The Mandalorian came at a weird time, just one month before The Rise Of Skywalker released. I am no fan of the sequels, mainly The Last Jedi, and there seem to be no way to compare the two. It’s not like comparing apple to oranges, it’s comparing apples to dog shit. Not to give too much praise to the entire Mandalorian series as it certainly has its ups and downs as well. The simplest way is to b real down each episode as this review has some catching up to do since season 3 has just started up.

EPISODE 1 - “Hey Mandalorian!”
The opening is sick. As a fan of the classic westerns, I certainly felt the inspiration here. Mando walks in the bar and straight up murders some goons! It is incredibly satisfying to see some killing from this newer Disney Star Wars era. HELL FUCKIN YEH!

EPISODE 2 - “The Child”
Another awesome episode. Walking back to the Razercrest (Mando’s ship) and ambushed by Trandoshans. Trandoshans are badass because Bossk is the coolest bounty hunter around. After a proper ass whupping and some disintegrations, we move on. But there is no rest for the Mandalorian as it turns out his ship has been picked apart by Jawas! Jawa disintegrations ensue :0. Great episode!

EPISODE 3 - “The Sin
Another great episode with bounty hunter doing bounty hunter things. Killing some stormies and trading some Baby Yoda for STRAIGHT CASH. I don’t know the character very well at this point but it seemed odd that Mando got so attached to the child so fast, when in fact he is a cold blooded killer. My one gripe with this episode is that he upgrades his armor. Personally it would have been nice to see a slower escalation of him gaining his badass suit. OWELL.

EPISODE 4 - “Sanctuary”
This is where the show started to lose me. This cold blooded killer, this bounty hunter considers giving it all up and staying on this quiet remote planet. Nah fellows, that’s dumb. He does something that I believe was a huge disservice to the show as well, removing his helmet (more on this in season 2). The ending fight scene with the pirate AT-ST was some cool visuals, but overall a boring episode. Side note: I don’t have much to say about Gina Carano as Cara Dune. She is simply a really bad actress and so the character fell pretty flat to me.

EPISODE 5 - “The Gunslinger”
Much like episode 4, this is another fetch quest that takes us nowhere. There is a new character introduces but his name doesn't even matter become he dies anyways and the whole thing is a bit dull. NEXT!

EPISODE 6 - "THE PRISONERS"
This is straight up really bad television. This episode is awful. Yet another fetch quest, this time breaking out of jail! We are introduced to a CrAzY GrOuP oF bAd GuYs that help Mando break out of jail. Seriously these guys suck, they are so overly unhinged it went way past believability or entertainment, mostly annoying. Migs Mayfield is played by Bill Burr, which is so weird, and his character is not great. He does get much better in season 2 though!

EPISODE 7 - "The Reckoning"
Things pick back up again here, no more fetch quests thank god! Mando heads back to the main town that is overrun now with storm troopers. We get a nice proper shoot out here, "A PROPER SHOOT OUT, LIKE A WESTERN." This is where shit is about to hit the fan as the group Mando rounded up is stuck in a corner and we are introduced to the very cool Moff Gideon. Great episode! Fun fact: Moff isn't even his first name, it is a rank. In the OG Star Wars movies, the old guy that bosses Darth Vader around, his name is Grand Moff Tarkin. It's like a highly respected general.

EPISODE 8 - "Redemption"
An action packed episode. IG11 gets his dick blown off. The Mandalorian removes his helmet again (more on why this was a bad idea in season 2). Him and Baby Yoda fly off for some more adventures and Moff Gideon shows off his cool Dark Saber. Dark Saber is cool.

So in short I think if you watch episodes 1-3, 7-8 you still get the whole story and don't really miss much of anything. It's those middle episodes that are what kept this whole season from being truly great. But still a REALLY solid start to a show, especially compared to the new trilogy.

Thanks for reading!