Refute this review, it’s spot on.
I just finished episode 5 and I gotta tell ya, I cannot believe the positive feedback this show is getting. Perhaps I'm just overwhelmed with disappointment about what this thing turned out to be.
This is a "Saturday morning special" kind of show. It's like I'm watching the Lone Ranger or some weekly episode of a cartoon. It's "Spaghetti Star Wars". It is designed for kids, and perhaps the parents who grew up watching Star Wars and seek that nostalgia. It's filled with "cool action poses", montages, and quick resolutions to conflicts.
The show has a weird way of giving you character development information without any substance to it. There is nothing dark or edgy about this bounty hunter (even though they suggest there is something). They make him pause before doing the right thing, and that pause is supposed to indicate his cold nature. But ultimately, he doesn't do anything cold. It's as if we missed a whole season where he was an anti-hero that went through this redeeming character arc. But all we get is a hero trying to look edgy, and it's honestly kind of cringe worthy.
Every problem Mando runs into is immediately solved. They're not road blocks, they are hurdles. We jump over one to be met with another hurdle that is simply solved yet again. It's like I'm watching Dora the Explorer figure out how to open her bag, and then try and find her map, and then try and see the path she must take. Conflicts are being presented with a swift and simple solution.
Here's an example with a ***SPOILER from Ep 1: Mando had to learn how to ride a blurrg in order to cross the desert. He tries once and fails. He says "screw this" and walks away. The old man easily talks him into giving it another try. Mando tries again with a slow approach. It works and now he's a pro***
Every conflict is solved in this fashion. Here's another example with a ***SPOILER from Ep 5: Mando is engaged in a spaceship dog fight. He comes out victorious, but his ship took damage to both engines. After the battle, his ship loses power and turns off. Mando stands up and walks behind his pilot seat for only a moment. He returns to his seat and the ship powers back up. Then he flies to the nearest planet.**** This entire scene took about 3 minutes. Every episode is littered with hurdles like this that climb to the main climax of the episode.
I was hoping for a darker, edgier style hero that could surprise me. I mean c'mon, he's a Mandalorian! Maybe a streak of selfishness before we see him turn into a hero. Maybe character arcs and conflict resolutions that span longer than a single 30 minute episode. If you take away the Star Wars logo, this wouldn't come close to stacking up with the quality of the subscriber exclusive series that we get nowadays.
Ask any Star Wars fan, "what order should I watch these movies". I bet most of them would say to start with the oldest and go to the newest, the same way we all watched them. It's a bummer that this is what we got, and the universe hasn't matured with the fan base. I'm not asking for an R-rating, just more mature.
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