Star Wars: Resistance season 1, episode 1 recap: ‘The Recruit’

The newest show in a galaxy far, far away is Star Wars: Resistance and it follows a brand new pilot on a mission to help the Resistance.

The first episode of the animated Disney show, Star Wars: Resistance, introduces us to protagonist Kazuda Xiono (Christopher Sean), a cocky pilot who begins the story by becoming stranded in space on a mission to deliver intel to the Resistance base.

The very first shot of Star Wars: Resistance is a throwback to Star Wars: A New Hope with a planet being obscured by a ship. Or rather, a vivid blue Astromech droid.

Kaz and his team are pursued by TIE Interceptors, but before they can successfully dispatch all of them, Kaz orders his team to return to base while he decides to take down the final villain. Unfortunately, his engine is shot; he’s going down. The Red TIE is bearing down on him.

Kaz keeps asking his Astromech, C4, to help him out of this mess but there’s no hope. C4’s only piece of good news is that the team has made it back safely. But, with the ship’s power down and the TIE still gunning for them, matters look bleak for Kaz and C4. ‘You’re too young to die?’ Kaz shrieks at C4. ‘I’m too young to die! And I can’t be put back together.’ I already love this character.

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But, never fear, Poe Dameron is here! Voiced by Oscar Isaac himself, Poe shoots down the Interceptor’s plasma blasts just before they reach Kaz’s doomed ship and then leads the TIE away. But, even he isn’t able to dodge the Red TIE.

Thankfully, Kaz has a surprise up his sleeve. He tells Poe to head straight towards him. The Red TIE continues its pursuit – it is now directly in Kaz’s sights. He shoots as Poe pulls up! And he misses? No, the TIE is hit, but the pilot is too good. Poe goes after him, but the TIE jumps into hyperspace anyway. ‘We’ll get him next time,’ Poe promises.

A Corellian Corvette appears out of nowhere. Kaz is mesmerized. Once aboard, Kaz looks at everything, fascinated by the ship. Poe explains that this ship has been through everything from the battle of Scarif (as seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) to Jakku (from Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

Kaz’s reverie is interrupted by Poe, who encourages the young pilot to join the Resistance. Kaz was able to take a shot at the TIE – no one’s done that, barring Poe. Unfortunately, Kaz is worried that is his father wouldn’t approve – he’s a Senator and has a ‘whole plan’ for Kaz.

Before the two of them can continue the conversation, Poe is informed over comms that General Leia Organa wishes to speak with him. Kaz immediately starts fangirling over Leia being on the ship and requests Poe to tell her ‘she’s the bravest person in the whole galaxy.’ And to say hello to her from him. Kaz immediately cringes but luckily, Poe doesn’t hear that part.

Left to his own devices, Kaz wanders the corridors trying to eavesdrop on conversations in the hope of catching a glimpse of the General – just like Poe, she appears to be his idol. Just as he locates the door behind which he can hear her voice, the door opens and he falls right in – to the meeting between Poe and a holographic Leia. Poe kicks him out, demanding ‘Were you spying on me?’ Kaz vehemently denies this.

Poe explains that the intel that Kaz has brought them was a message from a secret source explaining that the First Order is planning a new attack on the Resistance. This little victory bolsters Kaz’s resolve to join the Resistance. Poe is quickly convinced by Kaz and already has a mission planned for him. Kaz is excited, but he has to contact someone first.

Alone, Kaz contacts his father – since the signal is scrambled, neither can see the other. As Kaz explains where he is, his father is in shock, calling the Resistance ‘those extremists’. When Kaz attempts to ask for something, his farther barks, ‘As usual you always need help – my help’, his father yells. A downtrodden Kaz finally says he wants nothing and prematurely ends the transmission. ‘I think I need to do this on my own,’ he mutters to himself before asking Poe about his mission.

Poe tells Kaz that if the First Order’s base is far out in space, they will need to refuel and find supplies from other places. So, is that their mission? To find out if the First Order has a hidden base for supplies from Castilon? Yes, but first, Kaz’s job is to blend in and be a spy. This job doesn’t sound like it fits Kaz’s skillset and he briefly freaks out about the mission not being about his flying skills.

Poe and Kaz shuttle down to the Colossus – a kind of super fuelling platform on Castilon. It’s the hangout for star pilots, explains Poe. The best pilots in the galaxy are here, racing, gambling, basically waiting to get into trouble.

After they land, Kaz witnesses someone being thrown off the edge of the platform. Around them, aliens of every species are brawling and angry. Poe asks Kaz to wait while he goes looking for his contact. If anyone asks, Kaz is supposed ‘to be a wannabe pilot looking for a job as a mechanic’.

As always, the best-laid plans immediately go awry. Alien Neeku (Josh Brener) sneaks up behind Kaz and only overhears the part of Kaz’s conversation with Poe where he mentions being the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy. He doesn’t hear that that was Kaz’s dream.

Neeku is like a Drax stand-in – he takes everything literally. He excitedly starts telling everyone on the platform about Kaz’s piloting skills, and a montage of Chinese whispers ensues leading to Kaz now being touted by the residents as ‘the greatest pilot in the galaxy’.

Poe and Kaz head to Aunt Z’s, the hotspot where Poe is planning to meet Jarek Yeager (Scott Lawrence). It appears Jarek and Poe do not have the greatest relationship, but Poe goes to speak to him anyway. In the meantime, Kaz accidentally sits on a droid. To avoid a repeat, he tries to play darts.

A tiny alien challenges him for 500 credits. The show subverts expectations by making Kaz incredibly good at darts. The alien asks him to triple the bet, but as Kaz is out of darts, the alien offers him his own trick dart. Unbeknownst to Kaz, the alien has a trick dart, which he activates before giving it to Kaz.

This dart misses the board entirely, homing in on the back a huge alien. ‘Technically, it’s a bullseye’, Kaz says, hoping to salvage the situation. This convinces neither alien.

The big alien comes after Kaz, as does the little alien. Kaz suggests contacting his parents to pay off the 1500 credits, but his efforts are in vain. A huge brawl breaks out as goblets and bottles strike innocent bystanders in Aunt Z’s cantina. She is enjoying the show though, while Kaz gets pummelled right through a makeshift shield. Even poor BB-8 gets kicked around.

Yeager and Poe are outside but Yeager is adamant he doesn’t want to get involved with a spy mission. ‘The Empire’s long gone, Poe.’ But Poe is not fighting for the past, he is fighting for the future that is under attack from the First Order – a fledging threat to the whole galaxy. The events of Star Wars: Resistance take place before The Force Awakens, hence the First Order is a relatively new threat.

Just as Poe says Kaz won’t be any trouble, the small alien smashes into the Cantina window. Poe and Yeager see the mess inside and Yeager shoots into the roof to stop the fighting. He berates Aunt Z for letting the brawl continue, but she was placing bets on how soon the kid’s head would get squished. Kaz explains that this entire mess started because of Neeku. Kaz never claimed to be the greatest pilot in the galaxy; Neeku misunderstood.

Neeku is distraught by Kaz’s revelation. He walks away from Kaz to ‘ponder the weight of your deception’. Yeager is not pleased. Kaz follows Neeku out and tries to make up to him. He explains that perhaps he is the best pilot over here – but he doesn’t know because he hasn’t raced anyone yet.

Neeku is excited that Kaz has the perfect chance to prove it, then he won’t be lying. Neeku runs back into the bar and declares that Kaz wants to be a challenger in tomorrow’s race (how convenient). Poor Poe – he looks shocked. Yeager looks merely bemused. BB-8 is shaking their head furiously.

Kaz begins yelling at Neeku for putting him in the race – he didn’t want to be part of it. However, Neeku is adamant that this is his chance to prove himself as the best pilot around this platform. Kaz explains that it’s just a dream, something he’s always wanted. ‘This is your chance to make that dream come true.’ Neeku says he believes in Kaz and that Kaz will change their lives for the better.

Kaz remains unconvinced, he can’t even keep his own life on track, how can he help Neeku?

In yet another throwback, this time to the pod race in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, to enter the race, Kaz first has to fix the Fireball, the ship he will be flying. Yeager introduces him to fiery mechanic Tam Ryvora (Suzie McGrath) who is very unconvinced by this new job.

However, she agrees to help. Kaz is optimistic about his ship but it is already falling apart. Yeager calls his Frankenstein’s monster of an astromech, Bucket for help. It is an aggressive droid and plows into Kaz, pushing him around. It’s also wearing a Rebellion/ Resistance helmet.

Yeager explains that Bucket is his co-pilot; he bought him when he was already 100 years old. ‘That tech was built to last.’ That may be the case, but Bucket has a terrible bedside manner – it just punched Kaz in the face!

Kaz has gone for a very long list of parts which he needs to procure for the Fireball – some of the aliens are very helpful. Others, he needs to make trades. This is a strange little tangent the episode goes on as Kaz and Neeku have no way to pay for the items.

After completing that insurmountable task, Kaz and Neeku haul their loot over to Yeager and Tam, only to be greeted by incredulous looks. Tam doesn’t think she can work with what Kaz has found. Kaz is disappointed that Yeager and Tam are unimpressed. He leaves in a huff.

Alone, Kaz starts talking to BB-8 about how his father always did everything for him. ‘He never asked me what I wanted… he never gave me a choice.’

Race Day! The ships are preparing for the race. Kaz is psyching himself up for the start. Yeager explains the rules – the winner has to fly through the floating metal rings – whoever completes this the fastest, wins.

The entire race is set up like the pod race, but the addition of the rings makes it look like the final race in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire PSP game!

The race begins and all the ships are go, except for Kaz whose ship goes… straight down. Yeager yells at him to hit the jets. He does it and gets through the first ring.

Torra Doza (Myrna Velasco), daughter of the commander of the base, is one of the ace pilots on the platform. She is great at flying and keeps getting ahead of Kaz. Not to be outdone, Kaz says, ‘she’s good, but I’m better’.

This race is exactly like the pod race. The Fireball starts malfunctioning, but Kaz keeps pushing harder. Yeager warns him over comms that if he pushes any harder, the ship will live up to its name. But, Kaz is intent on getting to the final ring despite blowing his engine. He does go through the ring and then…. white smoke.

Through a fuzzy POV shot, we see Team Fireball looking down at Kaz. He survived, with barely a scratch on him. But, even though he didn’t win, he lost well. Even Doza is there and she is very glad that Kaz didn’t explode. Seems like Kaz may not be the greatest pilot in the galaxy, but he’s definitely a respected one.

Later, Kaz thanks Yeager. He isn’t sure he’s cut out for this tough place, but Yeager will give him a place to stay because Poe believes in Kaz. However, when it comes to his mission as a spy, Yaeger wants nothing to do with it. If the First Order is here, they’ll all need to make terrible choices in the future.

Elsewhere, the Red TIE has returned and is transmitting clearance codes to Starkiller Base. He asks to inform Captain Phasma that he has returned.