The Mandalorian (Disney+) TV Show • Page 46

I would die for Baby Yoda. So, I am?

 

I would 100% sacrifice Jason for Baby Yoda.

 

It's kinda a clever trick. You put in this adorable, omg cute creature in Baby Yoda, so now fans are 100% invested in keeping it alive, and therefore now more invested in what Mando does and sometimes, more importantly, doesn't do.

 

Fair trade off.

 

That's why I disagree with the idea that there isn't an overarching narrative. The overarching story is about Baby Yoda and Mando trying to do for it, what someone had done for him in the past. Find him in danger and give him the opportunity for a better life.

 

i never considered this

 

Hmm. While I agree the show is very serialized (which I enjoy) the overarching narrative to me is Mando searching for his identity and a place to belong. This is really hammered in the previous episode. He wants to stay in that village. Ultimately, he wants to protect baby Yoda more and knows he can’t stay. That ties into the second arc (a somewhat connected arc) protecting baby yoda. It isn’t because he’s cute, it’s because Mando sees himself and the tragic past he had to live through and wants better than that for Baby Yoda.

I’m not saying this to invalidate some of the critique in this thread, I get that and have wondered some of the same myself But to me, his search for purpose and belonging is the ride we’re on for season 1.

 

Yes, basically what @EntryLevelDave said lol.

 

It’s not really serialized at all though, it’s much more like a traditional story of the week or episodic show.

 

Serial: "anything published, broadcast, etc., in short installments at regular intervals, as a novel appearing in successive issues of a magazine."

Serial (radio and television) - Wikipedia

Serials rely on keeping the full nature of the story hidden and revealing elements episode by episode to keep viewers tuning in to learn more. Often these shows employ recapping segments at the beginning and cliffhangers at the end of each episode.

 

That’s not what serialized means in television.

 

I will argue pretty strenuously that this is not a procedural or "one off only" kind of show.

 

Yeah that wiki link is exactly what I’m talking about. Serial versus procedural is the simplest breakdown of how shows can be defined, with this being much closer to the procedural end with self-contained stories that tie up each week. It’s not completely in that category of course, but the standalone classic western or video game vibe is what’s being discussed, and that’s the opposite of serialized TV.

 

I've been thinking about this a lot and would like the show to give me some answers.

 

I just said it doesn’t fit the category perfectly, lol. I’m just referring to the comments that were using that word to describe the standalone aspects.

 

Of course there is a degree of overarching narrative, you would not be able to fully understand the scenario of this episode without having watched the first 3, but this particular episode did not drive the story forward in a meaningful way, whereas the first three episodes absolutely did. Now that's totally fine, X-Files has been doing the same thing where they largely alternate between "monster of the week" episodes and some that drive the overarching plot forward.

It's not like there is anything inherently wrong with either.

The only important takeaways from this episode were that there's a (new?) bounty on Baby Yoda's head and that Gina's character exists. All in all that's not a lot for 35'ish minutes of Star Wars cosplay.

 

See, but I still disagree with that. It drove the story forward of him A) Not wanting the child with him to the end or B) not wanting to wear the mask forever and settle down for a quiet life. It's the first time we've really been presented with the conflict of stay and live vs. go and fulfill his Mandalorian duty.

 

you're not wrong, I just felt those things were implied either way and they didn't need to point that out.

 

I can see it landing in the Buffy/Veronica Mars/X-Files realm easily, just with the space western flair.

 

I really really really hope not.

 

The entire relationship and reflection and struggle in the middle of the episode about duty, honor, and not being able to remove the helmet, even if he wanted to for his own happiness, was a pretty important takeaway for a "cosplay." The decision to leave the child, pretty important takeaway.

 

Why? I don’t think the story lends itself to complete serialization since so much of the excitement is around watching Mando live his life and go on different adventures. Having a mix of story of the week with the bigger themes around his character working as a thread throughout the whole season/series is close to what we have at the moment.

 

I feel like i'm just following you around from star wars thread to star wars thread agreeing with you lol. Tell me you think the celtics are scum or something. This agreeing thing needs to wear off.