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.
