The Mandalorian | March 2023 for S3

[Chicago]

I wish the trilogy was as entertaining as this show 

[Darth Lehnsherr]

Spoiler

So one major revalation tonight was how Jango Fett was a foundling as in the EU Jango Fett (and by extension Boba) were considered Mandalorians but when TCW introduced its version of Mandalore George Lucas was adamant that the Fetts weren't Mandalorian which is why Prime Minister Almec has that line in S2 about how Jango was just a common bounty hunter.

 

Seems this episode confirms that wasn't the case after all though technically as Jango was only a foundling Almec was telling the truth.....from a certain point of view.

 

I'm sure Filoni was ok with this "slight" retconing of the Fetts.

 

[4815162342]

Seems to me that this episode laid the groundwork for a surprise appearance in the finale from whomever got the Force sonar ping.

 

[lorddemaxus]

Oh wow, Robert Rodriguez directed this. No wonder the action in this episode is on a level above the previous episodes and there's some actual flair to it. Pretty decent episode. Hope they keep getting experienced action directors for this show.

[Knights of Ren]

Decent episode although it felt rushed.  Setting up for a good finale though.  Not a fan of Robert Rodriguez directing style. 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Knights of Ren

[Knights of Ren]

Also did anybody feel like they were watching a fan film at times with this episode?  Was the budget really low or what?  Something felt off compared to the rest of the season as far as production quality. 

[Cap]

7 minutes ago, Knights of Ren said:

Also did anybody feel like they were watching a fan film at times with this episode?  Was the budget really low or what?  Something felt off compared to the rest of the season as far as production quality. 

I won’t lie, considering Robert directed this, this comment is deliciously ironic 

[Lucas]

9 minutes ago, Knights of Ren said:

Also did anybody feel like they were watching a fan film at times with this episode?  Was the budget really low or what?  Something felt off compared to the rest of the season as far as production quality. 

This is exactly what it felt like lol, but it was my favorite of the season.

[lorddemaxus]

5 minutes ago, Knights of Ren said:

Also did anybody feel like they were watching a fan film at times with this episode?  Was the budget really low or what?  Something felt off compared to the rest of the season as far as production quality. 

This is how I felt with the episode before this one lol. I did notice that the lighting this episode was a lot brighter and less cinematic than the previous episodes, which might give that feeling.

[Cap]

25 minutes ago, lorddemaxus said:

This is how I felt with the episode before this one lol. I did notice that the lighting this episode was a lot brighter and less cinematic than the previous episodes, which might give that feeling.

It was amazing. Action sequences in board daylight. What a novel concept. 

[Inceptionzq]

16 minutes ago, Knights of Ren said:

Also did anybody feel like they were watching a fan film at times with this episode?  Was the budget really low or what?  Something felt off compared to the rest of the season as far as production quality. 

The episode setting was basically just California for the most part. A while back, there were pictures of stormtroopers in California filming something, and funny enough, people thought it was for a fan film. It feels pretty jarring since the episode doesn’t do much to make it feel less “earthy”(which honestly is hard to do since it’s supposed to be a pretty barren and isolated place) and it’s a different style of SW. 

[Porthos]

5 hours ago, Darth Lehnsherr said:

  Reveal hidden contents

So one major revalation tonight was how Jango Fett was a foundling as in the EU Jango Fett (and by extension Boba) were considered Mandalorians but when TCW introduced its version of Mandalore George Lucas was adamant that the Fetts weren't Mandalorian which is why Prime Minister Almec has that line in S2 about how Jango was just a common bounty hunter.

 

Seems this episode confirms that wasn't the case after all though technically as Jango was only a foundling Almec was telling the truth.....from a certain point of view.

 

I'm sure Filoni was ok with this "slight" retconing of the Fetts.

 

Spoiler

On the other hand, the possibility that Almec was lying/prejudiced has been hinted at as a possibility for years now from various SW execs.

 

So if it is a retcon, it's not exactly a recent development, as they left that door conspicuously open.

 

[Porthos]

Spoiler

 

Where's the lie? 

 

[George Parr]

Pretty good episode. Didn't expect to get Tython this early, and I don't think it looked all that impressive, but it wasn't all that relevant to the story anyway.

 

 

Don't care all that much about Boba Fett getting involved, though Temuera Morrison was pretty great in the role, as usual. The scenes with Moff Gideon were also pretty cool.

Really didn't expect the Razorcrest getting blown up. That was quite the surprise.

Now onto a small rant

I'm not a fan of the continuous use of "everyone and their mother now drop 50 stormtroopers in 5 seconds" action sequences, it really gets tiresome and basically removes any feel of a possible threat when they are around. You just know that they will get taken down in droves without getting remotely close to accomplishing anything. There's simply a pretty big disconnect between stormtroopers in the OT and stromtroopers in everything that followed. Back then the heroes either were on a constant run from them, or succeeded due to very unique circumstances (e.g. Ewoks representing the Vietcong and a vicious guerilla war in terrain that they know far better than the enemy does), nowadays they are entirely useless.

And I really really hope that they stay as far away as possible from the ridiculous idea of bringing back Mace Windu as the Jedi who hears Grogu. Granted, that scenario is about as far-fetched as it gets, but at this point you really don't know. The show - and Star Wars in general - already has quite the issue with dead characters returning. At this stage they have diminished death way too much, Just because a side-character was somewhat popular doesn't mean you need to bring him or her back all the time. There was no point of bringing back Boba Fett in the old EU, there is no real point now. It's also pretty weird to see Boba in the movies and Boba in everything else. The former is a cool-looking bounty hunter who doesn't do much, the latter is some sort of super-hero. There was no point of bringing back Maul either. Palpatine maybe could have worked as a general theme, but they didn't really do it in a way that worked well enough. Fennec is another case of "dead but not dead", though at least they sort of hinted at that right away.

Which isn't to say that there weren't occasionally story-elements including those characters that were interesting, but the effort could just as well have been spend on developing new characters who capture the imaginations.

I'm also not sure if I like the "lets bail a villain / ex-whatever out of prison because we need him for a job" storyline. It can work out, but way too often it just feels useless. Reminds me of all the "we really need to get the disgraced former super-soldier/agent to get this very important mission done, because we definately don't have one with the necessary skills among our very numerous current roster of highly-trained special forces" B-level action movies.
In this particular case it could work out, because you can reasonably suggest that Mando doesn't have the resources to track the Imperials on his own, or get the necessary help from the New Republic, but it better be done in a sound way.

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by George Parr

[Porthos]

A little easter egg in the latest episode for the Old School EU/Legends fans out there [you know who you are]:

 

Spoiler

 

That would be referring to one Jaster Mereel and his Legends backstory, almost to a tee.

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by Porthos

[lorddemaxus]

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by lorddemaxus

[elcaballero]

10 hours ago, Inceptionzq said:

The episode setting was basically just California for the most part. A while back, there were pictures of stormtroopers in California filming something, and funny enough, people thought it was for a fan film. It feels pretty jarring since the episode doesn’t do much to make it feel less “earthy”(which honestly is hard to do since it’s supposed to be a pretty barren and isolated place) and it’s a different style of SW. 

There were definitely times when I felt like a could squint and see LA, haha.

[elcaballero]

Spoiler

Hey, Dark Troopers. Nice to see them back. 

 

This episode went really by really quick. I actually thought the cinematography looked really good, if you can ignore the rather familiar surroundings. Hey, if we can do it for the Redwoods, we should be able to do it here, right?

 

A couple of nitpicks, as per usual:  I think they could have come up with a slightly more natural way for Mando to lose his jetpack. "After you put down the jetpack." Lol. Come on Mando, pick it up! It will definitely be useful later!

 

Also, while I do think Boba Fett was awesome, I also think that Tamuera is too old for role. Obviously there is a pretty easy explanation they can make for it , but, I'm curious, has there been anything officially stated?

 

8 hours ago, George Parr said:

Pretty good episode. Didn't expect to get Tython this early, and I don't think it looked all that impressive, but it wasn't all that relevant to the story anyway.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Don't care all that much about Boba Fett getting involved, though Temuera Morrison was pretty great in the role, as usual. The scenes with Moff Gideon were also pretty cool.

Really didn't expect the Razorcrest getting blown up. That was quite the surprise.

Now onto a small rant

I'm not a fan of the continuous use of "everyone and their mother now drop 50 stormtroopers in 5 seconds" action sequences, it really gets tiresome and basically removes any feel of a possible threat when they are around. You just know that they will get taken down in droves without getting remotely close to accomplishing anything. There's simply a pretty big disconnect between stormtroopers in the OT and stromtroopers in everything that followed. Back then the heroes either were on a constant run from them, or succeeded due to very unique circumstances (e.g. Ewoks representing the Vietcong and a vicious guerilla war in terrain that they know far better than the enemy does), nowadays they are entirely useless.

And I really really hope that they stay as far away as possible from the ridiculous idea of bringing back Mace Windu as the Jedi who hears Grogu. Granted, that scenario is about as far-fetched as it gets, but at this point you really don't know. The show - and Star Wars in general - already has quite the issue with dead characters returning. At this stage they have diminished death way too much, Just because a side-character was somewhat popular doesn't mean you need to bring him or her back all the time. There was no point of bringing back Boba Fett in the old EU, there is no real point now. It's also pretty weird to see Boba in the movies and Boba in everything else. The former is a cool-looking bounty hunter who doesn't do much, the latter is some sort of super-hero. There was no point of bringing back Maul either. Palpatine maybe could have worked as a general theme, but they didn't really do it in a way that worked well enough. Fennec is another case of "dead but not dead", though at least they sort of hinted at that right away.

Which isn't to say that there weren't occasionally story-elements including those characters that were interesting, but the effort could just as well have been spend on developing new characters who capture the imaginations.

I'm also not sure if I like the "lets bail a villain / ex-whatever out of prison because we need him for a job" storyline. It can work out, but way too often it just feels useless. Reminds me of all the "we really need to get the disgraced former super-soldier/agent to get this very important mission done, because we definately don't have one with the necessary skills among our very numerous current roster of highly-trained special forces" B-level action movies.
In this particular case it could work out, because you can reasonably suggest that Mando doesn't have the resources to track the Imperials on his own, or get the necessary help from the New Republic, but it better be done in a sound way.

 

Spoiler

The Imps do seem to be good at hitting Mando, but unfortunately for them, he has Beskar. 

[cax16]

Good episode! 

[FilmFincher]

I absolutely love Robert Rodriguez but I agree with @Knights of Ren .

The whole battling stormtroopers section felt like a fan film. As soon as the stormtroopers landed it looked/felt like a Youtube video (similar to a CorridorDigital/RackaRacka type). The way they also incorporated the CG elements felt that way.

That's not to say the action wasn't good (the visual style just felt cheap),

Spoiler

 

The stuff with Boba I thought was quite well done, especially when he gets his armour on. I never particularly cared for the character but he's pretty cool in this. 

 

Pace was a little weird, I thought the dialogue was a bit awkwardly handled as well, some banter doesn't land. 

 

I was bothered by the Mando/Jetpack thing, and the attempts to grab Baby Yoda felt like one too many. 

 

Last 5 mins was stellar stuff. Sets up for a good finale. The moment with the ball was really nice. 

Those Empire interiors seem to be the chefs kiss when it comes to lighting on this show. 

 

 

Overall I think it's one of the weaker ones of the season, still enjoyable and the actual content on paper is interesting but the execution was odd for me, didn't land that hard.