***This review contains some spoilers***
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
“The Mandalorian” returns for its second season, building on the lore and characters from season one, while dipping into the larger Star Wars universe to bring in some fan-favorite characters. While the story suffers from multiple side-quests early on, the streamlined narrative in the second half of the season delivers a fun, and sometimes emotional, adventure. (And sets up two or three spinoff shows.)
The plot starts off right where we left off at the end of season one, and other than a slight deviation, takes us on the anticipated “Find a Jedi” quest. Initially, for every episode that sees that story take a step forward, we get a follow up episode where to show seems to be dragging its feet. Pretty much the first four episodes consist of Mando having to take up an adventure to help somebody else out so that he can advance in his mission. While there’s some great action to be seen, it feels more like the show is stalling as opposed to a natural progression to the story. Thanks, characters new and old keep you emotionally invested.
As expected, the heart of the show is Mando and The Child (who finally gets a name.) Surprisingly, their interactions are pretty meh at first, but eventually we get to see the connection that has made this show what it is. We get a few other returning characters as well, some like Greef Carga don’t get a ton to do, while characters like Cara Dune actually get the building blocks for some major story arcs. (Although it was clear before the Disney announcements that the show was setting up potential spinoffs.) However, it’s the scene-stealing Moff Gideon that makes the biggest impact. He commands the screen every time he appears, and we finally get some hints of his master plan.
The series doesn’t add any new characters this season that are particularly memorable, but it does inject a few established characters from elsewhere in Star Wars lore. While Cobb Vanth, (introduced in a few Star Wars novels) makes a memorable first impression, it’s characters from the animated shows that have the biggest impact. Both Bo-Katan and Ahsoka Tano make their live-action debuts, and they don’t disappoint. And while they don’t explain how he’s alive, Boba Fett is back, and they do a good job of reconciling the inconstancies of his status in Mandalorian culture.
The special effects are fantastic, even better than the first season. The production design is incredible, and all the tech and locations look great. And as expected, the score is just a thing of beauty.
The second season of “The Mandalorian” keeps the emotional core and lore from the first season, while bringing in some hardcore fan service. While a third season has been announced, a few twists in the season finale opens things up for a completely different direction.
**** out of *****