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Ahsoka: Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch and the Warlord (2023)
Maybe we should reevaluate our definition of "good"
On the show overall, not just the finale:
First, the positives - Baylan was the most compelling character for me, mostly due to Ray Stevenson's performance and gravitas. His loss is truly a tragedy. I'd like the character even more if I had any faith in the creators to actually do something interesting with him. Maybe they'll prove me wrong. I enjoyed the Anakin cameos. Hayden looked amazing in the clone armor. I absolutely love anything having to do with the clones, so seeing Rex and live action clones got me. I'm not too proud to admit it. The actress that played young Ahsoka was great. The music was fantastic, to be expected from Kevin Kiner. I liked some of the visuals, like Seatos. The shots of the Chimaera were also impressive.
The rest - I think this show proves just how damaged this IP is. How? Well, we've been starved of good content for so long, we now praise anything that's a step above terrible. Ahsoka may not have been as bad as BoBF, but is that really saying much? It's almost like a lot of us have a lower bar for Star Wars than anything else, where awful is average and mediocre is excellent. Lucasfilm/Filoni-style storytelling would be unacceptable in shows like Arcane or Stranger Things. I can't understand why Star Wars isn't afforded a similar level of writing to those shows.
I think what really stood out to me with Ahsoka in particular was the lack of... well, everything. Stakes, depth, consequences, emotion.
Why does almost every interaction between the characters feel devoid of life? Even the reunion between Ezra and Sabine was bland and underwhelming. It would have been a great chance to delve into the mixed emotions both of them were probably feeling. How about shock, ecstasy, and relief from Ezra, who's been stuck in an entirely different galaxy for 10 years? I mean, has he even had a conversation with another human in all that time? What about happiness mixed with some guilt and trepidation from Sabine?
I'm sorry to say, but I think Sabine was one of the worst parts of this show. Nothing against the actress, I'm sure she did the best she could with what she had. This is a writing and continuity issue. Sabine makes borderline villainous decisions but doesn't get held accountable for them, and probably never will. Instead, she practically gets a pat on the back from Ahsoka. How are we supposed to root for this character? She screws over the entire galaxy but, hey, Ezra made it home so it's okay! No, it's not. Ezra sacrificed nearly ten years of his life to keep Thrawn away, and Sabine undid that in five seconds. Unfortunately, we never get to see his reaction to that tiny bit of news. Ahsoka and Sabine must have kept it from him, because he's super chill the entire time. Not even remotely angry like a normal human might be. If they did, that makes them horrible people. If Ezra does know and is totally cool with it... I don't know what to say to that. What a wasted opportunity to create tension between the characters and get the actors to, I don't know, emote?
Ahsoka's also remarkably forgiving despite the fact that Sabine deceived her not once but twice. Her hands-off attitude in the finale was unbelievable to me. How can she possibly classify Sabine's betrayal as a "gamble" that paid off?? As far as they know, they totally failed. Thrawn made it back to the other galaxy armed with the Chimaera, Tie Fighters, three incredibly powerful Nightmothers, and a magical army that can regenerate itself seemingly without limit. Millions, if not billions, of lives are at stake. I think some despair is warranted. Some sadness, anger, give me something! But, no. Ahsoka is as zen as ever. She doesn't seem too concerned about getting back home and helping undo the chaos that her own Padawan has unleashed. I guess Baylan was right about her legacy of destruction.
Why is any of this a problem? Because the characters clearly don't take any of this seriously. So why should I? Why should I be invested in season 2, the Mandoverse movie, or anything leading up to it?
As far as Thrawn goes, I think fans of Heir to the Empire should keep their expectations very very low. This was Dave's chance to showcase how cunning he is, but unfortunately I think he fumbled it. Thrawn's supposed to be the centerpiece of the next few shows and the Mandoverse movie, but there was almost no setup to establish why he's such a big threat. Instead, Dave decided it was important that we see a lot of walking, staring, slow dialogue, poorly explained Ahsoka and Sabine angst, and low-stakes combat scenes. We're supposed to believe Thrawn is dangerous because the characters say so, and because Dave is relying on the reputation Thrawn has amongst fans in the real world.
He's supposed to be a master tactician, yet he keeps getting bamboozled by the same people. Is it because they're all so clever they constantly outwit each other in a tense game of cat-and-mouse? No. It's because Thrawn keeps shooting and throwing soldiers at them but is unaware that Ahsoka and her crew are equipped with S-Tier plot armor. They went through this entire season with barely a scratch, and their ship hardly took any damage except when Dave wanted it to. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at Thrawn's expression when Ahsoka miraculously survived the "hellfire" he rained down on them. Here's a tip, Dave: the audience isn't going to instantly believe Thrawn when he spins his defeats as victories in disguise. We have brains, we actually have to feel like he won in some way in order to be impressed. From my perspective as a viewer, Thrawn and his crew failed to kill three Jedi despite being armed with a Star Destroyer, which makes him look laughably incompetent. Even with his one victory, he still took an L because Ezra somehow managed to stow away and steal one of his ships. Not sure how that happened, but Dave needed to show the reunion between Hera and Ezra. What's the harm in making Thrawn look inept one last time?
To be fair, I don't have faith that most of the writers at Lucasfilm can adequately portray a villain with genius-level intellect. These are the same people that greenlit the embarrassing Kenobi trench coat scene. I know Dave wasn't responsible for that, but come on.
Honestly, this show has me questioning him as a creator. He gets a lot of credit for some really great moments in TCW, Mando, and Bad Batch, but now I'm wondering if he just happened to work with more talented writers on those particular episodes. I have no doubt he knows a ton about Star Wars lore, but that doesn't automatically make him a good storyteller. To me, he's a "cool moments" type of writer. He has a vision of particular scenes he wants to happen involving his characters, but doesn't think about how to get there in a way that's logical or resonates with their personalities or past actions. I constantly see fans doing the writing for him to fill in the gaps necessary to understand what's going on in the story.
Episode 5 is an excellent example of that. Everyone has a different idea of what was going on. Depending what explanation you go for, the emotional context changes. Was it really Anakin? Was it all in Ahsoka's head? Because I don't know for sure what's going on, the episode didn't have as much impact for me as it did for everyone else.
Jedi Sabine is another example. As far as I know, there was no precedent set for that in Rebels. It felt like an idea Dave came up with last minute and clumsily shoved in the show. Was it to cement another one of his characters in the Skywalker master/apprentice legacy in place of Anakin's actual descendants? If that was the case, why not just have Ahsoka take on Jacen as a Padawan? That would make more sense. I don't know, it seems so out of place to me. Why not just keep her as a Mandalorian?
Considering how terrible the last few SW shows have been, Ahsoka needed to be fantastic to get me invested again. After all, it's indicative of how good future Star Wars is going to be, since they're apparently giving Dave a lot of control. I'm happy for the fans who liked this show, but for me it suffered from much of the same of what I disliked about Kenobi, BoBF, and Mando S3. Poor writing and dialogue, brainless characters, a lot of wasted scenes and padded runtime. They've done the same thing with 4 shows now, so I can't give them the benefit of the doubt anymore. Even if there are some cool moments here and there, I'm pretty sure all the same people responsible for the previous shows are still employed at Disney and Lucasfilm and will be for the foreseeable future. This is the best it's ever going to be. I hope they prove me wrong, but they haven't given me any indication they will.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 24: The Return (2023)
How to inspire apathy, in 8 episodes.
Well, it was a season. That's about as much as I can say about it. I actually feel relieved that it's over.
I'm glad for the people that got some enjoyment out of it. Honestly. At least you didn't feel like your time was wasted. For a lot of us, though, it's a sign of decline in a show that we were hanging on to as one of the "good" parts of Disney Star Wars. One bad season may not be the end of the world, but this is also following the disappointments that were the Book of Boba Fett and Kenobi, so personally, my faith is at an all-time low.
I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade; this is all just my opinion, which is mostly negative from here on out. This review is way too long, too, but it feels therapeutic to get it all out. Fair warning.
The finale was okay. Safe, bland, inoffensive, no suspense. Meh.
"You're just mad that your theories were wrong!" someone might say. Sure, some people might be. I think most of us were just expecting more than what we got. Is it wrong for us to want to be surprised, intrigued, or excited by the shows we watch? This episode, along with the whole season, just reminded me of the sad fart that comes out of a slowly deflating balloon. You know what I mean.
Trashing the Darksaber felt like a way to get rid of an inconvenient plot device, that could have been interesting if handled well. The way they did it was so nonsensical, too. Not sure how beskar can be crushed so easily, even with Gideon's armor enhancements. If anything, Bo's hand should have been reduced to mashed potatoes, but she only seemed to suffer minor injuries. I'm sure someone on the internet will come up with an explanation, but it's never good when fans have to do the thinking for the writers. Not theorizing, actual thinking.
Overall, the rest of the season was pretty disappointing to me. The only word I can use to describe it is shallow. I wanted more substance, but everything remained surface-level and unsatisfying. Here are some of the issues I had:
1. Bo's arc. First of all, did anyone else notice how the trailer hid that she's essentially the main character this season? Please stop with the bait and switch, it's so irritating. Just give Bo her own show.
It's not that I don't like Bo. She's interesting and has more depth than most, if not all, of the characters on this show. I'm still not convinced she'll be a good leader, though. She admits she failed yet again (is that 3 times now?), but no one seems to mind. Has everyone forgotten that she was a terrorist that literally burned down a village, lied to the Mandalorians to secure power for herself and Pre Vizsla, and helped Maul set up a giant crime syndicate? You wouldn't know that if you didn't watch Clone Wars, because she's never really held accountable for her terrible decisions in the past. None of the other Mandalorians ever really question or doubt her except for Axe, and even he gets over it pretty quickly. Leaders often have to deal with and overcome those issues, and it would have been interesting to see Bo do the same. I think her redemption arc and rise to power could have been really stellar if done properly. Due to how quickly she was built up this season, at the expense of character development for Din, I thought that perhaps they were setting up a heroic death or some sort of meaningful sacrifice on her part. Nope. I think her character deserved better; she doesn't need to be treated with kiddie gloves.
2. The writing. Has this show ever been particularly profound or thought-provoking? No. But some of the writing this season was so juvenile, contrived, and full of plot holes that I needed to completely disconnect my brain in order to enjoy it, and simply observe the characters moving around on screen like I'm watching animals at the zoo. I'm okay with that, when it comes to certain franchises like Transformers. There's a certain point, however, when characters do things that no human with a functioning brain would do, and it takes me out of the show anyway.
The Mandalorian being a kid's show, which is debatable in itself, does not excuse poor writing. Kids' content can appeal to adults as well if it's written intelligently enough. Take Shrek 2, for example. I was a kid when that movie came out, but I only enjoyed it more as I got older.
I'm pretty sure they're writing the dialogue to cater to people who are on their phones while watching, considering how spoon-fed it is. A lot of the characters just narrate things as they are happening on screen. (Ex. "We just got hit!" "They destroyed my home!")
Events also just seem to happen with no rhyme or reason (all the monsters that randomly pop up, for example) in order to give the characters something to react to. Even Bo mostly gets pulled along by the plot, responding to things that happen rather than actually making things happen.
I don't think the emotional moments had as much impact as they had intended. Consider Paz's death and compare it to Kuiil's death in season 1. I wish I could say I felt something when Paz died, but I knew next to nothing about him. Kuiil didn't even have that much screen time, but he was likable and his death hurt. They had plenty of time to give Paz some characterization, but they didn't. His own tribe didn't even mention his death in the finale, like the writers forgot about him.
What's frustrating is, I know that some writers at Lucasfilm are capable of this. Look at episode 12 of this season of the Bad Batch. The Outpost is now one of my favorite pieces of Star Wars media, ever. I've re-watched it several times and haven't gotten tired of it. Not every episode of a show needs to be as dramatic or emotional as that episode was, but it was nice to actually get goosebumps again while watching Star Wars.
All of this to say: good, well thought-out writing hurts no one. I don't think it's that unreasonable of an ask. The people that turn off their brains to watch this stuff won't notice, and the people that do pay attention to the writing and plot elements will appreciate the thought put into it. Everyone wins.
3. The premise, namely the reunification of the Mandalorians and reclaiming Mandalore. Neither faction of Mandos was developed enough to make me care and root for their reconciliation. I was never in suspense as to whether they would actually get along, because there was no tension or depth to their rivalry. This might just be my terrible memory, but I'm not sure why they hated each other so much in the first place. Because one side takes their helmets off and the other doesn't? Because the Children of the Watch didn't stop the purge of Mandalore, even though they were sequestered to a different planet? Okay, I guess. If they had taken time to set it up properly, maybe with some personal stakes, the eventual payoff would have been more satisfying. By the end, I just didn't really care anymore.
4. The portrayal of Mandalorians. This is more of a personal gripe. Being a fan of Mandalorians in the expanded universe, I was curious to see how they'd develop Mandalorian culture and how it would differ from Legends, or if they'd incorporate anything from the EU into the show.
I was hoping for some Mando'a at least, to add some flavor; yes, they've used a few words, but they have a large vocabulary (that someone else made up) at their disposal to use. Heck, I would be okay if they never included any EU elements, as long as they replaced it with something cool. What we actually got was pretty underwhelming and bland, in my opinion. Here's what season 3 taught me about Mandalorians, or at least Disney's version of them:
-They're awful parents. (A large predator kills several members of their clan, but they don't seem to feel the need to protect their children from it. Also, Din takes Grogu on several extremely dangerous missions, but suddenly decides he needs to be more selective about his bounties?)
-They have no common sense and even the smart ones (Bo) don't use good tactics.
-They're gullible and vulnerable to corruption. (Apparently, if you claim to have seen the Mythosaur, the Armorer will believe you almost immediately with no proof.)
-They often forget how to utilize their own weapons. (The amount of times they could have solved their issues with their jetpack missiles, but didn't, was insane.)
-They throw away their own rules and traditions at the drop of a hat.
-They're terrible at hiding, and extremely easy to sneak up on.
Nothing about them inspires me to keep watching. I don't believe they're the legendary warriors they claim to be; many of these episodes actually made them seem rather inept. If anyone wants to read about Mandalorians that actually live up to their reputations, I'd recommend Legends material (Jango Fett: Open Seasons, Republic Commando novels, etc.). EU content isn't perfect, but at least the writers made me believe that those Mandalorians are competent and capable.
It's just a shame. It feels like a step down from previous seasons. I think even people that liked this season would have to admit that certain moments from earlier seasons (Mayfeld's confrontation with the imperial officer, Luke's return, etc.) were far more impactful than anything season 3 gave us.
Of course, maybe this season was over before it began. I think most everyone agrees that it was a huge mistake to shoehorn Grogu back with Din. Yes, retcon the one thing that united most fans for the first time in years. That makes sense.
Jon Favreau can say whatever he wants. It's hard to believe that it was his idea to undo the ending he worked so hard to surprise people with.
I'm nervous about Ahsoka now. If that show ends up disappointing as well, then I only have myself to blame for continuing to watch. And sadly, even if what comes next is good, we all have to come to terms with the fact that everything eventually leads to Rey Palpatine.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 22: Guns for Hire (2023)
I didn't think anything could be worse than the vespas, but here we are.
1 star is harsh, I know, but come on. We had to wait two years for this?
I'm usually happy about Clone Wars references, but I couldn't even get excited about seeing battle droids because they're distracting us from the main "plot" yet again. The story in this episode is okay, it's just very, very poor timing in my opinion.
Why are we still doing side quests with only two episodes left? It may have worked in a show with a longer season, but my patience and goodwill has run out. The campiness on top was just an extra irritant, and came off very cringy.
I've been trying to figure out why the silliness in the prequels doesn't bother me as much as what we've gotten in BOBF, Kenobi, and this episode. I think it's about balance. Yes, the prequels, Clone Wars, and original trilogy had plenty of wacky moments, but they were balanced by more serious, coherent storylines and emotional depth. There's none of that in this season, in my opinion. When there's nothing of substance to even out the absurdity, what's left is just embarrassing.
This episode feels incredibly "Disney", and that's not a good thing. I think I can safely say that most of us want less Disney in our Star Wars, not more. I think that's one of the reasons why season 1 was so well-received; there were Disneyfied components here and there, but I didn't sense as much corporate interference as there seems to be in season 3. You'd think they'd get the hint to stay out of it after failing with Star Wars so many times, but it seems they just can't help themselves.
Of course, maybe this truly is Favreau and Filoni's fault. I don't want to think that, but I'm really starting to wonder.
Nothing against Lizzo, but her cameo was so distracting and out of place to me. I didn't mind Jack Black so much, but I was still completely taken out of the story when they showed up on screen.
Grogu is nothing but a prop, but that's not a surprise. We all know he doesn't belong in this season anyway.
Bo has to save her sidekick, Din, yet again, because he has trouble controlling himself around droids. Where is the capable, menacing bounty hunter we got in season 1? Can we get him back? Does this season exist purely to establish that Bo's the only competent Mandalorian in the entire galaxy?
And then there's the ending. I'm not sure why Bo wielding the Darksaber because of a cheap technicality would inspire such tremendous faith. I like her, but I'm tired of her getting handed things so easily. I can't take anything in this show seriously anymore, because the writers are probably just going to retcon their own rules or find loopholes to get out of the corners they write themselves into.
I'm pretty sure the Nite Owls are going to accept this lazy excuse considering the heroic tone of the last scene (did they really think that would wow us?). If they do, then that just reaffirms Disney Mandalorians are kinda dumb.
It would have been a great opportunity to, I don't know, create tension and excitement? Add a compelling conflict? I think a duel between Din and Bo or even Axe and Bo/Din would have been far more entertaining and impactful. But this is Disney, so everyone's probably just going to be buddy-buddy. No interesting character dynamics or complex motivations to be found here.
I wish Bad Batch was still on. I could have used a palette cleanser after this one.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 21: The Pirate (2023)
Alright, they redeemed themselves a little.
Just an initial reaction. Disney shows tend to suffer from dumber-the-longer-you-think-about-it syndrome, so my opinion might change later.
No one will ever convince me that the Mandalorians weren't total buffoons in episode 4, but thankfully they were somewhat competent this time around. Bo still needs to babysit them, but at least there were signs of life under those buckets.
Credit where credit's due - seeing the Mandalorians fight together was fun. This is probably not a big deal to anyone else, but I really enjoyed seeing a Mandalorian in a kama - it's probably the closest we'll ever get to seeing live action ARC Troopers, which would be amazing if they did it right.
I also thought they did a good job with Zeb. Bringing a character like that to live-action can go wrong pretty quickly, but he doesn't look cheap or uncanny in my opinion.
There was some plot progression, which was nice, but why wait this long to expound on what happened to Moff Gideon? If they'd started out this season with Captain Teva discovering the prison transport, maybe there would have been more momentum in the beginning.
I think my biggest issue is with the Armorer's decision. And it's not even the decision itself, but the timing. If she's being sincere, her change of heart feels hasty and unearned and her reasoning feels extremely shaky, given how dogmatic she was four episodes ago.
Bo's been in the clan for, what, a week? A month? She didn't really even want to be a part of this group at first, the Armorer just kinda pushed it on her. She's already getting special treatment. The Armorer immediately trusts her claim of seeing the Mythosaur for some reason, and she already considers her to be a worthy representative of their way of life, which is strange to me. She hasn't really had to sacrifice anything to prove her loyalty, other than leaving her helmet on for a few days. Shouldn't Bo being an outsider for so long make her less trustworthy than Din, who's gone to extreme lengths to show his devotion?
I could probably buy into this idea if there had been more build-up, as it usually takes a long time for people with such deeply entrenched beliefs to question them or even dismiss them. This just felt like whiplash, since the helmet rule has been a pretty major plot point in the last two seasons. Plus, the first part of the season pretty much hinged on Din getting his redemption. But now that rule's been cast out the window, at least for Bo. I'd be mad, if I were him. Especially since he knows nothing about the Mythosaur at this point.
Isn't that going to shake the faith of the other cult members as well? I don't think they're going to like that this newcomer gets such a huge break, but they're still beholden to the same restrictions. But it's okay because Bo's "walked both worlds" or something like that, which sounds too easy and cheap.
Maybe the Armorer has a reason or some grand plan that will be explained later, but as far as I can tell there's been no hint of that. Her character feels very inconsistent at this point, so it's hard for me to take her seriously or understand why the clan seems to have undying reverence for her. That's a cult leader for you, I guess.
I almost thought she had convinced Bo to challenge Din for the Darksaber at the end, and got kinda excited. But, no. I don't think they'd have the guts to include that kind of conflict between their two leads, though I'd struggle to call Din a lead character anymore. I think I'd rather see Bo in her own show. Katee Sackhoff can definitely carry one. Din still doesn't have much personality, so I would have really liked to see him developed more this season instead of pushed to the background once again. I like Bo, but Din is who we started the show with.
Overall, I liked this episode more than the last, but that's not saying much. The last three need to be absolutely mind-blowing, because this season has been a pretty sad follow-up to the season 2 finale. I guess that's to be expected, though, because they went out of their way to retcon that the first chance they got.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 20: The Foundling (2023)
Why would anyone want to be a Mandalorian?
The positive (kinda): The Kyrimorut reference was nice, but at this point references to Legends lore just make me a little sad. Oh, what could have been...
I enjoyed the Order 66 scene. Then again, I'm usually always up for live action clone trooper stuff. It was nice to see the LAAT/i again, the 501st, lightsabers, etc. I have to admit that I wasn't aware who Ahmed Best was at first, but I'm glad he got some time to shine. I'm curious about who Kelleran's contacts on Naboo are, and where Grogu goes from there.
I like Katee Sackhoff, as usual. She really seems to care about the characters she portrays.
The rest: This is just my opinion, which doesn't count for much. I'm happy for the people that liked this episode, but it left me a little dumbstruck.
I don't expect every piece of entertainment to have airtight plots or be completely logically sound. Most aren't, and that's fine as long as the rest of the story is good/fun enough to compensate, and that's subjective to everyone. But, wow. Some of the contrivances in this episode were so obvious they broke my immersion, or at best, made the characters look foolish. Even if a show is meant for kids, that doesn't excuse writing that's, in my opinion, lazy and illogical. I've never understood why that's used as a justification for bad storytelling. There's plenty of examples that show that kids' content can be smart and engaging.
I don't know if this rescue plot was made up just so that Bo could be the hero again, but making the rest of the Mandalorians look braindead by comparison isn't doing her any favors. People like intelligent, competent characters. They're easy to root for and more compelling. It's hard to be invested in Din's clan when they're constantly making dumb decisions.
How have they survived this long? They lack the awareness that you might expect from people who have made a name for themselves as elite warriors, mercenaries, and Jedi-hunters. I don't know where those kinds of Mandalorians are (Kyrimorut, probably), but I wish we'd gotten a show about them instead.
Children/foundlings have been established to be supremely important in Mandalorian culture (in both Legends and Canon), but the tribe is awful at protecting them. The same kid has almost gotten killed twice now by two different monsters, seemingly in a matter of days. There's perfectly good caves on this planet, and they still inexplicably choose to practice out in the open, on the same beach where they almost got murked by a sea monster, and where a giant reptavian creature has already snatched multiple people. And yet they have no preventative measures, or even sentries to alert the rest of the clan that there's a predator in the area. I didn't think there were that many Mandalorians left, but apparently self-preservation isn't high on their list of priorities right now.
The child that gets taken is Paz's son, but you wouldn't know it by how he reacted at first. No one else is in much of a rush to save him, either. In fact, they take time to make camp and eat dinner. For all they know, this kid is probably dead or about to be eaten. I've seen people try to defend this by saying that some birds regurgitate meals for their young and he could have been stuck in some sort of food pouch. I'm pretty sure that the food is supposed to be digested or partially digested because the babies can't eat whole food by themselves. That's the whole point. The prey isn't meant to be kept alive, as far as I'm aware, but I could be wrong. Even if the Mandalorians somehow knew that the bird fed its young this way, why would they be okay with letting a child sit in there for an extended period of time?
Thankfully, it decides to wait to feed its hungry offspring until the Mandalorians are ready to enact their rescue plan. The kid gets spit out and he's miraculously still alive and totally unharmed. Not one scratch from the thing's giant teeth. Dry, even. How'd he manage to get enough oxygen being stuck in a bird's digestive system for hours on end? Don't know.
The aerial fight would have been cool, but I just kept thinking that this whole thing could have been avoided if the Mandalorians had used a modicum of common sense.
I also don't understand why the Armorer makes a beskar dinner plate for Grogu when he already has the chainmail. It seems bulky and impractical, especially for an acrobatic Force-user, so it'll probably end up being a convenient plot device.
And, finally, "This is the Way" is getting annoying. It's starting to feel like a crutch so that the writers can avoid having to come up with intelligent, subtle, or ambiguous responses. If they continue to spout it every few sentences, it's quickly going to lose impact and meaning, if it hasn't already.
So far, this season seems directionless compared to the first two. Yes, there have always been side-quest episodes in Mando, but at least I felt like I knew where the story was going. The plot is pulling in multiple directions, but not making much progress toward any of them, and there's only 4 episodes left.
I'm trying not to write off this season yet, but the first half has been a little lackluster for me. I'm more invested in Bad Batch, which I didn't expect. Nothing against BB, I've just always been more excited about Mando until now. I assumed they'd really think it through since Mando is their money-maker right now, but this is also the same company that managed to fumble Obi Wan and Boba Fett. We'll see, I guess. If all else fails, at least Jedi Survivor looks promising.