Star Wars Resistance review: Kaz and Torra rescue their friends

In “The Disappeared,” Kaz and Torra take it upon themselves to help their friends in need, Tam’s views of the First Order continue to pose a threat, and Team Fireball gets into big trouble with Commander Pyre.

Commander Pyre wasn’t kidding when he implied bad things would happen to people who resisted the First Order’s presence on the Colossus. Even Yeager in “The New Trooper” told Kaz the First Order has a way of making people disappear, so it’s no surprise that residents around the station have been vanishing overnight.

As with last week’s episode, this latest chapter has fewer laughs and more serious moments, since the story is gaining more tension. “The Disappeared” also takes an interesting turn for a handful of characters, leaving us to wonder what’s going to happen to them next. Even more surprising is the cliffhanger. What a perfect way to end the episode, especially after it makes you believe the heroes came out winning beforehand.

Canceled races

Residents of the Colossus take pleasure in watching a sky race as Commander Pyre warns Captain Doza about the races posing a security risk. This eventually forces Doza to ground the ace pilots and cancel all races, including Tam and Kaz’s “ace run” to show off their piloting skills. Hype Fazon and the other ace pilots are annoyed with this decision. After storming off, Hype has a bad encounter with stormtroopers, which leads to his disappearance.

It’s gone unsaid for most of the season, but some of our favorite interactions come from Captain Doza and Commander Pyre. Doza wants to hold onto his authoritative position over the Colossus, but Pyre manages to back him into a corner every time. And each time, he does it with a calm voice. It’d be interesting to see how their interactions continue to evolve in the upcoming final episodes of the season and whether the tables will turn back around in Doza’s favor.

Tam and Kaz also have some brilliant moments in this episode because of their drastically different perspectives regarding the First Order. They both bring up excellent points, as Neeku points out, but Tam is sacrificing her individuality and goals in the process. Even Kaz points out how Tam’s support of the First Order is changing her desire to be a racer.

With the stormtroopers passing around propaganda and informing Tam and her friends that they can volunteer, we can’t help but think Tam is headed in a dark direction. We could be wrong, of course, but with Yeager pushing her away from the truth, it’s almost as if we’re watching Tam’s villainous origin story play out on the screen.

Hype’s missing

Torra shows up at Aunt Z’s looking for Hype. A stormtrooper informs them that Hype left, but Torra is certain he would have said goodbye. Aunt Z throws the propaganda datapad back at the stormtroopers, not afraid to voice her own opinion regarding the First Order. Torra takes the time to ask Kaz for help, and the two set off to find Hype’s ship.

It’s a shame Tam doesn’t see the good in Hype. Sure, it’s mostly hidden under his big ego, but she’d rather believe the First Order and fall back on her past thoughts about Hype instead of trusting Torra’s current friendship with him. We know Tam’s been burned by her past relationships, specifically with Hype, but if she continues to ignore her friends’ judgments and perspectives, she’ll end up hurting those relationships and leaving only herself to blame.

It’s also great to see Torra and Kaz back in action together. Torra comes off as a younger sister to Kaz, so it’s sweet to see them tackling this issue side by side. Plus, Torra definitely deserves more screen time, and we’re happy we got that in this episode.

Aunt Z is a beast when it comes to voicing her opinions, and we love her for it. She has no fear when it comes to speaking up. And what’s more impressive is that she’s old enough to have lived through the reign of the Empire. She knows what to expect from people like the First Order, and instead of sitting silently in the background and keeping her mouth shut, she does the opposite.

On a mission

After locating Hype’s ship, they talk with Yeager. Turns out, he’s not alone in his office. Captain Doza is there with him, and they’re plotting to find a way to communicate with the Resistance. Meanwhile, Torra and Kaz find the prisoners at the docks. Kaz informs Aunt Z of the plan. When the time is right, they attack the troopers loading them into the transport ship. This gives Aunt Z, Hype, and the other prisoners the chance to escape.

Captain Doza seeking Yeager’s help is super interesting to us. They both must be aware of each other’s pasts — Yeager used to be a rebel pilot and Doza was an Imperial captain — so it’s fascinating to see them working together in an attempt to rid the Colossus of the First Order.

We’re also curious why Yeager didn’t originally bring Kaz into this conversation. He is, after all, the Resistance spy. It would make sense to keep him in the loop. Then again, he might have been doing it quietly as a way to keep Kaz out of danger. Either way, the secrecy within Team Fireball is going to explode pretty soon, and we honestly can’t wait to see how it’ll unfold.

As for Kaz and Torra freeing the prisoners, it’s shocking to think Aunt Z and Hype won’t be around for the remainder of the season. They’re headed to Takodana, but here’s hoping they don’t stay there for too long. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Maz Kanata’s castle came down in ruins. It just goes to show the First Order have expanded far and wide across the Outer Rim and there’ll be no escaping them. The only thing to do is fight back.

No way out

Kaz and Torra successfully save their friends, but on his way back to Yeager’s garage, he finds stormtroopers and Commander Pyre. They are there to arrest him and the rest of Team Fireball. The episode ends there with the team completely surrounded and with no way out.

This is the part of the episode that totally caught us by surprise. We thought Kaz was going to get back home, have a laugh or two with Neeku and then hit the sack after a long day’s work against the First Order. Nope. Kaz is in deep trouble, and we can’t even imagine how he’ll get out of this situation.

Things are definitely heating up in these last few episodes. The writers have done a marvelous job expanding upon the movies and giving us a show that is equal parts funny, intriguing, and simply genius. There’s no doubt a big fight is coming to the platform, but we sincerely hope the Colossus is ready for it.

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