Well, I actually personally disliked Rodriguez’s episode of the Mandalorian a lot back then, too. I also am becoming increasingly weary of being in what practically amounts to an abusive relationship with Star Wars. For every fifteen seconds I personally get that ticks my boxes of what good Star Wars content can be, it seems like I’m forced to sit through thirty minutes of everything I don’t like about any media, let alone Star Wars. As big a fan as I am of the OT, I’m a bigger fan of storytelling, filmmaking, and good content, so I won’t defend a director to my dying breath for doing a lackluster job just because I hope “this time he’s changed!” I like Favreau, but I don’t think every decision he’s made has been great. I don’t like Filoni, but I won’t get into that because he’s the new golden child of the fandom and people really hate criticism directed at him. So far, few things I liked from S1 of Mando made it to S2. A lot of things I was worried about had a greater presence. And now, even less, practically nothing, of what I thought worked in Mando has made it into TBOBF, and everything I disliked has multiplied. I know a lot of people like to throw around the old “Star Wars is for kids”, but man, these shows are starting to feel just like the cartoons. Aimed at an increasingly young and niche audience. I mean, talk about gatekeeping. Favreau, Filoni, Rodriguez, they’re all cutting out huge portions of the general audience—including a significant number that grew up with the OT—in order to cater to those who read the comics and followed the cartoons and collected obscure action figures. One little callback isn’t an issue, but when the storytelling really isn’t that good, and it’s loaded with stuff “you’re supposed to know already”, people get turned off. I’m sure that people like that, like my older brother who is so disappointed in this series he is considering burning the Fett helmet he made from scratch, will be called “not real fans”, though, because he’s never seen a single episode of TCW in his life, and couldn’t tell you who that Wookie was supposed to be.
Separate gripe: I am tired of these 35 minute long, seven to eight episode seasons, stretched out over two months. Remember when you got like sixteen to twenty episodes of a television show per season, and each one had a consistent length? The eight episode season really only works in my opinion with something like Stranger Things, where the episodes are longer, and you can watch them all at once (and they’re also more substantial in the story they tell). This isn’t a Star Wars problem, either, this is a Disney+ problem. They know they have us where they want us—they can do whatever they want and get away with it.
