Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore

This week goes straight into Mando + Grogu heading to Mandalore to explore the mines and attempt to bath on the "living waters." After last weeks misstep of an opening I was concerned how much they were going to drag this out. However this episode made last weeks look like child's play. I feel like if the Book of Boba Fett wasnt a giant mistake than this probably would've opened the season with a 20 minute prologue to establish everything episode one did. However it wasn't perfect, the need for nostalgia still creeps around and feels a little forced given the circumstances of things. Like how "R5-D4" the same exact one from a New Hope that blew a fuse before the Lars were able to buy them is now Mandos new astromech. It was cute seeing him in previous seasons as a subtle nod. However having him be directly apart of the story just feels too much of a coincidence, as well as serving essentially no real purpose. Besides that, seeing Mandalore in live action and destroyed was a sight to behold. The landscapes are beautiful and the translation between what we've seen in the animated series of Clone Wars and Rebels goes perfectly into this series. As you can easily imagine the flashbacks of the Siege of Mandalore in the now desolate underground city. I still am a little shaky on where exactly this story aims to go, especially since I know that there's a heavy chance this is going to work in Ahsokas TV show into it somehow. On top of the fact that every trailer released has a scene with Jedi from Order 66 presumably, which I hope doesn't feel forced. For a second episode it was great, and definitely left me wanting more for next week.

With a few changes this could have been a brilliant 2nd episode. I'll talk about what I liked first, all of the stuff with Mando teaching grogu about the workings of the ship and different things about being a Mandalorian was adorable and the highlight of the episode for me. The director Rachel Morrison is mainly a cinematographer most notably known for black panther, and it shows. The episode mostly takes place in this underground ruin area and it all looks wonderful. However... much like the previous episode it suffers from some mediocre writing and action scenes. But I believe the biggest issue was bo-katan, now I love the character, but the Mandalorian gets a couple things off about her. Firstly, she would be way older, we're talking late 50's at the earliest, and while she is an awesome Mandalorian I doubt she would be able to block too many electric spear thrusts or roll under too many giant mechanical behemoths. Secondly, there is one part where she is implied to want to kill Mando, but then when she sees it's grogu she risks her life to save him, twice! Nice writing guys! Lastly, why does she not believe in any of that weird mysticism surrounding mandalore, when she met obi-wan, Ahsoka, and maul multiple times! She would be one of the first people to believe in it!

I hope I don't sound too negative in this review, there were plenty of things I really enjoyed, I just think that with some better writing and fight choreography, as well as some reworked character consistencies, it could of been something really special.

7.5/10 definitely an improvement over last episode.

Sorry for being dramatic, but this show is incredibly frustrating. It's well cast. Well directed. Good VFX and design...

But favreau's writing and show running is bringing the whole show down. Not only does this broadly negate the entire plot of episode one of this season (which is bad when you only have 8 episodes total) but it also fails at actually telling a good cohesive story on its own.

Much like the last episode, none of the events here build on each other. One thing, then another, then another...but none of it happens because of what has just happened. The resulting story feels unmotivated, lacking tension despite there being action

The characters are very dry as well

Better than episode 1 but not nearly as good as season 1.

This one felt more like a Mandalorian episode again. With a deeper tone and wider cinematography, ambient music and an overall thrilling vibe. The story didn't branch off into unwanted subplots, we focused on Mando's task at hand.

Apart from a few moments of disposable enemy slaughtering the monsters in this episode actually had the art of terror. A subject not looked into enough when it comes to exoplanet exploration in film making. I mean i'm not expecting it to be like the movie Alien, but the vibe was still there.

A more enjoyable episode, although it would have been also enjoyable to have Mando do more, he seemed like dead weight in this one. Given said, the development still progressed and the story wasn't lost.

Not a kick ass episode, but better than the first one. Progression was there.

I enjoyed this episode more than the first.

Grogu had to become independent in this episode to rescue his dad. I am glad the writers are going this route, because we've already had 2 seasons of Mando and Grogu, where Grogu has just tagged along everywhere looking cute. This was a problem for me going into this season, because in the BOBF he reunited with Mando; I wanted to see some of Din by his lonesome.

This episode was a deep dive into Mandalore and it's history, and I am here for it. Mandalore, or what's left of it, is a shadow of what it used to be; and what we saw in Clone Wars.

Bo Katan makes a further appearance in this one, and her character gets more fleshed out.

Overall, a good episode.

8.5/10.