‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian’ has been praised in many places for feeling like, if not even more like, ‘Star Wars’ than we’ve been given lately. While I’m not inclined to agree with that assessment (After all, ‘Star Wars’ is a many-headed beast and who is the judge of what feels like it and what doesn’t?), ‘The Mandalorian’ does allow for much broader storytelling than the standard two-hour movie. That does work in favor of the show, though the individual episodes can end up lacking in action.
‘The Child’ finds The Mandalorian (whose name has been given in interviews about the show, but since it’s not officially in the show yet I’ll still consider it a spoiler) continuing to try to make it off-planet with The Asset, a young member of the same species as Yoda. There are a couple of things that transpire in this episode but no significant movement of the plot. Most notably, we learn more about The Mandalorian’s character. He shows no hesitation disintegrating Jawas dismantling his ship, but shows and almost paternal quality to the child. Maybe this is because the reward for bringing the child in is significantly higher than if he has proof the child has been disposed of, but it seems like there is something more going on there. One orphan to another, perhaps? The details of the past of both characters is a little sketchy right now.
The other thing that we learn is that the child does possess at least some skill in the force. The Mandalorian is sent to retrieve an egg for the Jawas to get his ship parts back. Time is spent trying to get past the creature until the child literally stops it in its tracks, allowing The Mandalorian to dispense with it. There are a couple of questions raised here - who trained the child, or is it just a natural skill, and why is the child so out of energy after doing so. We’ve seen Yoda do a great deal more with the force without batting an eye, so what happened here?
What ‘The Mandalorian’ doesn’t seem to want to do is rush to the finish. 2 episodes in and it feels as though we’re still waiting to be welcomed into the plot. It’s fascinating to watch if, for no other reason, we’ve never had weekly 'Star Wars’ episodes before. Still, even the most ardent fan is going to need something more to run with soon.
‘The Mandalorian’ has to have been one of the most hotly anticipated entries into the 'Star Wars’ universe in recent memory. Perhaps slightly more so than 'The Rise of Skywalker’ because 'Mandalorian’ promised something different than what we were used to. On that note, the show does deliver. We might be left waiting a while for some of the details, however.
The episode sets the tone of the universe it is trying to establish. Bleak, unforgiving, and possibly even lacking hope. The post-empire world for bounty hunters isn’t for the weak. It would seem there is a lack of quality jobs out there. There is a general sense that the guild watches out for its own. Especially given the rather easy (well, until it wasn’t though discussing that further will lead to spoilers for the episode, and that can wait until at least next week) camaraderie between Taika Waititi’s IG-11 and Pedro Pascal’s lead character.
Given that this is the first of eight episodes, it’s probably a good thing that some detail is left out. It is a pleasant surprise to see an episode of modern television not rely on each episode having its own big pay off (again, exploring that option further invites spoilers that, well, you’ll need to see for yourself). Some more detail would have been welcome, though. Setting a series in the 'Star Wars’ universe is inviting the obsessive in, and they will want all the details. So knowing what planet our hero was on or what species he was encountering would have been helpful. Still, the lack of detail in a way helps set this iteration of 'Star Wars’ apart. You might see some things that look familiar, but this isn’t a story you know.
What the episode gives us, though, is a lead character we can relate to and root for. We may not know much about The Mandalorian’s origins or motivations, but we do find out just enough to want to see more.
