[psmith2.0]

Called the Apostate, about Mando looking to go back to bathe in the waters of the mines of Mandalore, to atone for removing his helmet.

Eveything/everyone seems to be in his way.

A bit of a slow kick-off to the new season, minimal action/gunplay, but a nice Western-style standoff/duel, about halfway in. Both Carl Weathers and Navarro are back, along with IG-11 (needing a new memory chip) and, toward the end, Bo Katan, who doesn't seem as worked up as she once did.

We've having a loud, violent thunderstorm right now, so I'll be honest: I didn't hear every single line of dialogue super clear and I'm easily distracted these days with just about anything, so I dint' fully enjoy this episode as much as I have others. Nothing much really happened, but it was solid and looked amazing as always. There was an asteroid field chase/fight that can't help but evoke a part of both The Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones. The visuals, as always, are top notch, especially the outdoor, sunny daytime sequences, of which there were several. Everything just looks right, with no matte lines or haloing/ghosting of tell-tale blue/green screen work. Stuff looks like it's really there, and rising up/taking off quickly into space.

PS - Grogu is as adorable as ever. He seems a little older, and he seems to fully understand English (Mando talking/telling him stuff), but he's still not speaking himself...I want to know if this race all has that peculiar Yoda syntax, or that's just how Yoda himself talked. Find out before long, we will.

None of this is in spoiler tags because, frankly, nothing really happened that warranted it. It was just nice to see old friends - Mando and Grogu return after so long, and so many iffy shows, away. This show is the "mothership" as far as I'm concerned, with the Boba Fett one and probably even the Ahsoka one being tacked-on distractions. And maybe not even necessary, big picture. We'll see, I suppose.

I just hate watching TV and feeling like I have to now give something 6-8 weeks of my life. I wish they'd just release the entire season all at once, a la Stranger Things and let me take it in as I decide/see fit (once a week or multi-episode binging...4-5 episodes in a sitting). this once-a-week release is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, of course.

The music and sound is still great, and we still get those awesome, familiar Star Wars vocal cues (engines starting up or shutting down, certain tools/instruments, droids. Lots of protocol droids in this episode, some with Threepio's voice/mannerisms, and some not (making them slightly less annoying). Some shiny and reflective (Threepio), one matte white one, looking like an old iPod or something. Hopefully the remaining episodes will pick up and settle into a nice groove, as the other seasons have. This just seemed like a lot of weight was sitting on top, and they had to spend 20 of the :38-minute run-time reminding us all of what came before in the series. That's the danger with going so long between seasons. People, like me, lose their momentum/mojo/interest, so the first episodes back is a bit of "okay, already...get to it!" slog.

PS - Katie Sackhoff is so unusual-looking I can't help but be drawn to her. Not classically "pretty" or "attractive", no. But certainly "interesting"/striking, her face/eyes and how she talks/carries herself in her 5-10 minute appearance. As I said above, she seems to have lost a bit of her edge and wasn't being quite as feisty/rowdy as we've seen her in previous installments. She seems a bit defeated and no longer obsessed with ruling Mandalore. She didn't even try to fight Mando when he showed up to see her sitting on a throne on a palace on a sister planet to Mandalore. I figured she'd at least fly off the throne to thump Mando about the head and chest a bit. Nope, she just sat there, stoic and distant and acting more annoyed than anything.

Anyway, after 258 months (give or take) [i]The Mandalorian[i] is back, on Disney+ with new installments dropping on Wednesdays for the next eight or so weeks. All of March, the first few weeks of April. Enjoy!