Give Me Those Star Wars 30: THE MANDALORIAN Chapter 1 Review

 

SPOILER WARNING

A new age of Star Wars is upon us as Disney+ debuts with the first chapter of THE MANDALORIAN, a Spaghetti Western set in a galaxy far, far away. What did Ryan Daly and Bass think of the episode, and its portents for the future of Star Wars? Tune in and find out!

If you haven't seen the teaser yet, watch it right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adzYW5DZoWs

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

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Thanks for listening, and May the Force Be With You!

22 responses to “Give Me Those Star Wars 30: THE MANDALORIAN Chapter 1 Review

  1. Great discussion guys. I wish I could have joined you, but I was dispatched by a rogue furnace droid.

    I flat loved this. I’m sitting at work on Friday, so no episode 2 for me…yet. But… tonight!

    If you stripped the Star Wars out of it, I got a STRONG Batman meets Man With No Name vibe. And that’s all kinds of win for me. I picked up a lot of the Easter Eggs, but also missed a few (I watched a Screen Crush video that filled me in). The Holiday Special and Ewok movie references were especially fun.

    As badass as he was, he wasn’t infallible. He messed up. He couldn’t ride the critter at first, for instance. But he made up for it with the hover gattlin gun. Wow!

    SPOILERY DISCUSSION

    I wonder, are the Mandalorian and IG-whatever working for the same person, or is ANOTHER party after the “bounty”? IG’s orders seemed to be strictly to kill, whereas our hero got the option.

    As for the armor, it looks like he’s going to be getting more of it from the trailers, and it seems the pieces are almost like a merit badge kind of system. So the Mandalorians are like Boy Scout Bounty Hunters!

    I really, REALLY dug this, far more than I even expected. So glad to hear you guys liked it too. Very excited for all the Star Wars and Marvel goodness Disney + has promised us!

    Chris

    1. Chris, that is EXACTLY how I felt with the Mandalorian and IG-11. They were hired by different parties, which, to me, makes this bounty that more valuable. Which makes me wonder what makes this bounty so incredibly special, other than what we saw?

  2. Great episode! I was also super-pleased with the first episode of this series. This was in many ways the kind of Star Wars story that my friends and I had always wished “they” would produce; something out on the fringes, focusing on the sketchier side of things with the bounty hunters and smugglers, and featuring no Jedi whatsoever. (So far so good on that last point!) I enjoyed pretty much every minute of the show, especially the IG-11 scenes and the reveal at the end, but the Ugnaut (sp?) rancher very nearly stole the entire episode for me. Again, great job. I have spoken.

  3. It’s great to Ryan being jazzed about something again. And it’s always great to hear Bass. It seems his xenophobia is limited to Thanagarians.

  4. Well done on the discussion, everyone! I agree with you guys on almost everything about this show. I loved the Mandalorian and can’t wait for the next episodes. My Star Wars fandom seems to be more positive than a lot of people these days as I have liked all the new movies. I’m not saying they are all perfect, but I’ve enjoyed them all. The Mandalorian, though, might be my favourite out of all the new offerings, tied with The Force Awakens.
    I really enjoyed that the Mandalorian didn’t take his helmet off the entire time. It gives him this air of mystery. I really enjoy the mystery/western feel of this show and it makes me wonder if Disney could go the same route as the Marvel films where they make different Star Wars genre films, i.e. spy/thriller, horror, comedy, etc..
    As for the raggedy Stormtroopers, I have no basis for this, but I got the feeling that they were old Empire Stormtroopers who now hire themselves out as mercenaries. Or even loyal troopers to the Client, whatever his standing in the Empire was before. So while they still have their suits, they no longer have the Empire to provide any new resources. I could be completely wrong about this, but that is just what I thought when I saw them.
    Man, I feel like I could talk about this show for hours so it was great to hear the two of you discuss what you liked and your theories on where this show is going. I have no idea where this will go but I’m very happy to be along for the ride. Thanks for a great episode! Keep up the great work!

    1. Good theory on the Stormtroopers; they very likely are ex-Imperial soldiers who may have deserted with their armor or whatever. But either way, based on the condition of their armor and their general stance and posture, they didn’t strike me as real military.

  5. I wonder how they’re going to deal with Lucas’s edict against naming Yoda’s species; ignore it now that the mouse is at the helm, make it a canonical mystery in the setting, or try to finesse around it.

    1. I mean, hardly any of the characters or planets are named within the show so far, so I don’t think not naming the baby or its species name will feel like a plot hole.

      1. I mean, if it’s going to be the focus of a mystery someone’s probably going to either suggest finding more of these guys out there or talking about their potential relation to Yoda. Which can get awkward.

        In the EU they had to enforce both “nobody knows what the race is or where they came from” and “nobody considers this at all remarkable”, which could get weird.

  6. I’m not sure why but this episode won’t play for me. It says it’s completely downloaded but it’s one 1 minute long (just a commercial for the sponsor) and then ends.

    1. I should clarify; I listen on my Apple Podcasts app. For some reason, this episode ends at the 1 minute mark there.

      Currently listening via the link above on this page with no issues.

      1. Weird. I haven’t heard from anyone else that there have been issues downloading the episode. I’ll check my file and see if there’s anything on my end.

  7. 1. This is why I signed up for Disney+. To keep up with cool things that my nerd-o-sphere would be talking about. And by Yoda, worth it it was.
    2. Hearing Ryan enjoying and talking about anything Star Wars gives me all the feels.
    3. I’ve gotten thru episode 3 by the time I listened, and very interesting how some parts of the show tracked with your predictions, and the parts that don’t seem like good choices.
    4. The two main takes on this series from the twitters: Lone Wolf and Cub, or Marvel’s Nomad (90s when he adopts/rescues a baby). I’ve read both series, and must say, I’m squarely in Nomad’s camp. Interested in other opinions.
    5. Nothing else! Looking forward to more!

    1. Oh man, I had totally forgot about ’90’s Nomad but that’s a really good point. Now I want the Mandalorian to take off his helmet to show off a mullet and cool sunglasses.

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