I think some people, whether they will admit it or not, just fall into the "Nothing will ever please me!" category. Then of course the same old typical words and phrases are thrown out--"fan service, lazy writing, don't care about the characters, etc. For me, those words carry no weight. They are so over-used they are now cliche'.....Whenever I see that stuff, it's an immediate "scroll-on" moment.
Not talking to anyone specific....
This is completely wrong and you shouldn't try to shut down valid criticism about something, even if you love it. This isn't reddit. There are definitely some hokey parts to season 2 and it changed tack from season 1, people should be able to talk about it. If you had a positive emotional response to the show then it is great, but being dogmatically pro-
insertyourtopichere is a
really unhealthy relationship to have with media, or anything for that matter. It reminds me of American politics.
With this in mind, let me say I'm a huge fan of season 1 (but a little bit unsure of how the Mandalorian base scenes went, felt a little bit like amateur D&D, but fun nonetheless).
TLDR, If you went insane over the sillyness of Darth Maul appearing at the end of Solo to turn on his lightsaber while making a telephone call (and the red being visible on the blue hologram) then you will probably agree with my criticisms.
Season 2 clearly had interventions from upper Disney. I feel guest characters were there mostly to link to a wider network of shows. The Mandalorian went from 'the Star Wars TV show' in 2019 to now one of many from 2020 onwards.
During S1 development a lot of Star Wars strategy at Disney was probably focused on TRoS. Now, with that done, we have those talented folks casting their eyes onto the next highest tent pole of the franchise. This undoubtedly altered its priorities.
This isn't necessarily a problem, but it relates to a criticism of S2 I and some others have and that is the small universe feeling. It also felt exactly like somebody playing with action figures. Especially with the amount of corridor shooting / Stormtrooper bashing action that filled a large part of several episodes.
A second point is that we went from 1 major Rebels/TCW reference at the very end of S1, to a boat load in S2. Not necessarily a problem, but in my opinion animated should take content from movies and live action, not the other way around.
It would be my personal taste that the live action shows draw from original creations and the movies first and foremost so it can expand the universe. The animated content could then draw upon original content, movies and the TV show and fill in the gaps. This would also follow the audience gradient. Most people watch movies -> many watch TV show -> few watch animated -> not many read comics etc.
I honestly think Filoni has been indulged far too much in season 2, but that is just my opinion so it is NBD to disagree.
There was also too much Star Wars jargon in the dialogue. A casual audience would be left scratching their heads. Example in episode one where the 1 eyed guy references his Gamorrean. Most ordinary people have no idea what that is. He should have said 'My guy' or 'My fighter' or something. This happened many times every episode.
And now for genuine nitpicks.
Temuera Morrison is objectively awesome, but stocky / broody / Maori style Boba just isn't my Boba. I keep thinking he is Jango Fett. Not much we can do about that though. I enjoy him, even though he doesn't look right to me. He is cooler now than he was as Jango.
Bo-Katan is insufferable. I don't know anything about her background but this show didn't need entitled royalty showing up. In her introduction episode it was established that they don't mind taking their helmets off. Then they proceed to take their helmets off at every minor chance henceforth. Corny! I also think their armour colour and the female visor design don't really fit into live action SW that well, but I'm a biased originalist (OT or die).
I think the Luke reveal was poorly done. Watching a CCTV recording of him cutting down droids, the music score didn't know what to do, it is obvious who it is but yet there is anticipation for something - his face, yes - his face! The audience is wondering how they are going to pull it off - but the whole scene is self aware of this and built around it. Then, we just see they've had the arrogance to present a CGI monstrosity. A technological terror. Do not give your babies to people with faces like that.
If film making or storytelling competence had been present, instead of a multibillion dollar corporation's hand on the lever, there could have been many more artful ways to imply Luke's adoption of Grogu. But this isn't AAA grade TV.
Bib Fortuna being alive (forgive me if he wasn't actually present on Jabba's barge, could be a false memory) and Boba bothering to go back there is creative bankruptcy.
How did they get wood for the Tusken ballistas on Tatooine?
Cable knit jumpers in SW, seriously?
Season highlights for me were the ice cave episode and the Carl Weathers directed episode.