Notes on The Mandalorian Season 1

By Ephraim Belnap

 Episode-by-Episode Breakdown of Season 1

Episode 1

SO good!

This encompassed in forty minutes what Star Wars pages spent HUNDREDS of pages talking about. We don't need Karen Traviss writing about Mando honor, or Mando parenting ethic, or Mando culturalism, or Mando history, or Mando diaspora, or Mando reps - they just chose to SHOW it. That forge scene was like five of those topics all done in one scene. It's the macho skill of acknowledging a life-changing subject while still being cool about it.

I like how they've turned the most iconic prop in Episode 5 into a delivery worker lifehack - it sounds stupid but makes perfect sense. After that opening where we see all the frozen-in-carbonite bounties, I realize Boba didn't freeze Han Solo because he was a jerk, he did it because it's much easier to transport bounties safely if they're not talking your ear off every five minutes. They're safely stored, you don't have to feed them, they can't get away from you, you get peace and quiet - is there a way to do this with kids on car rides? It's genius!

They're writing this like it's a modern epic videogame - like God of War or Uncharted 4. THAT'S how they're gonna write eight forty-minute episodes and NOT have them become filler while having a minimum of dialogue! They're Master Chief'ing it!

Just watching the closing credits it's like I understand the iconography of manliness so much better. The Mandos don't have to talk about how cool they are. They just have to LOOK that cool, and then actually BE that cool when a combat situation happens. The appearance of coolness is a coolness all its own - the problem now is that there's less cultural diversity, so it's harder to craft a unique coolness look that's all your own.

They're doing the videogame thing too with the credits! It's like the Ralph McQuarrie concept art!

I was expecting this to be like "A Fistful of Dollars", since that's a guy with a cape and a gun wandering around the desert, fighting, and saying little. When he rode up to the settlement with all the sand-colored buildings I was like, "Look! It's San Miguel!" But it also captured the bit I forgot about AFoD - the coolness in the hero's silence. They fit whole arcs of understanding and action into him just looking at things and reacting to things. It's a lost art. The closest thing to it is Breaking Bad, and that's usually about people doing some task slowly, so the mystery is figuring out what they're doing, not how they're feeling. They've resurrected a lost art! I don't know how many modern Westerns even do this! Or anything!

And now the music is so uplifting! This is straight Spielbergian! Wonder and adventure in a brand new setting! These peeps are geniuses!

They're really gonna do it. They're gonna make this, and The Falcon and Winter Soldier and Wandavision and Loki and it's all gonna be great. Because they're pouring feature film's worth of work into the episodes AND using videogame-style storytelling to make a step-by-step adventure that people care about, and they have the resources and fanbase to keep doing it. Well done. Well done, Disney and co. You pulled it off.

Episode 2

What a GREAT way to make a Mando story that's wide-appealing! Mando culture of child-rearing is a central part of their stories and leads to many great moments, but it doesn't mesh well with the tone of Star Wars adventure. By making the kid a version of an iconic figure, they combine the two tones well and make a genuinely gripping plot for any Star Wars fan.

The problem we've had with our Star Wars films is that there is legitimately SO much cool stuff to put in there that you have to be a savant to fit it all, and it risks feeling overcrowded (Seriously, watch any scene from The Force Awakens and see how many random lines there are about things that are never relevant again - oh, look! Kelvin Ridge! Trillian! Crimson Corsair!) With a TV show, you have all the time you need to fit that stuff in! And you're genuinely interested!

I've been following a Reddit page that's just moms and dads talking about their kids, and one of the things I've learned is that babies' cuteness really is one of the perks that makes them fun. Likewise, Baby Yoda is clearly capturing our hearts 'cause his cuteness really is effective. So, this really is a realistic parenting scenario!

I'm watching him rope up the sand-crawler, and it's like they're making Boba Fett's death look both dumber and smarter at the same time

Is this what parenting's like? Running around, facing crises, and occasionally looking down and seeing an adorable, clueless little gremlin there?

Episode 3

The Mando culture is HOPPING! Are they Space Jews? Space Quarians? Space Scots? I've always had them down as Space Spartans mixed with ... I guess a little Space Jews. The characteristic feature of Jewish history has been adherence to their culture's ways, even in the face of adversity, so perhaps this makes more sense than I thought. I guess their trend of adopting kids reminded me of something else. Historically, most groups are pretty particular about their kids being biologically theirs. Not a lot of people have a tradition of adoption.

Check that - I just looked it up. Apparently, Pacific Islander culture has a pretty rich tradition of trading kids around and communal parenting. I grew up in Hawai'i calling every adult I knew "Auntie" and "Uncle" so maybe this should've occurred to me earlier. Regardless, there it is! A culture of caring about kids and being willing to call a kid that's not your own, your own.

They've been referring to Foundlings in the Mando-only scenes, which I take to mean orphans that are adopted into the clan, as many Mandos are. The shot of the battle droid this episode seems to confirm it.

So, did Mando Prime just screw his people's anonymity by drawing attention like that? I think I know WHY they're meant to be in hiding. In the books, there was this thing called besh'lan shevla which equated to "strategic, sustained retreat." Going into hiding, essentially, until it was safe to put your head up. Judging the terrain until it was right to come out. This secrecy conveniently justifies why we haven't seen these Mandos involved in the Clone Wars cartoon - this sect is in hiding and not drawing attention to themselves. I guess they came out of secrecy to protect one of their own, and just to have something fun to have done? If one of them was gonna get killed doing a very Mandalorian thing (saving a baby) then maybe they thought it was reason enough to bust out. Homes can be relocated, but the chance to do a rocking awesome thing as a team is rare. It's not like they're extended families, so it should be easier to do.

One thing’s bothering me - if Mando’s shiny suit is a whole suit of Beskar, and he’s been out there earning to make enough for a full suit, is everyone else NOT wearing beskar? ‘Cause he’s the only one with the shiny suit! Maybe everyone else is wearing an alloy or something - it LOOKS kind of plasticky, but no one’s been acting like it doesn’t count. Maybe a full beskar suit is nice, but alloys work better for day-to-day working? This feels like it’s trying to bridge the gap between Jango Fett’s shiny gear, and Boba Fett’s plastic, cheap-looking gear. Maybe pure beskar is lusted after by some, but others don’t feel the need to get the whole set. If it’s much rarer than it was before, it’d make sense if the full beskar lost place. 

Speaking of confusing traditions, I’m just going to assume that when they say they never take their helmet off, they mean “except for in circumstances where I would HAVE to take it off, like vomiting or showering.” Maybe it’s like the hijab, where devout wearers DO take it off, but only around family and for necessities. They mean, “have you ever taken your helmet off when it was unsuitable to do so?” And saying, “have you let someone else take it off?” makes a heck of a lot of sense, ‘cause someone who’d want to take it off would either be being rude or an enemy trying to kill you. You cut that off! 

This makes me wonder if they keep helmets on during courtship. Do a Mando and a WoMando just talk to each other in helmets and then don’t see the faces ‘til wedding night? 

Episode 4

Okay, they GOTTA be exaggerating a bit with the helmet rules. I assume he’s just not telling her for convenience. That’s a great line, though - “you can take the helmet off, you just can’t put it back on again.” That’s still some malarkey, though. You’re telling me a Mando gets head trauma on the battlefield, they can’t take it off to examine the damage? Yes, they can. It’s not a big deal. In the books, they’re VERY casual about taking off the helmets - how can a drill sergeant convince you of your massive stupidity without his screaming red face? But the events of this episode still support my “only family or clan members” theory - he likes her, but he knows it’s taboo to show her anything at this stage, so he stops her. 

The Mando says, “what the hell”, but do they have hell in Star Wars? What the Force!? seems closer. Uhh, what the midi-chlorians!? 

Good action with Gina Carano! She’s a pro MMA fighter turned actress, so it’s good to see them use some of her skills

Nice, basic adventure with the villagers. I was like, “oh, this is the end of Three Amigos!” And in a way, it was! 

So cute, but alas it couldn’t last. 

This is that “we help the helpless” premise that makes up the fabric of all good Westerns 

Episode 5

Frikkin kid 

Ming-Na Wen’s in this! She’s a great talent! A great martial artist too. Is this show just chock-full of fighters? 

Nice moves from Mando. 

It feels filler, but not TOO filler I’ve you know just I’m sayin’

Episode 6

THIS feels a little like filler. This was like 36 minutes, it could’ve been shorter 

Natalie Tena (Tonks from Harry Potter) was the purple-skinned lady in this! It’s hard to recognize her under the makeup, I saw her name in the credits 

Man, it’s a good thing Yodito can apparently survive a fall. I feel like they showed us that so we know he’s not gonna get killed from any conventional baby hazard. He’s a little tougher than a regular. 

Pretty sure the old guy was the corrupt cop from Batman Begins 

I think this is the first time the New Republic has been of any use whatsoever in the new stories. Leia was carrying the good side on her back the whole of the sequel trilogy 

Giancarlo Esposito (Gus from Breaking Bad) is in the next episode! I understand he’s an Imperial baddie. I saw a cute transcript of interview where Esposito said his little daughters were SURPRISINGLY “meh” about him being in Star Wars, but then they watched the show and saw he was a bad guy and called him and were like, “Daddy, if we find out you hurt that baby we’re never talking to you again.” So ... that’s kind of cute. I assume the baby will be fine

Episode 7

Aww yeah, finally bringing it all together! Proper movie again! 

Greef Karga is a delight! It’s great to see that 70’s/80’s suave that Carl Weathers comes from embodied here. Star Wars was 70’s/80s coolness too, so it fits perfectly!

Episode 8

My gosh! We saw the Mandalorian without his helmet! I thought that wasn’t going to happen! I thought they were going to go full Judge Dredd where we legit never see him without it! Dredd pulled it off well! I thought they were gonna do the same! But oh well, this is good too! 

Also, called it - head injuries are the number one reason you’d need to take it off in public - I’m choosing to believe that Mando is just particularly anal about not wanting HIS removed - you’re not telling me every Mandalorian in the universe who goes into battle with non-Mandalorians (which surely must be most of them) will straight-up die rather than let a teammate examine them for injuries. He’s just got issues

One thing I’ll say for Pedro Pascal’s face tho - now that I see it on the show, he really DOES look like a lot of the characters in the old Star Wars universe — Kyle Katarn, Corran Horn, Talon Karde — handsome, mustachioed, dark-haired, charismatic, and with just that little bit of vulnerability that makes them fun to watch. This was good casting 

They brought the Mandos back! Yes! 

My gosh, why did they EVER let Mandalorians have a lightsaber? Like, ever!? It’s like every time any a-hole gets it, now they have cool bragging rights for a thing they didn’t earn! The fact that it’s such a unique saber makes it worse. Darksaber - who came up with that? Wot if we ‘ad a loightsaber? But instead it was DARK!? To date, we’ve had like, four wielders of the Darksaber, and only like, one of those wasn’t a little piece of crap. The type of guy who sees something called the Darksaber and is like, “oh yeah, that’s totally on-brand for me,” is probably a jerk. It’s not as big or as reflecting-friendly as a regular lightsaber, so it’s only good for slashing, and the type of non-Force-using a-hole who sets up scenarios where he can slash in an entire galaxy of gun-users is probably a sadist who wants to humiliate people in public instead of just killing them like a normal person*. Ugh. 

Anyway, nice to see the Armorer! 

And we got Mando’s real name too! 

——

*Just a rundown - its wielders have been - a Neo-Nazi, DARTH FREAKING MAUL, another Neo-Nazi, one decent Mandalorian who just fell into it, and now this a-hole.