The Mandalorian

Ossoi said:

Ok so he's invincible, what a compelling story that makes.

Halfway through episode and it still doesn't feel like a compelling serial drama, getting chased by random x wings (admittedly that helped build the world a little bit) then going straight into a crash landing is again making things too episode centric rather than actually advancing the story

What next? He needs a certain part to repair the ship? Encounters a wampa?

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Slither off now you fucking creepy turd.

Ossoi said:

Ok so he's invincible, what a compelling story that makes.

Halfway through episode and it still doesn't feel like a compelling serial drama, getting chased by random x wings (admittedly that helped build the world a little bit) then going straight into a crash landing is again making things too episode centric rather than actually advancing the story

What next? He needs a certain part to repair the ship? Encounters a wampa?

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he almost died last season. several times already this seaosn. you is crazy.

Xevy said:

Like it's been said before in this thread, this show is akin to Xena or Hercules. There's an overall plot line, but a lot, if not most episodes are self-contained and contribute minorly to the overarching plot line. He's on the story quest but he's got to get some side quests done to get the upgrades to accomplish it. Also if we learned from last season all these bit characters tend to come back in the last few of the season. He's basically making friends/hirelings right now. It was the same way with Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, and Not IG-88.

But I feel like this being a MMORPG messageboard I shouldn't have to explain this to you.

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I guess when you finally get a star wars tv show I expected it to follow the 2000+ serial drama format and not be a 90s throwback

I just don't find the random encounters/set pieces compelling in any way. Just like the fight Han and Chewie had in the Force Awakens

Qhue said:

Those spider things were in a couple episodes of Rebels. To think I thought they were icky in that...

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apparently not the same spiders, these spiders are from concept drawings that the designer for Empire Strikes Back, Ralph McQuarrie, came up for Dagobah creatures

I liked the episode. baby yoda being a little shit was great, anyone who has been a parent will relate to the days when nothing goes right and the kid keeps doing stupid shit. baby yoda doesn't "save the day" or anything, he is in as much trouble as everyone and makes things worse really. Its just a solid world building episode, we are on our way to a new moon / planet that I don't think has been in Star Wars before. Seeing the X-Wing fighters be sorta the new "law" in the galaxy is neat, and its interesting seeing Mando develop a new relationship with the republic. I look forward to the next episode.

The ones in Rebels were based on the same concept drawing.

Armadon said:

I think the only thing that kinda had me go wtf was mando saying may the force be with you to the xwing guys. Dude says that but then doesn't know what Jedi are and why people would even be saying it. I thought it was just sorcerers. Maybe I'm nitpicking.

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the "may the force be with you" line sounded patronizing. like Mando was being sarcastic cuz he thinks The Force is bullshit. but they answered him like they meant it. there are some off sounding lines in the episode. maybe they didnt get a good take and couldnt get a better one due to lockdowns or they just inserted different dialogue.

Armadon said:

I think the only thing that kinda had me go wtf was mando saying may the force be with you to the xwing guys. Dude says that but then doesn't know what Jedi are and why people would even be saying it. I thought it was just sorcerers. Maybe I'm nitpicking.

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He obviously thinks the Rebellion worship the Electromagnetic Force that they use to in their laser weapons.

That line was Mando trying his damnedest to sound non-imp and not wanted fugitive. Meant to be sus as hell.

This episode pissed me off. No plot development. Useless asides we'll never hear about again. Dickhead baby Yoda (which was mildly amusing, but really there was no point).

stories like this one are perfectly acceptable in a more regular medium, like bi-weekly comics or 23 episode seasons. when there's only 8-10 episodes per year, every single minute counts or else it feels wasted. basically what happened in this episode was that the razor's crest got broken and he had a somewhat positive turn with the republic. it's like when you order a steak and there's a giant ribbon of fat on it. yes, sure, it makes the steak taste better, but after a certain point you're just paying for fat.

That's what this show is. The entire season will be like 2 hours of plot and a bunch of random adventures in between. I mean that's what the first season was as well. It's entertaining for what it is, but it's not some secret at this point.

Sterling said:

That's what this show is. The entire season will be like 2 hours of plot and a bunch of random adventures in between. I mean that's what the first season was as well. It's entertaining for what it is, but it's not some secret at this point.

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yeah. my point is that the design choice doesn't fit the medium. that's why people get so irritated that... well... nothing happened. it's totally fine to have isolated "______ of the week" shows but when there's only a handful of them, there's barely any time for any kind of reason for the whole thing to even be happening.

it's the same reason why movies aren't "filler episodes." as a storyteller, you have an extremely limited amount of time to tell the story. this episode had like 3 minutes of story. it's like having a completely isolated action scene. unless it's some kind of proof of concept, action scenes need a reason to exist.

i'm not saying i hated the episode, i didn't, it was fun. it just feels like it's wasting important screen time with stuff that doesn't REALLY matter. and if it doesn't really matter, why am i watching it?

j00t said:

yeah. my point is that the design choice doesn't fit the medium. that's why people get so irritated that... well... nothing happened. it's totally fine to have isolated "______ of the week" shows but when there's only a handful of them, there's barely any time for any kind of reason for the whole thing to even be happening.

it's the same reason why movies aren't "filler episodes." as a storyteller, you have an extremely limited amount of time to tell the story. this episode had like 3 minutes of story. it's like having a completely isolated action scene. unless it's some kind of proof of concept, action scenes need a reason to exist.

i'm not saying i hated the episode, i didn't, it was fun. it just feels like it's wasting important screen time with stuff that doesn't REALLY matter. and if it doesn't really matter, why am i watching it?

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it seems like "nothing happened" because we only have one main character. if you compare it to the early seasons of Game of Thrones, a whole fuckload of things happened because that show had an insane amount of "main" characters. thats an extreme example of storyline. your average TV show, has just a few main characters. say Better Call Saul. there are just 3 or 4 main characters. well its 5 now. but not much happens even then. its all about the slow burn and as it progresses you get a faster pace and more storyline leading to some type of major conclusion/confrontation.. i cant think of a TV show which has some poignant event happening every episode. there is always filler. if its 10, 18, 24, 28 or 30. up until 12 years ago, a serialized TV show format was rare. basically in the early 2000s it was 24 and Lost and not much else. now its everything and all those shows have filler. this show provides some purpose or theme leading to the whatever conclusion at the end. the side quests are side quests, nobody gonna argue that, but they are fun and entertaining side quests. at the end of the day its all meant to entertain you.

Araysar said:

Nailed it.

A star wars IP, in an hourly TV format, in 2020 - should basically be GoT or The Wire in space instead I'm watching fucking Adventures of Brisco County Jr. in space or Xena Warrior Princess ins pace.

I still watch this just to see what shit they come up with, but after 10 episodes I have zero investment in this plot or these characters

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They are going over a lot of old tape and design documents from George's TV show he was working on prior to the Disney sale.

Mostly just kicking it around for inspiration and ideas.

It was more cyberpunkish than Star Wars. We should be getting something with a more serious tone, or along those lines at some point hopefully.

I think a cyberpunk drama set in Coruscant has appeal-- but they are fearful of leaving the "Space Opera" meta.

Mando finished his tatooine quests, got the breadcrumb quest to the next hub which directed him to hop into the razorcrest vehicle which triggered an instanced scenario and introduced the New Republic faction while you got to pick up 10 frog eggs and escort the mother to safety from enemy frost spiders. But then they nerfed flying for the new zones.