Chapter 20: The Foundling

After two seasons of bringing back some of the old magic from Star Wars, the writers really seem to have no idea what to do next with the mandalorian. It seems they are making it up as they go along. There is no storyline, there are no higher stakes, and everything that happens seems... filler content. Other than an interesting flash back we get some generic mando action scenes, that really add nothing to progress the story. What a complete change of pace for a show that was very entertaining in it's previous seasons. Of course it never had any grand storylines, but at least there was something there to tie all the events together. Now we're just muddling through events and episodes, and halfway the season there's still not much happening. After this episode I have completely lost interest. No storyline is bad enough, but when even logic is tossed out the window, I give up. That ending... really?

You would think they had learned from Andor. Now that was a great show with some amazing writing. Tense, gripping and gritty, with drama, action and fleshed out characters. Unfortunately, this doesn't have any of that. For it's third season this show has been reduced to yet another conveyor belt churning out content. Such a shame.

After last weeks shift in focus we are back with an episode where our main trio takes center stage! While still feeling like set-up it was an enjoyable episode nonetheless!

I liked Grogus development in the episode, as well as the flashback! It was great too learn more of how he escaped order 66, plus it doesn't hurt too se Jedi's fighting clones! Especially when one of them is played by the guy who portrayed Jar Jar Binks!

I love how we can tell what Grogu is feeling just by looking at his facial expressions, rather than having other characters tell you how he feels! He is becoming more and more his own character!

The main plot, while feeling like a side-quest, was still exciting and worked as a developmemt for Bo Khatan! The episode also ends with a tease that Bo Khatan will play a major role later on!

In some ways it is still a little unclear excactly where this is going, but since these last few episodes where mostly set-up, i hope the next episodes will bring more clarity and pay-off!

To be fair, Carl Weathers did a decent enough job directing this episode. Although i feel the writing to be somewhat vague in areas. The beginning was a bit of a downslope for me, it felt like the series had finally reached it's limit and was just spitballing ideas onto screen.

The Mandalorians just don't seem as badass as they used to, now it's looking more like a Power Ranger club with "This is the way" losing it's unique touch, now more of a "Nothing else to say so i'll say the famous words" but maybe that's just me.

The main story of this episode was miniscule to say the least, some would say a filler but inbetween we suddenly got a flashback segment from Grogu (Possibly PTSD based from the execution of Order 66) and i have to tell you i never wanted the flashback to end. I felt intrigued again, i actually smiled. Maybe this could be part of a story we will see more of, who knows.

It feels like there's a lot waiting for this season. We're already four episodes in, but it doesn't feel like it has set up anything real meaningful yet. The first episode did a great job of providing the season with many ways to go, but the main conflicts still seem to be missing. With this episode, the entirety of the short runtime was spent with the title character as he goes on another adventure, but we also finally see what happened to Grogu on Coruscant. While the answers this episode provided to Grogu's storyline were very satisfying, it lacked entertainment in some other areas.

A lot of the episode is dedicated to a mission to save a young foundling from being eaten by a big bird creature, and that was the least interesting part of the episode. The adventure-of-the-week structure still works, but there are certainly some adventures that are less interesting than others. A lot of the writing didn't quite match up and while the action was cathartic and interesting, a lot of the visuals were incredibly wonky, especially in the environments. However, the episode also provides some answers to Grogu and what happened to him during Order 66, and that part was incredible. Grogu's role in this show is really solidifying itself, and it makes sense why Favreau and crew wanted him brought back as quickly as possible, and his reintroduction in "The Book of Boba Fett" actually had some purpose behind it. At this point, a lot of different angles of Order 66 have been shown, and it's always interesting to see the path that different Jedi take and seeing who survived and who didn't. The Mandalorians are clearly individuals who are not defined by their paths, and by showing snippets of Grogu's path, it's clear that all of it is still very much on his mind, so whether he will ever become a good enough Mandalorian is a question that lingers on everyone's lips. It's great how they're showcasing this divide in someone who cannot use words, and everything with Grogu seems to slowly become the strongest aspect that this show has to offer still.

A lot of "Chapter 20: The Foundling" isn't worth really mentioning, but everything with Grogu is so good that it really elevates the episode's potential. There's a lot still to be discovered in Grogu and a lot of the questions that we all have are sure to be huge drives for the creatives. At least, we hope...

At times, it felt like a bad episode of Power Rangers. All of the depth we've come to know from some of the characters present in this episode went out the window. There isn't too much good I have to say about this one.

This very much felt like the episode earlier in the series with the Krayt dragon but not executed anywhere near as well, and with an exposition from Grogu's past which was almost completely disjointed from the rest of the episode.

Acting was sub-par, clear voice dubs for all of the Mandalorian characters and a script which felt like it came from a high school student made me wonder if I want to continue watching weekly or just wait and see what the consensus is at the end of Season 3.

Overall, this is not what I came to expect from the previous two seasons and really hope that it picks up again with more character development that I actually care about. Or even stakes which actually seem high.