REBELS REWATCH: Season 1, Episode 4: Fighter Flight

Ezra’s constant badgering of Zeb about having saved his life (completely by accident) provokes Zeb to want to kill Ezra. This seems like a completely reasonable reaction to Ezra. Unfortunately, Zeb does not have the patience to wait until Ezra goes to bed and simply kill him in his sleep. I mean, they share a room. It’s almost as if that’s what someone was hoping would happen.



When Hera gets tired of their antics nearly demolishing the inside of the Ghost she sends them on a shopping trip, I guess as some sort of team building exercise. She specifically asks them to get a meiloorun fruit even though she knows they don’t grow on Lothal. So, they go into town, and get the supplies. Ezra runs into an old family friend, Morad Sumar who is being hounded by the Empire to sell his land. Ezra and Zeb run afoul of the Empire because of course they do. One thing leads to another and Zeb ends up stealing a TIE fighter.



Apparently this TIE belongs to Baron Valen Rudor who will appear in a couple of later episodes. While joyriding in the TIE they notice a disturbance at the Sumar homestead and arrive to see the family being taken into custody and the property now in the hands of the Empire. What follows is a “battle” between Ezra and a bunch of stormtroopers atop the Imperial Troop Transports. It’s just awful. There was some poor marksmanship exhibited in the previous episode, and of course it will be a running theme in this series; but this...a stormtrooper unable to hit a target that’s maybe within kicking reach. Ezra’s hi-jinks. There’s one part where he is holding up a meiloorun (yeah they ended up finding some, you can stop holding your breath) right in front of his chest when a trooper fires at near point blank range. The fruit, which I will again point out is right in front of Ezra’s chest, is hit and explodes; it also seems to absorb the full power of the blast because Ezra is not injured. Who needs beskar? Maybe that’s why Hera wanted them to get the fruit; it can be used as shielding.



At any rate, Ezra gives the prisoners a chance to escape (although presumably they cannot return to their homes) and he and Zeb fly the TIE back to the Ghost and destroy it. Oh, in the meantime, Sabine had painted a mural on their wall. This is an almost completely Ezra-centric episode; and while there are some Ezra episodes that aren’t that bad, this is not one of them.



Rewatch? Not recommended. The appearance of the Imperial Troop Transport is by far the best thing about this episode. Morad Sumar will return in a Thrawn episode. (Editor's Note: So it does sound like the episode lived up to its title because puns are terrible.)

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