SPOILER Mandalorian S1E5

I agree. Mando's now finding that he can't actually turn to how he knows to make money as the means of making money.
He'll now have to start figuring out different ways to barter and make money to pay for things he needs. He was lucky this time because the green bounty hunter died, so he could just take his credits. But next time he needs money, he'll know that he won't be able to go hunting for bounties that are guild targets.

He also knows that he's being hunted at long range, and that his ship is a target itself.

He also learned that he can actually trust some people, in spite of others not being trustworthy. There was no reason for the garage keeper to help at the end. She could have just flipped on Mando and made a pretty penny, but she chose to help him in the stand-off, even though at the time it wasn't something she believed was going to turn a profit, and it would have been easier to step aside and let the greenhorn capture Mando, and likely earn a few credits for the help.

This episode also showed an interesting trend with people who help Mando. They all start out helping for gain, but end up charmed by him and helping him in spite of gain. All four who have helped him have followed this way, and all four have turned out more benefited than they originally wanted, and by the time of earning, had come to desire.
But all are touched very personally by Mando, which is saying quite a lot considering a Mandalorian's reputation, and the lack of an empathizing face to relate to.

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I also don't really agree with the idea of a filler in this series, even if they did an episode where nearly nothing happens at all. This is different than other types of shows because it has a beat to it, a pace that is artistically expressed. It does things at times for no other reason than the pace needs to move that way, to either contract or expand space and breadth.

So even if they did an episode that was 30 minutes of sitting around a campfire, and saying little, I'd say this wouldn't be filler because when you put them together it's fit for a purpose to the art piece as a whole.

Sure, you can skip it and not miss anything in the cognitive story line, but skipping the down beats misses the experience of the identity and nature of the story.

It's like, you can skip the rests in a sheet of music because they aren't essential to the definition of the melody in so far as a list of what notes are in the melody, but you would be skipping the space that was given to make the whole melody what it is as an experience temporally.
Not everything is defined by its cognitive dopamine dump.

Cheers,
Jayson

 

Let's use some SW wisdom here:

'filler' as a term of critique should be placed in the bin with 'subvert expectations' (you have to have expectations to be subverted..."train yourself to let go").

They're just cute terms we use to make ourselves feel like an authority on how something should be critiqued...always picking hills to die on is a dangerous way to live ("Many of the truths we cling to greatly depend on our own point of view").

If you watch the series one way, a filler episode might exist in your mind (you're focus determines your reality), and if you watch the series in a different way, a filler episode is just....another episode. So....yeah...ROS and another Mando episode are coming next week...."always in motion, the future is".

 

Exactly.

I definitely tend to prefer episodes that have big events, and episodes 1 and 3 are my favorites so far. But I think it's kind of absurd to expect this series to just rush Mando from big event to big event.

That would get tiresome really fast.

The Mando and Yodaling on the run is part of this story. Skipping over it would rob the audience of this aspect.

 

Honestly, I don't care if it's filler or not. Some of my favorite songs as a youth were what was considered "filler material" on a cassette tape with 10-15 tracks. So long as you loved the band the filler wasn't much of a problem. In fact, it gave the tape character.

 

So exactly where he was at at the end of Episode 4. He was already on the run and was headed somewhere before being detoured by his ship getting damaged. At the end of Episode 5 he is still on the run and his ship is repaired. It isnt like he learned a different way to make money. He made money the same way he did before. He also already showed in 1st episode he was willing to work with someone else and share the money/glory.

Lets also not forget we have other characters to develop as well, not many, but important. Need to develop Baby Yoda story, need to develop the villains, need to develop who his allies are. Have to do all of that and conclude the season in like 90 minutes of remaining screen time. Maybe the final episodes are longer and that would help, but they have established now that episodes are about 30-35 minutes (not counting credits).

 

I see where you're coming from, and obviously the story moving forward is important, but I think you're severely undercutting what's happening. It sounds like you want other characters to be developed more, but you're not giving credit to the introduction and development of others. Do you really think we're done with Cara Dune, or that the final shot with Fennec was meaningless?

By the way, if that final shot is meaningful, then everything with Fennec was as well.

Not to mention the context that this episode gave to the Navarro conflict.

So again, I'll admit the pace slowed a bit, but I think it's far too soon to say this was "filler"... don't really see the need to take such a hard stance, when we don't know this episode's full season context yet.

 

No I know we arent done with Cara Dune, I hope we are not done with Fennec. That is part of my problem with the episode. We know Cara Dune is back and hopefully Fennec as well. I dont want the character development with them to be done already. So assuming they are back we have the following character development to still do:

Cara Dune
Fennec
Baby Yoda and what does ex-Imperials want him for.
Mandalorian - Dont feel he is done yet.
Big bad (Giancarlo Esposito). Hopefully that is who checked on Fennec simply because time left.
Greef Targa
What happened to the Mandalorians, although I think that wont be addressed in season 1.

So have 90 minutes or so to do all of this as well as continue the action. Some characters will likely not get any development.

 

Well, I certainly hope that isn't the case.

Given how many of these characters have stories entwined, I think it's still possibly it can be well done.

 

When you 3D print the swoop, you should start a thread and share pics and perhaps a demonstration and how to achieve such a feat! Really cool. And I don’t use that word often.

 

Took me some time to find the name and some pictures. It seems that DeAgostini made a collectible model for this hover bike. It's called Zephyr G or Flare S, both near the same, and are the civilian version of the military swoop bike which we know from Endor.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Flare-S_swoop
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Zephyr-G_swoop

This vehicle is supposed to be wide spread, yet we saw it only on Tatooine. Manufactured by Mobquet, which also manufactures a lot of other speeders and swoops.

http://misc.thefullwiki.org/Mobquet_Swoops_and_Speeders

Some of those are quite expensive:
https://www.gator.nl/en/star-wars/18950-sideshow-star-wars-vehicle-1-6-speeder-bike-51-cm.html

DeAgostini model seems to be available only via ebay/amazon second hand.

Swoop bikes different models.



Mando bike:

 

I think in the last 3 episodes we will see the introduction of the main villain, Mando realising he can't do this alone and picking up allies and then a cliffhanger ending for season 1, possibly along the lines of Yodling falling back into the wrong hands.

we have to remember this isn't a stand alone movie thats finishing the story here and pace is important as we saw in the last season of GOT, that pace didn't match the seasons before it and it felt wrong and rushed.

its a shame to me that fans are already starting to nitpick faults with this format, maybe it will just take a while, but for me its a fantastic introduction to the world of live action TV for Star Wars and I see the future more heading this way with the occasional film trilogy thrown in for good measure lol.

 

One, I would like to thank you for a great post and note the amount of time and effort you obviously put into it. Great job!

Second, is anyone else blown away by the level of detail that has been put into this? They are ,as is well known, devoted fans as well but good lord! From the vibro blades, to the other Mandolorian’s armor, the speeders and swoops as seen above, to the weapons and equipment through the season so far. I’m blown away! Every episode, so far, has something that I catch and makes me remember a time as a young foundling. From games, novels, and movies you have something or someone from each. This last episode had mountains more but so far ,despite any criticism, I have loved everything. Even IF you have something to nitpick, there are 10 things you missed because you want perfection. Chill out and enjoy the nostalgia.

 

Yes the bikes are made very detailed. Looking like real bikes, and I will not be surprised if they used parts from real bikes to make them. Then add some support ropes and some Unreal green screens and you have this amazing scenes. I watched it again and again and I am truly impressed by the scenes when the bikes are floating through the desert. Really beautiful. Reminds me of some motorbike movies which are shot live of course with a chasing car.

 

Right? You can't expect every episode to be like episode 3. Otherwise they are no longer powerful.

It seems like they are setting things up for the finale. I'd not be shocked if that final episode ends with a cliff hanger of sorts. Personally I enjoy these quiet episodes where they build things, flesh things out. I loved going back to Tattooine and seeing how it changed since A New Hope. I just hope/wish they'd give us some longer episodes for the final 3. Nothing too crazy, but adding 10-15 minutes would be cool.

 

You left out Peli Motto and her little gang of 3 pit droids. She's a little guy, with little guy helpers, in a little Hanger Bay in a shrinking desert town. I think she'll be important; in a different way from the BH, fighters and big money slingers. etc. The way of the village with the child loving BabyY. There is a point to all the tiny details, the little guys, the bump in the road that derails a vehicle, the cactus thorn that causes an infection, the tree limb sticking out where a storm has shoved it. For the want of a nail....

You also left out my favorite vehicle. I called it the Roller. Don't remember the name of it, but it's like a tire rolling. I think Dooku escaped on it from the city with all the insects entities. I had more fun riding it than on any other bike in the original SOE Star Wars Galaxies on Live.

 

Great episode in a great series. I'm sad about Ming-Na Wen's character being done already, but I hope she stays in the Star Wars family! Each episode seems to introduce fun new characters and leaves them just as fast. And I get it, Mando and Baby Yoda are on the run, but at the same time I want them to spend more time with the characters we meet.

I now understand "Evil Baby Yoda" memes and the theories about the man at the end. Fun times, and I can't wait for this week's episode.

 

You little swamp rat!

 

Someone asked who was going to get BabyY. I read somewhere, everyone had better start thinking of BabyY as something other than a cute, cuddly litle baby and think more in terms of grown Yoda and how tough he was. The cuteness of babies is why they survive: large heads, big ears, large eyes, they are endearing and make us want to protect. After reading that, I wondered how much his cuteness saved him during all his 50 years of infancy. He's survived his first 50 years. With Mando taking him under his wing, he's off to a roaring start. But I'm still wondering how many times a kind word, an offered cup of soup, a smile or attention deliberately diverted from him has changed the course of someone's life. A lot of chances in 50 years for someone to kill this constant helpless target. Just how helpless is he? The Doc was able to control him, run tests. But the Doctor also had no desire to kill him.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.in...ode-5-fennec-shand-alive-dead-spoilers-theory

Not a bad article on why Fennec Shand might not be dead. However, one point say she may have been stunned. If I’m not mistaken, when a weapon is set to stun in the SWU it fires blue rings...

 

Talking about blasters did somebody noticed that Toro Calican is using an unknown type of blaster? Most probably it is a heavy blaster pistol similar to DL-44.

Her only chance is if he hit the cuffs, looking at the screenshot this is possible. Or if she was wearing an armor of some sort, maybe spider silk armor .