Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
It makes sense that Boba Fett wouldn't know about a manual override in that case. A society like Mandos would definitely put stuff like that on their gear to screw with theives
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Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
It makes sense that Boba Fett wouldn't know about a manual override in that case. A society like Mandos would definitely put stuff like that on their gear to screw with theives
It would definitely make the whole "noble self sacrifice" thing easier if you can slap your buddy on the back to send him flying off so you can make your last stand and buy them time.
I'm half surprised that Our Mando still took the armor at the end. I feel like traditional Western trope would have been The Marshall proved himself worthy of the Mando Legacy in his own way, and gets to keep the armor to protect his people" kind of thing.
I do like the "Be sure to mention I wasn't the one that broke it" line.
see317 on
+12
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
It makes sense that Boba Fett wouldn't know about a manual override in that case. A society like Mandos would definitely put stuff like that on their gear to screw with theives
It would definitely make the whole "noble self sacrifice" thing easier if you can slap your buddy on the back to send him flying off so you can make your last stand and buy them time.
I'm half surprised that Our Mando still took the armor at the end. I feel like traditional Western trope would have been The Marshall proved himself worthy of the Mando Legacy in his own way, and gets to keep the armor to protect his people" kind of thing.
I do like the "Be sure to mention I wasn't the one that broke it" line.
On the other hand, I think the Marshal could see that the armor was more trouble than it was worth at that point. It drew in an actual Mandalorian in full-on beskar, and he was fortunate that Mando was willing to negotiate for the armor. And this is a town so out-of-the-way that it literally wasn't even on a map, on a planet acknowledge as the ass-end of civilized space. The Marshal is also clearly badass enough that handle most conventional issues, which should be enough now that Tusken Raiders have backed off, the dragon is dead, and the former mining security thugs are dead.
Well, that and these big f'n axes being not very lethal. I get that the fight needed to be extended, but just give them mauls or something, rather than axes that don't cut.
It kinda seemed like the fighters had personal shields on to draw the fight out; real boxing puts gloves on the fighters because otherwise fights are too short (knocking somebody out with a fist is easier than with a big padded glove). Alternatively, they just had the vibro-axes turned down to bludgeon instead of chop, for the same reason. It's Star Wars, not Game of Thrones; bloodlessly shooting or stabbing somebody is just fine, but bloody dismemberment is not an option.
They just seemed like local Star Wars wildlife to me. The Mando was clearly on a heavily-populated world and those lit pathways seemed built explicitly to keep the critters at bay, so maybe it's one of those rare cases of the live-action material introducing a new critter instead of just dredging up something from the background of the OT.
They just seemed like local Star Wars wildlife to me. The Mando was clearly on a heavily-populated world and those lit pathways seemed built explicitly to keep the critters at bay, so maybe it's one of those rare cases of the live-action material introducing a new critter instead of just dredging up something from the background of the OT.
I was assuming local breed of Jawa, up until the end of that scene, anyway.
Unless Jawas are salvaging more than old tech, anyway. I don't suppose many people would want to go to an organ mongering Jawa for replacement parts.
Well, that and these big f'n axes being not very lethal. I get that the fight needed to be extended, but just give them mauls or something, rather than axes that don't cut.
It kinda seemed like the fighters had personal shields on to draw the fight out; real boxing puts gloves on the fighters because otherwise fights are too short (knocking somebody out with a fist is easier than with a big padded glove). Alternatively, they just had the vibro-axes turned down to bludgeon instead of chop, for the same reason. It's Star Wars, not Game of Thrones; bloodlessly shooting or stabbing somebody is just fine, but bloody dismemberment is not an option.
Oh, I get that they don't want gratuitous blood, and yeah, there seemed to be personal shields or some kind of blunt impact effect from the axes. That's why I suggested mauls. Or kanabo. Or some weird cultural weapon. Similar effect, without the "yeah, they're massive axes that don't cut anything".
I can only imagine how much pull Favreau's team has with Disney after Season 1 that Disney was like "okay, you are the one we will allow to finalize the fate of Boba Fett."
+18
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
God. DAMN I loved everything about that. Sure, I couldn't see the dark parts at the beginning because of the sunlight in my apartment, but that's okay!
Just.. inject that western into my veins!
... The Child is going to be the scariest bounty hunter with a heart in the galaxy.
Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
Considering that the two people who have triggered the flaw are a mandalorian elite bounty hunter (who would be intimately familiar with the gear) and a jedi (guided by the force) the flaw would not have to be obvious.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
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I can only imagine how much pull Favreau's team has with Disney after Season 1 that Disney was like "okay, you are the one we will allow to finalize the fate of Boba Fett."
Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
Considering that the two people who have triggered the flaw are a mandalorian elite bounty hunter (who would be intimately familiar with the gear) and a jedi (guided by the force) the flaw would not have to be obvious.
I can only imagine how much pull Favreau's team has with Disney after Season 1 that Disney was like "okay, you are the one we will allow to finalize the fate of Boba Fett."
I mean, giving them the entire MCU seems like a good way to be able to get to do whatever you want.
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
edited October 2020
The Good, the Bad, and the Olyphant
Good:
- Krayt dragon! Very cool!
- Amy Sedaris acting like a recurring character
- The marshal’s speeder being made from old pod racer parts
- Very strong 70s post-Leone western vibes
Bad:
- super boring for a season opener
- The sets looked really staged, no diagetics really make things look artificial
- Yet another mostly throwaway episode
- Very little kid yoda
- No mention of the main story at all
- Pascal’s flat line readings seem like they’re being phoned in
I love how specifically honorable the Jawas are in this and previously. Yeah they'll strip a ship for parts if it was left out in the open unattended for a day, but they won't take stuff from a person directly and leave them for dead.
+6
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
Considering that the two people who have triggered the flaw are a mandalorian elite bounty hunter (who would be intimately familiar with the gear) and a jedi (guided by the force) the flaw would not have to be obvious.
- Krayt dragon! Very cool!
- Amy Sedaris acting like a recurring character
- The marshal’s speeder being made from old pod racer parts
- Very strong 70s post-Leone western vibes
Bad:
- super boring for a season opener
- The sets looked really staged, no diagetics really make things look artificial
- Yet another mostly throwaway episode
- Very little kid yoda
- No mention of the main story at all
- Pascal’s flat line readings seem like they’re being phoned in
The Olyphant:
Grade: B-
To your bad:
Sets up an antagonist for the season and reintroduces a fan favorite character!
Main story specifically mentioned when the Mando tells Amy Sedaris about it.
IMO just enough kid yoda considering the episode wasn't about them.
+6
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
There were a lot of kid reaction shots though... Which informs my above comments.
Someone pointed it out elsewhere, but man Boba Fetts jetpack must have an obvious design flaw because Mando hit it too to make him shoot off somewhere else.
the way mando hit it makes me think that maaaaaaaaaybe all the mandolorian jetpacks do that, because he knew it would send the marshall off.
Considering that the two people who have triggered the flaw are a mandalorian elite bounty hunter (who would be intimately familiar with the gear) and a jedi (guided by the force) the flaw would not have to be obvious.
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, by my reckoning. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
could it have been better? possibly?
it established that mando needs to find other mandos to accomplish his quest. he gets a lead that takes him to tatooine, which, ok that was silly but they needed to have him get the boba armor for some payoff later. it also gave us a chance to see that this isn't just going to be about the dark saber and yoda people. And it kept me engaged the whole time with the interaction between the sand people, mando, and marshall.
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
edited November 2020
Yea, it just gave me more Mando, which is exactly what I wanted. I'm ok easing back into a new season. I was thoroughly entertained throughout, which is enough for me. We'll get to the main plot in good time. Honestly I enjoy the stand alones as much if not more than the main story line. I like the slice of life episodes, especially in star wars. Starwars is always so big-huge important that I love the pacing in this show.
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, in my book. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
It told us that to accomplish the quest that was set forth at the finale of last season, Mando plans to find other Mandalorians. It also established that this is not going to be an easy first step of his quest... other Mandalorians are not known even to Mando, and that even people who are convinced they know a Mandalorian may just be hearing rumors of someone in Beskar armor or whatnot. Plus, as a relatively casual Star Wars fan (compared to most of y'all here I bet), I'm pretty intrigued to see what happens when Mando meets others, I could see that opening up a whole bunch of new things.
The episode was a nice return to the more "casual" (so to speak) activities that Mando does and we get to see as compared to the bigger explosions and whatnot from the finale.
I really liked the episode and thought it was a nice Season 2 opener. It kinda sounds like maybe you just had expectations based on what shows "normally" do, and this went counter to those?
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, in my book. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
To the bolded you're absolutely right, I'm just not sure that's a bad thing.
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AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, in my book. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
To the bolded you're absolutely right, I'm just not sure that's a bad thing.
The thing is, I definitely agree there is for sure a time to break rules. This however didn’t seem so much like a defying of norms for some appeal to better artist merit, though. It just seems like more indication that this isn’t going to be a show super concerned with the pace of things, something I find strange in a prestige drama with small episode orders.
There’s a lot going on like that in this show, honestly. The production budget and casting are A+ prestige-level, but the dialogue and stories are, like, Hercules & Xena levels of charmin-soft toothlessness.
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, in my book. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
To the bolded you're absolutely right, I'm just not sure that's a bad thing.
The thing is, I definitely agree there is for sure a time to break rules. This however didn’t seem so much like a defying of norms for some appeal to better artist merit, though. It just seems like more indication that this isn’t going to be a show super concerned with the pace of things, something I find strange in a prestige drama with small episode orders.
There’s a lot going on like that in this show, honestly. The production budget and casting are A+ prestige-level, but the dialogue and stories are, like, Hercules & Xena levels of charmin-soft toothlessness.
I like that the show is never too constrained by the overall story, but still advances it with every episode.
It's definitely a style I can see not working for everyone, but I love Mando going someplace and having to do an unrelated task to get the info he wants before moving on. This one did miss the last part, but when the overarching story takes precedent it ruins an episode just being a good story at times.
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, in my book. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
To the bolded you're absolutely right, I'm just not sure that's a bad thing.
The thing is, I definitely agree there is for sure a time to break rules. This however didn’t seem so much like a defying of norms for some appeal to better artist merit, though. It just seems like more indication that this isn’t going to be a show super concerned with the pace of things, something I find strange in a prestige drama with small episode orders.
There’s a lot going on like that in this show, honestly. The production budget and casting are A+ prestige-level, but the dialogue and stories are, like, Hercules & Xena levels of charmin-soft toothlessness.
I'm kind of okay with that as well because it's Star Wars. If it was trying to be a prestige drama with incredibly smart toothy dialogue I think it would end up feeling jarring considering the universe it's set in.
I think I get what you're saying though, it does feel like a show that despite an apparently fantastic production budget and great casting doesn't feel at all concerned with getting everything done at a breakneck pace. But as long as the episodes keep making me grin from ear to ear I'm totally ok with that.
+10
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, in my book. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
To the bolded you're absolutely right, I'm just not sure that's a bad thing.
The thing is, I definitely agree there is for sure a time to break rules. This however didn’t seem so much like a defying of norms for some appeal to better artist merit, though. It just seems like more indication that this isn’t going to be a show super concerned with the pace of things, something I find strange in a prestige drama with small episode orders.
There’s a lot going on like that in this show, honestly. The production budget and casting are A+ prestige-level, but the dialogue and stories are, like, Hercules & Xena levels of charmin-soft toothlessness.
I like that the show is never too constrained by the overall story, but still advances it with every episode.
It's definitely a style I can see not working for everyone, but I love Mando going someplace and having to do an unrelated task to get the info he wants before moving on. This one did miss the last part, but when the overarching story takes precedent it ruins an episode just being a good story at times.
This is what I thought the show was going to be before they revealed Boda and I was sold anyway. I thought it was just going to be 'Mandalorian is a merc and gets caught up in hijinks'.
I'm all for tying it in to Rebels/Clone Wars with Boda and other characters giving it an overarching plot, but I'm certainly glad they're sticking with the premise that that isn't what this show fundamentally is. He's a mercenary, and does mercenary work to pay his way around.
Also, I disagree anyway that this wasn't involved in the overarching plot. At the end of the last season, he was told to get Boda back to his people. This episode, he's told a Mandalorian on Tatooine might be able to help him. The story takes a different direction when it turns out that Mandalorian is obviously dead, and he instead decides to try to get the armour away from a non-Mandalorian, and does a job to do that. Then surprise! That Mandalorian isn't dead (arguments on Boba Fetts status as a Mandalorian at this point aren't helpful - it's shown in this episode that wearing the armour, to any non-Mandalorian, makes people think you are one, so Boba Fett was who he went to see).
Certainly looked to me like they bookended a mercanary work episode with the overarching plot. Was it the right choice for the season opener? I certainly want to see a lot more of this, so I can't say it was the wrong choice.
This was the perfect pivot episode. It set up the next part of our protagonist's journey (find more Mandos) while demonstrating how far he's come since the show started (most of the episode shows him putting into practice most of what Kuiil taught him).
JacobkoshGamble a stamp.I can show you how to be a real man!Moderatormod
Something being standalone is not a negative in any objective sense and, at this point in my life, is an absolute positive for me. I'm tired of pointless, reflexive serialization; so much modern TV leans on the promise of some nebulous future where The Good Shit will come, not because there's some really interesting overarching story being told, but simply because it's a way to keep people on the hook week to week and then year after year.
I think there's room for TV that just gives you The Good Shit right here and right now without demanding you sign a blood pact or a cellphone contract. That's how most TV used to be! And a lot of that TV was actually pretty good! I think, 20 years after "24", the art of telling tight, disciplined, coherent stories with a beginning, middle, and satisfying end in under one hour was on the verge of becoming a lost art and I'm really glad that The Mandalorian has kept the flame alive.
I love that the show has made an aesthetic out of stripped-down simplicity. Instead of stories weighed down by bloated supporting casts, multiple concurrent arcs, or too much fiddly excess detail, it delivers clean, spare stories where three or maybe four sharply-drawn characters collide on screen, there's some kind of conflict, and the conflict is resolved and paid off as we learn another small nugget about our main character or the world he lives in.
By not ballasting the storytelling with all the extra shit that modern TV has come to demand, there's suddenly way less obstruction between me the viewer and the emotional core of the story. And it turns out that without all that busywork obscuring the theme and the central conflicts, I can still tap into that deep well of filmmaking emotion that the original movies brought out in me. I'm not a withered husk after all! I can feel things and care about the fate of a puppet! I really like that.
It also reinforces the Western vibe, for me. Deadwood aside, Westerns aren't where you go for lots of rapid-fire repartee or big casts of characters joined by complicated social webs of motivation. Westerns, like other stories defined by landscape (sea stories, or the myths from various religions where people journey into the mountains in search of enlightenment), are about putting people in as close to a primal state as possible: far away from society and its norms, alone in remote landscapes where there's very little to hide or obscure their true natures, and almost nobody to answer to except for each other or maybe God. A good western can be as simple as "these three people want to kill each other for gold," and I like that about them, and I think it's really cool that The Mandalorian is going that route when I know there must be unimaginable pressure from the fans to make it a deep dive into every stupid corner of the EU and include every character who ever got mentioned in the Japanese release of Rogue Podracer for the N-Gage.
I think what I like most is when this show disguises the fact that it's a show and seems a bit bigger. Between the alien fight club planet and the backwater village I bought into it a lot more than when Mando went to Tatooine last season and nobody was home.
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It makes sense that Boba Fett wouldn't know about a manual override in that case. A society like Mandos would definitely put stuff like that on their gear to screw with theives
It would definitely make the whole "noble self sacrifice" thing easier if you can slap your buddy on the back to send him flying off so you can make your last stand and buy them time.
I do like the "Be sure to mention I wasn't the one that broke it" line.
On the other hand, I think the Marshal could see that the armor was more trouble than it was worth at that point. It drew in an actual Mandalorian in full-on beskar, and he was fortunate that Mando was willing to negotiate for the armor. And this is a town so out-of-the-way that it literally wasn't even on a map, on a planet acknowledge as the ass-end of civilized space. The Marshal is also clearly badass enough that handle most conventional issues, which should be enough now that Tusken Raiders have backed off, the dragon is dead, and the former mining security thugs are dead.
It kinda seemed like the fighters had personal shields on to draw the fight out; real boxing puts gloves on the fighters because otherwise fights are too short (knocking somebody out with a fist is easier than with a big padded glove). Alternatively, they just had the vibro-axes turned down to bludgeon instead of chop, for the same reason. It's Star Wars, not Game of Thrones; bloodlessly shooting or stabbing somebody is just fine, but bloody dismemberment is not an option.
They just seemed like local Star Wars wildlife to me. The Mando was clearly on a heavily-populated world and those lit pathways seemed built explicitly to keep the critters at bay, so maybe it's one of those rare cases of the live-action material introducing a new critter instead of just dredging up something from the background of the OT.
I was assuming local breed of Jawa, up until the end of that scene, anyway.
Unless Jawas are salvaging more than old tech, anyway. I don't suppose many people would want to go to an organ mongering Jawa for replacement parts.
Oh, I get that they don't want gratuitous blood, and yeah, there seemed to be personal shields or some kind of blunt impact effect from the axes. That's why I suggested mauls. Or kanabo. Or some weird cultural weapon. Similar effect, without the "yeah, they're massive axes that don't cut anything".
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Just.. inject that western into my veins!
... The Child is going to be the scariest bounty hunter with a heart in the galaxy.
Considering that the two people who have triggered the flaw are a mandalorian elite bounty hunter (who would be intimately familiar with the gear) and a jedi (guided by the force) the flaw would not have to be obvious.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
I mean, if there's any place to do it...
You misspelled “blind smuggler”.
I mean, giving them the entire MCU seems like a good way to be able to get to do whatever you want.
Good:
- Amy Sedaris acting like a recurring character
- The marshal’s speeder being made from old pod racer parts
- Very strong 70s post-Leone western vibes
Bad:
- The sets looked really staged, no diagetics really make things look artificial
- Yet another mostly throwaway episode
- Very little kid yoda
- No mention of the main story at all
- Pascal’s flat line readings seem like they’re being phoned in
The Olyphant:
Grade: B-
Relevant:
To your bad:
Main story specifically mentioned when the Mando tells Amy Sedaris about it.
IMO just enough kid yoda considering the episode wasn't about them.
After ROS I couldn't be any less enthusiastic about future movies.
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Neither is Disney apparently.
I know its a trope to have an in character video pointing out tropes, but I fucking loved this video.
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Was it though?
It was a fun episode, no doubt, but it was mostly a standalone that didn’t advance anything from last season at all. A really weird pick for an opener, by my reckoning. Television writing usually has a structural rhythm, and this was counter to just about everything in the book.
Considering the implications of last season’s ending, this was a really underwhelming direction to set the tone for the season to go in.
it established that mando needs to find other mandos to accomplish his quest. he gets a lead that takes him to tatooine, which, ok that was silly but they needed to have him get the boba armor for some payoff later. it also gave us a chance to see that this isn't just going to be about the dark saber and yoda people. And it kept me engaged the whole time with the interaction between the sand people, mando, and marshall.
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Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Do what the show tells you to do and treat it like the next chapter in the story.
It told us that to accomplish the quest that was set forth at the finale of last season, Mando plans to find other Mandalorians. It also established that this is not going to be an easy first step of his quest... other Mandalorians are not known even to Mando, and that even people who are convinced they know a Mandalorian may just be hearing rumors of someone in Beskar armor or whatnot. Plus, as a relatively casual Star Wars fan (compared to most of y'all here I bet), I'm pretty intrigued to see what happens when Mando meets others, I could see that opening up a whole bunch of new things.
The episode was a nice return to the more "casual" (so to speak) activities that Mando does and we get to see as compared to the bigger explosions and whatnot from the finale.
I really liked the episode and thought it was a nice Season 2 opener. It kinda sounds like maybe you just had expectations based on what shows "normally" do, and this went counter to those?
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To the bolded you're absolutely right, I'm just not sure that's a bad thing.
The thing is, I definitely agree there is for sure a time to break rules. This however didn’t seem so much like a defying of norms for some appeal to better artist merit, though. It just seems like more indication that this isn’t going to be a show super concerned with the pace of things, something I find strange in a prestige drama with small episode orders.
There’s a lot going on like that in this show, honestly. The production budget and casting are A+ prestige-level, but the dialogue and stories are, like, Hercules & Xena levels of charmin-soft toothlessness.
I like that the show is never too constrained by the overall story, but still advances it with every episode.
It's definitely a style I can see not working for everyone, but I love Mando going someplace and having to do an unrelated task to get the info he wants before moving on. This one did miss the last part, but when the overarching story takes precedent it ruins an episode just being a good story at times.
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I'm kind of okay with that as well because it's Star Wars. If it was trying to be a prestige drama with incredibly smart toothy dialogue I think it would end up feeling jarring considering the universe it's set in.
I think I get what you're saying though, it does feel like a show that despite an apparently fantastic production budget and great casting doesn't feel at all concerned with getting everything done at a breakneck pace. But as long as the episodes keep making me grin from ear to ear I'm totally ok with that.
This is what I thought the show was going to be before they revealed Boda and I was sold anyway. I thought it was just going to be 'Mandalorian is a merc and gets caught up in hijinks'.
I'm all for tying it in to Rebels/Clone Wars with Boda and other characters giving it an overarching plot, but I'm certainly glad they're sticking with the premise that that isn't what this show fundamentally is. He's a mercenary, and does mercenary work to pay his way around.
Also, I disagree anyway that this wasn't involved in the overarching plot. At the end of the last season, he was told to get Boda back to his people. This episode, he's told a Mandalorian on Tatooine might be able to help him. The story takes a different direction when it turns out that Mandalorian is obviously dead, and he instead decides to try to get the armour away from a non-Mandalorian, and does a job to do that. Then surprise! That Mandalorian isn't dead (arguments on Boba Fetts status as a Mandalorian at this point aren't helpful - it's shown in this episode that wearing the armour, to any non-Mandalorian, makes people think you are one, so Boba Fett was who he went to see).
Certainly looked to me like they bookended a mercanary work episode with the overarching plot. Was it the right choice for the season opener? I certainly want to see a lot more of this, so I can't say it was the wrong choice.
I was thoroughly entertained.
I think there's room for TV that just gives you The Good Shit right here and right now without demanding you sign a blood pact or a cellphone contract. That's how most TV used to be! And a lot of that TV was actually pretty good! I think, 20 years after "24", the art of telling tight, disciplined, coherent stories with a beginning, middle, and satisfying end in under one hour was on the verge of becoming a lost art and I'm really glad that The Mandalorian has kept the flame alive.
I love that the show has made an aesthetic out of stripped-down simplicity. Instead of stories weighed down by bloated supporting casts, multiple concurrent arcs, or too much fiddly excess detail, it delivers clean, spare stories where three or maybe four sharply-drawn characters collide on screen, there's some kind of conflict, and the conflict is resolved and paid off as we learn another small nugget about our main character or the world he lives in.
By not ballasting the storytelling with all the extra shit that modern TV has come to demand, there's suddenly way less obstruction between me the viewer and the emotional core of the story. And it turns out that without all that busywork obscuring the theme and the central conflicts, I can still tap into that deep well of filmmaking emotion that the original movies brought out in me. I'm not a withered husk after all! I can feel things and care about the fate of a puppet! I really like that.
It also reinforces the Western vibe, for me. Deadwood aside, Westerns aren't where you go for lots of rapid-fire repartee or big casts of characters joined by complicated social webs of motivation. Westerns, like other stories defined by landscape (sea stories, or the myths from various religions where people journey into the mountains in search of enlightenment), are about putting people in as close to a primal state as possible: far away from society and its norms, alone in remote landscapes where there's very little to hide or obscure their true natures, and almost nobody to answer to except for each other or maybe God. A good western can be as simple as "these three people want to kill each other for gold," and I like that about them, and I think it's really cool that The Mandalorian is going that route when I know there must be unimaginable pressure from the fans to make it a deep dive into every stupid corner of the EU and include every character who ever got mentioned in the Japanese release of Rogue Podracer for the N-Gage.