As we near the release of the third episode of Ahsoka, it’s worth noting just how much weight this show looks to be pulling in Dave Filoni’s personal slice of the Star Wars mythos; indeed, the trailers alone look to bring an unprecedented scope to the franchise’s episodic endeavors, and regardless of what you may have thought of the first two episodes, Ahsoka is making quite the case for being worthy of attention.
Of course, being worthy of attention was never going to guarantee it; per Deadline, the premiere viewership numbers for the first episode of Ahsoka clocked in at 1.2 million households, a feat it shares with fellow Star Wars series Andor, whose first episode boasted the same numbers when it premiered back in Sept. 2022. However, it’s a far cry from the 2.4 million households that Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to pull when its first episode dropped back in May of last year. It’s also a couple of eyeballs shy of season three of The Mandalorian, which racked up 1.7 million households when its first episode graced Disney Plus queues on March 1 this year.
These numbers don’t paint anything resembling a complete picture, however; despite sharing last place in viewership among these shows, Andor is far and away the most respected from a critical perspective, with many agreeing that Tony Gilroy’s political thriller elevated the Star Wars franchise to never-before-seen heights, further evidenced by its Outstanding Drama Series nomination for the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, where it received a further two nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Leading man Diego Luna also nabbed a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Actor – Drama Series for his performance as the eponymous Cassian Andor.
And while Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian certainly aren’t without their rollicking merits, they don’t even begin to hold a candle to Andor in the storytelling department. Considering how sparse the discourse has been on those shows compared to Andor, it’s clear that those mechanical fundamentals make audiences your show.
It’s a bit early to judge where Ahsoka stands in all of this, but we will say this: the questionable approach to its already lackluster dialogue isn’t all that inspiring at the moment. Nevertheless, we hope later episodes cement it as one of the stronger entries in Star Wars‘ Disney Plus library.
Ahsoka is currently streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes released every Tuesday until the series finale on Oct. 3.
Published: Aug 28, 2023 09:34 pm