#1. The Point Where Revolution Started Being Eerily Similar to Star WarsYeah, yeah, I know, lots of things can seem similar to Star Wars because many story archetypes share the common elements of the Hero's Journey as described by Joseph Campbell, and wearing black is a common visual cue for villains, etc., and of course you expect vaguely similar plot arcs and character archetypes, but the sheer number of details seems a bit much. Take a look and decide for yourself:
After the brutal murder of their guardian(s), a whiny young protagonist (Charlie/Luke) who has always wanted to leave home sets off with an older British person of the same sex (Maggie/Obi-Wan) and a comic relief character who has been given a vital piece of intelligence in secret and charged to take it to someone (the droids/the nerd).
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The purpose of their journey is to rescue an opposite-sex sibling who was captured in an ominous scene where a terrifying bad guy who is/wears/sounds black arrived with his soldiers, killed a bunch of people, unsuccessfully tried to interrogate someone and finally kidnapped said sibling.
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Near the beginning of the journey, the hero is attacked by random ruffians, and the older British companion surprises us by dealing the ruffians a brutal fate (arm cut off, poisoned).
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In order to continue on their journey, they find a scoundrel in a bar who likes to call people "kid" and persuade him to help. He is reluctant to help, and characters often wonder out loud if the scoundrel cares about anyone but himself. After getting into a fight in the bar, the scoundrel joins the group on their journey.
Later, they join up with a rebellion that is fighting the military power that employs the black/black-clad/black-sounding villain introduced earlier, who, despite his badassery and prominence in the story, is not the empire's leader, but serves an even more evil man above him. Also we find that the hero's same-sex parent, thought to have died a long time ago, is actually alive and with the enemy.
A bounty hunter comes after the scoundrel and encounters him twice, capturing him at some point.
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After being freed, the scoundrel kills the bounty hunter.
Even though guns exist in this world, a lot of the fighting is done with bows and swords. In one dramatic scene, the older British companion is fatally stabbed while their group watches helplessly from a short distance away.
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If you're still thinking that it's just coincidence, there's this interview with show creator Eric Kripke, where he said that he was inspired by Star Wars, albeit in a vague, hero journey way. But then there's also this, at the beginning of the pilot episode:
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Kids in 2012 (when Charlie was a child) don't buy a lot of Return of the Jedi lunchboxes (unless they're big eBay shoppers), so that was probably shoehorned in for a reason.
I'm just saying, the story is still ongoing, but don't be surprised if Captain Neville throws Monroe down a shaft at some point.