**This review contains minor SPOILERS**
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
After wrapping some of its biggest storylines on a different show all together, “The Mandalorian” struggles to find its way in its third season. (And after stealing Boba Fett’s thunder in his own show, Din mostly takes a back seat in his series.)
The plot mostly flounders this time around. Things start off with what seems like it will be a season-long quest for Din, only to be wrapped up in a couple episodes. After a “filler” episode, the overall story more or less spins its wheels for the majority of the season. And then it becomes clear that it’s Bo-Katan’s character arc driving the plot. While there are some interesting direction that story can go, it ultimately fails to really capitalize on anything besides the most basic elements. Like the first season, this one also ends with a two episode action spectacular. However, while the season one finale felt like the natural end to what the season was building towards, season three’s ending feels somewhat tacked on.
All the returning characters have their fun moments, but they really don’t dig deep enough to get any emotional resonance from them. (Although. everyone gets some cool action sequences.) Disappointingly, despite the fact the his story seemed pretty complete at the end of last season, Moff Gideon is back as the main villain. Thankfully. Giancarlo Esposito‘s larger than life take on the character once again elevates the material and quickly squashes that disappointment once he’s back on screen. (It also should be noted that even though you can’t tell, Din was played by stuntmen all season and Pedro Pascal was apparently never on set.)
The show still looks amazing, with the CG generally looking great and the puppetry being more hit and miss. As usual, there’s plenty of Star Wars easter eggs for just about every member of the fan base. There’s some fun action, cool visuals and a solid soundtrack. (The show features a new composer, and while the music is fine, it’s not as strong as Ludwig Goransson’s score.)
“The Mandalorian” season 3 has some great action, some fun character interactions, and a pretty good story arc revolving around not just Din and Bo-Katan, but all the Mandalorians. However, the character arcs don’t quite land, big moments the show sets-up never pay off, and a there’s long stretch where it feels like the show is just spinning its wheels until they toss in a big final boss fight and battle.
**1/2 out of *****