“Signal From Sector Six” offered us a callback to The Force Awakens in several ways. First, after some time, Poe Dameron made an appearance and was temporarily reunited with BB-8. Secondly, the central location of the plot was a ship transporting vicious creatures that broke loose when pirates attempted to board the vessel. The ensuing chase through the derelict’s corridors was a clear reference to the scene with Han Solo and rathtars in The Force Awakens. The entire story might have been just a casual adventure if it wasn’t for Kaz picking up an unexpected survivor – Synara San, one of Kragan Gor’s pirates, whom we have seen before (with her helmet on) in the second episode, “Triple Dark”.
Classic Star Wars Atmosphere
Both smuggling and dangerous animals have been a theme in Star Wars for a long time. Despite its overall casual tone (or maybe because of it?), this episode felt more “Star Wars” to me than many of the others. X-wing starfighters (and starfighter maneuvers), humans interacting with astromech droids, the fact that majority of the episode took place aboard a spacecraft – all these elements have solidified the atmosphere and made it very “old school”, even (in the most positive sense).
Synara San’s appearance was also very well-orchestrated. It isn’t really a plot twist, because the audience are aware what is going on: it is more like a setup, a threat Kaz has now brought with him. He is keeping up with his tendency to mess up everything. However, let’s bear in mind that Kaz’s actions seem to also have the tendency to turn out unexpectedly well in the end. I am not saying that Synara is necessarily going to switch sides (at this point, it would be a wild guess), perhaps at the very least, her presence is going to indirectly cause some of the First Order’s plans to backfire (either because she will get exposed too soon or because the pirates will get too ambitious thanks to this new opportunity). It will be very interesting, in any case, to see her interactions with the common folk of the Colossus in the future. She will have to become more of a human being (or, Mirialan being) and not only a one-dimensional, evil pirate.
All in all, Resistance‘s plot just seems to be heading towards several clearly anticipated events. Some greater battle for the Colossus is the most obvious one. Will the Pirates retain their alliance with the First Order, or will they make a bid for independence – now that they have an insider? How are the interests of various individuals and groups going to intersect anyway (the pirates, the First Order, Captain Doza, the Colossus’s “common folk”, the Resistance, Yeager’s crew)? Will Kaz’s spy identity be revealed by anyone else besides Yeager – like for instance Tam, who seemed to be somewhat suspicious about their sudden little trip in this episode? What happens when the cards are revealed? And let’s not forget about Kaz’s initial mission – “find out who’s loyal to the good guys and who isn’t” – are we going to see one of the characters we know revealed as a traitor? If yes, Synara’s presence may very well serve as a catalyst for that.
