Star Words: Episode V, Part 4

Lots of efficiency in the next scene as well. We learn that Leia has been trying contact Han and he's refusing to answer (adding more fuel to the "acting like a four-year-old" model), but his attitude shifts immediately when Threepio tells him that no one has heard from Luke in hours. He's still dismissive and impatient about the droid's rambling speeches, but this time it's because a new urgency has entered his mind.

As the audience, we saw the creature attack Luke several scenes ago, and it's a relief to see someone finally respond. Of course some may explain away this part of the film as nothing more than an in-universe explanation for the scars that Mark Hamill acquired in his car accident, but it's actually a very significant sequence, both for character development and to move Luke's plotline forward. We'll look at Luke more in future entries; this moment is about Han. He doesn't waste a second once he realizes Luke is in danger. The speeders can't be used in the cold yet; even the tauntauns can't survive the night. He ignores all this. He's being his usual rash, reckless self, but not for the thrill of it or for bragging rights (though he does get in a little bragging later....) How does he respond to the officer's warning about the dropping temperature?

"That's right. And my friend's out in it."

His final line in this scene is catchier and perhaps more quintessentially Han (Then I'll see you in hell!) but the earlier quote is more significant for how much he's already grown from the first film. Can you imagine the old Han being willing to risk his own life for anyone else, let alone that whiny farmboy? Now it seems he can't imagine doing anything less.

(Also, note the Pointing Finger approach to acting, employed quite frequently by Harrison Ford. It shows up a lot in this episode. ;)

Next time, a very hard decision is made...