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The Mandalorian: Seasons 1 & 2
Feb. 6th, 2021 01:48 pmA few weeks ago we finished watching The Mandalorian. Yeah, we'd only started watching it a week or two before that. It goes fast because each episode is only about 30 minutes of programming (there's an absurdly long end roll) and each season is just 8 episodes. The writers make brevity work, though. Each episode is tight and focused.
I've already written my thoughts from eps. 1-4 of The Mandalorian [no spoilers]. Now that I've finished the first two seasons here are Five Things. Spoilers marked.
1) "Baby Yoda" is something I can say without spoilers because you basically can't have not heard or read about it in pop culture unless you live in a cave. ( Now spoilers - first half of Season 1... )
2) The 1970s vision of Sci Fi strained my suspension of disbelief. It's very loyal to the original concept and feel of Star Wars— by which I mean the 1977 original film— but parts of it seem foolish to modern sensibilities. One big one is that space ships can be repaired by shade-tree mechanics. Panels fall off? Just weld 'em back with a torch in the middle of a desert and you're not only space-worthy again but ready for hyperspace jumps!
3) Another 1970s era Sci Fi thing is the lack of communication and data. Mechanical technology is cheap and plentiful. Even subsistence farmers on backwater worlds have hovercraft. But next to nobody has anything like a phone. It's more likely that someone who wants to talk to you will fly across the universe and kick down your door (or send a trusted lieutenant to do so) than call. In fact, calls are used primarily in cases where someone sends a message, "Hi, I'm too busy to fly across the universe and kick down your door because while I hate you very much you're just not that important to me. But I want you to know I'm thinking violent thoughts about you and might change my mind about spending the time to fly across the universe and kick down your door sometime in the future."
4) In Season 2 we learn not all Mandalorians share the title character's "This is the way" creed. ( Season 2 spoilers )
5) The big reveal in the Season 2 finale is ( Major spoiler, duh! )
I've already written my thoughts from eps. 1-4 of The Mandalorian [no spoilers]. Now that I've finished the first two seasons here are Five Things. Spoilers marked.
1) "Baby Yoda" is something I can say without spoilers because you basically can't have not heard or read about it in pop culture unless you live in a cave. ( Now spoilers - first half of Season 1... )
2) The 1970s vision of Sci Fi strained my suspension of disbelief. It's very loyal to the original concept and feel of Star Wars— by which I mean the 1977 original film— but parts of it seem foolish to modern sensibilities. One big one is that space ships can be repaired by shade-tree mechanics. Panels fall off? Just weld 'em back with a torch in the middle of a desert and you're not only space-worthy again but ready for hyperspace jumps!
3) Another 1970s era Sci Fi thing is the lack of communication and data. Mechanical technology is cheap and plentiful. Even subsistence farmers on backwater worlds have hovercraft. But next to nobody has anything like a phone. It's more likely that someone who wants to talk to you will fly across the universe and kick down your door (or send a trusted lieutenant to do so) than call. In fact, calls are used primarily in cases where someone sends a message, "Hi, I'm too busy to fly across the universe and kick down your door because while I hate you very much you're just not that important to me. But I want you to know I'm thinking violent thoughts about you and might change my mind about spending the time to fly across the universe and kick down your door sometime in the future."
4) In Season 2 we learn not all Mandalorians share the title character's "This is the way" creed. ( Season 2 spoilers )
5) The big reveal in the Season 2 finale is ( Major spoiler, duh! )
