The Mandalorian

[Mogster]

1 hour ago, Benny said:

It's still a fun show. It's hardly getting a Nu Trek style battering in here.

It is fun, but the universe must be broken as I'm enjoying Picard more at the moment.

[Pob]

I’ve been really down on this season but I loved the latest episode. A great mix of action, some wider world-building and some stuff actually happened. 

[IcEBuRN]

I put the lack of people down to budget, and probably limitations to the Unreal Engine "stageCraft" set size. But that's a complete guess.

[Thor]

3 hours ago, Benny said:

It's still a fun show. It's hardly getting a Nu Trek style battering in here.

Oh the irony.  

[Ste_S]

I'm enjoying it mostly, however, it does feel as though Din's story was wrapped up at the end of season 2, and what we're getting now is a Marvel-esque setting up a Bo Katan show and a future Birth of the First Order style show. 

[Twinbee]

I’m still up and down on this season. First two are some of my favourite telly and I’ve rewatched loads. 
 

But you don’t realise how much the basic mission (protect Baby Yoda and deliver him home) drove things forward, and also made it fine for episodes that didn’t drive it forward. Like an episode of Quantum Leap or the A-team, or original Galactica. 
 

But now, Mando has looked for a robot (and failed), gone to find the lost land of Mandalore in order to be redeemed (found it and got redeemed in one episode), live in a cave with the other helmets, then not. 
 

It’s a shame, because there are bits in each episode which are bloody marvellous, but nothing as cohesive as any episodes in the first two series, IMO. 

[Phantoon]

Yeah, it's missing a through-line. You suddenly realise why Buffy always had a Big Bad when you see this, you know what it's driving towards even with multiple episodes that have nothing to do with the main arc.

 

Also makes something like Battlestar Galactica and Andor more impressive when it remains exciting without a clear arc.

[GwiDan]

25 minutes ago, Phantoon said:

Also makes something like Battlestar Galactica and Andor more impressive when it remains exciting without a clear arc.

What do you mean? They have a plan!

[Nicky]

the problem with this is, there's literally no point in Grogu.

[neoELITE]

3 hours ago, Nicky said:

the problem with this is, there's literally no point in Grogu.

 

Yet.

 

And the big bad

 

Spoiler

Returned. 

 

It's not as good as 1 and 2, I'd agree with that. 

[Phantoon]

6 hours ago, GwiDan said:

What do you mean? They have a plan!

The Cylons didn't reveal it until Season 4! Battlestar changed the status quo all of the time, and never felt like it was treading water, which isn't really the case here.

 

The Mandalorian is still good, but it's developed an unfortunate habit of undoing its story developments.

[Twinbee]

Carl Weathers doing town planning was like the episode of Acorn Antiques, where Victoria Wood is just pointing at a piece of paper and saying “if we take delivery of these antiques in the morning, we can take delivery of these other antiques in the afternoon.”

[Girth Certificate]

The Mandalorians definitely killed that R5 bot for betraying their location.

 

I found the ending really tense I thought the space-polis was going to get blasted. And he'd never get to go back to his sweet flyboy base on space-okinawa.

[Boothjan]

I'm one of the few who seems to be really enjoying this.  The latest episode was good - I like that they're building up to something after what was very much a 'chapter ending' at the end of S2.  New season, new story arc etc and as yet we don't know what it's building up to.

 

But the main highlight is without a doubt 

 

Spoiler

Zeb!!  Didn't he look ace??

 

I just feel that we're going to get a worthwhile conclusion to this next chapter of the show - it's no bad thing that so much has changed regarding the creed and the direction.

[Pob]

I'm surprised at the muted reaction for this episode tbh, I thought it was far and away the best this season. Had those season 1 action-adventure vibes with an actual story that was wound up in a single episode, mixed with some ongoing intrigue.

Spoiler

Things I enjoyed:

• the banging tune that accompanied the New Republic outpost
• Zeb, who I admit I didn't recognise, but I knew he was familiar. He was very well done.
• the 'life after the Empire' scene on Coruscant which was interesting in and of itself but also explained why no-one else would go to help Navarro
• The pirate ship with it's sweet livery and an actual big wheel for steering
• The aerial battle with some proper tactics and trackable action - this is what the show does best. I was nerding out at the pilots using the correct names for the targets. 
• The Mandalorians dropping into the hot zone. They went from a bunch of bozos on a beach back to looking cool again.
• The spooky ending with the Aliens homage. Again, a good mix of 'story of the week' with some wider plot advancement and build-up. That's been seriously lacking this season.

 

I really wish they'd drop the helmet obsession though. I thought that's what the armourer was leading up to at the end. I wonder now if it's a budgetary thing. Get the big names to phone in their lines, use interchangeable stunt performers to play the roles until the end of the time.

 

 

[SpagMasterSwift]

What I liked most about that episode I'm not 100% sure is correct but 

 

Spoiler

The pirate ship looked like one of the rebel ships from Rogue One,

Spoiler

that they use to push a Star Destroyer through the shield gate

, maybe called a Hammerhead, that had been repainted by somebody who is deep into playing X-Wing Miniatures. 

 

[Girth Certificate]

it's actually fairly different if you do an image search. It's a cool design. I'd buy a lego one.

 

Speaking of Lego, apparently a yet to be announced set has some big spoilers for the end of the series, so maybe one to try and avoid if you frequent lego leak sites as much as I do, which I'm sure loads of you do 

[Vulgar Monkey]

It actually reminded me more of some of the eventual First Order* designs, although I must admit I don't recall those very well as they were mostly fucking ugly.

 

*I think, anyway. I'm sure I've seen a low slung prow like that somewhere.

 

edit:

I'm probably thinking of an Eclipse-class dreadnaught, which is a bit bigger.

Might be a stylistic easter-egg of sorts from the art team?

[Pob]

5 minutes ago, Vulgar Monkey said:

I'm probably thinking of an Eclipse-class dreadnaught, which is a bit bigger.

 

 

Yeah, first thing I thought of too. Like a mini and more curvy version.

[Girth Certificate]

the best most memorable First Order variant was the AT-AT with a weird chin and knuckle feet on the front legs  

 

They need to introduce a Dog-alien who is a goodie. it's too racist to have them all pirates and organ smugglers and whatnot.

[Benny]

I think what I find so strange about the pirates, is that they are presented like stereotypical "Yar, ahoy mateys" pirates from our galaxy/planet, so they don't feel that they actually gel especially, even in the context of Star Wars.

 

There are of course already pirates in Star Wars, but the fact that these ones resemble something so close to silly existing depictions of them with all the trimmings is really odd.

 

It's not quite the same as the Mods in Pamphlet of Bobbins, Pet - but still.

[Girth Certificate]

I liked that, the fact that they are steering a spaceship which moves in 3 dimensions with a big fuckoff wheel* entertains me. I'd have gone the whole hog and had the Mandalorians swinging over from their own ship with laser ropes instead of fighting on the ground.

 

(personally I'd use a big fuckoff trackball)

 

 

Actually, the best bit was the drunk pirates shooting at those laughing jabbas palace muppets in the tree and then later them warning the Mandalorians that they were walking into an ambush. That was good stuff.

[Vulgar Monkey]

^ This, although I was hoping for a snippet of them openly mocking the pirates after their defeat. Pointing and laughing like they always do, the little gobshites.

[Benny]

I was trying to work out what the collective term of them would be. A Salacious of Crumbs?

[monkeydog]

4 hours ago, Benny said:

I think what I find so strange about the pirates, is that they are presented like stereotypical "Yar, ahoy mateys" pirates from our galaxy/planet, so they don't feel that they actually gel especially, even in the context of Star Wars.

 

They're Doctor Who villains, especially captain seaweed face.

[Uncle Mike]

I assumed he's Captain Seaweed face so as to provide connections to the Pirate of the Caribbean movies and we can expect a cross-over down the line.

[Chewylegs]

On 30/03/2023 at 12:16, Thor said:

Well I thought that was great, you bunch of sad-sacks!

Best episode yet!  The Mandalorians actually looked like they knew what they were doing in a fight too!

[Girth Certificate]

That’s not true. They were all about to die when someone turned up to save them by pure luck. Literally happened twice in the space of about 5 minutes!!!! 

 

caught in a crossfire like idiots and then pinned down from above also like idiots. 

[Chewylegs]

Just now, Girth Certificate said:

That’s not true. They were all about to die when someone turned up to save them by pure luck. Literally happened twice in the space of about 5 minutes!!!! They are shite

Naa they parachuted in like badasses, killed a load of pirates in various ways, gatling gunned down a load of them and then got saved by hammer and chisel armourer dudette.

 

[Lucas]

29 minutes ago, Girth Certificate said:

That’s not true. They were all about to die when someone turned up to save them by pure luck. Literally happened twice in the space of about 5 minutes!!!! 

 

caught in a crossfire like idiots and then pinned down from above also like idiots. 

completely ignoring the fact they they were wearing jet packs and could have just used them to jump out of harms way.