Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld

I have been a huge star wars fan since watching the prequel trilogy in the movies but i have not been that into star wars content in the past few years except for some shows mostly animated which i think almost always hit the mark when it comes to making star wars something that fits George's vision. Tales of the underworld hits all the marks that i think are needed for a quality star wars product and this makes me think every star wars show should be animated because quite frankly I think every animated show so far that has been created by filoni has been everything that the live action shows are not.

I didn't know this was coming out today and I'm usually late to be one of the first to review anything so that's a nice surprise.

The Tales of the .... has become some of my favorite new star wars media. The level of character development it's top notch. I loved what they did in Tales of the Empire and Tales of the Jedi. Dave Filoni makes great stuff.

This was just a good story about one of Asajj Ventress's adventures and Cad Bane. I like the new stories of characters from Clone Wars. It's great seeing old characters on screen again. Even the little clip of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan together was awesome.

Like every year (for the past couple of years), Star Wars offers us the premiere of an animated series on "May the 4th be with you" that expands a bit on the lore of characters we've met in the prequels, the Mandalorian, animated series, etc.

In addition to the excellent "Tales of the Jedi" and the average "Tales of the Empire," we now have this third version, "Tales of the Underworld." Far inferior to the first but considerably better than the second, it offers us two sets of three episodes, the first focusing on Asajj Ventress and the second on Cad Bane.

The result? A very interesting first half that leaves us wanting more, and a rather average sequel that fails to generate much interest.

I suppose that with the fans' responses, those in charge of Star Wars will gather data on which stories interest us most and which less.

Hopefully, this will result in more series like "Mandalorian" or "Andor" and less "Acolyte" or "Kenobi." In short, an entertaining batch of episodes to binge-watch in one afternoon.

Part of what is slowly turning into an annual tradition of a slew of short Clone Wars-era minisodes loosely grouped by theme. This third time is that particularly 20th Century American aspect of the Wars universe, "the vague seedy underbelly". The bounty hunters and lawbreakers, none of it ever more than euphemistically gritty, especially compared to the shockingly raw contemporaneous Andor Season 2.

Here the first set are the strongest; following an unlikely resurrection, Asajj Ventress is walking the path between light and dark in aide of a likeable young Jedi played by the phenomenally brilliant Lane Factor (Reservation Dog's evergreen Cheese). The Filoniverse is as by-the-numbers as Star Wars gets but this was a deceptive little arc that surprised me. I'd like to see more of these two. I want a Strata subplot in the Mando movie.

The Cad Bane part is less interesting, he's always been more Scrappy-Doo than Clint Eastwood for me as a character, forever showing up and adding little beyond cliché and mannered vocal delivery. His three-part tragic backstory doesn't flesh him out much and plays out like any well-worn "two street-rats separated by destiny doomed to never reconcile" story. Eff.

After the first Jedi series I keep hoping these continuity stocking fillers are far more consequential than they are, but that's not what the Clone Wars era Star Wars was built for. It's there to keep the wheels turning, the content churning out, and to go nowhere particularly interesting in no particular hurry.

Wasn't expecting much from Tales of the Underworld, but I was pleasantly surprised. For a short-form miniseries, it delivers solid storytelling, cool visuals, and a darker tone that fits the underworld vibe of Star Wars perfectly.

Episodes 4-6 stood out to me the most-there's a deeper look into a familiar character that longtime fans will enjoy. The overall plot is decent, though some twists are easy to predict if you're paying attention. Still, it works and doesn't feel lazy.

It starts fast, ends fast, and never overstays its welcome. Not a game-changer, but definitely worth watching-especially if you're into the criminal side of the galaxy.