Eric Geller

Eric Geller @ericgeller

I can't believe this show just keeps getting better and better and better. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

* Shoutout to Kleya. When Jung makes contact, she's afraid it's a trap. She always assumes the worst, which is exactly what Luthen needs from a close aide. He's willing to take big tasks for the cause, and if Kleya isn't there to warn him, he might get himself into trouble. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

* The brief ISB scene with Jung, Partagaz, and Dedra contains an interesting moment: As soon as Partagaz agrees to Jung's plan, Dedra hurriedly leaves with her assistant. She clearly wasn’t expecting this development, but why does it bother her? Does she think his plan's foolish? — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

A few miscellaneous thoughts to close us out. * Maarva's continuing decline is so sad. In a brief Ferrix scene, we learn she isn’t taking her medicine b/c it makes her less hungry. She’s rebelling against any effort to control her. Will Cassian find out & return to save her? — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

It isn't merely the best writing in Star Wars but some of the best writing anywhere. We're just lucky enough to have it here in Star Wars. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

It isn't merely the best writing in Star Wars but some of the best writing anywhere. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

"I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see." I get chills just reading his speech. Beau Willimon deserves immense credit for the whole ep, but especially for making cold, steely Luthen so sympathetic in this scene. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Luthen makes the necessary moral compromises that others won’t and accepts that he’ll never be loved for it or reap the rewards of it. He understands both the inevitability of his ignominy and the way in which his actions have transformed his soul. It's a haunting self-portrait. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Luthen’s speech about what he sacrifices is the best writing that's ever appeared in Star Wars. Stellan Skarsgård delivers it with unparalleled mastery. Luthen has given up so much to lay the groundwork for a victory he’ll never see, benefiting people he’ll never meet. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

This scene is also great b/c we rarely dwell on the agonizing struggles of low-level informants, which are omnipresent in real rebellions. Luthen forcing Jung to stay in the ISB highlights rebellion's collateral damage. Mon & Luthen chose long-term double lives; Jung's trapped. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Luthen’s willingness to sacrifice a rebel cell to protect Jung's cover chillingly underscores his devotion to the cause. He won't let sentiment — for innocents or allies — get in the way of the endgame. Turns out he's already sacrificed his own people to advance Jung's career. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Now for the Luthen/Jung scene that everyone's talking about. First, Jung being a double agent for Luthen is just a great twist. The fact that Luthen was able to plant someone in the ISB's ranks and put them on such a rarified trajectory speaks volumes about his capabilities. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

When Davo delivers his demand that Mon introduce Leida to his son, there's a viciousness to the casual way he says it and his profession of innocent intentions. You can tell so much about him based on the the joy he clearly takes in putting pure, noble Mon in this position. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Davo offers a high-minded privacy rationale for the pride that he takes in hiding people’s money, but his speech is really about gloating. He knows that Mon needs him despite hating him, and he seizes the opportunity to needle her about this. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

It's fitting that Davo is proud of being rich enough that he doesn’t have to answer to or gratify anyone. His freedom contrasts sadly with Mon's constraints. She has to appeal to so many different people (family, rebels, senators, constituents) by being what all of them need. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Davo Sculdun is so well written. In just a few lines, you get that, despite his wealth, he craves a form of power he's been denied: respect. Chandrila has labeled him an unsavory character and tried to isolate him from respectable society, and that disrepute burns at him. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

It's striking to watch Mon lose her composure. It starts when she denies considering Davo’s offer, and once she's alone, the dam really breaks. She has to trap Leida in the same system that trapped her, which she must've sworn never to do. You can see the realization hit her. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

The best line here is Davo saying, “Neither of us have lived a life that encourages nonconformity.” Mon, of course, is highly nonconformist, but she can't admit that. Her public persona validates Davo’s argument, and she can’t reveal that she's anything other than that persona. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

I love the layers of Mon and Davo's subsequent conversation. He says one’s position sometimes forces one’s hand, and this is more true than he realizes. So much of Mon’s life is out of her control — even as she exploits her privilege for the benefit of the Rebellion. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

When Davo makes it clear he expects Mon to marry Leida to his son, you see her blood go cold. You truly feel the horror of the moment. Despite Leida's scorn, Mon still loves her — and on principle, she hates the idea of perpetuating the ritual that left her trapped and isolated. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

When the conversation turns to what Mon wants from Davo, she looks down, almost embarrassed. Davo makes her personally admit that she needs his help. Mon's not used to relying on someone so different for so much. The closest comparison is Luthen, and she clearly hates that too. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Compared to Mon's warmth with Tay and her fervor with Luthen, her attitude with Davo Sculdun is bracingly cold. She hates him and hates that she has to even talk to him, let alone ask him for help. There’s an exquisite precision to how she speaks and holds herself. It's great. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Speaking of being trapped, let’s talk about Mon Mothma, who goes through almost as much of an emotional rollercoaster in one scene in this episode as Cassian and Kino do in many more. It must be said again how amazing Genevieve O'Reilly is. Mon's humanity is astounding. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

The final shot of the jailbreak sequence is perfect: tiny white dots spreading out across the lake from the hulking mass of the prison. The prisoners are miniscule compared to the system that trapped them, but you *can* beat a seemingly overwhelming force if you work together. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

I enjoyed watching Cassian order the control room guards to get “on program!”, in a nice illustration of the prison break’s reversed power dynamic. The prisoners can now make the guards submit to them. But I was surprised that Cassian didn't just shoot the guards! — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

I love the “one way out!” chant. Imperial brutality and oppression left the prisoners no other way to get the dignity and purpose that makes life worth living. They had to seize it when and how they could. By restricting freedom, fascism breaks down barriers to radical action. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

The initial escape from 5-2-D — with the prisoners, fittingly, turning work tools against their captors — is brutal. Yes, most of them escape, but many are cut down with no chance. It's so chaotic and messy. It really drives home the difficulty and risk of what they’re doing. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

The cuts b/w the guards preparing to lower the new prisoner onto the floor & Cassian furiously slicing away at the water pipe are so gripping. It’s like when Cassian first arrived — the uneasiness, the franticness, and the time crunch make it incredibly tense. — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

Speaking of the prison break sequence, there were so many great moments, but I want to just call out a few… — PolitiTweet.org

Eric Geller @ericgeller

And to make it even more sad, Cassian is pushed off the edge of the platform and into the lake before he can say a proper goodbye or offer heartfelt words to Kino. We yearn for them to have a meaningful final moment together, but that's not always how life works. Oof. — PolitiTweet.org