"Star Wars: The Mandalorian" for Disney+

DL's fave Pedro Pascal plays the lead. To remind some of you what he looks like under the helmet.

OP's quotes come from this link.

Will Pedro ever take his mask off? And omg, Omid Abtahi is in this! Who is that old imperial German-sounding guy? He seems so familiar, but there are no credits yet on IMDb for the premiere.

So far, this doesn't really feel like Star Wars to me. Very greenscreen-y, sterile, and... small.

Loved the ending, but I'm super unclear on the time this takes place in. Is that lil' fella in the crib Yoda, then? 🤔

MEH

Everyone will bitch about it as it makes a billion dollars. Rinse and repeat.

Eurgh, I finally found out, no thanks to you bitches - the German actor is Werner Herzog!

r4 it takes place about five years after ROTJ.

So around 25 years before TFA? And that baby is another member of Yoda's species, then? I looked it up just now and exploring that species used to be a big no-no under Lucas. How times change.

Lucas has nothing to do with SW now, I think.

I know, that's why I said how times change... He probably never imagined back then he'd sell it all off eventually.

Please stop using this awful thread with the fucked up formatting. Use this one instead.

This thread was first and the formatting is just fine. Besides, you posted the main spoiler for the premiere as your main thread image and so robbed me of the surprise. That's something I can't forgive.

No, the formatting is not fine. It's ugly and annoying.

Is Pedro actually under that mask, or is he just lending his voice to the character? Does anyone in the biz know which option would get him more money?

In case someone wants to know the release dates for the episodes:

Episode 1: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019

Episode 2: Friday, Nov. 15, 2019

Episode 3: Friday, Nov. 22, 2019

Episode 4: Friday, Nov. 29, 2019

Episode 5: Friday, Dec. 6, 2019

Episode 6: Friday, Dec. 13, 2019

Episode 7: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019

Episode 8: Friday, Dec. 27, 2019

In case someone wants to know the release dates for the episodes:

Episode 1: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019

Episode 2: Friday, Nov. 15, 2019

Episode 3: Friday, Nov. 22, 2019

Episode 4: Friday, Nov. 29, 2019

Episode 5: Friday, Dec. 6, 2019

Episode 6: Friday, Dec. 13, 2019

Episode 7: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019

Episode 8: Friday, Dec. 27, 2019

r16 Good call on not making this series a binge!

I can't binge? Fuck Disney.

I added Disney Plus to my existing Hulu account for an additional $2

The show looks great but I'm not going to subscribe. Disney is ruining the film business and I don't want to give them more money to help them do so.

Just watched episode 1. I enjoyed it. It was solid-and aw, what a cuuuuute ending! But I don't want to spoil it.

I already spoiled it at r4. 😬

The Mandalorian takes place after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens timeline wise.

Boba Fett's father (clone donor or whatever you want to call him), Jango Fett was a Mandalorian - a warrior race from the planet, Mandalore.

A lot of their background was developed in the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated shows done by Dave Filoni. However, I don't think he has anything to do with the new show.

There are rumors that Disney is going to give him either a live action show or movies. He has been by far the most successful at developing new Star Wars shows since Lucas sold, according to fan enthusiasm.

Given the twist ending at the end of episode 1, how can it take place after Return of the Jedi. Isn't this a prequel? A prequel to the prequels, in fact? I mean, Baby XXXX made an appearance!

The baby is a member of the same species.

[quote]Given the twist ending at the end of episode 1, how can it take place after Return of the Jedi. Isn't this a prequel? A prequel to the prequels, in fact? I mean, Baby XXXX made an appearance!

This statement makes no sense.

I have no idea what "twist" you're referring to. But, it might make sense for you to actually WATCH the trailer during which it shows defeated imperial stormtrooper helmets on stakes.

There were no stormtroopers prior to the END of Revenge of the Sith since the Empire didn't come into being until then. It clearly takes place AFTER Return of the Jedi.

I noticed the camera lingered a bit on the stormtroopers' shabby uniforms, to hammer home the point that the Empire is no more.

Why are the baddies such shit shooters in this world?

For the same reason that the Nazgul never could win any swordfight in LOTR.

But Baby Yoda, R27, Baby Yoda. Don't blame me, There are already articles in the public domain, so this ain't no spoiler.

I think people are just calling it that because it has no name yet. And they might be confused because - as it has been mentioned - Yoda's species as a concept wasn't allowed to be developed in the past, so we have no one but Yoda as a reference point.

As far as I know, we've only ever seen two from Yoda's species - Yoda himself and another member of the Jedi council, Yaddle.

Yoda's species is never even named. But, it's clearly just a younger member of the same species.

In the media, they're calling him Baby Yoda, so who knows. He is awfully cute. Plushes just in time for Christmas.

[quote]A lot of their background was developed in the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels animated shows done by Dave Filoni. However, I don't think he has anything to do with the new show.

Dave Filoni is actually an executive producer on the show and he directed this first episode as well as the fifth. I've never watched Filoni's Star Wars shows, but I know that they're well-respected. It seems like he has a better handle on the mythology than Kathleen Kennedy does. He certainly has a better reputation with the fans for what it's worth. I'm glad he's been given such a high profile shot here. I'm sure it's something he's wanted to do for a long time.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I thought it was a decent first episode to get the series going.

[quote]Dave Filoni is actually an executive producer on the show and he directed this first episode as well as the fifth.

Thanks. I stand corrected. I hadn't realized he was involved.

That actually makes me more excited about it.

I found it cute... and charming, which maybe is too lightweight for some, but honestly considering all the fucking hoopla surrounding Star Wars it was nice to get something relatively subdued and scaled back. Him riding that beast was an adorable little image. The score is also great. They released the score for the first episode... I watched it on iTunes.

That metal thing he gave to the lady armourer... she said it would support many foundlings, or something like that. But then she melted it down and created a piece of his armour? What was that all about?

[quote]Plushes just in time for Christmas.

Of course. Wouldn't want to not monetise every inch of this IP. Having said that, I totally want one. Man, that was some outrageously adorable shit.

Yoda's always looked like Gizmo from Gremlins, but this baby version of the species looks almost identical to him!

[quote]Him riding that beast was an adorable little image.

Yes, that was my favourite part, in addition to the lil' green fella. Agreed that the score is pretty great as well.

[quote][bold]Favreau has made some highly successful films recently; did you feel an element of pressure working with him?[/bold]

[quote]I do not know what other films he has made.

[quote][bold]You don’t?[/bold]

[quote]No.

[quote][bold]He made “The Lion King” earlier this year with Beyonce and Donald Glover.[/bold]

[quote]Well I like “The Lion King,” but the animated version 30 years back or so. That was a wonderful film, the music was particularly great, Hans Zimmer’s score.

😬😬😬

Nick Nolte is also voicing a character, Horatio Sanz (ex-SNL) is in it under a bunch of rubber, and Taika Watiti did the motion capture for the robot that does all of the shooting in the scene near the end,

[quote]Will Pedro ever take his mask off? And omg, Omid Abtahi is in this! Who is that old imperial German-sounding guy?

That's Werner Herzog.

[bold]A load of 'MacClunkey': will George Lucas’s Star Wars tinkering never end?[/bold]

[quote]Lucas has apparently changed the famous Greedo scene in 1977’s Star Wars again, for its broadcast on Disney+. It’s yet another pointless edit by the director. As seen on new streaming service Disney+, the scene features Han and Greedo shooting at roughly the same moment – to be fair, this is a change introduced several years back. But now, Greedo appears to utter the phrase “MacClunkey!” before succumbing to his wounds.

r44 Thanks, darling, it came to me at r7. Just a case of presque vu.

I think George has officially lost his marbles. The movie is 40 years old and a classic. He needs to let it be already.

[quote]I think George has officially lost his marbles.

Well at his age that's a possibility.

At this point it's sort of absurdly hilarious. He really doesn't want us to see the original print of Star Wars. He's been withholding it from the people who made him rich for decades. It's really sad, you know? It's like he hates how beloved his own creation is. There is something psychological going on here... something related to artistic ownership and power, perpetual dissatisfaction, and perhaps a sadistic enjoyment of it all. At the end of the day, it's just sad. I mean, tinker and tailor all you want, but give us the option to see the original cut.

Francis Ford Coppola has made multiple cuts of Apocalypse Now available without trashing the original, and Ridley Scott's got like 5 different versions of Blade Runner, all of them available to see. I just don't understand why George won't let it go. You know how beloved he'd be if he just let us have the film? But you get the feeling he doesn't even want to be loved... that's not what drives him in this sense. He doesn't want anyone to be happy.

That being said, anyone excited for episode two?! Should be airing tomorrow? Do episodes go up at midnight or what?

I’m hitting the torrent sites. I ain’t paying for the Mouse.

Okay, this was a pretty great episode. Poor little fella getting exhausted after using The Force. 😥 Also, can he please feed it already?!

Did anyone... cringe a bit when he killed that huge animal and then took its baby? I thought this show was for the kiddies? Seemed a bit much.

That's funny because this feels very much like a kid's show.

Anyway, I like the tone... I'm down with the idea, but the execution is sorely lacking. These episodes are profoundly short, and yet the majority of this most recent one felt like filler. The only thing that matters in this episode is that little Yoda has the force, which is only a revelation if you've never seen Star Wars.

They could have merged this episode with the first, trim some fat, and they would have had a pretty substantial pilot. If the rest of the episodes are this short with narratives this bare, then I can't say I have much hope for the show.

If I'm not mistaken there are only 6 episodes left.

Yes, the episodes are too short. I understand now why this would never work as a binge - you'd watch it all in a couple of hours and then forget it by the next week. Even sooner than other bingeable shows on Netflix, actually, because the plot is so thin.

Baby Yoda is trending on Twitter. Everyone seems smitten with it, myself included. 🥰

It's really adorable. It's basically cheating from a narrative perspective. The puppetry is done so fucking well though. At the end of the day, that's what I'm appreciating the most out of this show. It's not always perfect, but it's got a hell of a lot more charm and character than CGI does.

I wonder how it's working on kids today.

Even though the episodes are short, to me, they feel packed. And honestly I’d rather a shorter episode like Chapter 2 than lots of filler.

I am really enjoying it so far, I say this as a Star Wars nerd. I thought it was interesting that for a 32 minute episode there was no dialogue for the first 11 minutes, yet they are able to convey so much. I also loved the Sandcrawler scene - there was definitely an Indiana Jones feel to it.

And that baby Yoda is a doll face.

Oh, it's definitely a narrative cheat, because they're exploiting our brain's inability to resist adorableness. Love the puppetry, though I thought those CG lizards were pretty neat as well.

I loved the fact he couldn't conquer that moving fortress, even though he tried really hard. So there are obviously limits to what even a Mandalorian can do.

[quote]I’d rather a shorter episode like Chapter 2 than lots of filler.

Chapter two was all filler. He retrieved an egg and Yoda used the force. That's it. Everything else was just padding.

I mean, a lot was revealed about the character even though it was padding - that he's willing to fight for this baby, that his body armour is super important to him, that he is capable of camaraderie...

Some nice trivia from this recap.

[quote]The Mandalorian disintegrating his enemies in a puff of dust is not only a handy way for Disney+ to bypass R-rated bloodshed, it’s a callback to a scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader points to Boba Fett and warns him, “no disintegrations,” thus establishing said method as a Mandalorian signature.

[quote]Pedro Pascal also appears to have revealed The Mandalorian’s real name in a recent interview, where he refers to the character as what our sister site i09 transcribes as “Dyn Jarrin.”

[quote]Herzog calls baby Yoda “heartbreakingly beautiful.”

Herzog is such a character, omg. 😄

First season is all about Baby Yoda and the internet is going crazy over him. He is insanely cute and an actual puppet. George Lucas was heavily involved with The Mandalorian. He consulted on everything that referred to the Original Trilogy. They are now filming second season.

Good episode, loved the action, though I cringed thinking about the kiddies watching all those stormtroopers getting killed.

That purple furnace is the coolest shit ever.

So what's so important about Baby Yoda?

Yes, I know it's not really Yoda but another character.

[quote]Why are the baddies such shit shooters in this world?

They weren't, they were up against that kick ass droid.

[quote]Yoda's always looked like Gizmo from Gremlins, but this baby version of the species looks almost identical to him!

How can Yoda look like a Gremlin when "The Empire Strikes Back" was released in 1980 and "Gremlins" in 1984?

Gizmo was fucking gross and a bad puppet. Gremlins one of the worst movies ever made. Yuck.

I think this is a very enjoyable series so far, like the above poster said the shorter episodes are a good fit. The story doesn't get bogged down because they're only about 35 minutes long. Also, no Jedi/Force shit (yet, anyway) which is so played out. It's straight-ahead action/adventure.

The upside to the short episodes is the tightness, yes. It never gets meandering.

[quote]Also, no Jedi/Force shit (yet, anyway) which is so played out.

We saw a demonstration of The Force in the second episode. Also the third one when they were trying to extract it out of the baby Yoda.

r67 I meant the plot (so far) does not revolve around the Jedi, a Jedi on some kind of quest/journey, a Jedi being trained by a master, that kind of thing. That type of plot has been done to death in the Star Wars universe and I'm glad they're not making it a central part of this story.

TERRIFIC episode. Really exciting and moving.

My theory, given the timeline and what we know about Rise Of Skywalker, is that Werner Herzog works for the yet-to-be-named First Order and they need Baby Yoda to bring Palpatine back to life. Look for Ian McDiarmid to appear before it all ends. This is Disney and they’re going to use this as a de-facto prologue to their new movie.

Interesting.

r70 Omg, it was also seen on Kamino! One of my favourite planets.

SW9 comes out in less than a month and no one gives a fuck. Amazing how far they have fucked it up.

[quote][bold]Knowing that you’re going to be directing Werner Herzog in your episode, did you treat him any differently, or do you think of him as just one more player in your company?[/bold]

[quote]Normally, you just approach them as actors, but Werner is special. One of the weirdest moments I had on set, in my life, was trying to direct Werner with the baby. How did I end up with Werner Herzog and Baby Yoda? That was amazing. Werner had absolutely fallen in love with the puppet. He, at some point, had literally forgotten that it wasn’t a real being and was talking to the child as though it was a real, existing creature.

[quote][bold]Did you know from Day 1 what a phenomenon Baby Yoda would be?[/bold]

[quote]I hoped, but you just never know. You get so close to it that you’re not sure you have any perspective on anything. With the baby, every time it came on set, the whole crew would respond to it. Even the grip department, every production assistant is coming to the monitors, trying to see it. We definitely knew there’s something special going on with this — we just hoped the rest of the world would feel the same way.

[quote][bold]We’re all calling it “Baby Yoda” but — as far as we know — it’s not Yoda as a baby. What do you call it on set?[/bold]

[quote]Um, I would definitely defer to Dave Filoni on this. [Laughs.] I’m not going to try to take this one on. I think he’s said it’s O.K. that people were calling it that for now. Because there’s no name out there, for now.

So that was very Seven Samurai, wasn't it? I can't believe it was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard.

[quote]The faith in their little green God was not strong enough. That was the judgment of Werner Herzog, the imperious German filmmaker turned galactic space villain turned Baby Yoda fan club president, when he saw The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni removing the miniature creature from set during one of his scenes with the being. They were preparing to shoot a blank slate of the sequence as a backup in case they decided during postproduction that the puppet wasn’t convincing enough and a digital version had to be substituted.

[quote]Herzog, known for films about pushing the limits of human ability and endurance, could not hide his contempt. “You are cowards,” he declared. “Leave it.”

Herzog knows what's up.

You tell 'em Herzog! Love it.

So, The Mandalorian is not actually a Mandalorian? Did we know that before.

R76 the same way Halle Berry or Mariah Carey are too white to identify as black.

Can't wait until we see Fennec takes off her mask (I have friends who worked on the show).

Then we don't have to have all these shots with emotionless helmets.

Do you think that either Pedro Pascal or Oscar Isaac would have a bigger career if the other weren't around?

I like them both, but they seem somewhat interchangeable, for now. I can easily see Pedro as Po Dameron and Oscar as the eponymous Mandalorian without missing a beat.

The most important fact about the show to the viewers is the Mandalorian's pistol is actually a buffed Bergmann 1896 German semi-auto pistol designed by Louis Schmeisser. A quite rare item.

I had already assumed Baby Yoda was what the Easter Egg at r70 implies. Anything involving the Fetts automatically brings that to mind. Did everyone else expect that, as well?

Two episodes in and it is better than the prequels and the two Abrams by a mile. Total "New Hope" feel and I hate calling it "New Hope". I stood online opening day May 24, 1977 for a movie called 'Star Wars".

AMY friggin' SEDARIS! And Ming-Na Wen! Perfect casting. Wasn't really feeling the Cannavale kid; his acting is rough and he likes to mumble his lines.

I see it was written by Filloni. Some of the casual dialogue really wasn't that great. Amy's "Anyway..." transition made me cringe. But whatever, I saw Baby Yoda getting coddled and that's all I wanted after what he'd been through.

Isn't baby Yoda just Gizmo? It's seems like the same creature. The Mandalorian is a retro story. Nothing fresh at all.

[quote] Isn't baby Yoda just Gizmo?

He looks more like Toadie from [italic]The Gummi Bears[/italic].

[quote]sn't baby Yoda just Gizmo? It's seems like the same creature. The Mandalorian is a retro story. Nothing fresh at all.

Are you not reading this thread? How can Yoda look like a Gremlin when "The Empire Strikes Back" was released in 1980 and "Gremlins" in 1984? He looks like a baby YODA.

Amy Sedaris is trending on Twitter because people can't get over her cameo. 😄

And she does look a bit like Ripley holding her cat, doesn't she?

[quote] And she does look a bit like Ripley holding her cat, doesn't she?

It just wouldn't be the same

I didn't expect to love this show as much as I do.

So who was that at the end? Greef?

Guess not...

.....

Ew! Yuck! I just clicked on a Red State link. I’m going to go dip my iPad in a vat of acid now.

I appreciate that poster's intent but yeah, why link to RedState? 😕

Also, spoiler alert - it declared Gizmo the cuter one, which is just evil. But that's nothing new for deplorables.

Crap, that young bounty hunter was seriously boner inducing, I was already coming up with sexy fanfic in my head... until they just had to make him an asshole and kill him off. He practically had it all to become a new Han Solo and THEY KILLED HIM OFF!

*sigh*

Oh well, at least this episode was a return to form after last week's dip.

Yo! No spoilers asshole! At R95

R96, what, how can you discuss an episode without seeing it? Never ever visit the show thread until you've seen the latest episode! It's been like that since always. Or are they spoilers only until *you've* seen the episode and then it's totally fine to talk about it?

Yes, I've made that mistake many times - don't come into a thread unless you've seen the latest episode. There's a grace period with bingeable shows, but this of course isn't one of them.

Saw this thread and didn’t read closely because it’s probably full of spoilers. Just asking for a simple thumbs up or down. Does this suck? I mean, jon favreau suggests it does, but everyone’s talking about it so maybe it’s watchable?

Watch or avoid?

R48

Lucas did allow a version of the original trilogy to be released with the "special editions". (They're not special editions if they're going to replace the originals, ffs.) I got a copy at a yard sale recently, and it turns out that the original trilogy is extremely badly letterboxed. It's a small rectangle within the larger TV screen; I'm sure watching it only anything other than an enormous flatscreen is impossible.

I can only assume that's Lucas's little extra "fuck you" to those of us who prefer the unadulterated originals.

It's an okay show R99. Feels like an episode of Bonanza more than anything.

Yes, what r101. All the praise seems a bit much to me, though this show definitely doesn't suck.

I’m loving it, r101. Tight episodes with lots of action, great production values, a cool sense of mythos and, of course...Baby Yoda.

[quote] Saw this thread and didn’t read closely because it’s probably full of spoilers. Just asking for a simple thumbs up or down. Does this suck? I mean, jon favreau suggests it does, but everyone’s talking about it so maybe it’s watchable? Watch or avoid?

Are you're saying Jon Favreau suggests the show he created, writes and produces sucks? Link please. And for me it's the best Star Wars since the original trilogy.

[quote]And for me it's the best Star Wars since the original trilogy.

While I agree, I wonder whether it's objectively good or merely the best that's been offered, especially in comparison to the mess that is the current Skywalker movies.

That moment when Baby Yoda thought he killed the droid was priceless. Ha!

Good episode, even if the other actors were not particularly, uh, good. That was some very iffy acting. Oh well. It was still exciting. I hope the music gets some Emmy love when the time comes. It’s the best scored show since the early days if a GoT.

The acting was super iffy because there were two stand-up comics in the cast, plus Natalia Tena who was overacting like crazy.

I thought this episode was the least Star Wars-y to date. Felt like a Doctor Who episode, if anything.

I can't believe this is Clancy Brown.

They were going to call the new show "Strangers With Yoda", which is why Amy Sedaris is in it. In the final episode the helmet comes off to reveal Stephen Colbert. There are also plans to bring out a Malibu Yoda doll.

Baby Yoda is the cutest goddamn thing I've ever seen.

[quote]“The Mandalorian” is a $100 million show about nothing.

Ouch.

Spot on, r106 and r107. That episode was super dodge with the really cheesy acting and the extremely obvious plot twist. I genuinely felt alarmed when the droid was hunting Baby Yoda, but only because I love him so inexplicably much. As great as the music and the character of the Mandalorian are, I doubt i’d watch the show were it not for baby Yoda. There’s not enough plot and I don’t want to watch the same fight over and over each week.

Though it was unintentionally comical when the head bounty hunter dropped him when they came out of hyperdrive and baby Yoda rolled several times really fast on the ship’s floor before the Mandalorian could protect him. I’m sure we’ll see some amusing gifs of that.

I hated it when that guy dropped Baby Yoda to the floor. Like, wtf, don't even joke with that shit. 🙅‍♂️

I'm getting tired of the short, standalone episodes. We are 6 episodes through an 8 long season, and there is no narrative going. I agree with the article at R110. I thought we were going to get a narrative series, explaining the purpose/background of Baby Yoda, the hunt to pursue him, and the lengths the Mandalorian has to go to keep him safe. But, I believe I was wrong. It just seems to be about a "cool" bounty hunter and his random side adventures.

”It just seems to be about a "cool" bounty hunter and his random side adventures”

And I’m okay with that, R113.

Why does everything have to be some epic adventure? We’re just about to close out one of the most, if not THE most, epic adventure EVER. Not to mention the Avengers as well.

People might get tired of all the epic-ness.

I liked this past episode very much. I was surprised at the ending. I really thought he had killed the 3 bad guys. Mando is ruthless when he has to be. I’m sure he will eventually find a proper home for the child. Even TVLine questioned the fact that he has to find somewhere safe for the baby.

Maybe he'll try to find Baby Yoda's parents.

Is Dagobah still around at this time? Couldn't he just drop him there and hope for the best?

[quote]It just seems to be about a "cool" bounty hunter and his random side adventures

I'm totally fine with that as well if the quality is high enough. This episode unfortunately was quite frankly said bad. Everything was too flimsy and paper thin. In many ways it was even worse than the Bryce Dallas Howard directed episode. AND it didn't help that the second I realized Richard Ayoade voiced the robot the whole Star Wars universe totally shattered and all I could think of was his previous work. He's one of those comedic actors who have serious trouble appearing as serious characters. It's the same with Little Britain's David Walliams who played Tommy Beresford in Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence mini series Partners in Crime. I didn't buy him as a serious character for a second which ruined the whole show.

BTW, it took me a second to realize the unfortunate Empire soldier was Matt Lanter. The only reason for this tiny cameo was most probably his work as the voice of Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars and other SW animations and games.

I have never been a Starwars super fan. I watched the first ones when they came out, the newer ones I have missed maybe one, because I can't keep track of them and have seen them on Direct TV movie stations when they happened to be on.

But I got a new phone at Verizon, and Disney+ came with it. I ignored the "The Mandalorian" craze. I heard about a baby Yoda people were going insane for, and was curious. I downloaded Disney+ and last night started watching the Mandalorian.

THIS SHOW FUCKING ROCKS! I love it. I watched ALL of them last night. What a fucking epic thing this is. Great writing, great action, completely interesting, cool looking, and just everything.

Color me fucking surprised!

You care about the Mandalorian, and Baby Yoda. You are invested in what happens to them. That's a major reason why this show is such a hit, it has characters the audience loves which has not happened with Star Wars in a LONG time. The big problem with the current trilogy is that Ridley, Boyega, Driver etc. are such voids and not particularly interesting, and nobody could really give a fuck about them.

R119, I think you are absolutely correct.

Baby Yoda scenes from eps 1-4.

R115

I just realized that, "The Mandalorian" is a rehash of, "Lone Wolf and Cub", which was a manga, 6 films and a television show:

^^ From the "Influences" section:

[quote]"Chapter 2: The Child", the second episode of the Disney+ Star Wars web series, The Mandalorian, has a plotline that is heavily influenced by Lone Wolf and Cub, with the titular character caring over a child of the same race as Yoda while being besieged by bounty hunters.

Shit! The Mandalorian sucks, big time! I'm watching it now and I'm thinking in this age of great television it's gonna be some kick ass show. But no. It's dull. Not even nuanced in its approach. Just filler.

[quote] I just realized that, "The Mandalorian" is a rehash of, "Lone Wolf and Cub"

Or "Chick And Hawk".

The world is all about Baby Yoda. There is nothing else.

I think that there is a clear progression in this show but it's subtle, so many people don't realize it.

The show has been very consistent in how the contact with Baby Yoda has changed people for the better. Mando started out as a heartless bounty hunter, willing to do everything for the job. The Twi'lek woman (Xi'an) alluded to this as well. In the third episode, he told the armorer that his armor lost its integrity and that he might start anew; he was talking about himself there (in a very Mandalorian way), I think. Right after his new armor was forged, he changed to the "knight in shining armor" instead. Ever since, he has become "soft", avoiding bloodshed if possible, protecting his ward.

I suspect that, in the long run, the show will be about rebuilding the legacy of the Mandalorians. Just as Mando is distancing himself from his time in the underbelly of the galaxy, the Mandalorians will leave the shadows after the Imperial Purge and regroup. Since Filoni is involved, and the Mandalorians were fleshed out in the Clone Wars and Rebels, I suspect that Bo-Katan Kryze, Sabine Wren, and the Darksaber will play a role eventually.

Well shit, that was sad. One more episode?

Gina Carano was great in this.

I just finished Ep. 7 and OMG after that ending I am on the edge of my seat for next week's episode. They sure know how to do a cliffhanger on this show!

The season started strong but the writing has been all over the place starting from the Bryce Dallas Howard directed episode. The episode after that was mostly fine but the recent episodes have been pretty much terrible. I mean why would Baby Yoda try to kill Gina Carano's character when she was just arm-wrestling Mando? It doesn't make any sense. It's the same kind of idiotic let's-create-drama-out-of-nothing crap Rian Johnson filled The Last Jedi with.

This was one of my favorite shows for the first three episodes but now I'm mostly watching it just to get it over with. I mean what the hell happened in the production? Have they deliberately given directing and writing jobs to people not up to par for whatever reason? It certainly feels like some directors are not professionals. I'd like to believe Dave Filoni hasn't written the crappy episodes but if he has he's certainly losing the appreciation I've felt for his continuously stellar work.

What a shame.

The Mandalorian has Kathleen Kennedy's undeciseveness all over it. That woman has to go!

I can't believe they showed us Baby Yoda getting HIT HARD during a comic relief scene, THREE times. Disney is fucking cancelled. 😡

I hope Carl Weathers and Gina Carano come back in season 2. They were both great and added a lot to the show.

"Does anyone here speak droid?"

Erm, there's literally a former droid bounty hunter standing right next to you, so I'm going to guess yes.

Why are there suddenly platoons of spotless stormtroopers around? Isn't the Empire supposed to have been defeated? They looked rusty in the first episode. I didn't enjoy making light of the child abuse, at all. And I still think the whole concept of "Darksaber" is ridiculous, so I cringed when it appeared at the end.

All in all, this show was quite enjoyable. It's coming back next fall, apparently.

I love the idea of Werner Herzog working for Disney.

The stormtroopers are now mercenary soldiers.

That was a fantastic season ender.

My god, imagine what could’ve been done to the 3 sequels if Favreau would’ve been involved .

It’s gonna be a long year.

Love the show, but only 8 episodes? Come on!

Remember the old days when shows did 22 per year?

I hear that Disney+ has been a huge hit so far. I guess this show helped a lot.

R140 It's an expensive show to film and even Disney isn't going to shill out money for 22 episodes per season.

I don't want to wait another year! This show is fantastic. Much better than the new movies.

I want a Baby Yoda spin-off. Just 30 minutes of nanny-cam footage every week of him playing with his new pendant, toddling around and looking cute. No plot needed....

R134, I could not enjoy the "humor" of that scene because of the the abuse.

r145 Me neither. And I just said "of course" when I saw Taika Waititi directed it in the credits. He's trying a bit hard to be edgy, that one.

[quote] Since Filoni is involved, and the Mandalorians were fleshed out in the Clone Wars and Rebels, I suspect that Bo-Katan Kryze, Sabine Wren, and the Darksaber will play a role eventually.

Ha, called it! I suspect that the Darksaber will end up with the Mando by the end of next season, and that Bo-Katan (played by Katee Sackhoff in Clone Wars and Rebels) will make an appearance eventually.

R, 147, for those of us with sieve-like brains, can you remind us who Bo-Katan is?

Bo-Katan was a member of the terrorist group Death Watch, who tried to reestablish the warrior culture of Mandalore, after Bo-Katan's sister - Duchess Satine (love interest of Obi-Wan Kenobi) - had largely succeeded in making Mandalorian culture pacifist. Death Watch later allied with Maul and the Shadow Collective (Hutt cartels, Pykes, Black Sun), conquered Mandalore, and killed Satine. Maul was defeated by Ahsoka and her clone troops at the end of the Clone Wars, went into hiding, and became the leader of Crimson Dawn. Eventually, the Empire took control and used a Mandalorian puppet ruler, Gar Saxon, to keep the Mando clans in line. After Ezra Bridger had found the Darksaber in Maul's hideout on Dathomir and had given it to Sabine Wren, she bested Gar Saxon and gave the Darksaber to Bo-Katan to start a Mandalorian revolution against the Empire. Based on Season 1, we can conclude that the Mandalorians were defeated and eradicated in the Purge.

[quote]Me neither. And I just said "of course" when I saw Taika Waititi directed it in the credits. He's trying a bit hard to be edgy, that one.

Yeah. He is talented but I'm already getting tired of him. The abuse directed at a baby mixed in with the comic relief was just weird and wrong - the kid didn't merely get hit, he got PUNCHED. Plus that scene went on too long as it was because of self-indulgence...oooh, it's Jason Sudeikis! Who gives a shit?

The show needs to be wary of that kind of thing going forward. Have a circle jerk to your 'edginess' on your own time.

Thank you, r149! Yikes, I had forgotten almost all of that.

I haven't thought of Jason Sudeikis in years. I didn't even know whether or not he was still in the business.

I wanted the baby to force choke that fucking storm trooper.

A 5 MILLION dollar baby, y’all.

Jon told Sudeikis and the other guy who played the troopers to not hit him too hard. 😨😳

FFS, how hard would he have hit the kid without that direction? Like I said before, it was a punch. But even a smack would have felt wrong - yeah, it's just a puppet, but we're being asked to view it as a baby and be invested in the character on that level. Physical abuse of a baby is just never going to comfortably mix with comedy. Favreau is a buddy of Mel Gibson's, so he probably doesn't think it's a big deal...