This review contains spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen the first episode of The Mandalorian.
The second episode of The Mandalorian was released three days after the first episode which is also within the first week of the Disney+ launch. Which, after watching the second episode, made perfect sense why they were released so close together.
Also read: Lucasfilm Releases New ‘The Mandalorian’ Trailer Along With Character Posters
The second episode is titled ‘Chapter 2: The Child”. This in reference to the baby Yoda that the Mandalorian found at the end of the last episode after barely surviving the shootout. This episode also follows the Mandalorian fighting off scavengers and other bounty hunters to get the 50-year-old baby off-planet.
The last episode portrayed him as the most dangerous man on this side of the galaxy. This new episode shows how young or inexperienced the Mandalorian really is. The amount known about the title character is still limited but the writers/story gives a great job of giving hints and clues to try and figure out the Mandalorian.
It felt like episode one and two were two parts that had been split. The show has great action, superb performances and the major story points were incredible, especially the big reveal of what the baby really means for the greater Star Wars universe.
Overall though, the episode felt like someone hit the pause button on the entire show. It felt like the point of the episode was to explain the child’s importance which was done very well, but it left the rest of the episode feeling a little pointless and empty, almost like how the Canto Bight scene was in The Last Jedi.
Both episodes were also a lot shorter than previously imagined. If Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni don’t have to obey conventional television rules, Favreau and Filoni should have used that to their favour and try to maximize the episodes with more meat to the story. Instead, the second episode clocked in under 30 minutes while episode 1 clocked in under 40 minutes.
The rest of the season needs to make sure it doesn’t get brought down by amazing production design and visual effects. It needs to make sure the rest of the season has the meat and bones to give this show a reason for everyone to watch and subscribe.
Episode 3 gets released on November 22nd, on Disney+.
