As we bid adieu to 2023, here’s a look back at highlights of the year here on Ahch-To Baby.
THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 3
I wrote responses to each episode of the third, ambitious season of The Mandalorian. This season widened the lens for the series, with tonal shifts from the nutty to the scary, finishing with an old-fashioned battle. It was mystical and cinematic and corny and sentimental, and left our heroes (at least for now) with a happy ending, finally home.
Chapter 18 “The Mines of Mandalore”
AHSOKA
While Ahsoka’s live-action debut was actually in 2020, in 20203, Ahsoka finally took center stage in live action. I thought the series almost said more about the kind of storyteller Dave Filoni is than about Ahsoka Tano as a character, but for Rebel’s fans, this series had everything they wanted and more, real feast for the faithful. Plus it opened up new pathways for Star Wars storytelling, and showed us the mighty Thrawn in all his creepy glory.
Parts 1 and 2 “Master & Apprentice” “Toil & Trouble”
Part 7 “Dreams and Madness” (and additional thoughts)
Part 8 “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord”
STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE
This was the year of the writer’s strike and the SAG strike. Making movies and video games and television shows, it’s a job. It used to be a living. Now, it’s a killing for a few and a grind for the many. Here’s to fixing what’s broken in the system and to the Resistance. We can all wait a few more months for a couple of TV shows. We used to wait years, after all. I’m glad there’s been forward movement on getting writers compensated for the joy they bring (and criticism they endure, too); and hopefully the SAG-AFTRA agreement will prove positive too.
THE STUDIO THAT CRIED LOTH-WOLF
Lucasfilm announced three movies that all sound fantastic: James Mangold’s ancient history of the Force, Dave Filoni’s culmination of his own private shared universe, and the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey.
Those announcements stir the heart and spark the imagination. Then again, so did the announcements of Rian Johnson’s own Star Wars trilogy and Patty Jenkin’s Rogue Squadron. It’s a strange world we live in, announcement-wise. Marvel announces its movies years in advance, which is very complicated sometimes, and Lucasfilm, clearly, feels pressure to announce new projects at certain times (D23, Celebration) because it’s what fans and investors expect.
Then, the real world of schedules, creative differences, budgets, and actual scripts inevitably change the plans. Things don’t work out, projects disappear or get back-burnered. Some arrive! Some don’t. So now, it’s harder to feel like you’ve just heard an announcement of a movie that you will see. It feels more like we’ve been told a movie is in the works, and maybe, if the stars align, it’ll get past development and start shooting. It’s harder to personally invest in what looks like a Major Announcement but is really a Maybe Announcement.
I personally don’t mind waiting to see new things. I’d rather they’re gotten right than delivered quickly. But the pressure to keep fans cheering at what’s to come is real, too. So, fingers crossed we get all that’s promised, and the best version of good ideas, in good time.
INDIANA JONES SAYS FAREWELL
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the finale of the Indiana Jones series, was released this year. In the movie, Jones deals with feeling like a dinosaur in the era of the space program, after his character first appeared in 1936. We see how much world, and Dr. Jones himself, has transformed in the 33 years between stories.
The time between the first movie and last movie, though, is even longer: 42 years. It’s a film series referencing serials from fifty years prior when it was released, and now it’s referencing the 1960s in 2023. If the final movie was about a man lost in time, then it’s little wonder that modern audiences didn’t show up the way they did decades ago. It’s a franchise from another era, about another era, written about the doubts of the aging. (How we consume media has changed too. I got so many messages asking me when Indy 5 was going to be on Disney Plus, it was quite telling.)
But for me, I loved Dial of Destiny and saw it many times on the big screen. I love a big screen adventure, love the feeling of the movies I grew up with, and felt it was a beautifully thoughtful send-off for Henry Jones, Jr.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
YOUR FOCUS DETERMINES YOUR REALITY
This year I got to dig into other aspects of Star Wars, with pieces that ranged from the silly to the serious. Here’s a few newsletters that were popular with readership this year.
PEACE: Star Wars is an anti-war story.
THE PLAN: How Plans Change.
SIZE MATTERS NOT: About obsessing about episode length.
WHY THEY FLY NOW: Getting granular about a line from The Rise of Skywalker.
STAR WARS CHARACTERS IN THE SACK, RANKED: You’re welcome.
ET AL.
This year also saw the debuts Young Jedi Adventures, The Bad Batch Season 2, which ended in a really powerful place, the incredible Visions Season 2. There was a lot of High Republic, which I completely failed to keep up with, and a big Star Wars comic book crossover about a sentient droid consciousness-thingy (that I will eventually read in trade paperbacks, probably)! Oh, and a stellar video game!
I know I’m a broken record in this regard, but it’s incredible how much Star Wars there is to write about and think about. Plus, we’ll always have the incredible stories that have already been told to reconsider, and get cozy with.
And that’s a wrap on the year! Thanks for reading Ahch-To Baby. I know there are a lot of places to go to get your fix about popular culture, and often in a more bite-sized or easy-to-digest formats. I appreciate that you spent a little time with me in 2023.
Happy New Year, everyone! May the Force be with you in 2024!