"The Mandalorian," Year Two (With Spoilers)

As it says in the title, spoilers ahead.

I watched "Return of the Jedi" over and over when I was a kid, and I know the last hour of that film pretty much line for line.  So when Luke Skywalker showed up on the season finale of "The Mandalorian," I was as excited as anyone.  When he was finally fully revealed and started talking, the spell was immediately broken, as the show didn't have the budget or resources to deliver more than an obvious CGI deepfake who sounded all wrong.  However, for that first shot of the reveal, they had me.  It was just a few seconds, but they managed to bring "Return of the Jedi" Luke back in all his Jedi glory, and I loved it.  The lead-up was beautiful, with all those little visual and aural hints, and the big hallway action sequence that echoed Darth Vader's cameo at the end of "Rogue One."  I rewatched it multiple times, and then went and binged Youtube reaction videos for good measure.  

Of course, after the nostalgia hit had subsided, I realized that Luke's appearance was a massive deus ex machina and a distraction from everything else going on in "The Mandalorian."  Din and Grogu's goodby scene happened way too fast, considering that their relationship is the one big thing that has kept this show going since the beginning.  All the other characters are still on Moff Gideon's cruiser trying to figure out what to do with the darksaber.  My reaction to Luke was also markedly different from my reactions to the appearances of all the other legacy characters that appeared in the show this season - Bo Katan and Ahsoka Tano from the animated "Star Wars" series, and Boba Fett from the original trilogy.  While it was interesting to meet these characters, I didn't have much personal connection to them.  And frankly, though Rosario Dawson looks great in the costume, Ahsoka came off as overly solemn and stiff when actually interacting with people.  And I have no interest in watching a full series about her, no matter how many Kurosawa visuals Dave Filoni wants to heap on it.  

So, the limits of my own nostalgia have become perfectly clear this year.  Having not watched "Clone Wars" or "Rebels," when their characters showed up in "The Mandalorian," it did nothing for me.  And the more the showrunners lean into the nostalgia, the less effective it often is.  I wish they had spent more of their time on the original characters from "The Mandalorian."  I love Ming-Na as Fennec Shand and Gina Carano as Cara Dune.  Frog Lady was one of the highlights of the year.  Moff Gideon really needed more attention, as he just felt like a weak Vader stand-in.  The only one of these legacy characters I'd like to see more of is Bo Katan, because she's setting up more story for Mando, and she's got complicated allegiances.  I feel like there's more to learn about her.  None of that sort of groundwork was set up with Ahsoka or Boba Fett.

"The Mandalorian" has been mostly satisfying otherwise.  I'm sure the separation between Din and Grogu will be brief, as the creators know what a gold mine the little green guy is.  I liked that both of them got a little character progression - not a lot, but a little is fine when you're talking about an action show full of monsters and fight scenes.  I want to give the show all due credit for all the things it does right, like the beautifully tactile costumes, worldbuilding, and effects.  And the wonderfully diverse cast of characters.  And the way it uses the "Star Wars" visual language so beautifully while dropping in these homages to older media.  There is so much work and so much love that goes into this production, and it's still a marvel that "The Mandalorian" exists at all.  

And its future worries me.  I think this is a rich universe that absolutely can sustain more than one series at the same time.  However, I think Lucasfilm is pushing its luck with the number they currently have in development.  Out of all of these projects, the two I actually intend to watch right now are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cassian Andor's shows, because of their lead actors.  If I watch "Boba Fett," it'll be for Ming-Na.  But nostalgia is what Disney's banking on, and nostalgia's what I've just about run out of.

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