The Mandalorian

I'm not a huge fan of the Training the Peaceful Villagers plot, so this was a bit meh to me, but I will admit it's at least a well-done example of a plot I don't like.

Also some more detail on how the "never remove your helmet" thing works. I was wondering if the helmet was supposed to have some sort of nutrition pipe or whatever, but this explanation is easier.

Ok, now that I've had time to think about it a little, I actually will say that this episode was actually the "worst" of the 4 episodes. Not bad per se, but it's sort of "coasting" rather than "accelerating".

As for the plot, I rather like the Training the Peaceful Villagers trope. I view it as the distillation of the purpose of a moral warrior or a hero in a society. To oversimplify things, the world needs heroes to make sure that the makers can be safe from the takers.

I will admit it's undeniably cliche, and also that this particular episode doesn't do much original for it. Personally, I would tend to take a story like this and actually make a series out of it. IE, the hero actually settling down into the role of the town's defender and dealing with the consequences of how their actions might have effected the town. This wouldn't necessarily work for The Mandalorian, though it's generally how I'd tend to treat this sort of plot.

As for it mentioning that The Mandalorian actually does take his armor off, just not in front of others, I liked that clarification. I imagine that armor actually is pretty comfortable, but I had trouble believing he slept in it. Plus he hopefully bathes at some point.

Not to mention eat, I imagine an image of him with a juice box and slipping the straw under the faceplate.

Makes sense, though. The last episode ended without a clear next step forward (I wouldn't be surprised if the first three episodes, together, were the "pilot" of his series), so this was a "have some random until something happens to force the heroes to adopt a specific objective" episode.

one of the reasons I wish they put the whole season on like With what Netflix or Amazon does.

One of the benefits of streaming services was those types of episodes were less of a problem.

@Known Unknown Yeah, I get the impression the first three episodes were focused on setting up a Status Quo, episode 4 just is that Status Quo, at least until they add in a new arc.

I legit thought that bounty hunter shot the baby yoda.

Damn, freaked me out.

I loved this episode. The show went full Seven Samurai on us and it didn't care how much we knew it. It's a full on Space Western. Hell, I actually see this show as a kind of Spiritual Successor to Firefly in a way.

Also, I kind of love Cara Dunne. I wish they just went right ahead and had the Mando ask her to be his first mate (or whatever), because I like having her around. Like Cassian in Rogue One, she represents a darker side of the Rebellion and I like the fact that she's on the run probably because she abandoned her post in the Republic. I know she's going to return, but it seems kind of a waste to have her show up and then just leave at the end of her first episode.

Also, Baby Yoda gets somehow cuter.

Finally saw all the current episodes, great show so far.

4 is a decent episode. Clear Seven Samurai plot, but one of the things that makes those stories fun is the varied mercs and warriors all working together. Here its just Mando & Cara so its not as fun or crazy due to the less varied cast.

Actually Clone Wars did do a Seven Samurai episode like this with the Jedi working with a trio of mercs. Said mercs included good old Embo with his boomerang deflector hat and pet as well as a tiny little alien piloting a robot body.

Edited by slimcoder on Nov 30th 2019 at 5:33:53 AM

Well, there’s a major female character. An ass kicking Rebellion shock trooper who’s without a homeland because the New Republic in the Disney trilogy were kinda dumb.

Gina Carano also projects a believable physicality in her scenes (given she was a former MMA fighter) so her being able to stand toe to toe with the Mandalorian feels believable.

Them being stopped by soup sipping Baby Yoda was equal parts adorable and hilarious.

Now that I've seen Gina Carano act good in something, I kind of want her to be She-Hulk.

She'd make a good She Hulk...but I'm not so sure she'd be a good Jennifer Walters.

They are supposed to have very different body types (Jen being more average while Shulkie is naturally quite ripped).

Doesn't She-Hulk basically never transform back? Maybe they could use digital editing like they did for pre-serum Steve Rogers when they need it.

I like Carano, and unlike certain other former MMA fighters I could name she can act, but un-transformed She-Hulk (and the arc they’re likely going to use she wasn’t transformed a lot of times as a plot point) she was way more Ally Mc Beal than Red Sonya. Carano...not sure if that natural presence lets her play that.

I mean, if this were back in the day, Carano would be the Ferrigno to who ever will be Jenn's Bixby, but we don't do that anymore.

She-Hulk is Professor Hulk but a woman and a lawyer.

But I saw Episode 4 myself while on a plane. I felt really bad that they couldn’t stay in the village, especially Witnah’s reaction to BY having to leave. But another thing...

WHERE THE FUCK DID THOSE BANDITS GET A WALKER?!

Could have salvaged one from a battle.

Or maybe some of the raiders are from remnants of the Empire. Who knows?

It's interesting how the AT-ST Walker is portrayed, and after playing Fallen Order I can see it: that game makes it fairly clear that without the force or anti-vehicle weapons they'd be very difficult to fight (luckily in that game you have the force and the ability to turn it's anti-vehicle weapons against it, but they're still tough enough to be mini-bosses).

But on the flipside, you have older games and media portraying them as useless and easily destroyed (though I think the original Battlefront II had them be fairly effective) - like the Jawas, it's cool to see something other media would often treat as throwaway depicted with weight and heart.

I'm surprised he didn't. He asked the rancher to be his first mate, so he's not exactly a person who can't make connections with others. But maybe he'll save that for after they inevitably meet again a few times.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Nov 30th 2019 at 6:40:40 AM

Well she did make it clear when they met that she's on the run & wants to lie low so he figured that just like with the rancher she wants to be on her own for the time being.

Yeah, I imagine there's loads of abandoned Imperial military hardware lying around the galaxy. The Empire's collapse was very messy after all and only occasionally involved an organized withdrawal.

Heck in the Aftermath trilogy a super star destroyer ended up in the hands of pirates out in Wild Space.

Must be a huge pirate band.

So, I’m thinking that the reason Cara Dunne has got a bounty placed on herself is not because she possibly deserted her post but because she pissed off the wrong guy since going into the private sector.

Because let's face it, someone like Cara Dune is bound to have pissed off a lot of baddies.

I think at this point in time most of the Rebellion characters have huge bounties on their heads. It’s just that since Cara got sick of peacetime and left she doesn’t have the protection of the others any more.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Dec 1st 2019 at 4:55:14 AM

The Mandalorian is officially the most-watched original show in a streaming service.

Sorry Stranger Things...

Huh damn and even Titans is doing pretty good.

I wonder what the Mando & his clan thinks of the shit that went on in Mandalore. Curious to hear what they think about characters like Sabine, Pre Visla, and maybe even if Maul gets a mention.