TV #16 of 2023:
The Mandalorian, season 3
A very uneven installment, and one that probably seems even weaker for being the first live-action Star Wars property to follow the franchise-high achievements of Andor’s debut year. While not awful, this is certainly the worst (or more generously, the most inconsistent) the Mando show has ever been, a cut above its aimless Boba Fett spinoff only in that the episodic adventures are a more natural fit for this program’s wandering lone-wolf-and-cub style of shaggy storytelling.
Where did The Mandalorian go wrong? Off-screen, it’s easy to point to Grogu, the lovable scamp whose initial arc with his bounty hunter guardian seemed to reach a natural conclusion when he departed at the end of season 2. But Disney presumably realized how much merch his cute little face was selling for them, and so had him reunite with Din Djarin over on the Boba Fett series, likely confusing anyone who skipped that on their way here and found the pair suddenly traveling together again. There’s also a clear effort to shoehorn in some setup context for the upcoming Ahsoka show, as yet another outside imposition on the creative process. So far, the Star Wars writers are not managing such crossovers as gracefully as their Marvel counterparts.
So Baby Yoda is back, but without any major conflicts or stakes accompanying him. Instead the main plot this time involves the “retaking” of the planet Mandalore, a vague proposition that doesn’t feel especially grounded for the characters no matter how much exposition about it they occasionally deliver. Pedro Pascal’s figure is arguably not even the titular Mandalorian anymore, since more attention is given to the returning Bo-Katan Kryze and by extension the entire diaspora of their people. She’s the only one with anything approaching a traditional hero’s arc as she struggles to step up and unite the tribes under her leadership, but it’s still not a terribly compelling drama. Most of the challenges raised by the narrative are solved by throwing a combination of beskar and laser blasts at them, and while there remains a degree of fun in watching that action spectacle unfold on the small screen, it’s an increasingly hollow source of entertainment without engaging protagonists who could invest it with personal meaning.
This year brings some nice new guest actors into the fold, at least, including a few I can honestly say I never would have expected to see in a Star Wars title. The individual episodes are sometimes fine on their own terms, especially if you can manage to shut off the pesky part of your brain that asks questions like, “Wait, was she just sitting around moping in an empty building on an empty planet until he happened to drop by?” or “Why does he need that particular droid again?” Bottom line, I just don’t think the scripts / editing have been as carefully produced for round three, and I’m hoping that that’s stemming from unforeseen production issues and not the cynical view that fans are now a proven commodity who will lap up anything with Grogu in it.
★★★☆☆
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