Star Wars Rebels: Stealth Strike First Watch

November 30, 2015 2:30 PM - Season 2, Episode 7

Commander Sato and Ezra Bridger find themselves captured by a new Imperial ship designed to force space faring vessels out of hyperspace. As Ezra figures out his own escape plans, Kanan and Rex are sent in together to find out what happened to them.

Trivia!

• The design of Admiral Brom Titus was very much influenced by the complexion and style shared by many of the local extras hired near Elstree Studios in the 1970s to fill in the background of Imperial scenes.
• This episode introduced the 'Imperial weapons technician' who wear the beetle-like helmets associated with the Death Star gunners. The techs are specific to their experimental projects and wear jumpsuits of different colors with gold insignia.
• Artist Chris Glenn rendered Sabine's artistic portrait of Rex and Kanan.
• The bridge of the Interdictor was taken from a Star Destroyer bridge set, but altered with circular control stations in the crew pits.
• The Interdictor design is much larger than what was originally established in the "Legends-Canon" description of the vehicle, suggesting a much more powerful model than previous depictions.

posted by Atreides (9 comments total)

I cheered when the Interdictor got hit.

It's also probably shameful to admit this, but I would totally buy a toy of Chopper-in-disguise. He was definitely in peak Chopper grumpiness this week with his seemingly blasé attitude towards Ezra's safety.
posted by drezdn at 3:15 PM on November 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

I thought this was a super strong episode that I liked so much, I watched it twice.
posted by wittgenstein at 5:15 PM on November 30, 2015 [3 favorites]

I also watched it twice. They captured the feel of a small group of rebels outfoxing a larger more bureaucratic organisation.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 2:24 AM on December 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I enjoyed it, too, and I want to re-watch it.

Ezra has made an astounding piece of progress in his training as a Jedi padewan, finding three to four armed storm troopers to be not only easily handled, but skilled enough to handle them without killing them. I do think there's a certain level of cockiness that is creeping into character, which was somewhat deflated when he encountered the Inquisitors a few episodes back, but is due for a grounding.

Rex and Kanan continue to be great partners in crime. I appreciated the perspective of the continuation of the Republic military protocols into the Imperial forces. One is simply the progression of the other, so it makes sense that certain things would be carried over.

There was also something incredibly fun, but odd, seeing 2D renderings of our 3D animated characters.

Also, yeah, big ship go boom boom!
posted by Atreides at 7:31 AM on December 1, 2015

Yes - I also found myself thinking "Ezra has really learned a lot since last season" while watching this episode.
posted by wittgenstein at 7:43 AM on December 1, 2015

I am loving this season. I played many hours of the West End Games Star Wars RPG back in college, and they are mining some good stuff from it. It was super cool to see an Interdictor at work.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:07 AM on December 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

One of the things I didn't like in the first season of Rebels was the "scrappy grumpy team in-fighting" and it looked like we were in for another dose of that with Kanan and Rex. I'm glad we seem to be getting over the in-fighting and actual mistrusting each other part, even if they continue to be grumpy. In an otherwise-strong episode, that was actually my favorite thing.
posted by immlass at 8:28 AM on December 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Has anyone been keeping track of Chopper's body count?

He's totally Sith, just with a grudge against the Empire.
posted by telophase at 11:51 AM on December 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

In addition to the techs, who not all of them safely fail back onto a platform after gravity came back on, he can pretty much claim most of the crews of the three Imperial ships at the end. That droid is knee high in a pool of blood.
posted by Atreides at 12:20 PM on December 1, 2015 [3 favorites]