The Mandalorian | March 2023 for S3

[Inceptionzq]

9 hours ago, Porthos said:

As I'm processing things a bit now...

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I do find it... curious that the New Republic is starting to take an interest in Mando.  Captain Teva didn't buy that explanation for a moment, but didn't want to press things.

 

Speaking of which, that they brought back Paul Sun-Hyung Lee so quickly is pointing to a larger role for the character and the New Republic specifically.  

 

Curious about this side of the angle, as I wasn't quite expecting it.  Not that I didn't expect more of the NR, but I thought it might be from the other direction (Mando seeking out their help, not them tracking him).

 

...

 

Hmmm...  On the trail of Moff Gideon themselves?  Or just seeing what sort of trouble Mando is stirring up in the Outer Rim.

 

Either way, the importance of the NR just shot up a peg or two in this series.  And I'm not entirely convinced as an ally of Din Djarin. 

 

Spoiler

I think it’s more about a trail of the Empire. That’s why Teva says that they don’t believe it on the Core Worlds.

 

[Porthos]

6 minutes ago, Inceptionzq said:

  Hide contents

I think it’s more about a trail of the Empire. That’s why Teva says that they don’t believe it on the Core Worlds.

 

Spoiler

Gee, where have I heard that before? 

 

(setting up part of the situation where the New Republic has its head in the sand regarding the emerging First Order, leading to backchannel support for the emerging Resistance)

[Inceptionzq]

5 minutes ago, Porthos said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Gee, where have I heard that before? 

 

(setting up part of the situation where the New Republic has its head in the sand regarding the emerging First Order, leading to backchannel support for the emerging Resistance)

Exactly what I thought of

[4815162342]

What I hope we figure out by the close of this season is whether Gideon is aligned with the First Order, being an agent of theirs doing dirty work while the FO builds, or is purely out for himself in a plan to install a reborn Empire on his terms with his own innovations.

 

Spoiler

 

The stuff we learned this episode does lean towards the former, with the Snoke/Palpy stuff from Episode 9 combined with the need for experimentation on midichlorian transfusions.

 

It could be that Baby Yoda was one of Palpy's ideas to fully refresh himself, before finally settling on the goofball nonsense that was his plan in Episode 9

 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by 4815162342

[Menor the Destroyer]

1 hour ago, Knights of Ren said:

I think it’s because it was something new and exciting.  If that episode came out today I don’t think it would be poorly received per se, but also wouldn’t get nearly the praise.  I found it very meh. 

Well, by definition that episode can't come out today. It was the first one, and it did everything an intro episode should do well. Established the tone immediately, quickly immersed the viewer in the world, introduced several important characters, had a couple of excellent action sequences, ended with a tantalizing hook -- and did so with very efficient pacing. I think it's still one of the best-made episodes in the series so far. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Menor

[Porthos]

7 minutes ago, Menor said:

Well, by definition that episode can't come out today.

Yes, this.  Exactly this.

7 minutes ago, Menor said:

It was the first one, and it did everything an intro episode should do well. Established the tone immediately, quickly immersed the viewer in the world, introduced several important characters, had a couple of excellent action sequences, ended with a tantalizing hook -- and did so with very efficient pacing. 

And this as well.  All of this.

 

Establishing tone and compelling characters is hard.

 

Not to mention the added difficulty in having a main character who literally never shows their face. There the framing of shots and the directions given to the actor in how to sell their character matter so much more as one can't completely rely on the raw chemistry of some of the actors.    

 

The entire package coming together and gelling as well as it did?  Well at least some of that has to be Dave Filoni's doing in regards to direction in the first episode.  He didn't write the episode (that was Jon Favreau) but he's the one that shot it and so I think he deserves credit for it.

 

[Porthos]

(can't wait for the "Well, actually"''s to start )

[George Parr]

13 hours ago, Porthos said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Did think things were a bit too neat so glad to see the curveball in the middle of the episode.

 

Got some funky Mad Scientist shit going on here.  Gonna want to chew over it a bit.

 

Not as great as the last few episodes, and there was more than a bit of cheating going on with the timing of a few events.  But fairly typical for the genre, I suppose.

 

Overall though, a very nice episode, though the weakest of the season for me. Not bad, or even mediocre.  Just not quite at the heights of the first three.

 

Be curious to see just where this set up his headed, especially in retrospect.  Have a fair few obvious guesses, but it's less obvious implications I'm curious about.

Mhm, I thought it was at least the second best, only beaten by the first one.

 

Some elements were a bit average, but it made up for it in its best parts, and I just love the parts about the cloning and the references to the Death Troopers. That might also have to do with me caring far more about that kind of stuff and those sort of EU-connections than connections to Clone Wars or Rebels, which do little for me, though obviously quite a lot for others

Edited November 20, 2020 by George Parr

[Knights of Ren]

41 minutes ago, Porthos said:

(can't wait for the "Well, actually"''s to start )

Episode 13: The Citizen 

[Porthos]

13 minutes ago, George Parr said:

Mhm, I thought it was at least the second best, only beaten by the first one.

Points well taken.  Just shows that not every episode is gonna hit with all fans equally.

 

I'll admit my central complaint about the episode, which I'll keep to spoiler bars for now, is really nitpicky.  But it's also a kind of nitpicky thing that irks me unless an episode blows me away.

 

Not enough to say the episode was mediocre.  It was good.  Just not as great as some of the others for me, personally.

[Porthos]

4 minutes ago, Knights of Ren said:

Episode 13: The Citizen 

Yeeeeessss, a few folks have made that joke on Twitter (and elsewhere, presumably).  Along with "The Sorcerer" and "The Wizard".

 

"The Sorcerer" at least fits with the dialogue from Chap 8.  But this year they've been hammering home "Find the Jedi, FIND THE JEDI!!!" (said in my best "Kill the wabbit" voice), so I think having this episode be called that is thematically appropriate.

[FilmFincher]

12 hours ago, charlie Jatinder said:

Clone Wars going by IMDb ratings is very average in initial season, heck even in last season mid episodes seems awful but finale seems great.

 

Should I go through 133 episodes, because I really don't have the time, or I just read the Wiki page of Ahsoka.

Spoiler

 

I was also prompted to watch Clone Wars after last weeks episode but didn’t want to sit through the whole thing. 

I found this online which I’ve been using as a basis, it cuts it down to 69 episodes. (They’ve got an extra section for suggested but not necessary episodes as well) 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/4nrpri/so_you_want_to_watch_the_clone_wars_but_you_dont/

 

Clone Wars is generally structured in 3/4 episode standalone arcs and even with this guide I found some of them uninteresting or unnecessary.

 

So i’ve been using IMDB ratings on top of the guide to see which arcs I can probably skip. I’m pretty sure I skipped most of seasons 1+2.

 

Personally I’ve found mostly the clone trooper, Mandalorian, Nightsister, Maul arcs to be really worth watching. 

 

 

[FilmFincher]

I think the general directing and visual look of the show has improved a lot this season. I went back to watch Season 1 and it's a little generic in it's direction at times/going through the paces when it came to shots and set-ups (editing is a little choppy as well). There was also a larger amount of backlighting which makes everything look a little washed out at times/muddy (Nothing on the level of Solo but it's a bit much at times and I do generally love Greg Fraser). Some of those restrictions are probably down to working on 'The Volume' for the first time and getting to grips with everything. 

 

This season I can feel the directors hold on things a lot more, especially in Ep 1/3, the shots have real purpose (there's a few in Ep3 that could have been straight out of the sequel trilogy). The Empire settings in Ep3/4 have allowed for some real nice lighting, you're getting nice contrast, texture/depth in the image. They're real gorgeous interiors. 

 

For 2nd Unit directing they've brought on Sam Hargrave (Extraction) which is probably making a big difference for some of the feel. I imagine he's helping out on anything that's not a dialogue scene and handling the action scenes or the occasional chase/cockpit scene. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by FilmFincher

[Darth Lehnsherr]

13 hours ago, Porthos said:

As I'm processing things a bit now...

 

  Hide contents

I do find it... curious that the New Republic is starting to take an interest in Mando.  Captain Teva didn't buy that explanation for a moment, but didn't want to press things.

 

Speaking of which, that they brought back Paul Sun-Hyung Lee so quickly is pointing to a larger role for the character and the New Republic specifically.  

 

Curious about this side of the angle, as I wasn't quite expecting it.  Not that I didn't expect more of the NR, but I thought it might be from the other direction (Mando seeking out their help, not them tracking him).

 

...

 

Hmmm...  On the trail of Moff Gideon themselves?  Or just seeing what sort of trouble Mando is stirring up in the Outer Rim.

 

Either way, the importance of the NR just shot up a peg or two in this series.  And I'm not entirely convinced as an ally of Din Djarin. 

 

Spoiler

I also found it interesting where he said to Cara Dune how the New Republic back in the Core Worlds weren't really paying attention to what is happening in the Outer Rim. Perhaps we are seeing some complacency already kicking in which will eventually lead to them being totally unprepared for the First Order.

 

[Knights of Ren]

 Loving some of the potential ST connections/thread tie ups now confirmed with this episode.  That’s what I’m here most for at this point. 

[Cap]

I feel like the pilot of the Mandalorian was a classic throw back to the 1950s and 1960s serial westerns. I thought it was fine. But I won’t lie… I went from 0 to 180 in like 2.5 parasecs When I saw Baby Yoda.

[Menor the Destroyer]

Good episode. Things are moving along nicely now.

[Porthos]

Folks who know (or can guess) at some of my very long held beliefs about SW things can probably guess that I smiled quite a bit when in the latest episode

Spoiler

"M-count" was mentioned.

 

I have always (well, nearly always) found the freakout over midi-chlorians to be utterly hysterical.

 

Not just because that folks who freak out over it miss the flippin' point (it's one of the subtler signs that the Jedi are too ossified and rigid and looking at the Force all wrong) but it really does make sense inside the SW universe from what was established in the OT (that some people are stronger in the Force than others).

 

That Jon and Dave take that pseudo-scientific concept and dress it up in an even more hidebound/rigid way?  Well like I said, it made me smile. 

 

...

 

It was kinda like this smile:

 

  

 

but it was a smile nonetheless.  

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Porthos

[Menor the Destroyer]

21 minutes ago, Porthos said:

Folks who know (or can guess) at some of my very long held beliefs about SW things can probably guess that I smiled quite a bit when in the latest episode

  Reveal hidden contents

"M-count" was mentioned.

 

I have always (well, nearly always) found the freakout over midi-chlorians to be utterly hysterical.

 

Not just because that folks who freak out over it miss the flippin' point (it's one of the subtler signs that the Jedi are too ossified and rigid and looking at the Force all wrong) but it really does make sense inside the SW universe from what was established in the OT (that some people are stronger in the Force than others).

 

That Jon and Dave take that pseudo-scientific concept and dress it up in an even more hidebound/rigid way?  Well like I said, it made me smile. 

 

...

 

It was kinda like this smile:

 

  

 

but it was a smile nonetheless.  

 

Spoiler

Probably not surprising that I also loved that part. I never had a problem with midichlorians and it was nice to see them finally be acknowledged outside of prequel/TCW related material. Judging from the reviews of this episode, it appears people still don't understand midichlorians properly (a lot of "this shows the problem with turning the Force into a microbe"), which just has me shaking my head, but at least the vitriolic backlash seems to be over and people have mostly accepted them.

 

[elcaballero]

I know the budget for this is really high for a TV show, but even still, some of the sequences they've been able to pull off this season have been fantastic.