Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I’m interested...can you elaborate?
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SPOILERS: The Mandalorian Season 2 Discussion
- Thread starter MisterPenguin
- Start date
I’m interested...can you elaborate?
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
What have been the issues you've had this season? So far I have liked season one better up to this point. But I wouldnt even consider it close to jumping the shark. I wouldn't even say it's a sophomore slump so I'm curious as to why you feel this way.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Let me preface this by saying I’ve enjoyed the whole show (and that ain’t easy)
But I would venture it’s feeling “dumbed down” for many. Very straightforward. All about adding characters and accelerating plot lines with no pause. That dumbs down the arc and dialogue.
Disney...and even Lucas before...have oscillated between “meaningless nuance that goes nowhere” and “6 year old”
They can’t park it in the middle for some unknown reason? It’s probably paralysis by analysis.
el_super
Well-Known Member
Well part of it is the repetitiveness of the serial format. Each week has turned into a "I will help you but first I need you to do something" quest, which, from a storytelling perspective makes the main story just drag on needlessly, why not really allowing much for character advancement or development.
Season 1 seemed to show the development of the Mandalorian character from an uncaring bounty hunter into adopting and caring for the child. Season 2 was setup as a an exploration of who the child was, and I don't think we have really got anywhere with it. Neither character has really developed any further past where they changed in Season 1, and there are only two weeks left in Season 2.
I would rate myself as a casual star wars fan, and while I know of and understand who Ashoka is, I think the huge build up in bringing her to the show was a bit of a let down. From a story advancement perspective, I think her "sorry Mario but our princess is in another castle" cameo was more than useless. Both the episodes with the other Mandalorian and Ahsoka could have been covered in a five minute montage to the same effect.
So just in summary: less storytelling and character advancement versus way more fan service and monsters of the week.
The pacing feels very similar to a cartoon or a serialized show, where there are 20+ episodes in a season. Maybe now that they are a hit, they are slowing down to play the long game, and I have really come to despise that particular trope in TV. Maybe sometime in season 12 we will find out who the child really is, and maybe in season 21, Mando will finally take his helmet off.
el_super
Well-Known Member
Sorta... yes I feel they have dumbed it down a bit, but it doesn't feel accelerated as much as slowed down.
Kill the monster and survive another week is a pretty simple plot to follow, so maybe it does appeal to a broader audience.
But continually introducing characters doesn't really work if you don't give anything for the characters to do. They show up, they wave, they leave. Maybe the fans think differently, but I think it's kinda cheesy they brought Boba Fett back to life for this. It's silly the bend the rules of the universe and make a mockery of the permanence of death, just to have a cameo as a sidekick.
It seems kinda obvious to me, they are going to have one big team-up trope to end the season and get everyone excited for future adventures with [insert character name here], but long term goal: what is supposed to happen to the Mandalorian?
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
No I hear you...the mandolorian my be the most pointless character on the show now...
Why? As Mel Brooks said “moichendising”
It’s cutesy parlaying into a Jedi take.
But maybe...just maybe...what worked in 1980 and 1983 worked FOR A REASON?
People have spent 40 years nitpicking Without asking a rather simple, fundamental question.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
I get why that could be a turn off for some. Personally I like it as it is a standard in role playing video games. And I'm a big fan of those games. Tv series in general tend to drag on unfortunately. You tend to get the big holy cow moment in the beginning (like the baby yoda reveal) and then the last couple episodes pull out all the stops. It really is the reason I don't follow to many series.
This is my issue with the shorter episode length. We only have 8 episodes per season so far and at 30 to 35min each it just isn't enough. A 45 to 50min average would definitely give them the ability to accomplish the character building we want and the cool action as well. If you pull out the opening and the credits, this episode maybe hit 25min. That just isn't enough time for a show of this scale.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
We never really knew if he was dead or alive. Most just assumed he had died. As a kid seeing Jedi I always had thought he should have been able to escape. So when Lucas started talking about maybe he lived, it didn't bother me that much. I will say that the weight of death is always a problem in comic booky nerd stuff. It is one of the only flaws in the MCU. I wasn't a big fan of the darth maul revival but Boba Fett, as I said earlier doesn't bother me. I'm just glad it's settled and they have a firm stance on it.
el_super
Well-Known Member
But then what's the appeal of watching them blast storm troopers for 15 minutes instead of 8 minutes?
Or killing desert snake monsters for 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes?
Or killing ice spiders for 30 minutes?
The episode lengths aren't really the problem, because they are pretty appropriate for telling the story each episode has presented. The problem is the lack of story in each one. Those stories don't necessitate an episode over 30 minutes.
I feel my advent calendar is mocking me after fridays episode
21stamps
Well-Known Member
oh I feel the opposite. I think it’s getting really exciting now.
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST
Well-Known Member
Its funny I loved the Ahoka episode but I hated this episode. It came off as bad fan fiction and non sensical.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
Yes, but if the episodes were 45 to 50min they would have that extra time to give us more character building. There have been many moments that I wish they would have dug a bit deeper in a scene. Now I don't know if this was budgetary and this was all they could do. They might just be doing the best they can for what they're given.
hopemax
Well-Known Member
In our house, the more the grand arc/ mythology takes over the show, the less interested we are. I’ve gotten so tired of American TV the last several years, that it frustrates my DH because I never want to watch stuff and it builds up on the DVR. We started watching more British TV series that are more episodic, with maybe a seasonal arc, and honestly I’m enjoying them more. But I don’t come away thinking the show is dumbed down.
The problem, I think is the “only 8 episodes.” Longer seasons can satisfy both type of fans. With 8, people want to feel like they learned something, but it feels like it just started and is already over.
The problem, I think is the “only 8 episodes.” Longer seasons can satisfy both type of fans. With 8, people want to feel like they learned something, but it feels like it just started and is already over.
flynnibus
Premium Member
star wars was never that deep to start with.
i feel like you are busting on it for failing to be the one super sized movie broken up. Not every adventure is a rich strike to advance the longer term story. Thats some of the beauty of not having to fit within a tight two hour movie format.
they want to wrap up a stub in a single episode in this serial format. And i dont know why you knock them for ashoka build up. There was none in the show at all. All this hype you reference was in fandom... not the show.
mando learns alot from bo-katan... its his first exposure to truths outside his cult. We learn his friends are trying to settle in and be legit. We’ve seen the child show his bad toddler habits. We’ve learned of attachment from the child to mando. I could continue...
i would stop looking at it as some constrained race to get to a goal.
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
I just want to take a moment to note how ridiculous it is that Disney+ includes the option to "skip intro" for the opening credits. They're literally less than 10 seconds. By the time I could even pick up my remote to skip them they'd be over. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Um, you don't just blow up the lead characters primary source of merchandise, I mean transportation.
I find this talk of "fan service" a bit pointless. It's very subjective what constitutes "good" fan service vs. "bad". For every person who thinks the return of Boba Fett is the greatest thing ever there's another who thinks it's pandering. People complain about something like the tradition of "I have a bad feeling about this" being in every movie, yet are okay with Boba Fett quoting direct lines from Attack of the Clones.
Um, you don't just blow up the lead characters primary source of merchandise, I mean transportation.
I find this talk of "fan service" a bit pointless. It's very subjective what constitutes "good" fan service vs. "bad". For every person who thinks the return of Boba Fett is the greatest thing ever there's another who thinks it's pandering. People complain about something like the tradition of "I have a bad feeling about this" being in every movie, yet are okay with Boba Fett quoting direct lines from Attack of the Clones.
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Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
The good news is that's a small item, so it won't be too hard to take it apart and make it show accurate.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
flynnibus
Premium Member
my biggest gripe with the stories as they fill them out is the time compression vs what was setup in the OT.
Obi Wan and the OT setup like the clone wars were so long ago.. and the galaxy has already forgotten most stuff. Jedi are things of legend, and almost forgotten. Yet it's only like 18yrs ago once we know luke's story and that the clone wars basically but right up against epIV?
But now we have characters spanning both from the clone wars period to the post RoTJ period... and yet again, people act like Jedi are some generations old idea... while the two sides just fought each other with leaders who were all force users. And it's not like the outter rim has no cross over with other regions in terms of people and information.
It's like the people that have figured out faster than light travel, laser blasters, portable holograms and intersteller travel... haven't figured out how to spread news or write it down anywhere??
Obi Wan and the OT setup like the clone wars were so long ago.. and the galaxy has already forgotten most stuff. Jedi are things of legend, and almost forgotten. Yet it's only like 18yrs ago once we know luke's story and that the clone wars basically but right up against epIV?
But now we have characters spanning both from the clone wars period to the post RoTJ period... and yet again, people act like Jedi are some generations old idea... while the two sides just fought each other with leaders who were all force users. And it's not like the outter rim has no cross over with other regions in terms of people and information.
It's like the people that have figured out faster than light travel, laser blasters, portable holograms and intersteller travel... haven't figured out how to spread news or write it down anywhere??