Smokey Streaming- The Mandalorian Season 2

Hey guys! So the coronavirus has stopped me from traveling around searching for great BBQ. I have a few options now that I think will work for a future article plus some more toku stuff! But right now, I’d like to pick up where I left off last year with The Mandalorian. With 5 episodes in, I gave the show an overall 8.5, and honestly the last three episodes did little to change that. It was a very good show, with some of the best production values the series had to offer. However, I had several issues keeping me from calling it a great show. The pacing was all over the place, with side quest episodes getting redundant and formulaic, a bad sign especially for an 8-episode season. I ended the review, however, with more positivity than negativity and stated that I was looking forward to seeing the series grow. So how did Season 2 turn out? Let’s find out, as I review each episode and provide my thoughts for the entire season. SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT!

Chapter 9: The Marshal

It pains me to make such an obvious reference, but I will. After a fantastic opening sequence involving a sort of exhibition fight/gambling ring, the show decides to return to Tatooine, and I immediately thought “I have a bad feeling about this.” For a show that seems like it wants to move forward, giving us one of the few planets we’ve seen in all three trilogies repeatedly seems like a huge step backward and only served to build to Boba Fett’s return. This begins the main problem of Season 2, which is focusing on established Star Wars universe characters either as a sort of backdoor pilot or simply as fan service. When done right (as we see later) these interactions can indeed build our main characters up a bit and layer them. When done wrong, as in this episode, it’s a distraction at best. Boba Fett’s armor is revealed to be worn by relatively obscure character from the new canon books, played very well here by Timothy Olyphant. Mando wants the armor, since it is Mandalorian and this marshal character isn’t, so he agrees to help take down a Krayt Dragon to help the settlement the marshal looks over. So yeah there’s a giant monster involved, so I’m tempted to give the whole episode a pass. The Krayt Dragon looks great, although it definitely feels like the Mandalorian crew wanted to out-Dune the upcoming Dune film and its sandworms. It’s a fun but forgettable episode that begins the season with a side quest to get armor that Din (our main character) doesn’t need or wear. Ending with a shot of Boba Fett reminds the audience only that this universe isn’t about creating new characters, but rather slavish nostalgia. But still…. Giant monster… SCORE- 7/10

Chapter 10: The Passenger

I feel like THIS should have been the season opener. Another side quest, but this one actually leads to the discovery of Mandalorians in the subsequent episode which THEN furthers the story of Din and Baby Yoda. The journey to get the Frog Lady to her mate with her eggs also reflects the family themes of the show, as well as the loneliness both the Child and Mando feel in the galaxy. Plus- more giant monsters! Giant ice spiders, to be exact and hoo boy are they terrifying. Baby Yoda eating the eggs was a fun recurring bit, though one which garnered some great reactions online. The show also allowed the New Republic X-Wing pilots to save the day, perhaps leading us into another show (Rangers of the New Republic, maybe) but for the time being, it builds from the prison break episode of Season 1. It also establishes some of the galactic rules in this post-Return of the Jedi universe. The dog fight in the clouds looks fantastic as well, and overall, this is easily one of the strongest side quest episodes, even if it doesn’t really bring too much new to the table and feels like its spinning its wheels a bit. SCORE- 8/10

Chapter 11- The Heiress

Directed by (in my opinion) the MVP of the directing team, Bryce Dallas Howard, this one finally gives us the Mandalorians Din really needs to help return Baby Yoda to his people. They are both new characters (one played by WWE wrestler Sasha Banks) and established, with Bo-Katan making her live action debut played by her voice actress Katie Sackhoff. This is a brisk action tale which leads directly into confrontation with Moff Gideon and hints at the Darksaber being of future importance to the show’s trajectory. We also get key revelations about Din’s specific clan (cult) of Mandalorians explaining away why he can’t remove his helmet when pretty much every other character we’ve seen from the society can. Finally, Din is told that the Child is a Jedi, so he finally knows what clan to seek. Overall, this one looks great, has some of the best action, and finally, three episodes in, begins to get the ball rolling on the story of this season. Points are deducted for what seems like the billionth time Din is so obviously betrayed, but the rescue by Bo-Katan and her crew was still pretty great. SCORE- 9/10.

Chapter 12- The Siege

Boasting some good action, the fourth episode of the season is yet ANOTHER detour, this time to remind us of our Season 1 supporting cast. However, this chapter reveals key information about Moff Gideon’s plans, and we begin to see some possible connections between this story and the potential connections to the development of the First Order. The side quest here- destroying an Imperial facility- ties directly into the narrative, though it is disappointing that we are once again traveling to Nevarro, as it really doesn’t expand the universe much. But honestly, the real issue with the episode is the comic relief character seemingly from an 80s cop movie. Constantly insulted and threatened by our heroes, yet basically doing exactly what he was supposed to do, it just feels like a bizarre choice to put in Star Wars. We end the episode with the tantalizing idea of Cara Dune joining the New Republic, and potentially getting her own show. Still, this feels frustrating, as just one episode prior, Din is told by Bo-Katan to find Ahsoka Tano- a fan favorite- to help return Baby Yoda to his people, and we get a detour before that promise is fulfilled. SCORE- 7/10

Chapter 13- The Jedi

The previous episode may have sowed doubt that we would be getting too much Ahsoka, and at best I thought maybe we’d build to her showing up at the end of this one. I was happily wrong. Chapter 13 opens with one of the most gorgeous action scenes, introducing Ahsoka to the live action Star Wars fans, some of whom may not be as familiar with her. The entire episode has this otherworldly feel, appropriate since we are dealing with supernatural powers. Din and Ahsoka teaming up to take down the local baroness was a real action treat, with plenty of Japanese film overtones. Yet, her appearance isn’t merely fan service or another backdoor pilot (though it is those things too). Ahsoka, though the Force, gives us Baby Yoda’s story as someone trained at the temple on Coruscant and perhaps most importantly, gives the audience and Din the name of The Child- Grogu. As a cherry on top of the cake, we get Grand Admiral Thrawn’s name dropped, hinting he is either the villain for future Mandalorian seasons or perhaps Ahsoka’s own show. The best episode of the series, hands down. SCORE- 10/10

Chapter 14- The Tragedy

From the highs of entire series, straight to the lows, the sixth episode of Season 2 completely jumps the shark to give us Boba Fett and his new partner Fennec Shand played by Ming-Na Wen, introduced in Season 1. There is a sense of dread as the tracking device on Din’s ship pays off here, and the audience agonizingly waits for Moff Gideon to strike and take Grogu as he attempts to use an old rock to send a signal through the force to the Jedi. Din realizes Baby Yoda is vulnerable and defends him to the end, teaming up with Fennec and Boba to take on the Stormtroopers while the new Dark Troopers take Grogu. Temeura Morrison is fantastic here, and his ferocity in melee combat is wonderfully directed by Robert Rodriguez. Unfortunately, building to Boba just for him to be a glorified taxi the rest of the season (because Din’s ship is destroyed here) is somewhat disappointing. The worst part, however, is how little sense it made for him to be there. Boba was on Tatooine, where his armor is, but never got it, yet leaves the planet to somehow find Din who has the armor in his ship? Why didn’t Boba get it on Tatooine? How did he find Din? Why does it suddenly mean so much to him after years just seemingly wandering around on the planet? We may get these answers later, but for this episode it just feels like lazy writing to get Boba and Din together. They wanted that, had little idea how to do it, and this was the best they could come up with. Truly disappointing, but as we would see, nowhere near the worse they would do. I also lost it completely at those tiny handcuffs for Baby Yoda. SCORE- 6/10

Chapter 15: The Believer

While I enjoyed the prison break episode from Season 1, Mayfeld, played by Bill Burr, was one of the many distracting guest stars, and I was worried that this episode would be another annoying detour. I was pleasantly surprised. Indeed, the entire story was richer in theme than I expected, and the moment Din removes his helmet in a room full of people to be scanned by the Imperial system so he can gain access to Moff Gideon’s location actually meant something because of how the show had built his beliefs into the fiber of his character. Yet we see, Grogu means more. Director Rick Famuyiwa is great at telling stories through action, and the fights here, outside of Din’s usual armor, show us, without a drop of dialogue, how much Din has relied so much on the armor to take the damage, it’s become a bit of a crutch that he has to overcome. But the real surprise came in Burr’s performance, as he loses it and jeopardizes the entire mission because an officer derisively wrote off casualties from Operation Cinder. In killing the officer, Burr reveals the war crimes discussed are his line he does not believe should be crossed. The quest is again simple, with the team needing to drive a truck full of explosive material, being attacked by pirates, all to get that material and themselves into the Imperial compound. Now, really the pirates are likely trying to prevent the Empire from doing awful things with that explosive material, but oh well, they are dead now. Between Burr’s and star Pedro Pascal finally getting his chance to really act a bit without the helmet on, the character work makes this episode far better than it would have been as the penultimate episode of the season. Without this, all you have another heist and more delays before the final conflict. SCORE- 8/10

Chapter 16: The Rescue

The team of Bo-Katan and her crew, Din, Cara, Fennec, and Boba are set to take on Moff Gideon and his Dark Troopers to get back Grogu. We get some forced tension between Bo-Katan’s crew of Mandalorians and Boba, ending with Sasha Banks performing a tornado DDT on Boba Fett- an awesome bit, but it kind of took me out of the episode as well. From there basically everything goes according to plan. They take the bridge, Din takes out a Dark Trooper in combat and then jettisons the rest into space, beats Moff Gideon in fight where Gideon seemingly turns into a Bond villain in real time. Din also gets the Dark Saber, which Bo-Katan wants because she believes it will help her take Mandalore back. And, even though in the show Rebels, Bo-Katan received it from Sabine without a fight, she can’t do the same here, even though Din clearly doesn’t want the saber or the responsibility. So yeah, more forced tension which is out place just for the sake of setting up conflict. But then, the Dark Troopers come back cuz they are droids and our heroes seem doomed. Gideon’s master plan(?) has come to pass. So, does Boba, who flew away earlier, come back to save them? Does Grogu use the Force more powerful then we’ve seen him use it before? No. Luke Skywalker comes down to give us the Rogue One hallway scene but with a green lightsaber, makes short work of the Dark Troopers, takes off his hood to reveal his de-aged face, looking less like Mark Hamill and more like an android wearing his loose, too smooth skin. The awful effect distracted me from the real tearful goodbye between Grogu and Din (sans helmet), and we are.. done. Except for a post credits scene showing Boba Fett becoming the crime lord of Tatooine for no discernable reason. Oh wait, R2-D2 is there guys! Remember him? He was in the other movies! Luke adds nothing to the narrative, and is there to remind us how utterly useless these new Dark Troopers actually are. There are absolutely no stakes here, no one ever feels in danger, and Moff Gideon, despite the potential, looks like an utter buffoon. One of the worst finales I’ve ever seen in my life. SCORE- 3/10

Overall thoughts: Look despite the final episode truly undoing all the hard work of these two seasons, there’s a lot that works here. Despite the horrible looking Luke, the effects here are simply fantastic, especially the practical ones. There are some great emotional beats with Din and Baby Yoda, and the action is usually terrific. The series is at its best when it lets the universe and the established events inform the characters and contextualize the story rather than just being inserted as nostalgia bait. I don’t think this is a bad show, and hopefully this season is a one-off. For now, it’s a disappointment but still entertaining enough to warrant recommendation from me. SCORE- 7/10