Why I liked the Mandalorian Season 3

I finally finished watching Season 3 of the Mandalorian. At first, it just didn't seem as good as the other seasons. The plot wandered a bit. The Mandalorian has been less serialized than other series tend to be, so what should we expect? Mando has always gone off on side missions, but it didn't seem to matter. The protection of Grogu always held the plot together in past seasons.

While I ended up liking season three, I wasn't as hooked as before. This caused me to take a long pause before the last two episodes. Here are some reasons why.

In the first chapter S3, Din Djarin (Mando) thinks it's important to follow a creed and wants to be restored to his faction. So, he asks the Armorer to restore his position. She says that since he removed his mask, he is no longer a Mandalorian (ouch!) He can only be redeemed if he bathes in the living waters of Mandalore, but nobody thinks it exists anymore. The Imperials turned Mandalore into a toxic wasteland. So finding this water does present a challenge for sure, but the end goal of being restored to his faction all over a mask, seemed a bit petty. I mean, he had to take it off in every circumstance. It's not like he did it willy-nilly. So why be a part of such a petty faction?

Also, the newness of a warrior like Din Djarin taking care of a child (Baby Yoda) has worn off a bit. Especially at first because Grogu wasn't really doing anything new or useful during any of the battles, even though we know he can.

Then chapter 19 "The Convert" tended to be the most confusing for me. It was about former imperials hiding in the New Republic. Most of the time I was thinking...where is Mando? I don't recall him being in the episode at all or maybe very little. However, when I look back on it, this Chapter might have been necessary for the viewer to see what was going on behind the scenes of these Imperials who are enemies of the Mandalorians. The ones who destroyed their home planet.

Later, Mando has discovered that the living water does exist and the atmosphere on Mandalore is breathable. Bo-Katan helps him find the living water and saves his life. She comes back with him to his faction. He is restored. Great. Then The Armorer tells Bo-Katan to take off her mask. This one really threw me. The Armorer wants to unite all factions of the Mandalorian, mask or no mask. It's the right move, but she wouldn't accept Mando for taking off his mask in life or death situations, but now it's okay?

However, I'm glad I came back for the last two episodes because I really enjoyed them. It all became about the Mandalorians uniting to take back their planet. They need each other to make it happen. This is big stakes. Bigger than masks. The Imperials don't want the Mandalorians to rise up again, let alone take back their planet. This causes a big battle for the finale. During the battle, Mando and Grogu both get put into serious danger. Grogu finally participates in the fight. So yes, I liked it and I'm glad I finished.

Something funny. The name Yoda. I think he was named that because it's so close to being the word Yoga, which is associated with meditation and concentration. Something that the Jedi have to do in order to master the force. The name Grogu sort of sounds like Guru. A person who is a master at something. This makes me wonder what the future will be for Grogu. Perhaps he will become very powerful. He's young, so there are a lot of possibilities. Is he related to Yoda? For now it's a mystery.

Thoughts on The Book of Boba Fett

As many of us already know, Boba Fett's goal is to take over Jabba the Hutts territory on Tatooine. He wants to be more than a bounty hunter. As the story goes along, we find out that Boba isn't such a bad person. He tries to be reasonable with people and prefers peace over a fight. They have him doing some things to gain favor with fans like helping those poor, misunderstood sand people. He also rescues Fennec Shand from death, and she becomes his assistant. Throughout the story, he went about gaining allies and some turned out to be reliable.  

In the first several episodes, the story just wasn't hooking me. The plot seemed to be weak or moving too slow. As a writer, I naturally try to figure out why. The story of Boba Fett is partially told using flashbacks. I found them to be more interesting than his current situation of sitting in Jabba's chair or sleeping in a tank of water. It's not that there isn't plenty of action, but for several episodes, Boba's goal often seems vague and why is it important? The conflict comes from other characters (that I don't know much about) trying to kill him or stop him. It wasn't clear to me why I would want Boba in charge. Maybe it would've flowed better if they had started with the flashbacks, rather than alternating from the past and present. However, that brings up issues about when he met the Mandalorian and got his armor back. If it was a straight timeline, we would have to rehash all that again.   

There are seven episodes. In episode five, Din Djarin (The Mandalorian/Mando) comes back and it's all about his issues of wanting to retain his status as a Mandalorian, and he also wants to see Grogu (Baby Yoda) again. Episode six is about Din trying to visit Grogu while he is training with Luke. At this point, I began to wonder if we'd get back to Boba Fett. It seemed like Din had taken over the series. Also, since Din and Grogu are so popular, Disney must be under pressure to get those two back on the screen. 

Toward the end of the series, things finally start coming together. It becomes clear that Boba wants to run a clean territory. This goal becomes worthy because people are going to suffer if he doesn't stop the criminals who want to take it over and run a spice trade. If only they could've got this point across much earlier. 

The last episode brought everything together in a good finale where Boba and Din join forces. We get to see Boba and Din using all their tricks and gadgets in a long battle. The bad guys also have some tricks of their own. The finale made it worthwhile to watch after all.