This is all pushing me to rewatch the ending of the film again because while this was a *great* moment full of potential, my memory is that this is basically it in the story—but "Ren's uncertain control" isn't, to my memory, a key focus of the end of the film. But I could be misremembering.

Well, since I neither said it wasn't a direction nor argued these were dead ends...I'm not really sure how to respond, honestly.

We don't disagree that these directions exist. But "who knows where a smart director" could take this isn't, I'd argue, the same as narrative urgency. e.g Where does a strong idea that the FO is "starting to fracture" exist in the text. Or, how is Hux presented as a threat to Ren in the end of TLJ?

I think you're right that this has become circular, and we clearly disagree on this point. Fair enough.

My critique is about narrative—and, really, only the lack of urgency. All of this is subjective to a degree, including our criticisms of RoS. But I'm not making aesthetic arguments. This is what I teach in Narrative 101. It's fine if people dig it, but there are reasons not to do 2nd Acts this way.

That's just a weird assertion since I began by noting and throughout affirming the exact opposite. I do like TLJ, a lot, and I really think RoS was badly conceived and executed. We're just talking about whether it's a good Act 2. Insofar as writers think in these terms, TLJ subverts those goals.

We're talking about the *end* of Empire, not its plot. In the end, a rag-tag rebellion flying off into the distance, trying to reform. That's poetic, maudlin, a semi-hopeful end. But the urgency is all about Luke (is he my father); Han (captured); Lando and Chewie (hunting for Han). Classic 2nd Act.

Embarrassed but powerful Kylo is a thing, but what is the urgency, threat, or necessity? Again, it's a possibility for where the story might go, but that's not what narrative urgency means or what 2nd acts are built on.

Maybe if Johnson had leaned into this and created some kind of more immediate threat or tension, this would work. I could imagine seeing the workings of a coup. That would have been really interesting and *would* have placed that destabilization at the forefront. The movie didn't do any of that.

We argued for three years after Empire about whether Vader was really Luke's father and how and whether they'd rescue Han Solo. The closest TLJ came—and we did talk about this—was whether Kylo was lying to her or not. But that revelation, too, was all about defusing mystery, not raising it.