Bookshelf Battle

Hey 3.5 readers. BQB here.

I have been remiss in posting about The Mandalorian, and Disney Plus in general.

First, is Disney Plus worth it? When it first came out last year, yes. I had a great time streaming all the Marvel and Star Wars movies…until I got sick of them and never wanted to see any of them again. Well, at least not without a break.

As for original content, Disney Plus has a lot of catching up to do if they want to go head to head with the head honcho of streaming, Netflix.

If you have a kid, the service is probably worth it. You’d go broke buying all these movies on demand when you can have them all there for a monthly fee.

For me, the Mandalorian has made a subscription worth it. Sadly, Disney has lost its way when it comes to Star Wars. It seems that Luke vs. Vader collection of stories were really the only thing that was interesting and attempts to branch out i.e. with the past in the prequels or in the future with the sequels were lackluster.

The Mandalorian is a rare diamond in the modern Star Wars rough though. You’ve got a bad ass bounty hunter, so that satisfies the adult nerds who want to see battles and mayhem. You’ve got an adorable sidekick so that satisfies the kids as well as the execs who want to make bank on stuffed animal merch.

And you actually have a story line. Whereas JJ Abrams just pulled stuff out of his butt with the recent sequels only to go nowhere, this series feels like it is going somewhere, albeit I’m not sure if the writers know exactly where as of yet.

The Mandalorians are…well, are they people, a race, are some of them aliens and some humans, I don’t know….but it’s fair to say they follow a religion of sorts. After suffering all sorts of alluded to past war atrocities and carnage, they make their way through the galaxy as bounty hunters, refusing to ever remove their helmets so that they conceal their identities, for they often have to do illegal and immoral stuff to catch their prey and collect their money.

It’s probably all just a ruse to allow for a Boba Fett-esque character while we know Boba Fett was (as for as we know) eaten by the Sarlacc pit monster in Return of the Jedi…or was he?

But the ruse works.

Anyway, last season, “Mando” was, at a time post the fall of the Empire, hired by Imperial loyalists to find and bring back a bounty. Mando has done this thousands of times, catching scum and bring said scum to other scum. Beings that are wanted. Beings that owe money to criminals. Etc. No biggie.

Ahh, but this package is a “The Child” or a cute little Baby Yoda. Mando grows a conscience, escapes with the kid and thus the series formula is born. Mando and the Child travel the galaxy, going from planet to planet to evade capture and along the way, there is almost an A-Team like vibe as Mando uses his mando skills to help people and or aliens in need.

In the season 2 premiere, Mando visits Tatooine in search of other mandos who might help him protect Baby Yoda and return him to his race of aliens, whoever they are. Hearing tell of a mando here, he investigates, only to find that it is merely Timothy Olyphant wearing mando armor that he bought off some pesky jawas.

Mando demands the armor returned, for according to mando law, mando armor may only be worn by other mandos. Timbo says the problem isn’t so easy, for he has only been able to protect his city with the use of the mando armor. He’ll give it back, but only if Mando helps kill a massive underground worm like Krayt dragon thats about to come up under the town and eat everyone.

Mando agrees but to bring the beast down, they’ll have to make friends with the dreaded sand people.

It’s a fun episode and as an Olyphant fan it was nice to see him shine here.

Overall, this show seems to be keeping SW alive. I’m not sure the wonder of the originals can ever be recaptured, but all nerds asks for is at least an attempt to adhere to rules and past canon…and have some semblance of a story…i.e. when you are handed a trail of bread crumbs, you will be able to follow it to something. This and Rogue One did that so that’s probably why both have faired well.

I’ll say this. It’s the first show in awhile, since the end of Game of Thrones, that I consider appointment watching. Coming home Friday nights and switching it on after a long week is my new favorite pass time.

STATUS: Shelf-worthy.