The Mandalorian Made Star Wars Feel Small Again — and That Was Exactly What It Needed
Nerdy Up North
The setup
A lone Mandalorian bounty hunter travelling the outer reaches of the galaxy takes a job to recover a mysterious child. Instead of handing the target over, he chooses to protect him, putting himself at odds with bounty hunters, Imperial remnants and his own code.
Most Star Wars stories are about the fate of the entire galaxy. That can be great, and Star Wars obviously does massive good versus evil stories better than most, but sometimes I just want to watch some fluff. When the first season of The Mandalorian came around, I couldn’t have been more relieved that instead of yet another enormous conflict, we were getting one bloke in a helmet trying to do a job, get paid and preferably not die in the process.
Pedro Pascal somehow manages to give Din Djarin loads of personality despite spending nearly all of the show with his face completely covered. He doesn’t even need to say much. The way he stands, walks and reacts to people usually tells you exactly what he is thinking.
Then Grogu turns up and completely ruins his nice simple life.
What starts as a bounty hunting job quickly becomes a space western about a heavily armed bloke accidentally becoming a dad, while repeatedly trying to convince himself that he definitely has not become a dad.
That relationship is what makes the show work. Din starts off treating Grogu like another job, but it becomes obvious very quickly that he is willing to put himself through increasingly ridiculous amounts of danger to protect him. Meanwhile Grogu spends most of his time being adorable, eating things he probably shouldn’t and occasionally reminding everyone that he is considerably more dangerous than he looks.
There are bigger battles, recognisable characters and plenty of moments designed to make Star Wars fans point at the screen, but the smaller adventures were always my favourite part. Din arriving somewhere, being given some problem to solve and reluctantly helping a bunch of strangers feels much more suited to the character than constantly trying to raise the stakes.
At its best, The Mandalorian proves Star Wars does not always need to be about saving the galaxy. Sometimes watching one tired bloke desperately trying to keep a small green child alive is more than enough.
Positives
Pedro Pascal makes a masked character surprisingly expressive, Grogu is impossible not to like, the production design is excellent and the smaller western style stories give Star Wars a different rhythm.
Negatives
Later episodes can become too tied to cameos and setup for the wider Star Wars television universe.
Verdict
The Mandalorian reminded everyone that Star Wars did not always need to be enormous. Sometimes a bounty hunter, a child and a really good spaceship are enough.
