Second season of ‘The Mandalorian’ impresses

Manu Dhillon, Guest Writer

If you’re looking for a thrilling and adventurous show to watch, head over to Disney+ and check out season two of “The Mandalorian.”

The show’s setting consists of many different planets such as Tatooine, Maldo Kreis, and Corvus. These planets are unique in their own ways and have a different environment and climate compared to each other. The second season of the show takes place right after the first season of the show.

The show’s protagonist is The Mandalorian (Mando). His job in the second season carries over from the first which is helping Grogu (Baby Yoda) find his own kind of species. Also, Mando seeks help to find his own kind too.

The central conflict of the show is for Mando to avoid getting Grogu killed or captured. Many people are after Grogu because of the powers he possesses which make him very valuable. Mando also has trust issues with some owing to the high demand of people who want Grogu, and can be involved in life-threatening situations sometimes as he fights to protect Grogu.

Mando receives help from Boba Fett, Amy Sedaris, and Bo Katan who help guide him to other people with information about Grogu. Boba Fett, and Bo Katan & her crew also back up Mando sometimes by helping him fight off trouble. However, Moff Gideon is the main person who troubles Mando over time by throwing obstacles in his way since he very desperately wants Grogu.

Mando is played by actor Pedro Pascal, who’s effective in portraying his character because his body and verbal language are very clear which allows for the audience to comprehend his emotions even though he wears a helmet. For example, when Mando tilts his head while talking to someone, he portrays his confusion and/or surprise in that small yet subtle motion.

Actress Katee Sackhoff plays Bo Katan, who was a former Mandalorian warrior and a lieutenant in the Death Watch (terrorist organization). Bo helps Mando since he’s one of her kind and realizes how beneficial Mando’s help can be as she does need his help sometimes. Sackhoff brilliantly portrays the character of Bo as her actions reflect her leadership qualities as she guides her crew throughout missions whether it is invading somewhere to gain intel or finding new recruits for her agenda to rise to power.

One fan of the show is junior Colin Powers, who really enjoyed the visual effects of the show. He said, “When looking at the aliens and all the ships flying in ‘The Mandalorian Season 2,’ there was something about them [special effects] that just made them seem real like you can actually go out and see these different species and these different ships and I thought that was really well translated in the special effects department.”

Furthermore, “The Mandalorian” and the “John Wick” film series are similar in that they both have great visual effects as well as very similar protagonists. Like Mando, John Wick is always very cautious about his surroundings in the film series. Mando is a lot more cautious when he’s with Grogu but without Grogu, Mando doesn’t seem to bother too much about his surroundings unless his life is in danger and he feels as if he needs to take action.

“The Mandalorian” is an excellent and very-well structured show but there is some space for it to improve. The show could use more storylines and get rid of the same structure that is repeated within some of the episodes.

In addition, Powers agrees as he also thinks that some of the episodes used a “certain formula.” He said, “They were kind of repetitive in their nature in how the Mandalorian would go to a new planet, meet somebody who had information, and then they would give him (The Mandalorian) a task to complete for the information. It would be the whole episode and then it would be rinse and repeat.

“This wasn’t the case for a couple of episodes but I feel like it was too much of a basis for a couple of episodes that it just made it kind of drag a little bit,” Powers said.

Overall, I would give the second season of “The Mandalorian” a rating of 9.5 out of 10 Bounty Hunters because I really enjoyed the show owing to the amazing visual effects, scenery, and plot which has hyped me up for Season 3 as well.