photo courtesy Disney
The bond between pseudo father and child is bolstered in another revealing episode of the first live action Star Wars series on Disney+.
In the interest of fan service, the latest episode of The Mandalorian hits a record high mark. As Din continues his venture to find a safe haven for the green youngling, he comes in contact with new foes, old heroes, more tension laced combat scenes, and another ally that will most definitely return in future episodes. The Jedi (directed by Dave Filoni) brings make more musical cues from the classic films and a more textured visual style. Adding to his excellence, the samurai genre comes directly to the surface of episode five, once again becoming the best of modern Star Wars.
Finally revealing one of the fandom's favorite characters in a live action iteration takes the show to another new height. Where season two has certainly improved on the series as a whole, they seem to finally be getting a real foothold on how the future of the show can only continue getting better. So many television projects seem to fall off in their second or third years. The Mandalorian is the total opposite. They've hit a stride that's force pushing this past the film sequels and fitting in like a perfect puzzle piece to the saga as a whole. The first year was good (don't get me wrong) but it was repetitive and was super focused on setting up introductions to characters. Yes, season two is still establishing new planets, locales, and new species. But it's really making headway towards story building and back story for The Child.
There's something different this year for The Mandalorian. It's really Star Wars in its purest form. Filoni and Favreau have found a way to do something the sequels struggled to do. The two J.J. Abrams movies had this certain Lucas imitation or recreation thing going on. He wasn't ashamed of his impersonation of the Lucas glory years. But, Filoni and Favreau in conjunction with an amazing set of directors has seen a much better connection between the retro classics and their audience. Each week they give us little glimpses of the past as they move to do everything they can to show us how much they love and adore the galaxy far, far away.
Episode 5: The Jedi lets Filoni work in his own corner of the universe, building on what he created with The Clone Wars animated series as he reintroduces legacy characters back into the mix. It would be easy to continue piling on the love for the newest chapter, but instead we'll just suggest you get to watching the show. If you're a fan of the originals and the prequels, this week has a lot for you. If you're a new convert, the show will also blow your mind. This is the way.
-CG
