The Mandalorian Season 3 Premiere Review: Pedro Pascal’s Star Wars Series Makes an Underwhelming Return with a Filler Episode (LatestLY Exclusive)

The Mandalorian Season 3 Review: I won’t lie, my excitement for season three of The Mandalorian was completely dampened when the creators decided to reunite Din and Grogu in The Book of Boba Fett. I don’t know whose genius idea was it to tie in both the shows, but it created for such a jarring payoff that the premiere of The Mandalorian Season Three heavily suffers from it. The Mandalorian Season 3 Streaming Date and Time: How to Watch Pedro Pascal's Star Wars Disney+ Series Online.

Directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the premiere sees Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) set out on a quest to atone for his sins for going against his religion. That sin being him taking off his mask at the end of season two, which caused Din to not be a part of the Mandalorian creed anymore. Having to go through a rite of passage on the planet of Mandalore, he needs an IG droid. So, the bulk of the ordeal is just centered on him running around on the planet of Nevarro, trying to fix up IG-11.

It's not even the fact that the episode is bad in any way, it just comes across boring. Starting off with a visually impressive action sequence, the episode quickly boils into cookie cutter world building that slows down the pace monumentally. The biggest offender here though is that just how disconnected the new season feels from the ending of the previous one.

At the end of season two, we saw Luke take away Grogu hence fulfilling Mando’s mission, but also creating a central conflict around the Darksaber. Then came The Book of Boba Fett, which undid all of that, and then introduced another conflict with Din having to travel to Mandalore for his sins. It’s so jarring, because why would you set up any television series like this.

Watch the Trailer for The Mandalorian Season Three: 

For a person who hasn’t seen The Book of Boba Fett at all, they will be extremely confused, because The Mandalorian is no longer a standalone viewing any more. That’s not to mention that Din and Grogu’s dynamic here doesn’t have any development. They are just back to where they were originally, and I just didn’t feel as attached to them as I used to be. Pedro Pascal still continues to be a great Mando. Pretty much perfecting the art of a gruff dude travelling along with a child (a tradition that now spilled into a much more favourable The Last of Us), he is one constant the series does get right. Carl Weathers makes for a fun appearance too as Greef Karga, however, the episode just felt very much like filler where important information is just given in throwaway lines.

Nothing significant happens in the episode, and there is no IT aspect to keep you interested for the rest of the season. Mando simply wanders around Nevarro beside Grogu and chats with a few people - that's all there is to it. I was really disappointed by the ending. Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) makes an appearance, and even that somehow was masked up in a completely unexciting and rushed reveal that the ending just feels abrupt and doesn’t pack a punch at all. Andor Review: Diego Luna’s 'Rogue One' Spinoff Series Revels In Providing Refreshing and Intimate Take on the Star Wars Saga! (LatestLY Exclusive).

The only thing the season three premiere of The Mandalorian had going for it was its visual aesthetics, which felt like a step up from Obi Wan-Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett, but other than that, there was nothing outstanding. The season 3 was just a lacklustre return.

Yay!

Visuals

Pedro Pascal as Mando

Nay!

Underwhelming

Feels Like Filler

Final Thoughts

Coming from the high standard of Andor's writing for Star Wars to this, the return of The Mandalorian is a letdown. Season three opens with a whimper, with nothing notable happening in this episode and its setup being tied down to a whole separate series. Let's hope the next few episodes lead the ship in the correct direction. The Mandalorian Season Three is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 01, 2023 02:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).