There has been a heck of a lot of Star Wars over the last few months and honestly, you couldn’t be blamed if you’ve had a hard time keeping up with it all. But now that we’re past The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian has concluded its first season, we thought it might be nice to look back at the latter… in round table format!
First… what was your overall reaction to the show?
Bria: I was iffy about it at first but it finished strong.
Nanci: I was prepared to feel “meh,” but then Baby Yoda happened.
Chris: Up until the finale, I could take it or leave it. The finale made it all worth it and made me excited for season 2.
Kate: For most of the season, my feelings were basically, “Eh, this is fun and enjoyable.” And then the finale happened and I think I might have found it to be the best thing in Star Wars right now?!
What really worked about this first season?
Bria: BABY YODA. Oh you want more than that? The diverse slate of directors especially Deborah Chow and Taika Waititi. The female characters whenever they were actually there. Carasynthia Dune!!!!! Also Moff Gideon because HOLY CRAP.
Nanci: I never thought I’d be emotionally invested in a Mandalorian, but I really found myself caring about him. Chalk that up to Pedro Pascal’s voice work and other actors who filled the suit when he was unavailable. The supporting cast was also great, and I’m glad characters like Cara, Greef, Kuill, and IG-11 returned. I’m also very intrigued to follow Moff Gideon as the Big Bad because damn, Giancarlo Esposito is amazing in the role.
Chris: Directors not named Dave Filoni? I thought that there was a lot of really interesting storytelling and filming choices from Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Taika Waititi, and it was a perfect example of why Star Wars thrives when more voices are involved.
Kate: To not repeat everyone else — because I agree with all of them! — can I shout out Werner Herzog’s performance? Because for not really knowing a damn thing about Star Wars, he was a total scene-stealer! When he wasn’t in a scene with Yiddle, obviously. Also, the bro chemistry between Mando and Cara Dune was amazing. However you ship them — romantically, platonically, weird outlaw buddy cops — the chemistry between Pascal and Gina Carano was amazing.
What didn’t work?
Bria: The needless killing of Fennec Shand and *whispers* almost everything about Dave Filoni’s Episode Five. The lack of female characters in far too many episodes. While I get what the show was going for, the way the season was structured was frustrating to me as so many excellent characters were only in a few episodes or worse, only one.
Nanci: I know many Star Wars fans love Dave Filoni and want him to be the steward of Star Wars going forward, but I feel like his episodes were the weakest of the bunch. Perhaps he’ll improve his live-action directing going forward, but I’d much rather see more efforts from Taika Waititi and Deborah Chow. (Of course Chow will be busy with the Obi-Wan series, so I’d love to see Lucasfilm tap other women of color to direct–maybe Victoria Mahoney?) And while the show coalesced in the final two episodes, I wish the story had been less episodic early on and instead built up to the final two episodes over a longer period of time.
Chris: Jon Favreau’s writing. It was bad. People don’t talk like that, even in Star Wars. Also, it was painfully obvious that Dave Filoni has never directed live-action before. I like his animation more than Nanci does and think that, as a story steward, he is fine, but he was really out of his depth here and the show suffered for it.
Kate: I don’t want to create a whole dumping-on-Filoni session here, but his episodes were easily the weakest ones for me. Weird pacing, a whole lot of just not clever fan service, and odd editing choices. Also, to echo Chris, please, for the love of Yiddle, get some more writers — and diverse ones at that — in the writer’s room.
Let’s talk a little more about the gender issues that the show had. In the first three episodes, one woman spoke. Obviously, this improved somewhat in later episodes but did it improve enough? And is it something that detracted from your enjoyment of the show?
Bria: It really really did. It is 2019: we can do better than one woman speaking over the course of three entire episodes. Episode Four was obviously a complete turn around but that just made the next two episodes feel a bit more jarring. I’m also still… not entirely thrilled by the twi’lek character in Episode Six who was, to borrow a description from my uncle, a total Bellatrix Lestrange type. It’s one of those things that wouldn’t have bothered me as much had she not been the ONLY female character in the episode with the exception of the x-wing pilot at the very end. Do I adore everything about Cara Dune? Absolutely but she shouldn’t have to shoulder the bulk of the burden. Women are everywhere in Star Wars. The show should do a better job of remembering that and not just when someone like Bryce Dallas Howard is directing.
Nanci: I don’t know if it detracted from my enjoyment of the show–I wasn’t expecting to like The Mandalorian much at all to begin with–but the lack of women definitely felt like a step backwards for Star Wars in general. I was more forgiving of the second episode, given that there were so few characters in it overall, but there was no excuse for Episodes 1 and 3. Once we hit Episode 4, I remarked “Oh, we found the planet with all the women in it!” Cara is wonderful, but I’m hoping we get more female characters than her over Season 2. And Bria has already mentioned how Fennec Shand was done dirty. Why hire Ming-Na Wen and kill her off in less than an episode???
Chris: I defer to Bria and Nanci and will just say that I agree with everything they said, it did distract from my enjoyment of the show, and not being able to imagine side characters as women is misogynistic and bad writing.
Kate: The lack of female characters, especially speaking ones, detracted from my viewing experience so much that I came away from most episodes just straight-up annoyed. In fact, my strongest feeling about the show, until the finale, was annoyance, in spite of all the things I did like about it. Not really the impression you want to give viewers for a first season of Star Wars‘s first live-action series.
Okay it’s time… BABY YODA! There’s no question really. Let’s just talk about Baby Yoda and how he’s been the one thing to unite this mess of a fandom.
Bria: I’ll be honest: I thought Baby Yoda was going to be super stupid at first but he’s just so darn adorable and charming and he worked even though he shouldn’t have. A part of me wonders how much of that had to do with there being an actual puppet used for him. I’m curious to see what the Mando and his son end up doing in future seasons and whether or not there’s an actual plan/we ever get to see why the former Imperials want to get their hands on him so badly. Until then… consider me on board the Baby Yoda hype train. It’s been so nice to have something just… so pure and good in this fandom.
Nanci: I groaned really hard at the reveal of Baby Yoda. I worried the show was going to be about weird Force stuff, especially with Filoni involved. It’s an understatement to say I was pleasantly surprised. I love Baby Yoda. I would die for Baby Yoda. Every time Baby Yoda isn’t on screen, I ask “Where is Baby Yoda?” I’m so happy that The Mandalorian isn’t a show about a serious bounty hunter making his way through the galaxy but instead a single dad trying to protect his child. It’s the show fandom needs right now. I don’t care if we never learn the origins about Baby Yoda, but I’m hoping to get some answers in Season 2.
Chris: I love weird Force stuff but I was confused by Baby Yoda at first – by the end of episode 2, though, I was convinced. He’s so damn cute and a great reminder that Star Wars doesn’t always need to be serious.
Kate: Tosche Station regulars probably know these two things about me: (1) I love the “accidental baby/child acquisition” trope, and (2) in real life, I do not particularly enjoy children, unless they’re my friends’ kids. In the end, I was won over by how this baby is just so frickin’ cute, how quickly he got attached to Mando, and Mando’s struggles to be a good dad. By the time we reached the finale and the Armorer pronounced them “a clan of two,” I was basically sobbing. Also, it doesn’t hurt that my dog also has very large eyes and giant Yiddle ears.
The first season featured a pretty diverse line up of directors. Were there any that you thought stood out?
Bria: Like I said above, Deborah Chow and Taika Waititi. After that first episode Chow did, I think half the fandom was yelling with glee that she’ll be the one directing the Kenobi show. She’s got such a talent for directing action and both of her episodes were some of my favorites. And then Taika… was there anything more Taika than the opening of Episode Eight? (No. The answer is no.) I really hope we get to see more of his work in Star Wars. I was also really pleasantly surprised by Bryce Dallas Howard’s work on Episode Four especially with her Jurassic Park-esque AT-ST moment.
Nanci: Taika Waititi’s direction really worked with Star Wars. I really hope we get more efforts with him going forward. The scene with the scout troopers was hilarious, but the rest of the episode knew when to take a serious tone. Both of Deborah Chow’s episodes were fantastic and I’m so glad she’s running the Obi-Wan show. Rick Famuyiwa’s action sequences were shot really well, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Bryce Dallas Howard return, especially if that episode involves Omera.
Chris: Yes to everything they said, and for rehiring all directors not named Dave Filoni.
Kate: Ditto on what everyone else said. I’d like to add that I loved the horror inflection in Famuyiwa’s episode, and I’d love for Star Wars to play more with genre in the way he did.
Werner Herzog. (That’s it. That’s the question.)
Bria: Who would’ve thought he’d be the most relatable with his interview and behind the scenes comments about Baby Yoda? Kinda annoyed we never got to know his character name though.
Nanci: I would like to see the baby.
Chris: I was under the impression there’s no Germany in space but what do I know?
Kate: I just feel for a guy who never got his drink, evil baby-snatcher or not.
What was your favorite moment of the entire first season?
Bria: ……is it awful if I say Gideon cutting his way out of the TIE with the darksaber at the end? Because I flipped the hell out.
Nanci: IG-11 riding into town with Baby Yoda squealing in his Baby Bjorn.
Chris: Dark. Saber. And it’s not close.
Kate: I never thought I’d get a live-action Darksaber, and I will be relishing that reveal moment for the rest of my life, for real.
What do we hope to see more of in future seasons of the show, both in Season 2 which is currently in production and beyond?
Bria: More female characters. (Sorry not sorry.) In all seriousness though, this really does need to be fixed in the next season. You don’t get points for casting someone like Ming-Na Wen only to kill her at the end of the episode. I also really hope that Season 2 gets the band back together early on. A huge part of what made the last two episodes work so well was all of them together. If nothing else, at least have Cara link up with the Mando and Baby Yoda. And maybe, if we’re really really lucky, they’ll somehow find a way to get a version of IG-11 back. (I don’t think we’re that lucky.)
Nanci: Agreed with Bria about more female characters. A return of Fennec Shand and an explanation of who found her at the end of that episode. A return of Cara and Greef as part of Mando’s crew. NO BOBA FETT.
Chris: I hope to see Jon Favreau attending a screenwriting 101 course at his local community college. Seriously, y’all. It’s so bad. Plot-wise, please don’t bring Boba Fett back from the dead and please do have some semblance of recurring characters instead of making every episode introduce people we’ll never see again.
Kate: Again, can’t agree more with everyone else. Also, I need to know more about what happened to Mandalore! I think we’ll see more of this history after the final season of The Clone Wars is released, but, y’know, I want it now.
Any final thoughts?
Bria: Justice for Fennec.
Nanci: PROTECT THE CHILD AT ALL COSTS.
Chris: I’ll be honest – I didn’t expect to like this show, and overall, I found season 1 to be… fine. I’m excited for season 2, but I’m more excited for the show’s success and what it means for the future of Star Wars TV more generally.
Kate: A black man in a badass Imperial uniform wielding the Darksaber? *chef’s kiss*
