Wanted to post some of my quick thoughts about "The Mandalorian" now that the first season is complete (and now that I've 1) caught up and 2) have time post-holidays to think about it).
*DISCLAIMER*
I don't have Disney+ and saw the season via a friend, so I don't have any reference of other original programming made specifically for Disney+
While I consider myself a pretty substantial SW nerd, I don't delve very far from the movies: I've read some of the older books (that are no longer canon), I've seen a lot of the "Clone Wars" and "Rebels" series (though now "Resistance"), and of course I've seen all of the movies (all on the big screen; all by A NEW HOPE on the big screen in initial release w/EMPIRE being my first "big boy" movie in a theater my parents took me to). So I'm familiar with the universe more than, say, my parents but not as fanatical as fans who read all the comics and books and whatnot (like my older son who's read a lot more of the more recent novels).
Now that that's outta the way...
One thing that
really sticks out are the production values of this series. I love when I'm watching a movie, and you can see nearly every penny of budget on the screen: that's "The Mandalorian." The sets, props, costumes, effects, etc. look incredible for 'tv,' and if this is what Disney is investing fans are going to be stoked going forward (and I can't wait to see what they do with their Marvel series). This series looks incredible, with very few moments of shady CGI that take me out of the moment. Well done to the practical effects crew that has great makeup and costume work, as well as the CGI artists who make those space scenes and huge moments look mostly believable. With each episode I kept waiting for the "cheap" ep. where it was obvious they were saving budget for the grand finale, but there never was one for the most part. I was continually impressed all the way through!
The casting was also strong, if not inspired. Pedro Pascal is the perfect actor for the title role: he does a great job balancing the 'bad ass old west gunslinger' with 'of course I have good character and ideals and will chose to do the right thing when necessary.' I love that with very few exceptions I have no clue if I'm actually watching Pascal or his stunt double: they're seamlessly blended on screen. And the side characters are often a highlight as well: often leaving me wanting more (which is 100% exactly what you want in your TV series side characters: to not over-use them where the audience grows tired or bored or...gods forbid...outright grows to dislike). I never would've dreamed Nick Nolte would RULE in a SW role, but by Chapter 7 I found myself genuinely upset that his character
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. That character was great in every way it needed to be, and made for a strong compare/contrast to Mando throughout. Gina Carano might have the "co-star MVP" title who also makes for a great compare/contrast character: similar to Mando in many ways, different and antagonistic other times. I was happy when Mando went back to seek her help, as I was really hoping her roles wasn't a one-and-done episode character.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the great Werner Herzog! I'm a big fan of his work as mainly a director (from his awesome documentaries about quirky subjects, to his older stuff with the great Klaus Kinski collaborations), and I can listen to his almost insane-sounding, always entertaining (and often insightful) rantings all day. He certainly didn't disappoint in a role that I thought would've been the 'Big Bad' of Season 1 before the end-of-season reveal. Herzog isn't the greatest of actors, to be fair, but he's good enough to portray an intelligent but dangerous Imperial.
I hadn't paid a ton of attention to behind the scenes news, and I had almost forgot that the series had cast Giancarlo Esposito until he showed up near the end of the series. He brings the gravitas to roles, displaying an incredibly cool yet scary sinister demeanor that upset me to only be able to enjoy him for an episode and change. Clearly the finale implies he'll have a significant role going further, and WOW do I look forward to more of him in the SW universe!
To me one of the more unfortunate 'distractions' as far as casting is Carl Weathers. Obviously I grew up in the days where Rocky was huge, and his role in PREDATOR is darn near perfect, and his turn in HAPPY GILMORE brought a great comedic sense to his body of work (we'll...um...forgive ACTION JACKSON as the craptacular-but-entertaining thing that it is). I was really looking forward to seeing him in a substantial role in "Mandalorian," only to quickly realize his acting isn't that great. He felt like a slog for a lot of the season to me, though a mostly harmless one. He felt more like "acting for a paycheck" vs "acting because I dig the role," and in a weaker series he could've derailed things quickly down the stretch. Luckily everything else is so well done I can write this off as "well, it's Carl Weathers past his prime on a streaming series: what are ya gonna do" and mostly ignore my issues.
The other thing "The Mandalorian" excels in is its delivery of fan service. Fan Service can be a good thing or a bad thing, and directors/writers/producers need to really ride that fine line between "fan service that fits the story/situation well" and not "fan service crammed into a moment just because." I won't drag the convo down on examples of bad fan service in some of the Disney produced SW films, but I'll just say "The Mandalorian" does a great job of delivering easter eggs that felt mostly organic. The opening sequence and its myriad of references to the Holiday Special were cheeky fun (right up to the 'Life Day' call out); character species types that are familiar to us (ughnauts; IG bounty hunter droids; Jawas NOT on TatooineP); references to places known to fans (like Beggar's Canyon); etc. Nothing felt too pandering or "dropping something in to elicit the 'oh I know that!' reaction."
And best of all, the series set up its own unique corner of the SW world, and built upon past lore a little bit to carve out its own place. I absolutely LOVED the Mandalorian collective on Navarro (and the whole 'Bounty Hunters Guild' planet in general), including the armorer and her amazing look. I really dug seeing the culture that existed on the planet that introduced Carano's character Cara: the mixture of the 'simple hunter/gatherer' type clan with the 'outlaw/war lord' types was a great idea. Of course, this all goes back to the producers taking the western/samurai thematic route. We've seen all these stories before, many times: but seeing them in the SW universe in this way makes total sense, and was executed really well. Movie nerds can call out several movies influencing each episode, but again the episodes take the inspiration and do their own thing w/out being on-the-nose or dumbly pandering.
And of course, there's 'baby yoda:' something discussed fairly ad nauseam on line that I won't get into here other than to say the producers taking LONE WOLF AND CUB themes and running wild with em (again, expertly). The Child is not only adorbs, but felt like it served an explicit purpose for the narrative from episode to episode (for the most part; every once in awhile it seemed a bit shoe-horned into episodes, but not necessarily in a way that drags anything down or bothered me). Disney choosing to (re)introduce the Jedi healing power in "The Mandalorian" via The Child was a good idea that I hope played well to fans that watched the Chapter 7 before seeing RISE OF SKYWALKER in theaters (not me, unfortunately; and I even heard after-the-fact that The Child could do that - meaning I was expecting that moment to come). I dig how this show is its own corner of the SW Universe, connected to the modern film series juuuuuuuust a little bit, but again didn't feel pandering or mashed in just to placate a studio mandate.
Overall, I was impressed with the season. I wasn't infatuated with it, and I suspect in a couple weeks I'll have mostly forgotten all about it (as much as one can with the internet's infatuation w/Baby Yoda). But everyone in my family really dug this show, from my 5 year old to my oldest son to my wife: that's fairly rare in our household. I look forward to Esposito's character arc going forward, and hope he's in Season 2 a significant amount. One thing that gives me slight concern is hearing talk of 'legacy' characters making appearances in Season 2: something I this is unnecessary, though after Season 1 I have faith that the writers/show runner/Producer can pull off well. There may be a lot of contention with SW fans about the latest movies, but I think we can all agree that Star Wars' future on Disney+ looks incredibly bright