Chapter 23: The Spies

We Finally Get What Should've Been in Episode 2 or 3, an actual scene of the antagonist of the season apparently, only after 6 episodes out of the 8 have passed without any antagonist or a coherent and clear story and plot.

And obviously, they couldn't have shown the intro scene in episodes 2 or 3 since the story development of Mandalore's plot line wasn't there yet. But you know what I mean. Actually reintroducing your antagonist in the first few episodes of the season is not a bad idea maybe? Is it blasphemy and an outrageous thing to ask for the plot and story and the antagonist to be revealed at the beginning of the season? Is it too much to ask for decent storytelling?

And we have yet another cliché senseless sacrifice we've seen in a hundred other shows and movies. They don't even try to make the situation look dire enough to warrant this sacrifice to make at least make some sense, but nope, amateurish writing we've seen before all the way through. Sure it's a nice way for a character to get out, but make it make sense maybe? Make it look and feel less artificial and contrived and an attempt at emotionally manipulating the audience to feel bad for a semi-random bozo we've seen a few times throughout the season.

And as much action there is in this episode and the whole season, they're not even that good and I've become numb to these action and fight scenes as they keep having them every 5 minutes, and most of them are choreographed poorly and shot so blandly that you just get bored after the nth shootout scene starts.

I'm sure the hardcore Star Wars fanboys creamed their pants when they saw Red Praetorian Guards, and it wasn't even a good fight scene, but I'll give them that it was a nice introduction to them or whatever. But for someone who doesn't gobble up Star Wars theory and stories and animated shows every day, and has only seen these annoying red guards in the Fallen Order games, it's like "Oh, cool, I guess these guys are in this show too". Like the season and the show as a whole feel like a giant fan service with celebrity cameos that ruin the immersion and just references after references to other shows and movies to make the fanboys become the star eyes emoji instead of having its own story.

I guess this has been the case since season one, but we gave them a pass since it was a new thing and it was gonna hopefully find its own story and interesting plotlines after a while. But this is the after of that while and they totally should've canceled this show after season two because it's obvious that they had no idea what to do with the show anymore. But for some reason which we all know why, they didn't hand over the show to writers who are more competent who can actually write actual plots and characters.

It is fascinating how the writers manage to both drag and rush the storytelling of the season at the same time. But I guess that's what happens when you send your supposed "main character" to do fetch quests and side quests for 80% of the season.

The overly high rating of this episode doesn't surprise me a bit since you only need one 5-second cameo from Luke or another Clone Wars show character to please the fanboys and make them forget all the mid and trash previous episodes, and forget that the antagonist should've been introduced way earlier into the season, not in the penultimate episode!

Nearly 90% of the show has passed and not once did we have a decent episode with actual good writing, so I doubt the last episode would be much different. Overall a really uninteresting, boring, and below-mediocre season. Imagine actually paying monthly and waiting each week to get something like this.

It has been a sporadic seasom of Thr Mandalorian, and I was hoping this chapter would being the various story threads together, in this regard, it certainly did not disappoint in some regards, but other threads remain open. Katee Sackhoff's performance as Bo Katan was exceptional, showcasing her talents and delivering a character that was both fierce and vulnerable.

One of the highlights of the episode was the humorous moments with Grogu and his new fancy robot suit. Seeing him waddle around in it was an adorable sight and brought some light-heartedness to the episode. Additionally, the inspirational moments of Mandalore coming back were moving and gave me a sense of hope for them.

Amazing special effects and a great action scene at the end was exciting. Some truly sensational work from the film makers here.

Still haven't quite captured the magic moments of the first 2 seasons, and I'm hoping the finale brings it all together. I think I'm largely disappointed with the season, but I'm along for the ride.

Many people have been questioning the strange dip in writing quality this third season of the Mandalorian compared to the first two seasons...but it's not that hard to work it out.

The only person on the entire Lucasfilm writing team that knows what they're doing, that KNOWS Starwars (even more so than hardcore fans) is Dave Filoni.

After taking a backseat on the writing for this season to concentrate on Ahsoka, Filoni finally writes an episode for Mando, taking over from the mess Favreau has been creating..and lo and behold, we're back to season 2 levels of mando greatness. It's a great, tight episode, full of action and excitement. It FEELS like Star Wars again.

With KK still in charge Star Wars will continue to be a mess, focusing on the wrong characters, on forceful identity politics...BUT we do have Filoni. All is not lost.

Bob Iger would do well to finally do the right thing. If you want Disney to start making money with the Star Wars brand once again, put Filoni in charge! But even that could be too little too late..,

Finally! After a lackluster season, we get our first great episode. This is what we expected after the fantastic finale of season 2. Last week's episode was brutally bad and pointless; this is what this show should be like -- actual tension and good storytelling.

Last week's episode featured pointless side missions that brought nothing to the series. It was just an excuse for a few famous faces to have a cameo in Star Wars. This time we got good storytelling, great action, and real tension. Who cares about Mando chasing a droid around a city? No one. Who cares about real worldbuilding, character development, sacrifice, human connections, and high stakes? Everyone.

Spoiler Free: The garbage that will forever be known as the "jack black episode" had me wondering if the show had jumped the proverbial shark. Everything that has been "teased" this season finally pays off. While I wish that Disney would release all of their episodes at once, apparently they know what they're doing. "Waiting for Wednesday" is some thing my 12 year old son, and I talk about all week. Instead of wasting a weekend of our lives, binge watching an entire season, the Mandalorian is the topic of conversation for a couple of months... This episode had it all. The Mandalorian's fighting in battle is what we all love to see. Grogu doing adorable Grogu things brings a smile to everyone's face. Furthering the character development of Bo Katan Kryze (who somehow became the main character of this season) has been a pleasure to watch. And there were more subtle Easter eggs tying the show's storyline to the Star Wars universe we've come to know. Throw in a monster and some heroic deaths...yah, this is why we love this show.