Season 1

Star Wars is my favourite thing ever. The announcement of this show came with a lot of promises and built up expectations on my part. It's so nice to be able to say that the show lived up to and surpassed all of them.

This first season of The Mandalorian feels mostly like an introduction, setting up the world and the characters and making use of a storytelling technique that falls somewhere in between episodic and serialised. It works. The main plot follows the rescue and protection of a small creature that appears to belong to Yoda's species, and this story flows through all the episodes even though it sometimes takes a backseat. Even when Mando is dealing with a side issue, we continue to learn more about Baby Yoda (for want of a better name) and the relationship between the two characters develops.

It's such a satisfying and easy thing to watch. Opting to use more puppetry over CGI for Baby Yoda was a smart move, and he/she is such a cute and adorable creation that it's impossible not to find yourself deeply caring about what happens to him/her. The episodes which deal with more self-contained stories are surprisingly welcome, giving us a slice-of-life in the Star Wars universe feel and allowing the show to deal introduce different genres and styles. While the show often presents a slightly more violent and darker angle than we're used to in Star Wars, it's also the funniest thing produced for the franchise yet (although the X-Wing novels from the 1990s are close in the running).

Visually the show is incredible. A new technology referred to as Stagecraft has been used extensively. It's essentially an evolved form of blue screen/green screen which allows the actors to actually see the environment they're in and reacts in real time to camera movements to allow the background to dynamically adjust. The results are impressive and lend the show an epic quality. Not to mention the fantastic set and costume design which fits in very nicely with the world set up in the original trilogy. If was to criticise then I would say some of the alien make-up fell flat (notably in the prison ship episode), but not to a distracting degree.

The music is also a highlight, diverting sharply from what we would consider standard Star Wars music but really working within the style of the show. It took a couple of episodes to get used to but now feels like an integral part.

Most of all, the show has a real emotional impact. Baby Yoda contributes to a big part of that, but Pedro Pascal in the lead role of the Mandalorian manages to do a lot while being behind a mask. His body language and voice performance are simply fantastic. Other characters leave an impression too and we feel like we get to know them even with a fairly small amount of screen time. They are all well written. The deaths of IG-11 and Kuill had an impact, the reveal of Cara Dune being from Alderaan gave us a sudden clear insight into her character. And the moment when Mando finally took off his helmet was brilliantly executed, with a genuine build up and then the reveal of a battered man who seemed slightly frightened that he may be about to die humanised him a lot.

The ending set up a very clear and exciting direction for season 2, plus we had the Dark Saber reveal, which ties into the Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows. It's clearly made by people who understand and love Star Wars. Finishing each episode of this left me in such a good mood and there's no other show this year that has brought me so much joy. Honestly, I can't wait for more.

I guess I‘m reaching the depths of Unpopular Opinion Territory here. But give me a chance to explain.

I appreciate a lot about the show. The directing is fantastic, the special effects and CGI are mostly great, amazing production design with great love for details, the cinematography often feels more like it’s meant to be on the big screen than the small one and yes, Baby Yoda is adorable and his and Din Djarin‘s relationship a highlight in the Star Wars franchise.

I get all the aspects people love here. I also think the Season 1 finale is pretty great and hints towards a way stronger second outing.

But, and that’s a big but, so far I don’t see the brilliance everyone is praising.

I get that the show takes it time to build its post-Empire world and introduces Din Djarin and his supporting characters and I appreciate that, it’s just, the show has 8 episodes, most of them under 40 minutes and a lot of it just feels like filler. And with "filler" I don’t mean that it’s not trying to build the world further or develop characters, it just doesn’t really do that.

In fact, a lot of the time it feels more like the outline of a great video game. You have your main goal and jump from level to level to accomplish it.

The fight scenes are great, if the show nails one thing than it’s being "cool" and "very badass." And maybe that’s one of the problems.

It has a certain flair, but feels often like a lot of style over substance.

The characters just fall flat. Even our Mandalorian protagonist. I get having a main character that is mysterious, but you can only play that up for so long before it gets repetitive and boring. Thankfully the finale took a step in the right direction.

But other characters as well. They do stuff and they look cool doing it and deliver some funny one liners, but overall they are just there. Maybe that is just a very personal problem, but I need to care about characters, need to invest in them to enjoy their story.

The show also lacks a compelling antagonist. Rebels had the same problem until using Darth Vader properly and ultimately introducing Grand Admiral Thrawn. I really hope that with Giancarlo Esposito‘s Moff Gideon we get that kind of a villain.

The plot is relatively simple for now, Mando finds child, decides to protect child and they end up being hunted by the Empire. Okay, basic but can work. Except for all the filler and non-developed character and sorta missing direction.

But I‘m starting to sound like a broken record.

I did enjoy parts of the show and just hope season 2 builds on and improves on season 1.

I have just finished watching this season again, having watched it when it was released, and also having watched the entire SW saga in universe-chronological order, up to the end of this season. Doing this has helped provide me with a much more comprehensive understanding of SW than I ever got from just watching the live-action films. I would definitely recommend watching the CW and Rebels (and to a lesser extent BB) animated shows in addition to the films, in order to gain better knowledge of the SW galaxy.

Anyway, as for my review of Mandalorian S1: after a fab start, things dragged a little in the middle, then picked up again in time for a fab finale. There are no really bad episodes (as with some of the episodes in all of the aforementioned animated shows) - they are all entertaining enough, and have enough action to maintain the interest. As with "Endor" there is a lot of laying out the backstory and plot context, but I feel that this is necessary to portray the context of the events properly, and why the characters behave the way that they do. I liked (but was also a little frustrated by, on the first viewing) of the unanswered mysteries surrounding the Yoda-species child, as there are a whole Star-Destroyer-load of questions surrounding him, but I daresay at least some of these will be answered in subsequent seasons. There are a few plot shortcomings where characters seem to make completely illogical decisions that are obviously plot devices to ensure survival of protagonists, but then that is a characteristic of all the SW productions.
Whether you're just a casual fan of Star Wars or you're a dedicated fan, you shouldn't be disappointed by watching The Mandalorian.