Anyway, today I finished the first season of Disney's live-action series, The Mandalorian. Finally we Europeans can get some context to all those "Baby Yoda" memes of yesteryear. So, I figured I'd share my thoughts (I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum).
The Mandalorian takes place roughly five years after Return of the Jedi. The Emperor is dead, the New Republic has been established, but there are still plenty of Imperials around. Pedro Pascal stars as the eponymous Mandalorian, known colloquially as "Mando". A member of a proud warrior clan, Mando travels the Outer Rim in his ship, the Razorcrest, and predominantly makes his living as a bounty hunter for a local guild chapter on the planet Navarro led by Greef Karga, a former magistrate played by Carl Weathers.
In the first episode, Mando is recruited to find a valuable asset for an unnamed Imperial client played by Werner Herzog. Said asset is The Child an infant who hails from the same race as Yoda. Mando soon finds he can't hand The Child over and goes rogue. The rest of the series follows him as he travels the Outer Rim looking for work, while also trying to keep The Child safe from the Bounty Hunters' Guild and opportunistic criminals.
Pedro Pascal does a great job as Mando. He doesn't say much, and his face is concealed behind his helmet, but it's still fun to speculate what's going through his head during his dealings with people. It's also nice to see that The Child is an actual puppet and not CGI. It's almost like a Mogwai from Gremlins.
I love the visual style, which adopts a "Space Western" aesthetic. There's even an episode lifted right out of The Magnificent Seven, in which The Mandalorian is hired by villagers on a backwater planet to protect them from raiders who have access to an old Imperial walker. Also hired is Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper played by Gina Carano, devises a plan to disable the walker. The episode is actually quite poignant, because Mando contemplates leaving The Child at the village where they can grow up amongst other children whom they befriended. But then Cara ambushes a bounty hunter who's been tracking The Child, meaning they can't stay.
I also love some of the humour the series incorporates. You can tell that the writers are long-time fans. Another episode has Mando being recruited for a break-out job by his old associate Ran Malik. Malik's point man for the job is Mayfeld, a former Imperial sharpshooter. Upon learning this, Mando quips "That's not saying much." to which Mayfeld snaps "I wasn't a stormtrooper wise-ass!" What makes the scene funnier is the fact that Mayfeld is played by Bill Burr, who has openly stated he isn't a fan of Star Wars. The show's creator, Jon Favreau, stated that's why they cast him.
Well, I feel like I've caught up now. It was worth the wait, but I'm not in favour of such long gaps between American releases and European releases. It creates a demand that's potentially ripe for piracy. Making the wait a little more painful was the fact that they only released the episodes gradually, putting up the first two when Disney+ was released in Europe, and then releasing new episodes every Friday. Although that does make sense: it stops people from getting a free trial, watching all the episodes, and then cancelling. I think Disney+ needs to be a little more clear about when they're going to post the episodes.
Overall, I enjoyed The Mandalorian, and am looking forward to the next season, which premiers in October.
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