The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ on November 12, 2019 and while I was a little late to the party on this one, I’m glad I got a chance to watch it. This show truly embodies what Star Wars is. What I mean by that is the energy and the feeling of the sets and characters help immerse you as a viewer into the world of Star Wars. It certainly has it's problems and faults, but to me just sitting back and watching this show made me constantly nostalgic. I think that the future of Star Wars will be streaming and TV for shows like this because it gives more time for the plot to play out. Sometimes through the sequel trilogy and spinoff movies, there were parts and scenes that felt very rushed and misplaced. The western/outlaw feel of this has a serious yet fun tone that many people will like. The combination of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni makes me feel really confident for the future of this show because they know Star Wars and it seems like they have a plan. That was one of my main problems for the sequel trilogy, it seemed like Kathleen Kennedy and her team had no overall outline for where they wanted the story to go. That seems different for what Favreau and Filoni want to do.
The pacing of the season is pretty good. I think that eight episodes is a reasonable number but a problem I had was that there were three filler episodes in the middle of the season. Episodes four, five, and six are all fillers. Granted I enjoy, four and six, due to Cara Dune being introduced in four and a cool heist job in six. Regardless, five is by far the worst episode of the season and interestingly enough it was directed by Dave Filoni. I said earlier how I trust Filoni with the plan of the overall show, but as a director for this episode at least he did a pretty poor job. Now, that being said, Filoni has directed some pretty incredible episodes of Clone Wars, Rebels, and also most people don’t know that he did some episodes of Avatar The Last Airbender as well. My thought is that he may be having a difficult transition to live-action from animated, but I think once he finds his footing Filoni will find success.
Speaking of directing, The Mandalorian boasts some talented people behind the camera. Not only has Filoni directed episodes, but Bryce Dallas Howard (episode four), Deborah Chow (episodes three and seven), Rick Famuyiwa (episodes two and six) and Taika Waititi (episode eight) are also featured directors in the show. While the episodes have each director’s mark on it, the show has continuity and that’s an important facet that was needed. Episodes seven and eight were my favorite of the season, mostly due to the fact that they combine action and tension in the best way possible.
The acting is another good part of the show. Standouts include Pedro Pascal (Mandalorian), Gina Carano (Cara Dune), Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), and Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon). Also, Emily Swallow as the Armorer and Taika Waititi as IG-11 were two of my favorite characters and I think had some of the best scenes in the show. Now, let’s talk about the child, or as most people know him as Baby Yoda. He’s great. The use of puppeteering creates a life-like cuteness that makes him endearing. He’s also very funny and has some great interactions with the main characters. There’s a reason why he’s been a meme all over the internet for months. Filoni and Favreau talked about how they didn’t know how popular Baby Yoda would be, but I think they knew they had something special from the moment they started production. Also, it’s not like the character is used just for cuteness and comedic moments, the child is important to the overall story and the bond between him and the Mandalorian is priceless.
The music of the show, composed by Ludwig Göransson who was also known for his scores of Black Panther and Creed, is absolutely brilliant. It heightens the western vibe as it brings the show to a new level. I constantly find myself humming the Mandalorian’s theme music because it’s just that good.
Even if you’re not a Star Wars fan I’d recommend watching this. Not only is it a good show for Star Wars fans, it’s just a good show in general. The pacing is a little slow but there are great character arcs and a few awesome episodes that fans of TV will love. This was a fun watch and I can’t wait to see where they go for Season 2.
Score: 4 out of 5