Streaming TV wasn’t supposed to replace the prime-time television viewing experience, but Ahsoka is proving that it can compete. While most streaming releases arrive in the middle of the night, Ahsoka is experimenting with a prime-time window, putting its episodes out at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST.
In an equally important decision, Ahsoka is repeating another old-fashioned TV tradition: 40ish-minute episode lengths, which is how long a traditional hour-long episode is after you deduct commercials. This trend is now continuing into Episode 6.
Star Wars leaker @DiiamondFiire, who’s correctly predicted the runtime of every Ahsoka episode so far, claims Episode 6 is 46 minutes and 26 seconds, including the recap and some credits.
That means we should get 40 solid minutes of Ahsoka action in Episode 6, which is a typical length for the series. That’s a welcome development, considering Episode 5 was a lengthy behemoth that re-introduced Anakin Skywalker to guide our hero through flashbacks. Episode 6 could have been shortened to average things out — many Disney+ shows have wildly varying runtimes — but instead, it’s a return to business as usual.
After Episode 5, Ahsoka is reinvigorated for her mission to track down Baylan Skoll, Morgan Elsbeth, and her old padawan Sabine Wren. We don’t want her adventures to be bloated, but we don’t want Lucasfilm to rush through them, either. Simple consistency is often the best approach to storytelling, and it looks like we’ll be getting that the rest of the way through Ahsoka.
