Tower of Babble Tower of Babble

After a bit of a detour last week, spending an entire episode in flashback, we return to the main adventure. This week's episode, "Day", is largely a positive step forward for the series, bringing fun (if sparse) lightsaber action, improved character development, and an enhanced sense of place, as they spend less time in cramped sets and more time shooting on location. That all being said, it's the big finish that will leave the biggest impression. Unfortunately, the decision to cut things off right when the action was ramping up felt like a bit of a cheat. With a relatively short run time this week, and a story that really felt like it was hitting it's stride as we got closer to the end of the episode, the choice to not follow through on that momentum with a satisfying finish, instead using a cliffhanger, comes across as a means to brag about an extra episode in the season, as opposed to serving the story in the moment. Oh, there was also some very cool cameos this week. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack it all!

After starting off the series with a series of Jedi murders to set the tone, with episode 3 we flash back 16 years to Osha and Mae's secret origin. Which just happens to feature a coven of witches, Jedi space cops testing Padawans, and large force related questions about the twin's parentage. All under twin moons in eclipse. Though not perfect from an acting and pacing perspective, the intrigue offered by the force related mysticism, and what exactly happened that night that "Mae set a fire", helps keep up the shows momentum. It's hard to predict where we are going next, and that's a refreshing thing when we're talking about a prequel in a galaxy far, far away. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack it all... after a short negativity cleanse.

After a very short hiatus (RIP ‘The Bad Batch’, we already miss thee), Small Screen Star Wars is back to cover the latest Star Wars series on Disney+. After a heavy dose of animation, we return to live action. Our last taste being ‘Ahsoka’ late last year, which was met with mixed reviews. However, that’s about where the similarities with recent live action Star Wars end, as ‘The Acolyte’ takes us to an entirely new era. Back nearly 100 years BBY to the age of the High Republic, where Jedi are a dime a dozen, and the Sith have been presumed extinct for a millennia. This is all framing for a dramatic murder mystery as we’re introduced to a new intrepid bunch of Jedi playing detective as they try to figure out who is training force user assassins in secret. As is tradition it seems, the first two episodes were dropped as part of the premiere and Julian and Rachel are here to break it all down and recap every scene as they look ahead and try to piece together the mystery as it unfolds.

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade since we were thrust against the back of our collective theatre seats with the release of 'Mad Max: Fury Road', which is now regarded as one of the greatest action movies ever made. The return to the wasteland brought with it the introduction of a new character to accompany our titular Max, Charlize Theron's Furiosa stole the spotlight and now, 9 years later, has been rewarded with a prequel film that explores the "odyssey" of her life before the events of Fury Road. With such a formidable connection between these two films, it really only makes sense to discuss them as a whole. Julian and Jeremy unpack 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' in context with it's predecessor to look at the whole picture. A series of films so epic is scope and ambition that it is a disservice to not mention them both in the same breath. Note that spoilers for 'Furiosa' are gated at approximately the halfway mark of the episode (Timestamp 00:35:33). Welcome back to the unhinged mind of George Miller. We couldn't wait to talk about this one. Witness Me!

Last year on Star Wars Day (May the 4th), Lucasfilm Animation surprised us with 'Tales of the Jedi' a mini-series of shorts dedicated to showing some untold stories from before the fall of the Jedi. This seems to have become somewhat of a tradition, as this year, on the same day, we got 'Tales of the Empire'. A darker twist on the same concept. This time though, it was bit more focused. Two stories, told in three parts each, for a total of six shorts. The first story follows Morgan Elsbeth and her journey of revenge, which begins with her as a young girl on Dathomir to where we fist met her in 'The Mandalorian' season three. Unfortunately, despite another noticeable step forward in animation quality throughout, this first story-arch leaves a lot to be desired. While 'Tales of the Jedi' revealed secrets of Jedi's pasts, Morgan's doesn't really provide the audience with any new information. Instead, just expanding on a lot of which we already knew or could have inferred. The second half of 'Tales of the Empire' however does pack more of a punch. We follow Barriss Offee, a young Jedi Padawan we had not seen since she framed Ahsoka for the Temple bombing in 'The Clone Wars', as she's recruited to become an Imperial Inquisitor. These final three episodes are filled with fascinating glimpses into the Inquisitorius Program, insightful dialogue into the psyche of the fallen Jedi that make up their order, and some genuine twists that keep you guessing throughout. Listen as Julian and Rachel unpack each mini-episode, and discuss the package as a whole.

Surprise! The ToB Podcast is back from a Star Wars caused hiatus, and just in time to cover one of the biggest nerd culture phenomena so far in 2024. We're talking of course about the revival of one of the greatest animated shows of all time with 'X-Men '97'. With only one episode remaining until the grand finale of season 1, Julian and Jeremy discuss how impressive it is that despite the lofty expectations fans had for this show, it managed it exceed them by nearly every measure. A rare treat. The guys discuss some of the biggest moments from the show as well as the creative work behind it that makes it tick. Afterwards, things shift somewhat as the discussion turns to the first reveal of David Corenswet's Superman, which was met with middling responses. All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast! Plus, stay tuned after the end the show for some bonus content.