To say I enjoy Star Wars would be an understatement. In fact, it’s probably the single most beloved piece of pop culture that I genuinely enjoy, and recently I’ve been on a bit of a binge with the original trilogy and the prequels, all while making an effort to catch each new episode of The Mandalorian each Wednesday the past two months! Oh yes, This is a rare case where I’ve been current with a show because, after putting off watching the Star Wars steaming shows — Mandalorian, Obi-Wan, Book of Boba Fett, and Andor, until a few months ago I had stayed very out of the loop, as I tend to with anything current and especially something that is to any degree hyped up — and Mandalorian was no exception to that hype.
Still, at one point I a few months back I felt like it was time to watch some of these shows, as I was in just the right mood to try something new and also was in a Star Wars mood.
I began with Obi-Wan, which was a bit rough but I liked. I moved on to Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2, which were pretty awesome. I instantly fell in love with Grogu, but also thought Din Djarin to be a fascinating character, and I also enjoyed finally having a chance to see Mandalorian culture — I had never read any of the many Star Wars novels, comics, any of that. Hell, I didn’t even watch Clone Wars on TV, as it just didn’t appeal to me, even as a fan of animation. These shows, however? They weren’t bad. I was enjoying myself.
Move on to Book of Boba Fett, and man, that was a bit of a slog to get through at times. The buildup worked for me — the story came together, for the most part, and I can only describe Boba Fett riding a rancor as peak Star Wars — hell, it even got me, finally, used to the idea of Boba being a clone of Jango Fett and having that New Zealand accent! Yeah, it took 20 years but Temuera Morrison, I’ve finalyl accepted you as Boba Fett! I still like the original voice actor in Empire but whatever, I can watch the original cuts if I want that little audio experience.
Anyway, we move on to Andor, which was in the middle of its run when I got to watching these shows and so, after catching up, I got to finish it as a current program. To be honest, I didn’t see what all the hype was about this one — I mean, it’s got plenty of good elements, and really gets good towards the middle and end, but for those early episodes it had the same kind of sluggish pacing that the beginning of Book of Boba Fett did. It’s not that I’m all about action — I feel like there’s too damn much of that in most productions as is, including some of these shows — but the balance of the story just felt off. It came together, sure, but it’s still kind of one-sided, not very well balanced, if that makes sense. When it was good though, it was damn good.
Then came Season 3 of Mandalorian. I was cautiously optimistic for this… and in the end, was disappointed.
Okay, let’s be clear that I think Season 3 wasn’t that bad. I actually enjoyed the heavy focus on Bo-Katan since she is at this point a critical part of the story, just as much as Han was to Luke Skywalkers journey – it’s just how a multi-character story arc works out sometimes.
No, it was more the fact that, and this is a common theme in media I have mixed opinions on, it all just kind of happened. It came together, better than Andor season 1 did, but it was way more buildup than payoff. At least the first two seasons of Mando were, again, balanced in the buildup and payoff aspects. This was very end-heavy on things actually coming together, which wouldn’t have been too bad — the last quarter of an 8 episode series being the best — but that last episode. Oh, the only way I can describe it is the most predictable thing I’ve seen in a long time.
Seriously, every action taken in the conflict was obvious the second it was set up — it wasn’t a “oh, what are they going to do” kind of thing, this was “oh, he’s obviously going to crash the ship. Oh, Grogu is going to fight. Oh, he’s also going to save everyone from the fucking Star Destroyer reactor core exploding which, quite honestly, should have left that whole area a crater — not scorched everything up really badly and that’s it. No, I didn’t know exactly how everyone aspect of it was going to be before the episode went live, but as it was happening every action was just so obvious…
Again, I enjoyed things — hell, I actually thought the episode focusing on the rehabilitation program was some great world building, but damn, this just wasn’t the same kind of journey that Seasons 1 and 2 were.
Come to think of it, were seasons 1 and 2 really that good? They had their moments but I had forgotten about entire episodes, only being reminded of them while I was reading up on Wookiepedia. Remember the prison ship? I didn’t till this morning, as just one example. Ah well, I’m sure the episode was fine and of itself, and I wouldn’t mind watching it again. Indeed, I do have a desire to re-watch those seasons, and Boba Fett. The same with Andor, even, but Obi-Wan? Not so much. While I originally enjoyed it, I’ve since come to be able to see the flaws for what they are and, well, I’ve no real desire to watch it again. It, by far, while not terrible, really didn’t hold up like it should have and the more one thinks about it the more flawed it becomes and the less I care to experience it again.
Speaking of no desire to watch again, the sequel trilogy is also something I don’t want to watch again. I tried earlier, back before I began watching the Star Wars shows that have come to be in the past few years, to watch the sequel trilogy and I couldn’t make it past the middle of The Force Awakens. What is greatly considered by far to be the best of an already mediocre film set and I can’t even make it through that!
Contrast this with prequels which I’ve watched at least twice this year already. Yes, from trade disputes to complaining about sand to the most badass villain in cinema history screaming “Nooooo!” I’ve come to genuinely enjoy those films which were once a horrible tedium for me to watch.
Why? Were the sequels really that bad? Yes. Is it nostalgia? Maybe, but I did generally find the prequels to be less than enjoyable for a long time, nearly as unwatchable as the sequels are to me now. Honestly though I think it really is the fact that, for as bad as they were, the prequels were amazing compared to the absolute cluster fuck that the sequel films were.
While the shows on DisneyPlus are better, they still have their own issues which I think are just indicative of modern media in general — I tolerate it though since it’s a universe I care about.
The thing is, I shouldn’t have to. None of the fans should, but things are, well, rough, to say the least. In 10 years of ownership, Disney has provided content — no one can deny that — but it’s been a mixed bag.
I know, I’m quite vague here — I write this with the presumption that anyone reading is aware of the general consensus on the sequel trilogy and the various shows and while it adds nothing I still felt it worth adding at least my broad thoughts, for whatever they are worth. Perhaps I’ll go into details but honestly any complaints you’ve heard about Disney era Star Wars I probably agree with in one way or another. There are actually a few points that I would defend some of the current media (namely The Last Jedi) but overall I very much agree with the critics on what the past 10 years has been for our favorite galaxy far far away…
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll fire up Return of the Jedi and finish up my original trilogy binge today — something totally unplanned but something which has been quite refreshing. Even in Special Edition form, even with maclunkey it’s still a good time.
It can, very simply, be said that while some of the new stuff is good, even at its best it’s still not quite right, and when it gets bad it gets bad. The essence that made Star Wars what it was to so many of us just isn’t quite there; it’s as if those making these films and shows sometimes don’t even understand the source material, nor do they care — it’s only about profit; the hell with the storytelling. That’s just sad to me, but, what else would I expect from Disney?
Something something dark side, something something complete.