Star Wars Resistance review: Kaz’s day as a stormtrooper

In this week’s episode of Star Wars Resistance, Kaz helps out the children of Tehar once again, dons stormtrooper armor for the first time, and discovers more trouble is coming to the Colossus.

The pirate spy known as Synara San is no longer on the station, since Kaz helped her escape in “The First Order Occupation,” but that hasn’t stopped the First Order from increasing its presence on the Colossus. Kaz isn’t able to do much in terms of his task as a spy until Eila and Kel arrive at Yeager’s doorstep asking for help. This provides him with an opportunity to gather vital intel and get a much-needed heads-up about what the First Order plans to do with the Colossus.

Like every episode before it, “The New Trooper” is entertaining and enjoyable. We’ve seen good guys dress up as stormtroopers in the past, but Kaz takes it to a hilarious place. We also love how the animators added more character to his movements, so even though he’s covered in First Order armor, he still comes across as our beloved Kaz. And while there are lots of laughs to be had, this episode also nicely sets up the more serious storylines yet to come.

STAR WARS RESISTANCE – “The New Trooper” – When Kel and Eila seek out KazÕs help after knocking out a stormtrooper, Kaz dons the trooperÕs armor to protect the kids and spy on the First Order. This episode of “Star Wars Resistance” airs Sunday, Feb. 10 (10-:00 – 10:0 P.M. EST) on Disney Channel. (Lucasfilm)

TAM, KAZ

Stormtrooper down

Commander Pyre and his troops arrive on the Colossus, but Captain Doza doesn’t see a need for an increased presence, especially since the pirate spy is gone. Pyre assures him the spy received help and that they’re merely there for security.

Meanwhile, Eila and Kel are fishing for food when a stormtrooper, CS-515, finds them. So as to not end up in First Order custody, they knock the stormtrooper unconscious, but that only means more trouble for them.

Seeing the kids again is always a treat, since they could have easily been written off the show entirely. We like how they’ve become recurring characters and contribute to the story. They also represent the “future” of this fictional galaxy, so the more involved they are, the better.

Disagreements

Back at Yeager’s garage, Kaz and the others have breakfast and a heated conversation about the First Order. Yeager and Kaz believe the First Order is up to no good, but Tam feels more secure having them around. She also gets upset at Yeager for taking Kaz’s side again.

It’s fascinating to see this particular conversation play out between Team Fireball because on one side is Kaz, someone who understands the First Order’s real intentions. At the head of the table is Yeager, someone who’s lived under the Empire. And finally, on the other side are Tam and Neeku, two individuals who feel the First Order offer security and protection. They also have family members who’ve lived during the age of the Empire.

Each one of them grew up in different environments, but Yeager is the only one who remembers what the Empire used to be like. The other three grew up during an age of peace. Tam and Neeku, in particular, don’t have the context Yeager and Kaz have. It’s such a relevant situation because this is the type of conversation and clash of different viewpoints we’ve all experienced at one time or another.

Eila and Kel need help

The children from Tehar interrupt breakfast and ask Kaz for help with the unconscious stormtrooper. Neeku, Tam, and BB-8 tag along as they help take the trooper to engineering. There, Kaz comes up with the idea to wear the trooper armor in order to find out if the trooper reported the kids to the First Order. After he’s gone, Tam still believes the First Order is only there for protection. Eila and Kel, however, tell her a very different story.

Tam is definitely someone to watch out for because the first thing she thought of after seeing the unconscious stormtrooper was turning herself and the others into the authorities. If she finds out what Kaz is really up to, she could potentially do the same and snitch on him.

Then again, Eila and Kel told her they came to be on the Colossus because of the First Order hunting them down. We hope this perspective really settles in because if she doesn’t change her mind on the First Order soon, she’ll get herself and her teammates into trouble.

We also just plain and simply love Neeku and how he comes through every time for his friends, including knocking out the stormtrooper multiple times in order to keep their identities safe. He’s truly wonderful (and must be protected at all costs).

Going undercover

Kaz dons CS-515’s stormtrooper armor and eventually finds his way to the command ship, where he comes head-to-head with a First Order droid. He comes away triumphant with a data rod filled with First Order information, but he’s forced to meet with Commander Pyre. There, they discover something is wrong with his “programming.” To avoid reconditioning, Kaz goes on the run.

It makes us so happy Kaz gets to wear stormtrooper armor. We saw it play out in Star Wars: A New Hope with Luke and Han. It also turned up several times in Star Wars Rebels. We were secretly hoping for this storyline to pop up, and it did not disappoint.

We especially love his interaction with the First Order droid aboard the command shuttle. When he kicks the head off the droid and makes him fetch for it, we couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It’s obviously a cruel thing to do, but the way Kaz goes about doing it just pure gold.

Speaking of gold, we love how Commander Pyre had a longer presence in this episode. Don’t get us wrong, we are Resistance supporters all the way, but there’s something about Commander Pyre that makes us want to learn more. It’s also fascinating to know he’s aware of Doza’s history with the Empire. We thought it was Doza’s biggest secret, but it turns out the First Order knows all.

Additionally, the concept of wiping someone’s brain and reprogramming them is absolutely terrifying. We remember hearing it before in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, specifically in reference to Finn, but the idea of a “brain scrape” is another reason why the First Order is on the extreme end of the evil scale. At least the Empire relied on volunteers. Forcing people into submission sounds nearly as cruel as the Jedi using a slave army to fight a war the soldiers never signed up for.

Bad things on the horizon

Neeku and the kids help bring the unconscious trooper to a location convenient enough for Kaz to switch out of the trooper armor. The First Order finally catches up to Kaz, but instead, they find CS-515 back in his armor. Unfortunately for him and because of Kaz’s actions throughout the episode, he’ll be taken into a brain wipe and reprogramming session.

At the same time, Kaz puts Eila and Kel at ease, telling them they weren’t reported. The bad news is the First Order is sending more reinforcements. Back at Yeager’s garage, Kaz and Yeager examine the data rod he stole and study a star chart. Yeager doesn’t know for sure, but he believes the First Order is after the Colossus because of its primary function as a refueling platform and that means bad news for the residents of the Colossus.

While the episodes has all sorts of funny and memorable moments, it’s heartbreaking to know this stormtrooper will get reprogrammed because of what Kaz did. Sure, we don’t know him and he might have done bad things before, but he’s still a human being who was stolen from his family, reconditioned, and forced to fight in someone else’s war. It’s upsetting, but it also reminds us of who the bad guys really are in this story.

Lastly, we like how this episode helps set the stage for what’s to come. This series as a whole does a great job of having one episode lead into the next in such an effortless way. Because of Kaz snooping around, we know more First Order reinforcements are coming and those who resist will be dealt with harshly.

While the show will no doubt continue its moments of comedic gold, we’ll no doubt start to see more serious things start to happen, especially as we get closer to the events in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars Resistance airs Sundays on the Disney Channel at 10 p.m. EST and DisneyNOW.