The Mandalorian: Chapter 2 (The Child) Review - A Mildly Entertaining Detour
Initial Air Date: November 15th, 2019
Directed by: Rick Famuyiwa
**The episode reviews will contain no major spoilers, but be warned that I will be dropping little plot details and moments throughout the review. You have been warned.**
The Review
Let's clear one thing out of the way, right off the bat, shall we? Baby Yoda is without a doubt one of the best things to happen to Star Wars in recent memory. Not only has he single-handedly reinvigorated the popular culture's interest in Star Wars, but in the show he is such an adorable character to watch and look at.
On with the review.
After a solid start to the show, episode two picks up right where episode one left off. With all the excitement and energy that came with the pilot, I was ready to see where the show would take me next.
Perhaps I was mistaken in thinking that this show would have a centralized story. Because instead of moving forward, the show moved laterally. And in my opinion, that was for the worse.
Do not mistake me; I still believe that this episode was a highly, highly entertaining piece of content from the Disney/Star Wars team. But when I look back at the episode, I realize that the purpose of this episode was to reveal one specific thing about one specific character. Which, fine, because this is television perhaps you feel you have the real estate to do so. But the pilot set up an intriguing storyline that I felt should be pushed forward in some capacity. And instead, Mando and his new friend are stranded on this planet for the vast majority of the episode.
Mando continues to be such an intriguing and mysterious figure. The show is careful to put just the right amount of aloofness around him while also slowly but surely peeling back some layers to his character. We begin to see his humanity a little bit when he interacts with Baby Yoda, or Nick Nolte's character. He has a sense of respect and honor about him that other bounty hunters don't seem to have.
As far as the action goes, it's a great homage to Indiana Jones and other adventure films and media of the same kind. We see the return of some of the more infuriatingly annoying Star Wars creatures, as they make Mando's life miserable throughout the episode. While their inclusion is welcome and a fitting callback to the original trilogy, they only furthered the idea in my head that this episode did very little to move the story forward.
As a matter of fact, had it not been for that one reveal that comes late in the episode, and I would've said that the entirety of this week's content was a waste. But, that one little snippet of pivotal information, mixed with some entertaining action and character interactions, leaves me wanting more from this episode, but also looking forward to next week as well.
On with the review.
After a solid start to the show, episode two picks up right where episode one left off. With all the excitement and energy that came with the pilot, I was ready to see where the show would take me next.
Perhaps I was mistaken in thinking that this show would have a centralized story. Because instead of moving forward, the show moved laterally. And in my opinion, that was for the worse.
Do not mistake me; I still believe that this episode was a highly, highly entertaining piece of content from the Disney/Star Wars team. But when I look back at the episode, I realize that the purpose of this episode was to reveal one specific thing about one specific character. Which, fine, because this is television perhaps you feel you have the real estate to do so. But the pilot set up an intriguing storyline that I felt should be pushed forward in some capacity. And instead, Mando and his new friend are stranded on this planet for the vast majority of the episode.
Mando continues to be such an intriguing and mysterious figure. The show is careful to put just the right amount of aloofness around him while also slowly but surely peeling back some layers to his character. We begin to see his humanity a little bit when he interacts with Baby Yoda, or Nick Nolte's character. He has a sense of respect and honor about him that other bounty hunters don't seem to have.
As far as the action goes, it's a great homage to Indiana Jones and other adventure films and media of the same kind. We see the return of some of the more infuriatingly annoying Star Wars creatures, as they make Mando's life miserable throughout the episode. While their inclusion is welcome and a fitting callback to the original trilogy, they only furthered the idea in my head that this episode did very little to move the story forward.
As a matter of fact, had it not been for that one reveal that comes late in the episode, and I would've said that the entirety of this week's content was a waste. But, that one little snippet of pivotal information, mixed with some entertaining action and character interactions, leaves me wanting more from this episode, but also looking forward to next week as well.
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