So, this episode was definitely…something.
As a standalone, one-off episode of Star Wars? I had a real blast with this episode.
As something is supposed to be part of an ongoing arc? Mixed feelings.
On the one hand, loved all of the stuff that we go with Jack Black, Lizzo, Christopher Lloyd and all of the droid side of things. Loved the Blade Runner-esque buddy cop side plot. This also has some of the best cinematography of the season and the line delivery felt a lot more natural. I’m so glad that we’re getting even more progression with the Mandalorian side of things. Bo-Katan continues to be awesome. Loved the alien romance bit that we got at the beginning of the episode, as well.
On the other hand, this episode should’ve happened way earlier in the season. Also, not a fan of Din’s regression in regards to his droid prejudice. Just another example of how weirdly they’ve handled his arc this season. Grogu continues to not do anything and add anything to the story at all. Feels more like a pet/prop then an actual character at this point.
This show simultaneously feels like it wants to progress forward but also wants to maintain the status quo with its main characters, and feels at odds with itself. It’s making me feel really conflicted about how I feel about the show. I can’t decide whether to really enjoy it or scratch my head at some of its storytelling decisions.
I’m still really convinced the cancellation of the Rangers of the New Republic series really had a rippling, negative affect on this show. I feel like they still wanted to use a lot of the story ideas, but didn’t know how to keep them without creating an entirely new show without Gina Carano’s character, and just decided to integrate them into The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian. As a result, it threw off a lot of the story progression of this show and forced the writers to have to haphazardly take back and/or rush certain established story decisions in order to make the other stuff work. The result is something that feels super Frankenstein’d together and kind of all over the place.
I really hope that this ends up sticking the landing and I feel much better about it going forward by the season finale. At this point, I am undecided about whether or not I want to stick with this show.
Really entertaining, though, seeing the breakdown of fans getting mad at their theories on the Darksaber getting completely squashed with this episode. All of the endless hours theorizing put to waste. Like, guys, if you were that angry over something as trivial as that, maybe you should’ve used that time more productively.