character has to interact with multiple people from their past, each of which helps them understand some fundamental truth about themselves. Mace Windu, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan, Kanan Jarrus, or Luminara would have been great opportunities to explore Ahsoka’s past instead of just being her lamenting that she’s Anakin’s apprentice when she never really grappled with that before and this episode is not her dealing with anything in a meaningful way.
Fionna and Cake Episodes 5 and 6 (Max): So Fionna, Cake, and Simon are now bouncing around the multiverse and dealing with alternate variations of themselves and other known entities to move Simon through his decision to become the Ice King again. The fifth episode has him interact with Farmworld Finn from seasons five and seven of the original show who previously had gone through the same experience as Simon where he wore the crown that granted the ice powers and has since been “cured.” Episode six has a version of Simon who had made peace with the crown and managed to retain his humanity while still keeping his ice powers. These episodes are somewhat reminiscent of the episodes of The Flash leading up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths event where Barry was in a telepathic battle with Bloodwork which showed him alternate futures where he could stay alive while saving everyone during Crisis. There is just one aspect of Simon’s life that he needs to address as he gets close to making this choice, which will probably be more broadly approached during the next few episodes.
Wheel of Time Season 2 Episode 5 (Amazon Prime): The stakes have definitely been ramped up in this episode, which is good because the show is in the back half of the season. Some of the more magical destruction elements as the dark forces run amok are cool while some venture into Woody Harrelson in Venom: Let There Be Carnage territory where the pieces are there but the whole issue comes down to execution and it just comes off a little weird. That said, the Forsaken are formidable villains and are pretty cool for what this show is.
This Week In Theaters:
Expend4bles: Following on the success of the third Expendables
movie, Lionsgate is bringing together a new collection of iconic action stars to save the world. Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham, Megan Fox, 50 Cent, and Andy Garcia star.
Last Week At The Box Office:
The Nun II: $14.7 Million
A Haunting in Venice: $14.5 Million
The Equalizer 3: $7.2 Million
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3: $4.7 Million
Barbie: $4.0 Million
Programming Notes:
The only real programming note this week is that the new season of the Disney+ series Loki will be released on Thursday, October 5th, 2023 at 9 PM instead of Friday, October 6th, 2023. This follows in Ahsoka’s footprints, which have worked out well for them.
