MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!! (You’ve been warned...)
Disney (owner of everything we know and love) has finally unveiled Disney+ — the Mouse’s entry in the streaming wars.
The Disney+ debut finally means eager “Star Wars” fans get to see the first episode of the much ballyhooed series “The Mandalorian.” This is the first “live action” TV series in the “Star Wars” universe.
The studio is only releasing one episode at a time. The first episode — simply titled “Chapter 1” — was included with the service on launch day (Nov. 12, 2019). The second episode is set to drop on Nov. 15, 2019.
I’ll talk about some of the technical glitches I encountered when we signed up for the service in an upcoming post (giving my impressions of the Disney+ platform). Suffice it to say, everything is working splendidly now, and the first program I viewed was “The Mandalorian.”
“Chapter 1” runs ~40 minutes. That is a relatively short runtime for the first episode of a streaming series.
Part of me wonders if Disney eventually plans to air “Chapter 1” in an hour-long prime time slot (with commercials) on ABC to promote the series and the Disney+ service (somewhat similar to what CBS did with the first two episodes of the streaming series “Star Trek: Discovery”).
I watched the first episode three times on my Apple TV 4K to be fully versed to write this blog post.
I want to commend Disney+ for providing new shows/movies in 4K HDR to all subscribers — at an affordable price. Not only that, “Star Wars” aficionados will be pleased to note that “The Phantom Menace,” “Attack of the Clones,” “Revenge of the Sith,” “A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi,” “The Force Awakens,” and “Rogue One” are available in 4K for the first time anywhere (“Solo” and “The Last Jedi” will be included on the service when the current distribution deal with Netflix expires).
LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED
“Chapter 1” starts off with the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) walking into a bar on the hunt for a bounty. The “Mando’s” identity isn’t revealed in the first episode.
It has been suggested that the show’s creator (Jon Favreau) was going for a vibe similar to Clint Eastwood in the old Sergio Leone “spaghetti westerns.” You can see that throughout the first episode.
GALACTIC TOILETS AND THE “STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL” NOW CANONIZED!
The Mandolorian’s target is a Mythrol (a humanoid character whose face looks like a blue fish) played by Horatio Sanz.
I kind of found this character a tad bit “off-putting.” The Mythrol seemed like he’d be more at home in 1990s era “Star Trek.” Or, perhaps more apropos, an episode of the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” (read my review of “Star Wars: Rebels”).
However, his presence in the show allowed fans to catch their first glimpse of a “vac tube” (what toilets are called in a galaxy far, far away) and there was also a reference to “Life Day” (the holiday Chewbacca and his family celebrated in 1978’s “Star Wars Holiday Special,” which — ironically, is not available for viewing on Disney+).
The Mandalorian tools around the galaxy in a vintage ship called the Razor Crest equipped with its own carbon freezing chamber — illustrating what a trendsetter Boba Fett was in “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strkes Back.”
The first half of the first episode was somewhat shaky. That said, it imbued the retro spirit that “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (read my review) had when it was released in 2016. Quite honestly, both “The Mandalorian” and “Rogue One” serve as terrific bookends to the original trilogy.
When the Mandalorian delivers the Mythrol (along with other assets frozen in carbonite) to bounty hunter guild leader Greef Karga (an ageless Carl Weathers), he is given a bounty that goes against the norm — a “face-to-face, direct commission.”
This is kind of a fun scene as viewers get to see different forms of galactic currency. We get to see what an Imperial Credit looks like, and get to see what Calamari Flan looks like, which I can only assume is the currency of Admiral Akbar’s home world. (What is flan? Hint: It’s not the dessert you’re thinking of…)
The Mandalorian accepts the chit, and visits the client (Werner Herzog) — a mysterious man who is guarded by four Stormtroopers. While there, he meets a man referred to as “Dr. Pershing” (Omid Abtahi) and receives an initial payment in the form of Beskar (an alloy used in Mandalorian armor) with the promise of more when the job is complete.
Details are scant on the target, but it is mentioned that the target is 50 years old.
Details are scant on the target, but it is mentioned that the target is 50 years old.
The Mandalorian takes the payment and tracking fob with him, and heads down to some sort of underground conclave filled with other Mandalorians.
On the way we see him walk by a Kowakian monkey-lizard roasting on a spit, while another one watches from a cage. Made me wonder if either one was Salacious Crumb (Jabba the Hutt’s sidekick in “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi”).
ORIGINS AND MYTHOLOGY
The Mandalorian visits an armorer who melts the Beskar brick down, crafting the molten metal into an armor plate designed to go on our protagonist’s shoulder (called a Beskar Pauldron). During this scene we get to see some brief flashbacks of our protagonist as a boy.
It’s kind of nice to see the writers take a deep dive into some of the Mandalorian lore. It is suggested that the Beskar can help “foundlings” on the planet Mandalore (we see a series of flashbacks that tend to suggest the Mandalorian might have been a foundling growing up — but we’re not quite sure what that means).
It is a bold move to have a show revolve around a character who rarely (if ever) removes his mask — a definite challenge as it regards character development.
Yet there was something oddly compelling about the protagonist as he moved through the early stages of the first episode. To be honest, the Mandalorian story lines in “Star Wars Rebels” were among the most compelling in that series (and Sabine Wren was one of my favorite characters).
BLURRGS AND UGNAUGHTS
With payment and tracker in hand, the Mandalorian sets out for a desert planet (none of the planet names are identified in the first episode) that looks like it could have been set in the South Dakota Badlands.
He lands the Razor Crest in a remote area, and is soon attacked by a pair of Blurrgs (bulbous lizard creatures).
An owly Ugnaught farmer named Kuiil (Nick Nolte) rescues our hero. He decides to help the Mandalorian in return for one of the tranquilized Blurrgs (the creatures serve as de facto horses in this space western).
Kuiil is confident the Mandalorian can do away with the miscreant mercenaries in the area. The Ugnaught also has a habit of ending any sort of discussion with the phrase “I have spoken” (which felt to me like a nod to the Biblical phrase “It is written”).
(Hats off to the ILM creature gurus for crafting an Ugnaught that is the spitting image of Nick Nolte).
GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL
Our hero travels to a frontier town of sorts that is being patrolled by Nikto guards (a race featured at Jabba’s Palace in “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi”).
The Mandalorian spies an IG droid (said to be a “bounty droid”) entering the town.
The droid’s designation is IG-11 — and I was so happy to get to see an IG droid in action for the first time. I had the Kenner IG-88 action figure when I was a kid (that came complete with a blaster *and* a rifle), but we only had a brief glimpse of the character in “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back.”
We finally see a live-action version of what these droids are capable of thanks to “The Mandalorian.”
IG-11 walks into town, spouts off some mumbo-jumbo about “Subparagraph 16 of the Bondsman Guild protocol waiver...” (as he searches for the same asset the Mandalorian is after).
When the guards don’t comply — and one draws a blaster — IG-11 starts dispatching the assembled Nikto left and right as he spins and twists, firing both his pistol and a rifle.
The Mandalorian heads down the hill to confront IG-11, and has to take the brunt of a blaster shot as a result.
But the two agree to work together (since they’re both in the Guild) and split the reward.
What ensues is one of the more entertaining shootouts I’ve seen in the “Star Wars” universe.
Eventually, the two bounty hunters dispatch with the gunmen and use the tracking fob to locate the asset.
The fob leads them to a round container that is holding what looks like a baby (remember, the asset is 50 years old) of the same species as Yoda (whose species hasn’t been identified in the “Star Wars” universe).
The IG droid says it is under orders to kill the asset. As IG-11 levels a blaster at the creature, the Mandalorian shoots the droid.
The episode ends with the asset reaching out its three-fingered hand toward our protagonist.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I enjoyed the first episode of “The Mandalorian.”
The show was created by Jon Favreau, and the writers did a good job setting things up for future episodes.
You have to believe that the diminutive “Yoda-like” creature will figure into the story arc during the rest of the first season (which will run eight episodes). The question is whether there is some sort of Force-wielding significance to the asset.
I’ll be interested to see if future episodes run ~40 minutes like “Chapter 1.”
It is hard to tell at this point if that would be a good thing or not. I was left wanting more after watching the first episode of “The Mandalorian.”
The current scuttlebutt is that Disney might be eyeing a feature film for “The Mandalorian” in the future. John Campea was talking about this on his show today:
It’s hard to say what the future holds at this point, but Disney+ signed up 10 million subscribers on launch day. They are reportedly at work on the second season.
If the show proves popular, you can bet Disney will (blue) milk the property for all it’s worth...
If the show proves popular, you can bet Disney will (blue) milk the property for all it’s worth...
Stayed tuned for my review of “The Mandalorian” Season 1, Episode 2!
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