The Mandalorian: The Return (3x08)

In all, this season of The Mandalorian was pretty baffling. I've chose to just sort of... go with it, accept what we've been given instead of trying to question the shape of things too much.

Cons:

I don't really care about powerful, special, one-of-a-kind weapons, but I did think it was very odd that the Dark Saber met such a strange, unceremonious end. Mostly because symbolically, it was this whole big deal that Bo-Katan had earned it, and her place as the head of Mandalore or whatever. I actually think a more powerful symbol would be her giving the weapon away at some point just like Din did with her, thus confirming that the Mandalorians don't need a specific gadget or tool in order to be honorable and fierce leaders. Instead, the bad guy just destroys it, and all that buildup around who gets the sword just felt like wasted time in retrospect? I don't know. Sort of odd.

So, I obviously love any scene where Grogu and Din Djarin are fighting side by side, desperately protecting one another at all costs... but in watching this finale, this long, drawn-out action sequence with Moff Gideon's Beskar-wearing storm troopers going toe-to-toe with the Mandalorians, I kept thinking about last season's finale. How the action was all tied up in Grogu specifically. How he had been taken, and Din was doing anything he possibly could to get him back. And how in the end, he had to let him go. This time, it's just... there are bad guys in the room, and they're trying to kill everybody in front of them because they want control of this planet. Grogu doesn't seem to have any special significance to them at all. It would have been easy enough to adjust this: play up the fact that Grogu is a Jedi, or at least a Jedi in training. Play up the fact that he represents the enemy of Moff Gideon on two different accounts, both as a Mandalorian and as a Jedi. There could have been something there, and instead the peril felt by our main characters felt rather incidental to the actual goal of the villains.

The Mandalorian: The Spies (3x07)

Okay, all of the twiddling of thumbs and weird pacing issues this season, and now suddenly the bad guy shows up and he's not messin' around. Let's talk about it.

Cons:

I still think it's odd how much this story has become Bo-Katan's, instead of Din's. There's this moment that I liked well enough, where Din is talking about why he's loyal to Bo-Katan, and it felt like a growth moment for her, but not really for him. He doesn't have an ego problem, he didn't want to rule. Even the fact that Bo-Katan and her people take their helmets off and don't follow "the Way" doesn't seem to bug him that much. He doesn't have to go on a journey of self-discovery and realize that his method of practicing his faith isn't the only valuable one. There's just no growth opportunity here. Nothing that's happening feels rooted in his character at the center of this show.

The Mandalorian: Guns for Hire (3x06)

I just realized there are only two episodes left of this season. That feels... kind of strange.

Cons:

Pacing-wise, this season hasn't really felt like it was building to anything in particular, and if it is, it's not anything to do with Din or Grogu. I'm of two minds about this whole thing. It's kind of fun and almost charming to have Mando and Baby Yoda take on the role of side characters this season. They're just vibin', father and son, doing their thing. But this is still supposed to be Din's show, isn't it? I wonder if they really are just out of plans for this character already, and what that bodes for the future of the show. I don't have a bad time watching them just hanging out on the periphery of other people's stories, but I don't really understand the decision to structure things this way.

After all that, Din just... gives Bo-Katan the Dark Saber? Talk about an anti-climax. Maybe that's my overall critique of this season. The driving force of seasons one and two are over, and now we just have Din sorta... hopping around, cleaning up messes, with Grogu happily along for the ride. This whole thing about the fate of Mandalore was one of the last big dangling threads we had that connected specifically to Din's character, and now that's resolved with him basically saying "no I don't wanna", and handing the sword off? To be clear, I'm very on board with Bo-Katan getting the sword and leading their people. Seems like very much the appropriate move to make. I just wish there could have been something more momentous surrounding this great moment of destiny.

The Mandalorian: The Pirate (3x05)

I thought this was a fun outing, with some interesting implications for the future!

Cons:

I continue to lodge my complaint that Din and Grogu don't really have anything to do in the center of the plot. Which is fine for now, it's just sort of weird. We're expanding the world in different directions, and their involvement seems tangential at best.

Also just have to say that it's hilarious in a kind of bad way that Bo-Katan gets to take her helmet off. Din's just standing there like "wtf guys". I get what they're going for, but one thing I admire about this show is that it's sticking with its guns of not showing Pedro Pascal's handsome face on camera, and this feels like kind of a cheap new ruling so that we get to see Katee Sackhoff. Ah well.

The Mandalorian: The Foundling (3x04)

It's funny, I think my brain isn't used to genuine "adventure of the week" format in TV anymore. It's refreshing, for the most part!

Cons:

Bo-Katan is a perfectly fine character who I have no problem exploring more, but it does sort of feel like Din and Grogu don't have plot stuff to do other than just... hang out with the other Mandalorians, do some training, go on little rescue missions or whatever. It's Bo-Katan who has this more complicated relationship with her history and her people, who thinks she's seen something on Mandalore that might change their understanding of their past. It's got me wondering if they're setting her up for a spinoff, or what. And that's fine if they are, it's just sort of weird to think of Din and Grogu as like... settled. They've achieved their stated goals. I'm wondering what's going to happen from here.

I feel a little mean saying this, but sometimes the action on this show just leaves me feeling kind of bored and cold? There's nothing wrong with it, but my eyes just kind of glaze over as I wait for the character beats underpinning the action. This week it's all about saving a foundling, Ragnar, who has been kidnapped by a large dragon-type of creature. And this is good, I like seeing the Mandalorians team up to rescue a kid, but the actual travel and action is just kind of same-y to me. I'm sure people put a lot of hard work into it, and yet it didn't really make an impact on me.

The Mandalorian: The Convert (3x03)

I liked this episode, but I do wonder about the pacing in some spots?

Cons:

It's odd to me that Din's stated purpose at the start of the season was to accepted into the Mandalorian clan again, and by end of episode three, he has achieved this. I have a theory based on absolutely no real proof that maybe original versions of season three had all of this early-season stuff happening before Din and Grogu were reunited. Like, imagine he's on this quest alone, he connects with Bo Katan, whatever. And once he is once again walking the Way, he can't get his son out of his head and he goes to check on him. I feel like pacing-wise that would make more sense in terms of this show. It's a little exciting/cool to have no idea what's going to happen with Din from here, but it's also sort of weird, not gonna lie.

I also thought the little action sequence chase at the start of this episode felt like it was there only to pad time and introduce some adrenaline. It could have been cut, unless it's leading to something bigger.

The Mandalorian: The Mines of Mandalore (3x02)

I don't really care where this show falls in terms of objective quality, I'm having so much fun with it!

Cons:

R5 sort of confused me as a concept. I thought we were doing a fetch quest to get parts for IG-11, and that was necessary before going to Mandalore. And then here Din just shrugs his shoulders and takes another droid? That's fine, I guess, it just surprises me given that we're only on the second episode, and I figured we'd build up to Mandalore a little more? It's not really a problem except that I hope we do loop back around to IG-11 at some point, otherwise it feels like a weird little detour.

The Mandalorian: The Apostate (3x01)

Baby Grogu!!! My favorite father and son have returned to the screen.

Cons:

It's ridiculously stupid that the emotional payoff of Grogu and Din being separated was payed off in The Book of Boba Fett, instead of here in the show where it belonged. They don't even bother recapping it, really. They just have Grogu being there and Din being like "yep, he's back." It's kinda ballsy in a way I like, but mostly it's just really dumb and we have to acknowledge that.

Pros:

For the most part, I really like that this episode feels like a back to ground zero re-set. All the political machinations are still going on in the background, there are still things Mando is going to have to deal with sooner or later, but really we're setting up a simple quest here. Din wants to regain his place among the Mandalorians by making a pilgrimage and washing himself clean of his sins, essentially. So he goes on a fetch quest to find the things he needs, running into obstacles and building up tasks he must complete as he goes. IG-11 needs to be rebuilt, because Mando needs someone he can trust on Mandalore, which is sure to be dangerous. But there's a missing part he has to go find. It's very... standard side-quest kind of stuff, and frankly, I'm thrilled.