Why does the galaxy always have to be at stake? You only have to wait a couple more weeks for that plot to hit theaters.
Western style standalone adventures that slowly expand the universe is way more interesting to me.
The problem to me isn't that the galaxy isn't at stake or that the adventures are standalone. It's that the adventures themselves have no substance to them and that the main character is uninteresting.
I'm fine with a story-of-the-week format, but so far these stories have been incredibly straightforward and unsuprising. Mando needs something (Money, a place to stay, ...) Mando gets a job to get that thing,, Mando has a plan to do the job, Mando executes the plan, something happens and Mando needs to leave. That's basically the majority of the stories so far. It's not really interesting to watch because there is very little opposition , very little in the way of setbacks.
And because of this we also don't get to know him as a character. He is seldomly forced to reveal himself or make unexpected choices. After 5 episodes we still don't know who Mando really is and what his wants and needs are. He's a bad-ass dude doing bad-ass stuff, with a hint of a dark past. And as he is masked we can't even read his emotions. The only character moments we had were related to the child (him killing the IG-droid and stealiing the kid back) and his contact with the widow.
A 'Man With No Name'-like character like this isn't necessairily a bad thing. But for it to work the stories you place him in have to be exciting and interesting, or the characters he comes into contact with and helps have to be. But in Mandalorian both of these aspects leave a lot to be desired too.
It's frustrating because at times the series does come close. I liked Episode 3 because it felt like for the first time we saw Mando make an interesting choice. And I liked Episode 4 too because it had a more interesting (but somewhat underdeveloped) setting and conflict, and had two kind of interesting side characters. It's also frustrating because the potential is there to tell a story of a man trying to find his way back in a world that has suddenly changed, but the backdrop of the Empire falling apart is undercooked and underused.
So what's left is some fun cool-looking Star Wars action and interesting Star Wars aesthetics. But that's all windowdressing for a story that lacks substance
