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December 18, 2020
Season Two of The Mandalorian has ended in a big way — only reinforcing what we all knew from the beginning... The first live action Star Wars show is also some of the best Star Wars ever made. Plenty of people have plenty of opinions about this half-hour series, so allow me to add my two-cents with the following five things I think the show does particularly well. (And no, my list does not include "Baby Yoda" / Grogu because he's just a given.)
1. A ONCE BLACK AND WHITE UNIVERSE IS ACTUALLY NOTHING BUT GRAY.
When Star Wars first came out in 1977, part of its appeal was its apparent simplicity. It was a story of good versus evil, the Empire versus the Rebellion, the Jedi versus the Sith. As time went on however, those delineations began to fade thanks largely to George Lucas heartlessly undercutting them in The Prequels (Episodes I to III). The creeds and codes people lived by in a galaxy far, far away were often shown to fail once more pragmatic issues — like simple survival — were introduced. Remember Emperor Palpatine's words to Anakin Skywalker?
"The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."
Indeed, with time we discovered that the Jedi were not infallible and that the Sith occasionally had a valid argument. For example, let's not forget that Obi-Wan Kenobi was just as responsible for the fall of Anakin (and by extension the Republic) as Palpatine when he disregarded all the warning signs he saw in his Padawan because he didn’t want to admit he was wrong. The Mandalorian cloaks itself in this kind of moral ambiguity. Mando, who was first presented to us as a heartless bounty hunter cut from the same cloth as Boba Fett, turns out to have a soft squishy center. Hell, this season even Boba Fett revealed he wasn’t quite the dick we all thought he was. By breaking its own rules, the Star Wars universe we see in The Mandalorian is much more dramatic and interesting than the black-and-white prototype of the very first movie.
2. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF THE MANDALORIAN'S LIFE.
The original Star Wars trilogy introduced us to some fantastic planets and exotic environments, but most of them were solidly Earth-bound. The Prequels then reversed this with the unfortunate overuse of computer-generated environments. But The Mandalorian has found a comfortable place in between these two extremes. The show's universe looks authentic and realistic, even when containing some fantastical elements like a giant ice spiders or rivers running with molten lava. For another example, read this excellent article about how the show's made Star Wars' most famous planet into something truly exceptional.
The diversity of locations is complemented by the diversity of action sequences. Although Star Wars is well known for its space battles, you get relatively few of these in The Mandalorian. Instead, the action's smaller in scale and challenges Mando and his friends to be stealthy one week, bold the next. We don’t know if some epic space battles are in the show's future, especially now that the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire are in full conflict, but if they happen you can be assured of their magnificence.
3. A RETURN TO STRONG CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS.
Star Wars' heart always lay in the connectivity between its characters, with fathers and father figures playing a prominent role. The Prequels were much maligned for abandoning true character relationships for visual spectacle, but a lot of those mistakes were corrected by Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series. and Star Wars: Rebels. The Mandalorian continues in this tradition of building strong relationships between its central character, with the most obvious being the paternal affection Din Djarin feels for Grogu. As notable is the return in Season Two of Asoka Tano, former Padawan to Anakin Skywalker who left the Jedi Order after she was falsely accused of treason. Unique in that she’s spans all of the major Star Wars properties, Ahsoka's known many of the principal personalities and has borne witness to the galaxy's most important events. In this respect, Asoka's the most sympathetic of Star Wars characters — she's the quintessential Everyperson who watches history roll by but is tragically unable to affect its outcome. Despite this, and as her interaction with Grogu shows, she's filled with hope and an empathy for those around her.
December 18, 2020
Season Two of The Mandalorian has ended in a big way — only reinforcing what we all knew from the beginning... The first live action Star Wars show is also some of the best Star Wars ever made. Plenty of people have plenty of opinions about this half-hour series, so allow me to add my two-cents with the following five things I think the show does particularly well. (And no, my list does not include "Baby Yoda" / Grogu because he's just a given.)
1. A ONCE BLACK AND WHITE UNIVERSE IS ACTUALLY NOTHING BUT GRAY.
When Star Wars first came out in 1977, part of its appeal was its apparent simplicity. It was a story of good versus evil, the Empire versus the Rebellion, the Jedi versus the Sith. As time went on however, those delineations began to fade thanks largely to George Lucas heartlessly undercutting them in The Prequels (Episodes I to III). The creeds and codes people lived by in a galaxy far, far away were often shown to fail once more pragmatic issues — like simple survival — were introduced. Remember Emperor Palpatine's words to Anakin Skywalker?
"The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."
Indeed, with time we discovered that the Jedi were not infallible and that the Sith occasionally had a valid argument. For example, let's not forget that Obi-Wan Kenobi was just as responsible for the fall of Anakin (and by extension the Republic) as Palpatine when he disregarded all the warning signs he saw in his Padawan because he didn’t want to admit he was wrong. The Mandalorian cloaks itself in this kind of moral ambiguity. Mando, who was first presented to us as a heartless bounty hunter cut from the same cloth as Boba Fett, turns out to have a soft squishy center. Hell, this season even Boba Fett revealed he wasn’t quite the dick we all thought he was. By breaking its own rules, the Star Wars universe we see in The Mandalorian is much more dramatic and interesting than the black-and-white prototype of the very first movie.
2. VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF THE MANDALORIAN'S LIFE.
The original Star Wars trilogy introduced us to some fantastic planets and exotic environments, but most of them were solidly Earth-bound. The Prequels then reversed this with the unfortunate overuse of computer-generated environments. But The Mandalorian has found a comfortable place in between these two extremes. The show's universe looks authentic and realistic, even when containing some fantastical elements like a giant ice spiders or rivers running with molten lava. For another example, read this excellent article about how the show's made Star Wars' most famous planet into something truly exceptional.
The diversity of locations is complemented by the diversity of action sequences. Although Star Wars is well known for its space battles, you get relatively few of these in The Mandalorian. Instead, the action's smaller in scale and challenges Mando and his friends to be stealthy one week, bold the next. We don’t know if some epic space battles are in the show's future, especially now that the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire are in full conflict, but if they happen you can be assured of their magnificence.
3. A RETURN TO STRONG CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS.
Star Wars' heart always lay in the connectivity between its characters, with fathers and father figures playing a prominent role. The Prequels were much maligned for abandoning true character relationships for visual spectacle, but a lot of those mistakes were corrected by Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series. and Star Wars: Rebels. The Mandalorian continues in this tradition of building strong relationships between its central character, with the most obvious being the paternal affection Din Djarin feels for Grogu. As notable is the return in Season Two of Asoka Tano, former Padawan to Anakin Skywalker who left the Jedi Order after she was falsely accused of treason. Unique in that she’s spans all of the major Star Wars properties, Ahsoka's known many of the principal personalities and has borne witness to the galaxy's most important events. In this respect, Asoka's the most sympathetic of Star Wars characters — she's the quintessential Everyperson who watches history roll by but is tragically unable to affect its outcome. Despite this, and as her interaction with Grogu shows, she's filled with hope and an empathy for those around her.
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4. REDEFINING AN OFTEN MURKY CANON.
One of the most enduring (and most accurate) complaints about the Star Wars universe is its murky canon. With so many movies, television shows, books, comics, games and toys, the franchise has expanded at an almost exponential rate. But this expansion has also created confusion as one movie will seem to contradict another, or characters who were once canon suddenly lose their status. Codifying (at least to some extent) this vast archive of information is something The Mandalorian has done consistently well. The show's helped tie up loose ends, clarify relationships between characters, or finally explain both enduring mysteries or simple lines of bewildering dialogue. Indeed, showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have done at least as much as George Lucas to create new Star Wars canon... while simultaneously cleaning up the existing parts.
5. REDEMPTION STILL PLAYS A HUGE ROLE.
Perhaps this is no more obvious than (as mentioned above) in the return of Boba Fett. This bounty hunter is easily one of the most famous Star Wars characters despite his meager screen time in the original Star Wars movies. Very little was known about Fett from the films, but The Mandalorian revealed that he survived ingestion by the Sarlacc as seen in Return of the Jedi and has been living for the past few years in the outback of Tatooine. Fett's willingness to help Mando seems to be based largely on the fact that his father, Jango Fett, was also a Foundling. This revelation also underscores another recurring theme in the Star Wars universe: the relationship of children to their fathers. (Or father figures, as the case may be). While Fett may be the show's most startling example of character redemption, he's hardly the only one. Din, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Migs Mayfeld, Fennec Shand... even Dr. Pershing in Season Two's last episode... are all looking for redemption. Most of them will find it, which means that despite the show's rougher edges, it's still a story about hope.
One of the most enduring (and most accurate) complaints about the Star Wars universe is its murky canon. With so many movies, television shows, books, comics, games and toys, the franchise has expanded at an almost exponential rate. But this expansion has also created confusion as one movie will seem to contradict another, or characters who were once canon suddenly lose their status. Codifying (at least to some extent) this vast archive of information is something The Mandalorian has done consistently well. The show's helped tie up loose ends, clarify relationships between characters, or finally explain both enduring mysteries or simple lines of bewildering dialogue. Indeed, showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have done at least as much as George Lucas to create new Star Wars canon... while simultaneously cleaning up the existing parts.
5. REDEMPTION STILL PLAYS A HUGE ROLE.
Perhaps this is no more obvious than (as mentioned above) in the return of Boba Fett. This bounty hunter is easily one of the most famous Star Wars characters despite his meager screen time in the original Star Wars movies. Very little was known about Fett from the films, but The Mandalorian revealed that he survived ingestion by the Sarlacc as seen in Return of the Jedi and has been living for the past few years in the outback of Tatooine. Fett's willingness to help Mando seems to be based largely on the fact that his father, Jango Fett, was also a Foundling. This revelation also underscores another recurring theme in the Star Wars universe: the relationship of children to their fathers. (Or father figures, as the case may be). While Fett may be the show's most startling example of character redemption, he's hardly the only one. Din, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Migs Mayfeld, Fennec Shand... even Dr. Pershing in Season Two's last episode... are all looking for redemption. Most of them will find it, which means that despite the show's rougher edges, it's still a story about hope.
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It's 1979 and my mom won't let me see the new horror/sci fi movie called ALIEN. Fortunately, Waldenbooks had a solution.
In the 1990s, Star Wars fans rediscovered in Tunisia the long forgotten sets and props from the original film. Star Warstourism was born — until certain realities set in.
With The Clone Wars wrapping up some loose ends, here's my 2010 review of the series and thoughts on why it's some of the best Star Wars going.
After rescuing the child from the Empire, The Mandalorian Din Djarin has vowed to reunite Grogu with the mysterious Jedi.
Following the destruction of the Jedi by Order 66, Ahsoka ventures off on her own and into a future filled with new dangers.
A solitary bounty hunter is given a simple mission: return the Child to all that remains of the once all-powerful Empire. Based on the hit series.
When a friendly tribe of Tusken Raiders slaughtered, Boba seeks revenge, and sets himself up in Jabba the Hutt's old palace.
Boba Fett faces the deadliest challenge of his infamous career--an all-out war against his most dangerous enemies: The Mandalorian Armor.
This book is aimed at young kids who want to join Mando, Grogu, Boba Fett, and Ahsoka Tano on their thrilling adventures.
This book covers 7 seasons of the Star Wars animated program featuring behind-the-scenes interviews, character profiles and episode guide.
Meet more than 350 incredible clones, Jedi, droids, bounty hunters, and a host of other characters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Prepare for an exciting look at the Mandalorians throughout Star Wars, from Jango and Boba Fett to Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze.