Director: Payton Reed
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, Gina Carano, Mercedes Varnado, Temuera Morrisson, Katee Sackhoff, Ming-Na Wen
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 2’s FINALE (EPISODE 8 – CHAPTER 16: THE RESCUE) IN THIS REVIEW. NOT TOO MANY THOUGH.
I’m not usually one of saying that things are “masterpieces”, but with The Mandalorian Season 2’s finale, I really do not think they could have done it any better. Up until this point, Season 2 was a lot better than Season 1, but it was still a marginal thing. This finale catapulted Season 2 into the stratosphere. This show is now my favourite Star Wars thing made in a very, very long time, and it’s kind of all because of this episode.
One of the main reasons why I loved it so much is because it’s very clear that this was the endpoint that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni had when coming up with this new Star Wars show. They wanted a certain person to come and take Grogu, and boy, did that certain person make an entrance. OK, I won’t go into too much detail about this character, because I really don’t want to spoil too much for those of you who haven’t watched it yet. All I’ll say is that if you’re a Star Wars fan, then you’ll appreciate the character’s addition, and barring some iffy CGI, it’s perfect.
The Mandalorian Season 2 has been SOOO much better than Season 1
Credit: Lucasfilm
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Another reason why I loved this episode so much was because of Moff Gideon. I genuinely believe that Giancarlo Esposito has gone and become one of the best villains in Star Wars lore. Why, you ask? Because he always has a plan, and he’s also a villain who truly knows when the jig is up. I loved seeing his plans come together, and there was only one thing that could prevent things from working out the way he wanted, and unfortunately for him, that thing did happen.
There is a slight case of deus ex machina towards the end of the episode, which some people might have a problem with. But, I can totally forgive the episode and the show that. The reason being, it’s just perfect, and there have also been hints throughout the whole season that this might happen. It wasn’t completely out of the blue.
Payton Reed did Star Wars and The Mandalorian justice
Credit: Lucasfilm
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So, the other reason why I believe this episode of The Mandalorian is a genuine masterpiece is because of the incredible and heartbreaking bond between Din Djarin (beautifully played by Pedro Pascal) and Grogu (played by a puppet). Their bond and their love for one another is just so pure and so genuine, that it’ll have you in tears towards the end of the episode.
You know when Richard E. Grant made that video in which he said he cheered, he cried, he punched the air while watching The Rise Of Skywalker? Well, I did all those things while watching this last episode of The Mandalorian Season 2. I didn’t do any of them when I was watching The Rise Of Skywalker. I believe this is the episode that Star Wars fans will look to when thinking about the future of the franchise. It’s also pretty clear now that Jon Favreau is the person they need to put in charge of Lucasfilm because he gets Star Wars.
This is also coming from someone who genuinely loved The Last Jedi and thinks that Kathleen Kennedy has done a pretty good job as President of Lucasfilm. However, Favreau truly understands what it means to be a Star Wars fan. He’s also someone who surrounds himself with directors, producers, writers and actors who understand the franchise as much, or probably even better than he does. That’s especially the case as far as Dave Filoni’s concerned.
Star Wars fans will go to sleep happy tonight
Credit: Lucasfilm
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There’s so much I can say about this finale episode of The Mandalorian Season 2. Unfortunately, a lot of it will spoil the episode. What I’ll say is that this episode is a celebration of all things Star Wars. It shows that the people behind it had a vision, and went with it. They also understand what the Star Wars fans and what the story they’re telling needs.
Yes, there is a lot of “leaning on the fan service” this season, such as bringing back Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan. However, these fans have been invested in Star Wars for their whole lives – most of them – and they deserve to be appeased and even celebrated. These Star Wars characters deserve to be brought into live-action, and some of them deserve to be brought back.
This episode of The Mandalorian is my ‘new hope’ for the future of Star Wars. This is what I’ve wanted for so many years and I really hope they can deliver on the promise of this episode.
What do you make of this review of The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 8? Did you love the finale as much as we did? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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