Television The Mandalorian OT - This is the Way

[CayceG]

37 minutes ago, Chris- said:

I fundamentally cannot imagine watching things the way some of you guys do. It sounds completely joyless. 

 

Same. 

 

I haven't had any trouble with any of these episodes so far. 

 

I think RedLetterMedia has a lot to do with influencing peoples' opinions (or at least how they express their opinions). I haven't found a fan of RLM that has actually enjoyed Star Wars films. 

[SimpleG]

13 minutes ago, CayceG said:

 

Same. 

 

I haven't had any trouble with any of these episodes so far. 

 

I think RedLetterMedia has a lot to do with influencing peoples' opinions (or at least how they express their opinions). I haven't found a fan of RLM that has actually enjoyed Star Wars films. 

I am a fan of RLM and  SW.

[SimpleG]

I just binged all the episodes, 4 was the weakest but no means bad. It didn’t move the plot forward but it did reinforce what we already knew. Gina Carano acting was fine and I got no issues with her going toe to toe considering the way she’s built.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

1 hour ago, Chris- said:

I fundamentally cannot imagine watching things the way some of you guys do. It sounds completely joyless. 

I just expect better quality than sci-fI shows from late 90s to early 2000s. 

48 minutes ago, CayceG said:

 

Same. 

 

I haven't had any trouble with any of these episodes so far. 

 

I think RedLetterMedia has a lot to do with influencing peoples' opinions (or at least how they express their opinions). I haven't found a fan of RLM that has actually enjoyed Star Wars films. 

I like RLM. I agree with most of their criticism on the prequels and some of the new movies. I love Star Wars. I really liked both TFA and TLJ. Conceptually the prequels have a bit of an edge. But Writing and directing hold them back. I also love the Clone Wars series, and Rebels. 
 

 

32 minutes ago, SimpleG said:

I am a fan of RLM and  SW.

yep. 
 

 

I poses the ability to like something. Be entertained by it and get enjoyment from it, without thinking every aspect of it is perfect. 
 

so far the series has had more high points than low points. 
 

54 minutes ago, SimpleG said:

I just binged all the episodes, 4 was the weakest but no means bad. It didn’t move the plot forward but it did reinforce what we already knew. Gina Carano acting was fine and I got no issues with her going toe to toe considering the way she’s built.

I have this issue with multiple actors. The issue is the way the performance hits me, it comes across more like somebody pretending to be tough, rather than somebody who is tough. 
 

One of my favorite examples I can give is: Judy Dench is more than twice her age, but if she were in the role I would believe she could kill Mando if she really wanted to. And she definitely could lead a bunch of farmers into battle. 
 

It’s a whole different level of acting. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, SimpleG said:

I just binged all the episodes, 4 was the weakest but no means bad. It didn’t move the plot forward but it did reinforce what we already knew.

Reinforcing what the audience knows is fine when you have 22-24 episodes, it’s just hard to waste an episode in this way when you only have 8 to work with.

[Mercury33]

3 hours ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

The more I think about Episode 4, the less it holds up for me:

  Reveal hidden contents

1)  The krill farm is supposed to be very remote (days of travel away from anything) on a VERY underdeveloped planet

2)  Why would Raiders setup camp just a short walk from this farm?  (i.e. there is only one place they can "raid")

3)  If the krill are very valuable, then wouldn't the farmers be wealthy from previous harvests?

While I think I understand its narrative purpose, I just find it a weak entry.  And, IMHO nowhere near the "movie quality" that was foretold.

This feels, to me, like a slightly over-produced episode of Xena (including the quality of some of the acting).

When the farmers come to get the Mandalorian they say they wasted A DAY getting there. The camp is a day from that town. The raiders could be in a central area where they could hit multiple places. 
 

they weren’t hauling out truckloads of those things. They could be very valuable in that the small amount they harvest is enough to sustain the small settlement but not enough they could all build mansions. 
 

the episode holds up fine for what it is. Not moving the plot forward enough is a reasonable criticism. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

For me the biggest issue plot wise,

is why waste time trying to lure the thing out. Just find it in the base and set charges in/on it. Boom!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

For me the biggest issue plot wise,

  Reveal hidden contents

is why waste time trying to lure the thing out. Just find it in the base and set charges in/on it. Boom!

 

It’s Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven. I don’t think they sold it well in this version, but the general idea in this scenario is that they can’t simply be the rescuers, the villagers need to learn something about themselves. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

13 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

It’s Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven. I don’t think they sold it well in this version, but the general idea in this scenario is that they can’t simply be the rescuers, the villagers need to learn something about themselves. 

They could have just turned the villagers all into silent assassins and snuck into the base at night to do a little throat ventilating. lol 

[Spork3245]

3 hours ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

They could have just turned the villagers all into silent assassins and snuck into the base at night to do a little throat ventilating. lol 

Just teach baby Yoda force lightning and boom

[Remarkableriots]

I hope they visit Gamorr.

[skillzdadirecta]

This episode was less about plot development and more about character development. We see Mando fully embrace his role as protector of baby Yoda and even bond with others. We are also introduced to a potential ally who I am sure we have not seen the last of. Scenes in a script should serve one of two purposes, either moving the plot forward or revealing something about character. In the larger, meta story of the season we learned more about Mando and what drives him. Was it my favorite episode? No. But it was fine for what it was.

[Mercury33]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

This episode was less about plot development and more about character development. We see Mando fully embrace his role as protector of baby Yoda and even bond with others. We are also introduced to a potential ally who I am sure we have not seen the last of. Scenes in a script should serve one of two purposes, either moving the plot forward or revealing something about character. In the larger, meta story of the season we learned more about Mando and what drives him. Was it my favorite episode? No. But it was fine for what it was.

This. I feel more attached to Mando as a character because of this episode. The stuff with the helmet was especially powerful imo. 

[SoberChef]

On 11/29/2019 at 8:37 PM, SFLUFAN said:

This was pretty much the Star Wars version of an episode of The A-Team.

I'd argue MacGyver in a small central American village

 

 

[skillzdadirecta]

On 11/29/2019 at 7:06 PM, SFLUFAN said:

Besides, I think we've established by now that this particular Mandalorian does tend to initially get the snot kicked out of him by practically everything.

Well considering the fact that Jango Fett lost his head to Mace Windu and a blind Han Solo with a stick took Boba out maybe the Mandalorians aren't as bad ass as we think 

 

Quote

Uhh I don’t get any of the stupid problems people are having with the shock trooper(I don’t remember her name). She didn’t whip his ass it ended in a tie basically. She was just another highly trained warrior. If that character had been played by a man no one would have said a damn thing. Stupid.

 

If it was a dude fanboys would be pre-ordering his action figure and starting online petitions for him to get his own show 

[Reputator]

I finally sat down and started this series. I was pleasantly surprised by the first three episodes! I definitely got a Rebels vibe from it, I'm sure in no small part due to Dave Filoni's involvement. Like Rebels, this explores a side of the Star Wars universe that is different from that of the films, and yet is very much connected to the universe. There are times the action and production value approaches extremely close to filmic quality. Some others also pointed out the focused, serial nature of the story being a plus, and I definitely agree. So far they haven't tried to shove other characters and storylines in to take the focus off the main thread, and that's something I've always found annoying in other series.

 

Then there was episode 4. Yeah, the acting, plot, action, and pretty much everything else took a steep nosedive with this one. This was like watching an episode of 90s Hercules or something. I get they needed to establish some things, but I feel like they could have done so without focusing so much time on such a weak setting and cast of side characters.

[Bacon]

4 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

We see Mando fully embrace his role as protector of baby Yoda and even bond with others.

I mean, I felt like he embraced his protector role last EP, and Mando already bonded with Mr.Ihavespoken. And I don't feel like we have learned anything new from this EP. The only thing new this EP was the chick, and it wasn't like she was that great of a character. 

[skillzdadirecta]

12 minutes ago, Bacon said:

I mean, I felt like he embraced his protector role last EP, and Mando already bonded with Mr.Ihavespoken. And I don't feel like we have learned anything new from this EP. The only thing new this EP was the chick, and it wasn't like she was that great of a character. 

He SAVED the kid last episode. THIS episode he realized that he was going to have to KEEP protecting the kid by keeping him with him. He was fully prepared to leave the kid with the villagers. He also bonded on an almost intimate level with the young mother and he bonded with Gina Carano's character as fellow warrior and comrade in arms. PLUS he took off his helmet because he was tempted by the simple life of the village and was considering staying.  There was PLENTY of character development this episode which is why the episode exists in the first place.

 

This show is a Space Western and Mando is basically "The Man with No Name" from the Clint Eastwood Sergio Leone movies. But we're seeing him become more and more human with each episode. Again, they probably could have accomplished a lot of this without the whole "save the poor villagers" trope, but as the midway point for the season, taking a breather might have been what the creators of the show had in mind. But yeah, this was the "weakest" episode to date. It just wasn't a BAD one.

 

Anybody else peep that Bryce Dallas Howard aka Gwen Stacy aka Ron Howard's daughter directed this episode?

[Bacon]

2 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

PLUS he took off his helmet because he was tempted by the simple life

Pretty sure he took it off to eat. No one else saw. 

 

3 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

THIS episode he realized that he was going to have to KEEP protecting the kid by keeping him with him. He was fully prepared to leave the kid with the villagers.

The issue with this is the viewer already knows this is how it is going to be in the previous EP. We already know Mando will try and keep the kid alive. If the village was safe then he would have left him. If the village was safe and then Mando took the kid then there would have been some development, but it wasn't so Mando just takes the kid with him again.

 

15 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

He also bonded on an almost intimate level with the young mother and he bonded with Gina Carano's character as fellow warrior and comrade in arms.

This isn't all that important as it was shown he can already make bonds. I mean, I am all for Mando upping his friend count, but it could have been done in a less side quest way. And those new bonds feel awfully shallow compared to Mr.Ihavespoken and Baby Yoda. Sure, the mother is different as that is more of a romantic bond, but in the end romance doesn't come first for the Mandalorian. 

 

Like, it isn't that the EP was garbage, but for a series this short, an EP of that quality just doesn't belong. That is where the issues come from for me. If it wasn't for the Ex-Trooper chick, then I am pretty sure this EP would be entirely skippable. Also, there was that thing Chris said earlier about how people watch things. That seemed like a really dumb comment. Like, I don't sit there making a list in my head of all the lame shit that happened. I just watch it. I don't really think about the show critically until share my opinion. Like, the shit I think of when I watch the show is "Hey, that's the chick from the splash art. I thought she was gonna be a Mando." Rich going AT-ST AT-ST. "You know, for thousands of years, there really hasn't been any advancement in the SW universe's technological level." "The helmet has to have cooling tech."

[Mercury33]

Wait, all you got out of the helmet stuff in that episode was he took it off just to eat? There was A LOT more going on symbolically with the helmet this episode. 

[skillzdadirecta]

1 minute ago, Mercury33 said:

Wait, all you got out of the helmet stuff in that episode was he took it off just to eat? There was A LOT more going on symbolically with the helmet this episode. 

Yeah I'm not gonna even bother to explain what was going on with him and the helmet, particularly WHEN he took it off and why it was shot the way it was. If folks didn't get it, they didn't get it. it wasn't even THAT deep and subtextual...  I STRONGLY disagree that this episode was skippable because it represents a shift in his character and a change in his arc. Again, it didn't move the plot forward because this episode was about HIM. Now he's fully committed to protecting B.Y. and will probably become more proactive in the remaining four episodes. 

[Bacon]

3 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

Wait, all you got out of the helmet stuff in that episode was he took it off just to eat? There was A LOT more going on symbolically with the helmet this episode. 

Kinda? Like, aside from him possibly wanting a simple life and showing a desire to settle down, did I miss anything thing? What I really got from it is while he wants that, The Way comes first, at least for now. He took his helmet off alone, looking onward at the frolicking children, unmasking his hidden desires for a life different than his own. 

[skillzdadirecta]

6 minutes ago, Bacon said:

Kinda? Like, aside from him possibly wanting a simple life and showing a desire to settle down, did I miss anything thing? What I really got from it is while he wants that, The Way comes first, at least for now. He took his helmet off alone, looking onward at the frolicking children, unmasking his hidden desires for a life different than his own. 

All of that and he's also conflicted. It seems he's NOT an actual Mandalorian by birth and was taken in by them after his village was raided. He seems torn between his loyalty to the culture and people who saved him and his OWN nature which is probably closer to the people of that village which again, is why this episode took place there. 

[Bacon]

1 minute ago, skillzdadirecta said:

It seems he's NOT an actual Mandalorian by birth and was taken in by them after his village was raided.

I thought we already knew that. Or at least I had already assumed this was the case. 

 

3 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

He seems torn between his loyalty to the culture and people who saved him and his OWN nature

Now, I didn't pick on this and I personally don't see it even after being told. Not saying it can't end up being true. 

[skillzdadirecta]

3 minutes ago, Bacon said:

I thought we already knew that. Or at least I had already assumed this was the case. 

 

Now, I didn't pick on this and I personally don't see it even after being told. Not saying it can't end up being true. 

 

EVERYTHING he's done is out of character for Mandalorians as we know them. They are mercenaries and fight for profit not altruism. HE'S different. From helping the villagers to saving Baby Yoda in the first place, he is doing things that are not typical for Mandalorians and him not being one of them by birth may be the reason. I mean, again it's all RIGHT THERE front and center. The conflict comes from the fact that part of him WANTED to permanently take off his helmet but he decided not to, partially because he knows the threat isn't over yet. Also right now, adhering to the traditions of the Mandalorians means more to him than his own happiness. For right now.

 

As far as him not being a Mandalorian by birth, if that was revealed in earlier episodes, I definitely missed it. This was definitely the first time he out right says it though.  

[Bacon]

3 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

EVERYTHING he's done is out of character for Mandalorians as we know them.

What do "we" know about actually about Mandalorians? What Mandalorian lore is even still canon? Like, it seems to me that his Mandalorian "buddies" aren't simply the way you describe them in the show. 

[skillzdadirecta]

Just now, Bacon said:

What do "we" know about actually about Mandalorians? What Mandalorian lore is even still canon? Like, it seems to me that his Mandalorian "buddies" aren't simply the way you describe them in the show. 

Here's what we know.... or rather here's what I know.

Jango Fett? Mercenary/ Bounty Hunter. Boba Fett? Mercenary/Bounty Hunter. The Mandalorian? Mercenary/Bounty Hunter. I mean even the two farmers who find him assume he's going to be their gun for hire simply because he's appears to them to be a Mandalorian which implies that being warriors for hire is a HUGE part of their cultural identity (not unlike the Krogan in Mass Effect). So what we KNOW about Mandalorians based on still in canon sources is that they are tribal, loyal to each other, have a code and tend to be guns for hire and will fight for whomever pays them. What did I say about the Mandalorians contradicts what we've seen in the show? That they came to his rescue? That was less for altruistic reason and more out of DUTY. He's one of them and they are few in number so it makes sense that they would save him especially when he's being overwhelmed by superior numbers of inferior warriors. 

 

So again. He seems like an ATYPICAL Mandalorian and the fact that he's not one by birth may have something to do with it.

[Bacon]

I mean, Mando is the first Mandalorian with an actual personality outside of being a tough guy, at least in live action shit. I have a hard time calling his behavior atypical when he is the first Mandalorian with behavior. Even if it is, that doesn't mean he is at odds with the Mandalorian ways. Like, the other two big named Mandalorians are a father then son. And it would be really weird to have the show be called The Mandalorian and then have the guy stop being Mandalorian unless every season if about a different Mando. 

[johnny]

[Spork3245]

6 hours ago, Bacon said:

I mean, Mando is the first Mandalorian with an actual personality outside of being a tough guy, at least in live action shit. I have a hard time calling his behavior atypical when he is the first Mandalorian with behavior. Even if it is, that doesn't mean he is at odds with the Mandalorian ways. Like, the other two big named Mandalorians are a father then son. And it would be really weird to have the show be called The Mandalorian and then have the guy stop being Mandalorian unless every season if about a different Mando. 

What other Mandalorians were in live action Star Wars? And, no, Jango/Boba Fett were not Mandalorians, they just wore the armor.

 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

9 hours ago, SoberChef said:

I'd argue MacGyver in a small central American village

 

 

To me it felt like roughly 1/3 of a Seven Samurai. 

6 hours ago, Bacon said:

I mean, Mando is the first Mandalorian with an actual personality outside of being a tough guy, at least in live action shit. I have a hard time calling his behavior atypical when he is the first Mandalorian with behavior. Even if it is, that doesn't mean he is at odds with the Mandalorian ways. Like, the other two big named Mandalorians are a father then son. And it would be really weird to have the show be called The Mandalorian and then have the guy stop being Mandalorian unless every season if about a different Mando. 

The animated shows Clone Wars and Rebels give you quite an insight into a more modern Mandalorian culture. If you’ve never seen the shows and you’re a Star Wars fan, I highly recommend them. 

[Reputator]

8 hours ago, Mercury33 said:

Wait, all you got out of the helmet stuff in that episode was he took it off just to eat? There was A LOT more going on symbolically with the helmet this episode. 

 

Um, as far as Mando was concerned, yeah. He was just getting his chow on.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

To me it felt like roughly 1/3 of a Seven Samurai. 

Or less than half of the Magnificent Seven 

[Mercury33]

1 hour ago, Reputator said:

 

Um, as far as Mando was concerned, yeah. He was just getting his chow on.

That’s a negative ghost rider 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

8 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Or less than half of the Magnificent Seven 

Well now we’re doing some real math here, since Magnificent Seven is already half the film Seven Samurai is at best