She could show up in either the Kenobi or Cassian Andor series.

Though she's getting kind of old. She's pushing sixty, and I don't know if she'll still be able to pull off playing a younger version of herself in however many years it takes to get the Cassian Andor series going. Whatever voodoo (or those beauty products she sells on informercials) she's using to keep herself looking young has to wear out at some point.

the person at the end is suspected to be Boba Fett as he has the same jangly sound when he walked that he did in Empire Strikes Back. There's a video online somewhere but I'm too lazy to find it.

I’m pretty sure the person at the end is Giancarlo Esposito’s character. I cannot believe they’d bring Boba Fett in at this point.

Didn't mind the nods to Episode IV or the fact that Mando went to Tatooine. At least some things had changed in the cantina, and he didn't land at the same docking bay. Didn't care for Bobby Cavanale's kid as an actor or the woman who repaired Mando's ship. Both odd casting choices.

Mother of Yodas, stealer of the TV, first of her name.

I wasn’t a fan of this one. I didn’t think the kid trying to join the guild was the only bad actor. This episode was off. It all felt very stiff and stilted.

5/5 ... as in 5th of the 5 episodes so far. It was indeed the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good
*As soon as they said Mos Eisley, I rolled my eyes and braced for some nostalgia masturbation. Although I would have preferred NOT going back to Tatooine, I was pleased with the restraint that was shown.
*The Cantina — I thought it was brilliant that it was now being run by droids!
*Ming Na-Wen and the sniper standoff.
* Tusken Raider negotiation ... I LOVED this!
*The scenery — loved the night time action, racing over sand dunes on speeder bikes, and seeing banthas and dewbacks.
*The space battle at the beginning — so good!

The Bad
*Amy Sedaris ... the love-child of Richard Simmons and Ellen Ripley ... Her first scene was OK, but we spent way too much time going back to her for no good reason.
*Bounty Hunter Explorer Post kid ... awful, just awful. I don’t know who he is or who his dad is ... I assumed he was from High School Musical. Terribly written, terribly acted. He had all the makings of a rich kid in a small town trying to be hot shit. Hot shit it was.
*Absolutely NO plot advancement. Through the first four episodes these have all been side-quest stories, but have contributed something to the overall story. This did nothing.
*Tracking fobs ... ugghhh ... such a bad concept.

The Ugly (items that had a hint of good but were misplayed)
*Mos Eisley ... what was once a bustling spaceport a hive of scum and villainy, is now a ghost town. Why?! The stormtrooper helmets on pikes was a great visual ... but if the Empire was driven out like that, where are all the underworld characters? Tell me THAT story if you are going back to Tatooine!
*Ming Na-Wen ... HOW is this not the meat of the story? Why do we keep one-offing great characters and name actors?
*Mando ... good god just quit with this. People think it is his name. It should have been used as a pejorative/racist term for Mandalorians. Instead, he is the child of Martha and Lando Calrissian.



Observation: “The Gunslinger” is not the Mandalorian ... it is the character who showed up at the end.

That kid is also the grandson of Sidney Lumet so it’s even more criminal how bad he is.

I didn’t really mind the kid. Everyone seems to be giving him shit but I thought he was alright. He was supposed to be young, dumb, and in over his head if you ask me.

Didn’t mind Amy Sedaris either. I wasn’t a huge fan of her at first, but she grew on me as she cared for baby Yoda.

I'm more forgiving of the show as I like it a hell of a lot more than what we’re getting in the sequels.

It was probably Carano keeping tabs on him. She's in 3 episodes of the season according to IMDB or it could have been Carl Weathers' character.

At all the complaints about no plot advancement (over the last few weeks). This is clearly not that type of show. This is the plot: He’s on the run and having adventures of the week.

We’re not going to get an episode about Carl Weathers’ history. There will be no one hour explanation of Werner Herzog’s motivation.

Baby Yoda’s importance will be revealed but it is not the sole reason to watch the show.

As far as reviews of each episode I've been watching Emergency Awesome, he does an overall good synopsis of each episode. And before this one he has been spot on, just screwed up on this one not catching the mention of Mos Eisley on the radio of where to dock.

Agreed for the most part that this was the weakest episode so far, but still enjoyed it.

And at the end I would say based on the fact that it is Tatooine my vote is that it is definitely Boba Fett. It fits in the whole timeline and cannon that he survived the Sarlaac Pit and got out. And wondering if those Trooper heads are courtesy of him perhaps, that would be cool?

I’ve been thinking the same thing. I think everyone now days is so accustomed to shows with long drawn out arcs that last an entire season. This is breaking that mold by being more of an adventure of the week type show. Not that it may not be building to something, but that’s not the sole focus. Frankly that doesn’t bother me. That along with the short length make this much easier to watch in my opinion. It’s a fun show to just spend a half hour a week with.

Same reason why I enjoyed shows like the various Trek series’. They weren’t all tied together and were episodic where you could just watch and enjoy one. Whereas nowadays if you watch a lot of shows you can’t just watch one at random and it makes sense.

There is a way to tell an episode-of-the-week story and still tell a longer narrative arc. Yes, I enjoy the EOTW formula they are using, but each of the first four episodes have built a little more of the character, the overall story, and the world. This episode didn’t add anything other than “Oh look, another mystery bounty hunter after the Mandalorian and the child.”

Yeah, a long-form narrative would be cool, but this is just fine. Observing that this episode was filler is not off base. Yes, each week has been a self-contained tale, but it added to the whole. This one, not so much. It was just a lay-over. With only 8 short episodes to work with, I expect a little push each week.

Since someone mentioned the tracking fobs, have these been established in the Star Wars universe prior to this? How does it work? Does everyone have a tracker installed at birth? Otherwise, how are people being tracked? This person is an assassin, why would they still have something on them that allows them to be instantly tracked? Is this one of those, don’t think about, it just works, plot devices?

Speaking of the tracking fobs, how exactly did that guy have the target's location memorized and was confident enough to destroy it? What if she moved afterwards?

So I really didn't want to resurrect the HDR conversation, but I have to... I hadn't really noticed any issues on the episodes before this one, but on this one, the desert scenes looked awful. The sand dunes had obvious gradients, especially red. The sky as well. I had to turn off HDR on my TV for it to look normal/good again.

Wasn't my TV, cause I watched some other HDR content (not Disney+) and it looked good. Anyone else experience that?

I've sort of been wondering about that myself.

As of now, I'm going to assume that "tracking fobs" are just a device to advance the plot that we're just supposed to accept, and not think too much about. If everyone has a tracker installed at birth (which I have no idea how that even be possible in the Star Wars universe) then it basically makes hiding out impossible. If it's something that is implanted, then it should also be able to be removed.

But it is one of these like the hyperspace tracking in TLJ that can really fuck up the ability to tell future stories.

I haven’t thought about it too much, but have kinda assumed that most of the people being hunted probably have criminal records or have been in custody at one point and maybe that’s what leads to their being tagged. Seems like it would make some sense. Not sure about baby Yoda, unless whoever he was with prior to Mando was being hunted as well.

The bigger question I have is what’s being tracked? Do people who are captured get chipped somehow? If that were the case wouldn’t a lot of people just try and remove them? Unless somehow it’s genetics/DNA being tracked or something.

I'm more than happy with adventures of the week. This was the weakest so far, but still good

I noticed that too. The red sand stuff. Was odd.

I enjoyed this one. Yeah it was full of “fan service”, but I guess I’m just a sucker for it in this case. I’ll agree that the acting from the young kid was terrible. Sedaris was ok. Usually I can’t stand her and find her woefully unfunny.
Looking forward to next week.

Can I jump off the wagon for a moment? I have listened to podcasts and read the posts here about “fan service” in this episode ... and in MOST of the examples given, it is NOT fan service. Stop trying to be cool. The appearance of something is not automatically fan service.

Going to Tatooine = probably fan service, and as I said, I cringed at first.

The Cantina = some of the recreated shots are fan service. But so much was altered that the whole thing is not fan service. The Cantina was used in a creative and fresh way.

Tusken Raiders, dewbacks, banthas = NOT fan service in the least. Seeing these actually fixes one of my personal biggest issues with BOTH the prequel AND sequel trilogies ... yes, there is more to the world to see, but EVERYTHING can’t be new. It makes total sense to see these creatures on Tatooine and they were used in new ways that worked organically within the story.

And my biggest beef ... the people who seem to be screaming “fan service” the loudest are the goons who keep clamoring for the mystery person at the end to be Boba Fett.

I'll go farther and say none of it was "fan service".

I would think that placing fan service in quotes would have made it obvious I’m in the same boat as both of you.