SPOILERS BELOW…
For several months, people have wondered about the new Disney Plus channel, and how popular it would become. They debated what would attract subscribers the most: the Simpsons, Marvel movies, Pixar or
Mickey Mouse.
The answer:
This Baby Yoda has stolen the show in the channel’s first big hit, The Mandalorian. Still, the title character is also pretty intriguing. A lone wolf bounty hunter voiced by Pedro Pascal has the interesting mission of baby-sitting this child from people who don’t want it around, and maybe a few who do.
The first two episodes premiered this week. The Mandalorian is short on dialogue but long on action. We’re introduced to him when he comes to a bar. Someone is upset Mando (for short) had spilled his drink, and interrupted an attempt to take a Mythrol’s (Horatio Sanz) organs Manda blasts the customers and saves the Mythrol, but it’s also revealed it’s wanted “hot or cold” for a bounty.
After Mando gets his bounty, he’s given a secret mission by a man named Greef (Carl Weathers). He’s sent to another man (Werner Herzog), who tells him he must recover an “asset” in exchange for a lot of Beskar steel. It’s kept pretty vague what the asset is, except a lot of people want it.
Mando heads to another planet, where he meets Kuiil (Nick Nolte). He offers to help Mando but had to learn to ride a very ugly beast called a Blurrg. Mando refuses, but one “I have spoken” from Kuiil, changes his mind.
Mando arrives at a base and meets a “bounty droid called IG-11 (voiced by Taiki Waititi). It’s safe to say this droid is very tough to beat since it shoots faster than the average militia.
Mando and the droid are at odds at first, but negotiate a deal where they split the bounty. They take care of the guards, and find Baby Yoda (who looks cute for a baby who is 50 years old). However, IG-11 says he was sent to kill it. Mando breaks the deal with a couple of blasts.
From there, it’s a journey that recalls the Japanese manga and movie series Lone Wolf and Cub. Seeing Mando traveling with a levitating baby carriage becomes one of the latest iconic scenes of the Star Wars saga.
The second episode mainly deals with Mando having problems with Jawas stealing parts from his ship. He has to battle a Mudhorn (cross between a rhino and a wooly mammoth) and get its egg. He gets some help…from the Baby Yoda. It’s exhausted from the experience, but recovers soon.
They soon fly off together…heading somewhere
After two episodes, it looks like this could be an interesting story about a bounty hunter being a dad for a while, while some people will be very interested or concerned over Baby Yoda. It is stealing the show with its cuteness, and skill with the Force. Mando is a man of action and few words, at least for now. When he is likely to meet Greef again, and an assassin named Fennic (Ming-Na Wen), a lot will be disturbed along with the Force.
Jon Favreau, by the way, created the show and wrote the first two episodes.
New episodes of The Mandalorian air every Friday on Disney Plus.
