The Mandalorian enters its third season as part of Disney’s takeover of the Star Wars franchise. Produced by LucasFilms, like its predecessor, it was streamed to Disney Plus.

The Armor (Emily Swallow) informs Dinn Djarin (Pedro Pascal) that to redeem himself for removing his helmet, he must bathe in the waters of Mandalore. With Grogru back at his side, he recruits Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) to help him after helping Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) deal with some pirates. The trio goes on many adventures and seeks out a way to retake Mandalore while an escaped Moff Giden (Giancarlo Esposito) waits in the wings.

First of all, the presence of Gina Carano as Cara Dune was sorely missed. No other character awkwardly inserted in to take her place failed on every level. It was not even close.

I was willing to give this new season a chance considering how much I love the first two and Andor. I sat down every week to watch it with an open mind and I was sorely disappointed. Sure it had some cool moments, but they were overshadowed by the terrible. The show had a huge drop in quality compared to previous episodes in terms of writing. There were so many contradictions, logic problems, and boring side stories that it got old really fast.

Of course, we have to have Bo-Katan step in as a bait-and-switch for Dinn. I have no problem with Dinn’s evolution from bounty hunter to something more, but he pretty much gets sidelined in his own show. He becomes a mansel in distress three times and just gives up the Dark Saber to her. It definitely seems like Jon Favreau lost control because this is typical of LucasFilm head Kathleen Kennedy who just cannot stand straight males as a hero.

It is a shame too because I admire Sackoff as an actress, but she got writing that could qualify as nothing more than pandering to a fan base that does not exist.

The worst episode of the series is “Guns For Hire” which features Jack Black, Christopher Lloyd, and Lizzo. The first two were fine, but Lizzo cannot act to save her life. She was obnoxious and just knights Grogu for no reason.

It is a shame because Dinn was such an intriguing character and his navigation of a post-original trilogy was fascinating to see. Now it is joining the others as nothing more than to equip the ego of the writer’s room at LucasFilm instead of producing quality content.

At least Grogru is still cute.

Check out the trailer below:

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Some violence

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