‘The Mandalorian’ Season 1 Showed That Star Wars TV Could Be Cool
A new Obi-Wan Kenobi show and a Cassian Andor show premiere on Disney+ in 2022, and a new season of The Mandalorian should be around sometime soon as well. If you need to be refreshed on the Star Wars live-action TV universe, here’s a quick rundown of the first show to enter the new mode of Star Wars storytelling.
Episode 1 - “The Mandalorian”
The series introduces a Mandalorian bounty hunter based on the planet Nevarro shortly after the fall of the Empire (which happens in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi). The Mandalorian picks up a mysterious job from a client protected by Imperial Stormtroopers, at the end discovering his bounty to be a childlike being known to fans as “Baby Yoda.”
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Nick Nolte / Carl Weathers / Werner Herzog / Omid Abtahi / Taiki Waititi / Horatio Sanz / Brian Posehn
Episode 2 - “The Child”
The child is collected by the Mandalorian, but events are stalled when Jawas steal parts of his ship, the Razor Crest. To barter back his ship’s parts, the Mandalorian faces a large, formidable beast called a mudhorn, nearly meeting a fatal end but suddenly being saved by the child’s Force powers.
Main Actors:
Pedro Pascal / Nick Nolte
Episode 3 - “The Sin”
Though conflicted by the child saving his life and the obvious evil intentions his client, the Mandalorian completes the job and returns “Baby Yoda” to Nevarro. But a last-minute change of heart sends the Mandalorian back to the client, where he rescues the little creature, incites a conflict between the Imperials, the bounty hunter guild members, and the other Mandalorians, and escapes in his ship.
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Werner Herzog / Omid Abtahi / Carl Weathers
Episode 4 - “Sanctuary”
This is the first in a small series of semi-isolated adventures episodes. Here, the Mandalorian helps a small village of krill farmers with the help of a former Rebel trooper named Cara Dune, sentimentally bonding with the folks before being driven off-world again.
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Gina Carano / Julia Jones
Episode 5 - “The Gunslinger”
In a short visit to the famous desert planet Tatooine, the Mandalorian helps an aspiring bounty hunter with a dangerous mission to buy some repairs for his damaged ship.
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Amy Sedaris / Ming-Na Wen / Troy Kotsur / Steve Blum
Episode 6 - “The Prisoner”
The final isolated episode shows the Mandalorian revisiting his past by taking a job from a past associate. A hostile, shady team assembles for the escape of a prisoner on a New Republic prison ship.
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Mark Boone Junior / Bill Burr / Natalia Tena / Clancy Brown / Richard Ayoade / Matt Lanter
Episode 7 - “The Reckoning”
The Mandalorian gets a call from his bounty hunter guild handler Greef Karga, who brings him back to Nevarro with a plan drive out the client’s Imperial presence. On the road to town, the child saves Karga’s life as well, prompting him to change his mind and reveal that the plan was a ruse to lure the Mandalorian back and steal the child from him.
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Nick Nolte / Giancarlo Esposito / Carl Weathers / Werner Herzog / Gina Carano / Taika Waititi / Adam Pally
Episode 8 - “Redemption”
After the Mandalorian’s group gets pinned down as the main antagonist reveals himself, they continue with the plan to rid the town of the Imperial presence and keep the child safe from harm.
Main Actors and Guests:
Pedro Pascal / Taika Waititi / Giancarlo Esposito / Gina Carano / Carl Weathers / Jason Sudeikis / Adam Pally
Season One Praise
The Mandalorian’s creator Jon Favreau gives the show everything that makes Star Wars engaging: action, drama, and a sense of epicness that no other sci-fi series has documented on film. Though it’s just a small story in the Star Wars universe, The Mandalorian fleshes out the bones of a new chapter that has the support to continue for many seasons.
Rating: 8/10
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Watch The Mandalorian on Disney+ now!
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