The Mandalorian

[Abagadro]

Heh, I like that they are making some solid narrative episodes that are entertaining as hell but also throwing A LOT of Easter Egg bones to the nerds. They fucking used the ret-con of the Ice Cream Maker-Man for the beskar safe. I mean, come on. 

[Threash]

Heh, I like that they are making some solid narrative episodes that are entertaining as hell but also throwing A LOT of Easter Egg bones to the nerds. They fucking used the ret-con of the Ice Cream Maker-Man for the beskar safe. I mean, come on. 

There's also been at least two nods to the Holiday Special that i caught.

[jgsugden]

This show proves that the Star Wars universe is big enough to incorporate stories that are not focused on original trilogy characters or their offspring. You just have to, you know, have an actual plan rather than just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.

I think the second half of what you said is far more important the first half.  If DF and JF were given the keys to the Skywalker story, I'd be excited to see what they did with it.  If they did a series after Mandalorian about the bastard/clone Skywalker, I'd have high hopes that they had a good story to tell.

[Riggswolfe]

This show proves that the Star Wars universe is big enough to incorporate stories that are not focused on original trilogy characters or their offspring. You just have to, you know, have an actual plan rather than just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.

I think the second half of what you said is far more important the first half.  If DF and JF were given the keys to the Skywalker story, I'd be excited to see what they did with it.  If they did a series after Mandalorian about the bastard/clone Skywalker, I'd have high hopes that they had a good story to tell.

This is the type of story "A Star Wars story" should have been. Not "Here's how Han Solo got his pistol and his last name!!!"

[HaemishM]

Heh, I like that they are making some solid narrative episodes that are entertaining as hell but also throwing A LOT of Easter Egg bones to the nerds. They fucking used the ret-con of the Ice Cream Maker-Man for the beskar safe. I mean, come on. 

I know, I was laughing my ass off about that. I spotted it immediately because one my RL buddies had shown me the whole Willrow Hood thing. Favreau knows how to both produce good stories AND pander to nerds.

[Teleku]

Heh, I like that they are making some solid narrative episodes that are entertaining as hell but also throwing A LOT of Easter Egg bones to the nerds. They fucking used the ret-con of the Ice Cream Maker-Man for the beskar safe. I mean, come on. 

Yeah, exactly that.  Hoisted the black flag until I can get Disney+ to play nice with VPN's, and really like it.  It's the exact opposite of everything TLJ was, and really refreshing.  It's Starwars given the Marvel treatment, and proves Favreau just knows what he's doing.

They should just hand the entire IP over to Marvel at this point, declare it in universe (maybe have a wormhole connect the two galaxies somehow) and stop trying to treat it like it's own special thing.  They've fucked the whole thing up since getting it from Lucas (who also fucked the whole thing up), so just hand over creative control to that organization.

[Abagadro]

Heh, I like that they are making some solid narrative episodes that are entertaining as hell but also throwing A LOT of Easter Egg bones to the nerds. They fucking used the ret-con of the Ice Cream Maker-Man for the beskar safe. I mean, come on. 

There's also been at least two nods to the Holiday Special that i caught.

j

He mentioned Life Day in the first ep but I must have missed the other one.

[TheWalrus]

They should just hand the entire IP over to Marvel at this point, declare it in universe (maybe have a wormhole connect the two galaxies somehow) and stop trying to treat it like it's own special thing.  They've fucked the whole thing up since getting it from Lucas (who also fucked the whole thing up), so just hand over creative control to that organization.

This is the dumbest shit ever.

[Threash]

Heh, I like that they are making some solid narrative episodes that are entertaining as hell but also throwing A LOT of Easter Egg bones to the nerds. They fucking used the ret-con of the Ice Cream Maker-Man for the beskar safe. I mean, come on. 

There's also been at least two nods to the Holiday Special that i caught.

j

He mentioned Life Day in the first ep but I must have missed the other one.

The little pig guy telling him his ancestors used to ride mythosaurs.

[rattran]

His gun is also the one from cartoon Boba Fett from the Holiday Special I think.

[Khaldun]

What I love about the third episode is:

1) it opens the door for the character to be entangled in weird Mandalorian religious/cultist/political plots, which he is obviously a bit ambivalent about already (he didn't ask for those guys to show up; they showed up partly because he got the beskar and forged the armor)
2) it opens the door for a long plot arc about why the Imperial remnant wants Yoda baby that could lead us into all sorts of non-Jedi Force shenangians
3) It opens the door for "there are mercenaries and bounty hunters who don't do the Code thing and there are those that do". I'm seeing Nar Shadaa somewhere in the near-term future, aren't you?

[Polysorbate80]

I don’t think the Imperials want the kid.  The scientist absolutely does want him alive (is he affiliated with the cloners?  My friend thinks so) but someone turned loose a whooooole bunch of bounty hunters with “kill on sight” orders and also paid in beskar.  See also: the Imperial guy saying “dead....just as good” over Mr. Science’s protests.

[Khaldun]

Werner Herzog's character at the least *cares* about the kid being dead/out of action for some overwhelming reason. Given how valuable and motivating beskar seems to be (and how expensive paying off an entire army of bounty hunters would be in turn) the mystery of "why does this matter so much" is very juicy and a plot engine that can go on for a while. It can't just be "because Force powers!" given that at this very moment (we presume) Luke Skywalker is starting up his earliest attempts to revitalize the Jedi Order.

[Riggswolfe]

Werner Herzog's character at the least *cares* about the kid being dead/out of action for some overwhelming reason. Given how valuable and motivating beskar seems to be (and how expensive paying off an entire army of bounty hunters would be in turn) the mystery of "why does this matter so much" is very juicy and a plot engine that can go on for a while. It can't just be "because Force powers!" given that at this very moment (we presume) Luke Skywalker is starting up his earliest attempts to revitalize the Jedi Order.

I wouldn't say he wants him dead so much as there is something "inside" the kid he wants and he is just as happy to get it regardless of what it does to the kid. If I had to guess I'd say it's midichlorians or something else related to the Force. I hope they never use the M-word in this show though.

[Khaldun]

If anybody anywhere in Star Wars ever mentions midichlorians again except to snort in derision as if the weirdos in the Jedi Order who thought that were the equivalent of anti-vaxxer nuts, the whole franchise is dead to me.

[Draegan]

This show is amazingly good, and does a great job of making it feel local and not so "over arching the galaxy is in peril" type of thing. If Solo had this feel it would of been a much better movie and I loved Solo.

As for the new movies, if they are going to start a new series of movies and do the Marvel treatment of it (stand alones that attached and built of the Avengers backbone), they will have to make it a big story with force users and galactic storylines. Star Wars is as much about the ships and weapons and the force as it is about the characters.

If they do it Marvel style and not just Episode 1-9 again, they have a lot of room to do stand alone movies that also add to the story and background. I love this approach. I have Disney is smart enough to get it done. They really need someone to create a story and a loose plot and steer the damn thing.

Also put it 1000 years in the past or future.

[jgsugden]

Episode 4 is also very good.  It may be my least favorite so far, but daaaaaamn.

[Cyrrex]

Fuck me, but I love this.  It’s like what I have wanted out of Star Wars forever, but would never have been possible before now.  Baby Yoda is possibly the best thing ever and they are going to sell roughly a trillion dolls if they ever come out.  And Mando is perfect.  I wonder if Pedro is actually under all that Beskar.  I appreciate that they have kept enough of the lore from the EU and other places to keep a nerd like me happy.  Favreau fucking nailed the Mandalorian thing.

Also....the score is fantastic.  I did not think so initially, but I completely changed my mind.  It is already more memorable than any of the last several movies.

[Brolan]

Yes, the music during the end credits of episode 4 is of cinematic quality.  I didn't listen to the very end of the other episodes so I'm not sure if that is norm or not.

They definitely keep hitting the ball out of the park.

[jgsugden]

I'll be intrigued by where the story goes.  It feels like they've written themselves towars a corner that would be hard to avoid without apparent contivance, but I have a lot of confidence in the fols involved...

[Khaldun]

Episode 4 was my least favorite because the homage was just too direct: the Magnificent 2.

The series structure so far is basically The Fugitive/The Incredible Hulk etc.--dude wanders from town to town, he's not entirely a good guy in the sense that he brings trouble with him but he also solves trouble as he goes. That's fine and fun but ep 4 showcased a thing they're going to have to do: he's eventually going to have to de-helm and stay de-helmed (mostly). I think they've already hinted at how they're gonna play it: he's not *really* a Mandolorian, but an adoptee. I'm guessing at some point the heat on him and Baby Yoda is such that he goes 'home' and has to decide what he's gonna do; that's going to lead to him taking the helm off/to him getting Worf-discommodated. Something like that. Because eventually the Lone Wolf and Cub/Fugitive plot structure is going to wear out its welcome.

[rattran]

Episode 4 was my least favorite because the homage was just too direct: the Magnificent 2.

The series structure so far is basically The Fugitive/The Incredible Hulk etc.--dude wanders from town to town, he's not entirely a good guy in the sense that he brings trouble with him but he also solves trouble as he goes. That's fine and fun but ep 4 showcased a thing they're going to have to do: he's eventually going to have to de-helm and stay de-helmed (mostly). I think they've already hinted at how they're gonna play it: he's not *really* a Mandolorian, but an adoptee. I'm guessing at some point the heat on him and Baby Yoda is such that he goes 'home' and has to decide what he's gonna do; that's going to lead to him taking the helm off/to him getting Worf-discommodated. Something like that. Because eventually the Lone Wolf and Cub/Fugitive plot structure is going to wear out its welcome.

I disagree entirely, I think they could keep it going in lots of ways, and removing his helmet would be a let down. I think the Lone Wolf and Cub thing has lots and lots of legs. Plus, being a foundling he's as Mandalorian as anyone else.

[HaemishM]

I get the idea that being a Mandalorian isn't a racial thing so much as a discipline - you don't have to be BORN into it, but you do have to follow its precepts.

"Stop touching things."

* Reaches for shiny red button *

I fucking love Baby Yoda.

[Velorath]

Because eventually the Lone Wolf and Cub/Fugitive plot structure is going to wear out its welcome.

I'd say it's a story template that has typically shown a lot of longevity. If anything, with a setting like Star Wars where you've got a galaxy to work with and the characters are wandering from planet to planet rather than just from town to town, the diversity they have to work with there could allow this show to go on for a long time if they don't have a finite story they're working through right now. Not every episode needs to follow the same story structure every week of helping someone out and then having to move on when a bounty hunter shows up.

[Abagadro]

If this first season doesn't have a three-way extended Mexican stand-off over Baby Yoda I will be disappointed, if not outright pissed.  They've brought a tiny bit of Leone into this but they need to fully commit.

[Cyrrex]

The idea that Favreau copies the shit out of whatever Western stuff is completely fine with me.  Give me 7 seasons of whatever the hell it is we have just seen.

[Riggswolfe]

I wonder if it'll mostly stick to just the Mandalorian or if it'll ever become more of an ensemble. I half expected Gina Carano's character to travel with him or something.

[HaemishM]

I really want to see Gina Carano be a series regular.

[Brolan]

I wonder if it'll mostly stick to just the Mandalorian or if it'll ever become more of an ensemble. I half expected Gina Carano's character to travel with him or something.

Yes, that's what I thought too.  He starts solo but then picks up a kid and a partner.  Then a couple of comic relief characters and then finally a real cause to fight for.

[Cyrrex]

I was surprised that Gina parted ways with Mando, and I half expect to see her again.

I was also surprised to find that I find the heavier version of Gina to be kinda hot anyway.

[Threash]

I was hoping for more IG 11 myself. Seems a bit far fetched at this point, but I guess he's a droid so anything is possible.

[Surlyboi]

I was surprised that Gina parted ways with Mando, and I half expect to see her again.

I was also surprised to find that I find the heavier version of Gina to be kinda hot anyway.

Any Gina Carano is hot. She even made that ridiculous flat top mullet work in Deadpool. That said, I’m hoping for an ensemble by the end of this too. I also kinda want to know where the widow Annie Oakley learned how to shoot.

[jgsugden]

There are enough open questions about the episode 4 characters that I expect to see them return before season's end.

I expect we'll see the Mandalorian's face sometime soon, but he will not show it to another person until the end when he lays down his weapons for the last time.

[Trippy]

I think the scene where the Mandalorian asks the herder / mechanic to join him as a crew member foreshadows what the show could be for season two now that it's been renewed. I.e. following along similar samurai/ronin/Western themes as this sesason it could become The Seven Samurai / Magnificent Seven.

As for Gina's character, IMDB has potential spoilers on whether or not she'll be back, follow the link at your own spoilage:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8111088/fullcredits

[Riggswolfe]

Well, the series trailers revealed (spoilered just to be super cautious):