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The Mandalorian |OT| A Complicated Profession [SPOILERS ON EPISODE DROP]
- Thread starter WadiumArcadium
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So far, I'm enjoying the series. I think I'd agree that not a lot happens, or at least, not a lot has happened so far with regards to some grander scale or overarching plot that we're not in the know about. I'm interested in each character, and the situations in the moment, and like everyone I definitely wonder what's up with Baby Yoda and the Empire's seeming backroom surge, but I'm perfectly content to have small scale stories with small scale meaning. In effect the last episode was derivative to a near-fault, leaning so hard on 7 samurai it threatened to fall over, but can anyone really deny how fun it was to see that entire story play out in 30 minutes with some fun and charming characters with the SW world as a backdrop? It's like fan-fiction, yes, but it's well-produced, expensive fan-fiction that I think knows the heart of contemporary SW perhaps only as well as Rian Johnson.
But, I'd also agree with some of the people here talking about how it sometimes plays a bit like a videogame. It does have moments like this, but I don't find that offensive or even bad style -- videogame narratives have become rather good at using finite timeslots to move moments of import from a start to finish line in record time, and if there's anything this show needs in the scant 30 minutes it is allocated, it's brevity. Videogames stole the language of cinema, and contorted it to fit a timeframe wherein they had strong guarantees about peoples' attention spans. It's maybe only right that cinema takes a part of that back in manipulating what should arguably be a much longer-form story into something bite-sized yet legible.
Hopefully there's something for here for everyone by the end.
But, I'd also agree with some of the people here talking about how it sometimes plays a bit like a videogame. It does have moments like this, but I don't find that offensive or even bad style -- videogame narratives have become rather good at using finite timeslots to move moments of import from a start to finish line in record time, and if there's anything this show needs in the scant 30 minutes it is allocated, it's brevity. Videogames stole the language of cinema, and contorted it to fit a timeframe wherein they had strong guarantees about peoples' attention spans. It's maybe only right that cinema takes a part of that back in manipulating what should arguably be a much longer-form story into something bite-sized yet legible.
Hopefully there's something for here for everyone by the end.
The new meme of little Yoda flipping the ship switches on and off= playing hardcore rap/trap music( or any song really) is killing me lmao
I got extreme Stargate vibes during the attack on the village at the start of the episode. I'm all for cheesy filler but it feels a bit out of place in what is already a super short season.
Eh, it was okay, but I agree that it was the weakest episode so far - it really felt like filler. There were definitely some cool moments and Gina Curano's character was a great addition, but overall it didn't seem to add much to the show.
The one thing I didn't understand about the AT-ST was that it appeared to be AI driven? The way it was framed made it out to look like it was making decisions on its own without a pilot. I've never known any of the Imperial walker/mech vehicles to work like that. Not sure if that's what they were going for but that's what it felt like to me.
The one thing I didn't understand about the AT-ST was that it appeared to be AI driven? The way it was framed made it out to look like it was making decisions on its own without a pilot. I've never known any of the Imperial walker/mech vehicles to work like that. Not sure if that's what they were going for but that's what it felt like to me.
I watched it again and there is so much potential in that episode but it just goes by so fast you only get the real real basic information down. I would've loved to know more about the people in their life during the empire, what they were doing during the rebellion.. a scene of them the night before sharing anything with Mando and Gina.
Yea the " calm reflecting on the eve of battle" has been done but we only get " our ancestors planted these pods we're not leaving" as backstory. That's it.
So much potential to hear about Gina's history as a " shock trooper" ( I have no idea what that is) that I'm sure we'll get besides her few lines about her past.
I still can't believe the only real, warm human (female!) connection Mando makes is with a character who we only know as the "widow" . He lets her almost take his helmet off! And yet we don't even get her name like come onnnn
I'm not asking for an info dump with every new character or in every scene , but that's kinda what good dialogue is lol? Organically grow your characters and let us know things about them and their place in the world.
A lack of that would be my biggest complaint so far but I'm still enjoying immensely.
Yea the " calm reflecting on the eve of battle" has been done but we only get " our ancestors planted these pods we're not leaving" as backstory. That's it.
So much potential to hear about Gina's history as a " shock trooper" ( I have no idea what that is) that I'm sure we'll get besides her few lines about her past.
I still can't believe the only real, warm human (female!) connection Mando makes is with a character who we only know as the "widow" . He lets her almost take his helmet off! And yet we don't even get her name like come onnnn
I'm not asking for an info dump with every new character or in every scene , but that's kinda what good dialogue is lol? Organically grow your characters and let us know things about them and their place in the world.
A lack of that would be my biggest complaint so far but I'm still enjoying immensely.
Yeah, the Not Space Orc Raiders felt very by-the-numbers, along with some other elements of this episode.
Definitely one of the weaker ones but still entertaining. Gina Carano's acting has come a long way since Haywire. She's really found a better sense of her natural charisma. She's definitely limited, but likable.
I definitely feel like the episodes could have been longer to really develop some of these characters and themes beyond archetypes. The episodes could stand to be 60 mins instead of 40.
Problem is that Rebel S1 had like 18 eps, S2 had 23-ish eps, and it will take Mando like 5 seasons to get to the same equilibrium.
Shows with razor-thin seasons have no chance to build up to anything , so if the entire season isn't constantly building up a big arc it just feels like a waste.
I feel that the structure of the show is that this wandering warrior goes from place to place protecting this small child and every stop they make makes him reflect on himself, specifically his past, and the reasons he's protecting this small child. And the focus is on that rather than fleshing out every location he stops by.
Yeah, I was definitely feeling the same for the first three episodes it's just this one wanted us to feel some sort of sympathy for people that were actual complete innocents and we really didn't get that much In the way of getting to know them which would have upped the emotional drama instead of them getting compared to having the depth level of NPC's lol
You can have what you described ( which is what the show is doing) and have writing that would address the complaints people
Have been having.
I think myself and others just need to re-calibrate their expectations for this, it's going to be perfectly palatable Star Wars which is great but it's always going to be lacking in that certain bit extra. We all would ideally want a " top class" level TV show that we can point to as transcending the genre and being actual "art/cinema" ( or whichever term you want to use )which is a big reason so many love TLJ.
I mean...if they had the depth level of npcs we would have their entire backstory, hobby interests, and even some requests or two lmao.
I love the simplicity of the show, and to me it's why it works so well. Just give me fun star wars adventures, I don't need a space opera
" We need 15 bushels of wood to make spears Mando"
*shoots down trees*
" Our men have been training hard but they need food! Collect 10 baskets of shrimp "
*shoots shrimp*
Lmao.
Someone had the right idea when they compared it to Samurai Jack.
There was certainly a creative decision to light the cockpit in a red light, which made the windows look like 'robot eye's sure. But I don't think it was driven by an ai.
You would think episodes 1-3 were Sooranos-level or something.
I don't get why they couldn't find the AT-ST at night and blow it up rather than causing a mess.
Yeah, the tactics of the little battle really made no sense. Especially their "totally not a trap we just left this big gap" wall design.
Not like the bandit camp had a map to the AT-ST's location.
I mean my other comment is... if his ship has two huge cannons just bomb the shit out of it when it went near the camp ? I know I'm not picking but this episode was just bad in terms of action and plot.
My theory is he's a dick and didn't want to risk his ship losing that fight
Really didn't like episode 4. The direction was terrible and the acting was distractingly bad at some points. The acting from the proprietor at the bar made me feel like I was watching a bad soap opera. It was such a big step down from episodes 1-3.
Looked up the credits after and it was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard. Directing does not seem to be her strong point.
Looked up the credits after and it was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard. Directing does not seem to be her strong point.
And risk damage to a ship that he can't really repair at this time now that he's out of the guild? His ship that he left behind when they went to the village?
Really?
This last one I was kind of like I don't care about Gina's character.
She could have easily been cut entirely from the plot here.
I don't know. I don't think Mando is good enough to win that battle on his own, so in that regard it made sense for him to have an ally with him.
But beyond that, the show just feels like any time a new character pops up it immediately disposes of them because there isn't quite enough time to build an audience connection with anyone.
I think they were trying to make a contrast between 'rural' planets that have 'rural diners' instead of the wild west feel most cantinas have.
Didn't jump out at me at the time, but in retrospect it does feel kinda weird.
Yea but we really don't need Gina hanging around with her acting.
I'll be honest, Carl Weathers wasn't exactly knocking it out of the park with his bits either. Some really messy line reads.
The Mandalorian just remind me why I hate modern show structure. 10 episodes is just such a short time to give us good characters and tell a large story. Today's shows often feel like movies with a bunch of filler shit thrown in to pad it out for a season.
This last episode was just that, it was too short and tried to get you invested in the characters and the fight, but as you just met literally everyone ten minutes before, you just didn't care a whole lot.
It was an ok episode that could have been a lot better had it taken 2 episodes or even filled an entire hour instead of basically 35 minutes.
This last episode was just that, it was too short and tried to get you invested in the characters and the fight, but as you just met literally everyone ten minutes before, you just didn't care a whole lot.
It was an ok episode that could have been a lot better had it taken 2 episodes or even filled an entire hour instead of basically 35 minutes.
Yea but Carl Weathers is Carl Weathers. Gina Carano has only been good in one thing and it was Dead Pool.
Yup. Since Mando has plot armor, the entire onus of the show was on giving us someone - anyone - worth caring about in this conflict, and it didn't spend enough time on anyone to make their potential deaths have any real meaning or dread. It was just "Mando and this random lady he met save some villagers who might have names!"
Even 15 more minutes might have helped flesh them out enough for the final conflict to have some stakes. But we didn't get any.
Ah yes, use him as body armor, brilliant!
This is the Way
Man this ep really was just a Xena ep, minus any sideplots. Stumble into a defenseless village, rally the villagers, defeat the invaders. Only there is no B or C plots involving the protagonists or guests, it's just pure A plot, which is a skeleton of a fulfilling story. No inside job, no internal conflicts on either side, nothing going wrong, just "we're gonna hold them off... good work, we did it!"
Like I've been rewatching Xena, and for as flimsy as it can be, it does always try to have some core theme or lesson that it imparts on its characters by the end. Makes it way more fulfilling than this ep of Mando, which doesn't really advance anything. And I don't mean "it's filler", since even sidestories can be fun... this ep was just a waste.
Seeing an AT-ST and more Baby Yoda ain't enough.
Like I've been rewatching Xena, and for as flimsy as it can be, it does always try to have some core theme or lesson that it imparts on its characters by the end. Makes it way more fulfilling than this ep of Mando, which doesn't really advance anything. And I don't mean "it's filler", since even sidestories can be fun... this ep was just a waste.
Seeing an AT-ST and more Baby Yoda ain't enough.
Pretty much. Mando would've known there were other bounty hunters still tracking the kid either way, so nothing WAS really gained from this, unless Cara joins the crew permanently later on.
The things this show is pulling from would indicate that this just isn't going to happen. The Westerns, in particular, that it pays homage to don't really care about characters' names, their pasts, anything. The allure of the West (Space-West, in this case lol) is that your past is entirely discarded once you arrive there. You could've been the Pope or a thief before you walked into that saloon, so to speak, but it won't matter moving forward.
As for names, one of the most famous set of westerns out there stars Eastwood as "The Man with No Name."
I was about to say this too. This show is literally Samurai Jack in Star Wars. Gina's character might be the Scotsman of the show lol
I definitely don't agree with this. What he gained from this episode is that:
1) Baby Yoda would have a happy and peaceful life settling down in a calm place like that farm and
2) He'll never get that unless Mando can somehow kill every person who has ever had those fobs, as well as the Imperials who handed them out (so, outlook not so good).
This episode is ultimately one that doesn't have a happy ending. They'll be hunted forever at this point, which is actually perfectly in tune with Mando's religion, but isn't something baby Yoda should've had forced on him.
it doesn't have the dramatic chops of a prestige show but it also doesn't have the likeable leads or fun one-off characters that you'd want with the case of the week program. It's a big bag of nothing.
It has no value except as a baby Yoda GIF delivery system
2 parts to that:
1. The Mando risks his ship, which isn't a warship, against a military tank. If he messes up then he is stranded with a ship that will need specialized parts to get going (his ship is pre-empire).
2. The point wasn't to let the mercs kill the AT-ST at the raider camp, that would've caused the raiders to come back once the Mando and Cara left and be extra hard on the villagers. The point that the Mando made was that they needed to train the villagers to fight back and have the raiders see the villagers were not afraid. The raiders needed that fear so they could keep stealing the krill to make their moonshine. Having the villagers stand against the raiders even with the AT-ST turns that dynamic of fear around and leaves the raiders unable to intimidate the villagers.
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