Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 1&2 Review - Ewan McGregor’s return as the Jedi Master is off to a promising start

The first two episodes of the highly anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi series are finally out both episodes are directed by Deborah Chow and with Ewan McGregor ’s return as the iconic Jedi Master .

The show is set ten years after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and follows Obi-Wan in exile on the desert planet of Tatooine where we look after young Luke Skywalker in secret.

While hiding from the Empire's new agents called The Inquisitors, former Jedi who have turned to the Dark Side of the Force.

The first episode starts off with a recap of the events of the prequel trilogy and how Obi-Wan entered Exile, we then cut to Tatooine where the Inquisitors the Fifth Brother, and the Third Sister Reva led by The Grand Inquisitor played by Rupert Friend is hunting a Jedi.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan has cut himself off from the Force and spends his days in hiding and watching over Luke from a distance, Ewan McGregor is excellent as a more broken down and doubtful version of Obi-Wan

the episode also has the same level of production value that we have come to expect from a Star Wars series, the performances are solid, especially that of the Third Sister Reva played by Moses Ingram who has her own ambitious and hidden agenda.

The performances by the other Inquisitors played by Rupert Friend and Sung Kang don't really stand out and come off as one-note characters, even though they are more fleshed out in other Star Wars source materials. and there are a few pacing issues like the show is still trying to get its bearing.

Another aspect that was a welcome addition was the young Leia played by Vivien Lyra Blair, and the episode does set up her future story arc well.

In the second episode, we see Obi-wan finally leaving Tatooine in search of Leia who has been kidnapped under Reva's orders in order to lure out Obi-Wan from hiding, which helped elevate Reva to a better villain, someone who is cunning and could even outsmart a Jedi Master.

This episode also features a lot more humor some of it provided by Kumail Nanjiani as Haja Elstree and the interactions between the Leia and Obi-wan, we see a glimmer of the old Obi-wan Kenobi surface the more time he spends with her.

Also, Leia has one of the funniest lines in the show so far, this episode also has a lot more action some of it is ok and others look very amateur as the wire works are clearly visible. 

Hopefully, as the show continues they will be able to pull off the bigger action set pieces they have teased before the show came out, the episode ends on interesting note and sets up the next one well.

so this episode overall feels better paced and better handled than the first one.

Overall the first two episodes despite their issues offer a lot of promise and set up the show well, fans will have to wait till June first to find out what further adventures await Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young princess Leia.

You can watch the first two episodes on Disney+hotstar.