S01.E05: Chapter Five - The Gunslinger

[pezgirl7]

21 hours ago, SnoGirl said:

Was that Mando’s bed he put The Child in? Those were some tight quarters...

I think it was. We saw it in the first episode, and I remember thinking two things. 1. That bed doesn't look nearly deep enough for Mando to sleep in, and 2. Putting the bed right next to the toilet is convenient but also a little unfortunate. The bed looked a bit like a cot, so I wonder if it can be pulled out some to extend its length.

In my first post I was critical about how Mando treated baby Yoda in this episode,  but what I did like was how he swaddled him and laid him down so gently. ❤ I also liked how baby Yoda looked when he walked out of the ship. His ears were crooked which made him look disheveled, like someone who had just woken up.

[mmccpp]

On 12/6/2019 at 12:55 PM, Zahdii said:

As for Baby Yoda (guys, give him a name already!),

In our household, we're calling him "Yodel."

Or her.  Ya know.

[johntfs]

On 12/7/2019 at 5:04 PM, Sugarbeetle said:

The thing that really struck me has how deserted Mos Eisley was, especially when you think of how bustling it was in A New Hope. 

To be fair Tatooine's economy in the original and prequel trilogy seemed to be heavily crime lord based.  Jabba was the local employer.  With him gone the place is drying up.

This was probably my least favorite episode even with Ming-Na Wen playing the Ming-Na Wen character (tough/powerful badass whether good or evil).  Not for nothing but it would be cool if they brought her on some show wearing her dark outfit and she just turns into the goofy nerd she seems to be in real life.

The Bounty Boy was dull, annoying and I'm glad he's dead.  I will say that I liked that he didn't die heroically making up for being tricked by Fennic or have some last-second change of heart surrender to/escape from Mando to pop up again.  Nope, he's just dead.

Really I'm looking forward to the next episode and... but that would be spoiling things.

[Uncle JUICE]

Mando: LOCK YOUR CAR. I can understand leaving it unlocked if you're in a nice neighborhood like I guess the Naboo Lake District, but Mos Eisley? That planet where everyone's a bounty hunter you just fled? The planet where Jawas stripped that thing to the studs? 

Good episode this week. Props to whoever called him Bounty Boy, too. I did not like the actor and I did not like the performance he gave. A little too Han Solo for my taste. 

[benteen]

Really enjoyed that episode.  It was fun.  Good work by Dave Filoni as director and writer here.

Though there's an overreaching storyline, this show seems a lot more like the old westerns where you'd have one star and then have guest stars every week.  I don't mind though as it's definitely working.  The casting has been fantastic and it's great to see Ming-Na appear.  I hope that's not the end of her.  Amy Sedaris was good too, even with her Sigorney Weaver 80s hair. 

I liked the guy playing the bounty hunter too...he looked familiar and then I found out he is Bobby Cannavale's son (and his mom is a daughter of Sidney Lumet).  Was actually legitimately surprised when he shot the assassin.

BTW, I also wish shows would stop doing the Cobra maneuver.  I've seen it done to death in movies and television and knew exactly how the space battle would end.  It's kind of like how every big battle in movies or television has the army being under siege gets rescued at the last moment by another army.

Very nice return to Tatooine and I like how they flushed out the various bad elements are Endor.  Very interesting end as well.

[Sugarbeetle]

1 hour ago, Uncle JUICE said:

Good episode this week. Props to whoever called him Bounty Boy, too. I did not like the actor and I did not like the performance he gave. A little too Han Solo for my taste. 

Agreed. But he did pull off a very “Bored Rich Boy” vibe. Note the new clothing, toys, ability to get bikes so quickly, and the large bag of money taken off his body. As well as the “cut corners and jump to the front because I’ve always been able to” attitude. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by Sugarbeetle
Fat fingers

[AnimeMania]

21 minutes ago, Sugarbeetle said:

Edited 21 minutes ago by Sugarbeetle · Reason: Fat fingers

That is why after I eat a bucket of chicken, I wash my hands before I start typing.

[xaxat]

19 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Then I began watching multiple fan reaction videos for each new episode, so I have seen all of the key scenes in the series at this point.  Not only was I wrong -- Baby Yoda is soooooo much cuter on the show than he is in the memes, which says a lot about his cuteness -- but I find myself wondering how he can possibly be that cute.  It's like another level of cute that I didn't even know existed.  He is unreasonably, abnormally adorable.   I used to think that little Gizmo from Gremlins was the cutest fake creature in a movie or on TV, but I think that Baby Yoda has surpassed him on the cute scale.

Lots and lots of kinderschema. 

[RachelKM]

On 12/6/2019 at 4:50 PM, magdalene said:

Mando, Mando, Mando, you can't just leave the baby alone on the ship even when asleep at the moment.  You got lucky there with the mechanic being a decent person and a decent baby sitter. You won't be that lucky all the time. You must start interviewing potential nanny candidates - and hire only the ones with the best references for crying out loud.

I volunteer as tribute! 

[WendyCR72]

16 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

I volunteer as tribute! 

If you need an assistant, I volunteer. That baby is so damned cute.

[Danny Franks]

So one thing I'm finding about this show is, while it's a lot of fun, it absolutely isn't a case of 'I need the next episode now!' Each episode is so self contained, with characters that don't appear to have any relevance beyond it, that it's hard to get that invested. The only real characters we have are a stoic, monosyllabic, masked man and a cute baby.

I just expected... more. A bigger, more compelling storyline that would keep me engaged. Sure, the Baby Yoda mystery is interesting, but it's not something that the show seems to feel any urgency to learn more about. It feels almost like an anthology series, where Jon Favreau gets to put his favourite Western tropes into the Star Wars setting - last episode it was the 'mysterious outlaw helps out a threatened village' this time it was 'young, cocky (and very annoying) gunslinger learns from then betrays the old hand'.

Anyway, it was fun to see Mos Eisley again, and some of the iconography from A New Hope. But I hated everything about the scenes with the mechanic and her Three Stooge droids. The tone was just irritating. 

But how the hell do you have Ming Na Wen as a badass mercenary then only introduce her halfway through the episode? Why is she not a regular? Why is someone else not a regular?

[Zahdii]

I see what you mean, but I'm enjoying it so far.  I've had shows that followed a progression from one episode to the next, but so many times the writers seem to worry that the story must keep topping itself.  The main character(s) end up with a stated mission or villain that they must defeat by the end of the season, and then the next season a new and more alarming theme is presented.  It gets to be rediculous in the end.

I don't mind this first short season to be more about Mando finding himself to suddenly be the protecter and father figure to an alien child, cut off from the other Mandeloreans, and the Bounty Hunters Guild.   He's seeking work and support whenever and wherever he can.  The bad guys are constantly chasing him, and he has to learn as he goes along.

Mando has to learn more about the baby, what Baby needs, what Baby can do, what Baby actually is.  He's aware that the baby has a much longer lifespan than Mando has, but he has to support the both of them and keep them safe as he figures out what to do next.  Right now he's realizing that the more people he deals with in 'real life' and the more people he has traveling with him, the more people he has to keep safe.  There are already several characters we've seen that I wouldn't mind Mando going back for as permanent or temporary traveling companions.

Now if the story doesn't change much next season, I might start to get bored, but for now it seems reasonable.

[pezgirl7]

I think I prefer the episodic format better than the serial format. We still have the underlying story of Mando trying to protect Baby Yoda, and I think some of the characters we meet will return later. But the "filler" episodes, as some people call them, are just as enjoyable for me to watch, and more importantly, rewatch.  I felt the same way with the X-Files. I hated the whole continuing government conspiracy storyline, but loved the stand-alone "monster of the week" episodes.

[scorpio1031]

6 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

I think I prefer the episodic format better than the serial format.

New show on a new network.  Gives people a chance to subscribe, get caught up - it could change, but I agree that this works.

[roamyn]

On 12/6/2019 at 8:00 AM, Jediknight said:

One day, she will be in a big time franchise, and actually get to smile at the beginning.  One day she'll be told, "Your character will smile at the beginning as you do on your Instagram."

Baby Yoda looked so sad when he was walking down that ramp.  He didn't know where Mando was, poor guy.

You mean like...ER?  She played Deb {someone} a doctor who was a peer of Dr. Carter.

[kokapetl]

 

[Uncle JUICE]

1 hour ago, kokapetl said:

 

I keep thinking I'm one of like six people left on the planet who remember that show. The show that gave me the line "Why does YOUR finger smell like HIS asshole?"

[TVFan17]

The first couple of times I saw this episode, I think I assumed that the ending shot (with the person in the cape approaching Fennec Shand's body) was supposed to be a cliffhanger, and that we would find out who that mysterious figure was sometime later in the season or series.  I think I assumed this because I was seeing so many people in assorted reaction videos question who the caped person was, as well as make guesses as to who it was.  Some people thought it was Boba Fett because of the jingly sound on the shoes.  Another person in a reaction video named a totally different person because she thought she recognized the cape.

So after having those seeds planted in my head over and over, I didn't think that the feet approaching Fennec could belong to anyone obvious.  It had to be a mystery figure we will meet later, of course.

But I was watching a new reaction video for this episode on YouTube last night -- the people on the channel are still making their way through Season 1 -- and their first thought was that the mysterious caped person with the jingly feet was Mando.  One of the ladies said she thought that the ending scene could have been a flashback to what happened right after Mando rode up on the dewback and saw Fennec's dead body. 

In other words, even though we saw Mando's confrontation with Toro after Mando noticed that Fennec was dead, maybe that mysterious ending scene with the jingly feet was supposed to show us that Mando went down to physically check on whether or not she was still alive, and, if so, then we can assume that he took whatever credits she might have had on her while he was at it, before heading back to face off against Toro and pay Peli.

The YouTube reaction lady who brought up that it could have been a flashback scene thought it would make sense, because that would explain how Mando had all of those credits to give to Peli (he overpaid her -- you could tell she was surprised by how much he gave her).  Of course he took whatever he found on Toro's body, but he likely had extra for himself because of whatever he took from Fennec -- IF that was, indeed, Mando checking Fennec's body at the end of the episode.

Anyway, seeing this latest recap video had me re-thinking the ending.  Maybe it was never a cliffhanger at all.  So... was that actually Mando at the end, and not a random pair of feet belonging to someone else?

 

[pezgirl7]

7 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Anyway, seeing this latest recap video had me re-thinking the ending.  Maybe it was never a cliffhanger at all.  So... was that actually Mando at the end, and not a random pair of feet belonging to someone else?

Honestly, that would be really bad writing and editing if that were the case. There was really no reason to show it at the end if it was Mando, and to treat it as some kind of cliffhanger moment. I'm assuming Toro took any money off of Fennec, so there wasn't any money left for Mando to take. My money is still on Boba Fett. The spur sound and beeping noise, which Boba had in the original films, were added on purpose. If it wasn't Boba, I don't know why the show runners would have those sounds.

[raven]

Late to the party but I did really enjoy this one.  I was surprised that Bounty Bro shot Fennec.   I was surprised that he managed to hold his own pretty much (until the end) during the hand to hand, which was well choreographed.

Loved seeing Tatooine and the callbacks - the cantina, Corellian, womp rat, Beggars Canyon and more. 

Laughed out loud at Amy Sedaris saying "I'm awake! I'm awake!" when Mando comes back and she's holding the child and snoozing.  Oh, babysitting memories.  I also liked that after Mando shot Bounty Bro, he tells her to stay back while he approaches the body but she pushes forward, looking for Baby.  Awwww.

Great visuals on this one even on the planet that's farthest from the brightest spot in the universe.

[WatchrTina]

It's my third watch of this series  -- this time coming on the heels of a complete re-watch of the original trilogy -- and it is noteworthy how absolutely offended I felt when I saw the bounty-hunter wanna-be sitting in Han Solo's booth and adopting a similar posture (though I don't recall Han having his feet on the table -- he had better manners than that.)  

It's also noteworthy that Jake Cannavale (the actor) did a great job telegraphing what an untrustworthy little shit Toro was.  I hated him on sight.  But I have to give the writers credit too because his plan to scam his way into the Bounty Hunter Guild was pretty much a dead give-away that he was not to be trusted.  Yeah, Han was a scoundrel in the original film but he wasn't a little shit.  When Han got hired for a job he did the job (to the best of his ability -- even the best smugglers get boarded sometimes) showing that there IS honor among thieves.  But Toro had no honor.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, WatchrTina said:

 (though I don't recall Han having his feet on the table -- he had better manners than that.)  

Putting your feet up makes it nigh-impossible to SHOOT FIRST under the table

[John Potts]

I guess Mando is really possessive of his catchphrase!

I’m surprised Mando doesn’t have a stunner (we know they exist in Star Wars). If bounties are higher for bringing them in alive, you'd think a stunner would be worth the investment.

“The Kid” really should have listened to Tuoco (“If you’re going to shoot, shoot, don’t talk!”) - he twice had his target bang to rights but stopped to monologue and lost out.

On 12/6/2019 at 1:00 PM, Jediknight said:

Baby Yoda looked so sad when he was walking down that ramp.  He didn't know where Mando was, poor guy.

Mando needs to work out some way of keeping tabs on him. He's constantly wondering off when left unattended. A Beskar baby bjorn perhaps?

On 12/22/2019 at 3:28 PM, roamyn said:

You mean like...ER?  She [Ming Na Wen] played Deb {someone} a doctor who was a peer of Dr. Carter.

Deb Chen.

[Camera One]

This show is able to make an engaging enough stand-alone episode each week, which is more than I can say for most shows and most of the Star Wars related stuff I've watched with the exception of the original trilogy.  I though the Mandalorian has pretty good chemistry with everyone.  I liked him with the newbie bounty hunter (until he turned evil... did he seriously think he would be any match for Mando given his previous scaredy cat personality?) and the mechanic in this one.   

It's rather careless of the Mandalorian to let Baby Yoda be seen by other people.  I can see him trusting the mechanic, I guess, but why did he let her follow him out of the garage with Baby Yoda, where he was seen by the younger bounty hunter?  I would also like to see Baby Yoda start to protect himself, even a little.  Clearly, he has powers of some sort.

I hope the Mandalorian eventually gets over his irrational hatred of all droids.