Chapter 17: The Apostate

I'm not sure, but maybe it was the Andor effect, as Andor was so adult and incredible and this felt more childish and rushed. Also, we are tracking multiple storylines now? I also kind of wish they did the robot workers as CG and not puppets as those things moved horribly. I guess Mandalorian is going with these basement looking alien pirates as the bad guys now, which could use so much more sinister variety. I thought Grogu would be a tad more grown up by now after living with Luke for a few years. But he's still cooing and not behaving. Still, it's Star Wars and I always smile when I get new Star Wars content. And history has shown that this show can bounce back because each episode gets a new Director.

It's scary how many poor projects Disney has put out in the last couple of years. I was scared that this new season would follow in the other projects' footsteps, but it doesn't. Once Mando's leitmotif starts playing I'm reminded why I love this show so much. Is it not insane how Göransson has created a score that rivals John Williams'?

30 minutes for an episode is way too short. The action scenes are spectacular and the humor is alright but the episode loses a few points due to it being too short. What can we really walk away with after this episode? A few things happen but I wish we got to see more. It's almost like there's not much story to tell so they have to keep making short filler episodes like these to have enough material for an eight-episode-long season.

I don't mind any time we get to spend in this world with these characters, but maybe I expect more from one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. The usage of Grogu is clever and somewhat cute, but I perhaps wish the show was a tad more serious at times. Still great though.

I didn't expect much better, considering the quality of some of the recent Disney Star Wars shows, but I'm still ultimately disappointed.

I feel like there was no heart behind this episode, like no one involved, aside from the cgi artists, actually cared about what they were working on here. The cinematography, costume work, pacing, writing, and editing, were all let downs.

Each shot was very unimpressive (especially compared to the concept art shown at the end). The quality of most of the alien costumes immediately distracted me from the story (I swear it's somehow significantly worse costume work than the original Star Wars, like Lucasfilm is pretending poor costume work is a stylistic choice, in order to cut costs). The grass pirate guy looked especially laughable. The pacing was erratic at best, making for an awkward experience. The writing, in terms of story, was questionable, as too many different side quests were thrust upon Mando too quickly (and that monster attack scene at the beginning felt poorly implemented, like Mando just needed a cool looking entrance, and this random scenario is what the writers came up with). The editing was really distracting throughout the episode, but especially in the monster attack scene.

The two Mando episodes embedded in The Book of Boba Fett were very good (the rest of The Book of Boba Fett was awful), so I was hoping that some of what made those so good would have carried over to the third season of The Mandalorian. Unfortunately, only the questionable alien costume work (the low point of those episodes) appears to be the only thing that made it to season 3 of Mando.

I am not convinced, yet, that this season will be a loser, but this was not a good start.

I really want to like the Mandalorian. S1 brought me back into StarWars after the sequel trilogy had ruined this franchise for me. S2 was good, tho a bit gimmicky. This first Episode is the worst bits of S2 and little of the charm of S1.

The issue is the story. Its just not moving. A lot of scenes are just there to showoff familiar characters, and add nothing to the story. Nothing happens in this episode that we already didn't know. Except the Mandalorian flying across the galaxy again & again to meet old friends & have meaningless conversations most of which we already knew.

If they think this is "fan service", I'm sorry but they are mistaken. Once or twice is fun. But they already overdid this "fan service" in S2 & Boba Fett. Now focus on the story please. Learn something for Andor, which is now my favourite StarWars content since Mandalorian S1.

I don't know what happend, but the pacing is so much worse than the season before, how was Mando so much cooler in one Episode of Book of Boba Fett than in his own show?

Despite the pacing, they tried to tell to much in one episode, it feels rushed, they try to revive a dead droid, they can easily get another IG and program him, the pirates couldn't count and everything feels off... I wished that the episode which we got in Book of Boba Fett would've been the first episode here... Overall I'm disappointed in the season start and hope it'll get better as soon as possible, they have so much potential and with no end in mind, as Favreau said himself, there is no reason for this rush.