The Mandalorian Episode 1 Review

Director: Dave Filoni
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Werner Herzog, Nick Nolte, Taikia Waititi, Carl Weathers

The Mandalorian is finally here – unless you like outside of the US, Canada and The Netherlands – as the very first episode, Episode 1, of this brand new Star Wars show lands on Disney Plus.

This has easily been one of the most anticipated series for a while. I cannot remember being so hyped for a show in a long time. In fact, I can’t remember ever being so excited for a TV show.

We’ve had Star Wars TV shows in the past, but this is the very first live-action series Lucasfilm has ever made, and I can tell you know, it’s worth the wait.

I’m not going to go into any spoilers for my The Mandalorian Episode 1 review, because that’s just not fair.

The Mandalorian Episode 1 is here, finally!

Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian in Disney Plus’ new show (Credit: Lucasfilm)

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Firstly, there are loads of people who can’t watch the show yet, because Disney Plus isn’t coming to the UK and other European territories until March 31st.

But also, secondly, there’s no real reason to reveal spoilers in a review about something.

All I’m going to do is tell you how the very first episode of this new Star Wars series made me feel, and how I reacted to this.

The first thing’s that made very clear in this TV show, is that it’s firmly set in the Star Wars universe.

You can just tell from the word go. The animatronics, the Mandalorian’s armour. The bar scene. The general feel and tone of the episode. It all just screams out ‘Star Wars’ in big capital letters.

The Mandalorian has spoken with this first episode

“I have spoken!” Nick Nolte as the Ugnaught in Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian – Credit: Lucasfilm

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However, because most of this the series seems to be set in the outer reaches of the galaxy, this show also has a grittiness we haven’t seen yet in a Star Wars live-action project.

There’s no shiny chrome in this series. The planets, machines, vehicles, spaceships… They all seem old, used, rusty and practically abandoned in certain cases.

It gives this series another edge which many Star Wars properties up until this point have lacked – I’m thinking mostly of the prequels.

This episode, which is simply called Chapter One, is also full of mystery and intrigue, which has you begging for more once the end credits roll.

And coming in at only 38 minutes, the time really does fly by. If I had one complaint about this episode, it would be that it was too short.

The Mandalorian looks like it’s going to be must-watch TV

Werner Herzog as The Client in The Mandalorian Episode 1 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

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Yet, despite that, there’s so much good stuff going on here. Dave Filoni – who’s directing his very first live-action project with this episode – has managed to capture the tone of Star Wars perfectly, yet also added that extra layer of grit to it, which I really appreciate.

As I mentioned above, I won’t go into spoilers, but what I will say is that this Episode has a line in it which I believe will be quoted by many Star Wars fans in the future, and it also ends on a real cliffhanger.

I would highly recommend you seek this new Star Wars show out because it’s looking like it’s going to be very entertaining television moving forward.

Let us know what you thought of this first episode of The Mandalorian in the comments below.

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