The Review: The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian 10/10

This was fucking amazing and this will be full of spoilers. As many people may or may not know I did not grow up a fan of Star Wars. I watched Episodes 1-6 in actual order. I have seen some of these new films but even managed to not watch those properly. But I do like Star Wars designs. I watch videos talking about lore form the books, animated shows, and video games so much that when I saw certain things on The Mandalorian I knew what it was. I started watching this after a few episodes had already aired and asked my friend Kish if I should check this out even though I am not a fan of SW and he made a point in only the way he can because he knows how to use words better than me an' shit. So I started watching the first episode and was immediately hooked.

This show managed to create eight episodes of a series where the main character wears a helmet and does not show his face 99.8% of the time. People were clamoring for him to remove it and wondering if he ever would. I didn't care. This is where not being into the SW universe comes into play. Watching videos and reviews of episodes people get mad when they don't get what they want while also getting mad when they are surprised by something new. It's weird. I have no attachments or childhood dreams to ruin so I was able to just enjoy this for what it was. An incredibly well made series that made me cheer on a bounty hunter and a baby Yoda. Speaking of which.

This thing is cute as fuck! I saw the madness about the character before I watched the show and once it showed up I got it. I understood the fierce loyalty that people had to this tiny green thing that couldn't even talk even though he is fifty years old. When he first uses the Force I geeked out in shock that this tiny ass baby could lift this massive animal that was about to kill the Mandalorian. This baby creates moments of “Aww...” for sure but is also useful as hell. Even though it is young and eats frogs off the ground it proved itself useful more than once and extremely dangerous at times. He damn near Force Choked someone to death because they were beating the Mandalorian in an arm wrestling match. And woe be upon he who smacks baby Yoda.

One funny thing I kept hearing folks want was for the Mandalorian to have a team. He is a damn bounty hunter and only knows other bounty hunters and criminals. Teams of criminals do not work out so great. There was one incredible episode featuring a team that he was forced to work with that was comprised of hunters and one he had a relationship with. They of course turned on him but he was able to go full Batman on their asses. This episode and others showed that he was not a smash and grab character unless he had to be. He was able to work with someone and I was so glad when she came back for more than just a single episode because the chemistry they had was cool. Plus I have liked her since she fought MMA. Look her up and keep your thoughts of how the Mandalorian would have easily beat her with his weapons. She is legitimately bad ass.

I also liked that even though there was a rotating cast of directors, including an actress I did not know even wanted to direct, they managed to stay consistent. There are a lot of shows where when there is another director you can feel it and it fucks up the flow of the show. That was not the case with this one. I could tell that the people directing, writing, doing the music, and acting gave a damn about this show. No part was too small as even the people that were in one scene of just one episode made an impact. I usually have to do a deep dive to remember what happened on each episode before writing these reviews but with this show I don't. They made things memorable. If you aren't even a fan of Star Wars this is a series that you can watch and fall in love with. There are only eight episodes and the longest is close to fifty minutes which makes it easy to watch, remember, and enjoy. If you are on the fence I suggest you check it out.

Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian

Carl Weathers as Greef Karga

Werner Herzog as the Client

Omid Abtahi as Dr. Pershing

Nick Nolte as the voice of Kuiil

Taika Waititi as the voice of IG-11

Gina Carano as Carasynthia "Cara" Dune

Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto

Jake Cannavale as Toro Calican

Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand

Mark Boone Junior as Ranzar "Ran" Malk

Bill Burr as Mayfeld

Natalia Tena as Xi'an

Clancy Brown as Burg

Richard Ayoade as the voice of Q9-0

Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon

Emily Swallow as the Armorer

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