After watching the initial episode of The Mandalorian, I am expecting big things to come. This is a show set in the Star Wars universe after the Empire has fallen, but before the rise of the First Order. The production does an excellent job of generating curiosity, maintaining nostalgia, and delivering astounding action sequences. Throughout this first installment, I found myself looking for places to be disappointed, as I wasn’t sure that it would live up to the expectations I had already set. Nevertheless, this seems to be a well-constructed baseline to build a story upon.

We’ll begin with the magnificent opening scene. The stereotypical belligerent fool attempts to intimidate our main character, The Mandalorian, in a bar. Similar to The Punisher, the protagonist is not willing to lose an insignificant melee, and delivers a quick persecution of punishment in a breathtaking fashion. While this is an appealing premise for a show, there are concerns to having an unbeatable hero. These worries were swiftly discarded though, as in the rest of the episode we see The Mandalorian struggle in encounters, while still maintaining his cool-headed nature. 

The writer, Jon Favreau, knew how to do things correctly when designing this character. He is a distant, metallic warrior, just like a Mandalorian should be, but still has an essence of humanity that allows you to connect and relate to him. 

Other examples of excellent writing include the final fight scene, where there is a very Call of Duty-like action sequence, but not in a reasonless Michael Bay-esque manner. The Mandalorian plans on using the element of surprise in his attack, but is foiled by an assassin droid. This is not an accident by Favreau, and offers sensible reasoning for a massive blaster battle.

The special effects and feel of a Star Wars story are still at the forefront of this show. The minute that I saw the age old transition from scene to scene I could feel my inner nerd burst with excitement. While the creatures and aliens are made with impressive CGI, there are still traces of puppet-like entities in the marketplace scene. The dialogue still has a hold on the cheesy vibe that Star Wars always delivers, but doesn’t come across as poorly written.

Lore-wise, there as many paths that could be taken for the future. At first, I assumed that The Mandalorian was tribeless, and just a quiet mercenary. I was hastily proven wrong though, as we meet other Mandalorians and the leader of his tribe mid-episode. This now raises the question of conflicts with other tribes, which is something I expect to see in future episodes. The Mandalorians have a history of violent disputes with one another, and without a canon Mandalore (A sole leader that unites all of the tribes under one banner), we can only assume that these plotlines will fill out.

I am also expecting a clash with a force-user at some point, although I believe this would be a growing arc over multiple episodes. In past films we haven’t been shown the potency of Mandalorians against Jedi or Sith (disregarding Star Wars: The Clone Wars); knowing Favreau though, he will most definitely throw in an intense storyline over this subject.

If you haven’t seen The Mandalorian yet, you should. It is only streamable on Disney+, but it’s well worth the money if you are a true Star Wars fan. It seems this is a series that will be offering great content in the future.