THE MANDALORIAN - CHAPTER 16 - THE RESCUE (Patreon)

I’m going to be honest, I really don’t feel like writing this.

There’s this idea that critics like harshing people’s buzz. Or that we like being the arbiters of hype or taking shots at sacred cows. I don’t think many critics enjoy that at all. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way in my entire life. Because it’s not a fun feeling. It makes you feel out of sorts, or like an alien. Because there’s nothing enjoyable being the only person having trouble with what’s up on screen in a crowd full of people eating it up. Especially when so many just seem to be accepting whatever it is wholesale.

Now, sometimes that separation is a simple difference of “not for me.” For a personal example, there’s Oliver Assayas. He’s a great, hyper-intelligent filmmaker, but there’s something about the way he characterizes the vacancy of Hollywood that just feels “off” to me. But I recognize how much that’s a personal preference over a specific characterization, whereas I know many not only see it differently, but are taken by the poetics of his grander choices.

Also, sometimes that separation exists because you are flat out wrong, often because you are not understanding the context of the form and are bringing in your own misunderstandings (which you think are correct). For another personal example, I shudder when I think about my opinions on anime and Bollywood films from a decade ago. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Which is so often one of the reasons I love the expression in Thai when you are having trouble with a certain food. They don’t say “I don’t like this.” They say, “I don’t know how to eat this,” which is a subtle difference I adore and feel like it should be brought into a lot of other forms of consuming.

But sometimes you do know how to eat it, but that separation exists because the thematic expression on screen caters to toxic norms that the audience is either totally on board with and thinks is harmless where others find it much more problematic.

And sometimes, just sometimes, it’s a much tougher thing to parse. Because sometimes there are storytelling scenarios where people will accept something lazy, indulgent, and unearned because the genial thing being given to them is also the thing that they want. And that’s not only understandable, it’s much harder to talk about.

Because when it comes to the season two finale of The Mandalorian what am I arguing against really? That you didn’t enjoy it? That you shouldn’t have enjoyed it? Of course not. There’s nothing I ever want to take away from people’s experiences. Nor could I. All I can really do is convey that finale struck me in a deeply crappy way, mostly because it is sort of the opposite of everything I love (particularly what I loved about last week’s episode). Because instead of building a self-contained story that earned its own beats? Which in turn conveyed  thematic resonance? It instead resorted to shoe-horned mega-cameos that had absolutely nothing to do with anything — and yet they saved the day, as if it was all supposed to be the proverbial bow on our season’s story arc.

Which brings us to the deus-ex-luke-ina of it all.

Again, I know I can’t take people’s reactions away. Moreover, I KNOW that it works. But the reason it works is because it’s easy. People love Luke showing up at end because they love Luke. They’ve loved him for over 40 years. Just like they love R2D2. Thus, they love that these two characters getting incorporated into the new show that they’ve also come to love. The decision to bring it all together is simple math. It works. And the feeling of watching it? It’s like eating ice cream. And dammit, I like ice cream, too. I even genuinely understand that this story probably ultimately needs to deliver that ice cream… But my argument is not with the choice to do it at all. My argument is that the way this fun treat was delivered to us is representative of everything I’ve come to resent about the lazy side of the show’s writing.

He literally just shows up. I can’t get over that single solitary decision. Project any excuse or guess that you want about Luke feeling it through space magic or whatever (I’m sure they’ll be some tie in blog that explains it), but this isn’t a logic nitpick. It’s a motivational question. Which means it’s a storytelling question. Because Luke is a character who has absolutely nothing to do with these people. At least Ashoka’s appearance resulted in a big bonding moment with Grogu and a turning point that led into a larger episodic story. But here? Luke just shows up out of nowhere and because the audience has a million other pieces of context for this character, the writers do away with any and all storytelling around him. They literally don’t know who he is. Grogu just likes him (like the fans do) and it’s all tied up in two seconds. There is no talk, not context, no trust, no fucking anything to the story of this ultimate exchange. Thus, there is no actual catharsis in the actual story that has been told this season, only the meta in which we go “Luke gets Baby Yoda now.”

Honestly, I could not think of a lazier way to do it if i tried.

Please understand, any fucker can trot out Luke and get a clap. The job, repeat, THE JOB is to make that moment work in the story that you are telling. THE JOB is to set it up in such an elegant way where it feels perfect and invisible and yet earned (here, you can tell they wanted the surprise so bad that they did ZERO set-up). THE JOB is to integrate it into Mando’s storyline in way that actually ties into some kind of theme, just as THE JOB is to actually articulate his heartbreak of Mando and him feeling: “I just fought to keep him and yet now I have to let him go.” You have to play this stuff because it is everything you have been trying to do along the way. But they don’t care about the the job, do they? They just winged it and thought Luke’s mere appearance would do the hard part of the job for them.

Again, please understand that 1) I’m talking about the execution at the writing level only and 2) I’m no monster. The beautiful music cue change that hits where Mando takes his helmet off and says goodbye? It works because texturally-speaking this is great stuff and Pascal is acting is butt off. I literally welled up because THAT’s the attention that’s being being paid to the central relationship that matters. But again, you absolutely have to set up these kinds of moments or else they’re ONLY texture (heck, there are so many ways you could set up that helmet moment even better and have bigger results).

Do you really think I don’t want to give people what they want? FUCK. That’s what story arcs are! You set up a set of conditions in the opening that make the audience go “OMG I want X to happen” and then you dramatize it and make X feel like it’s impossible, and then you make X happen in the most satisfying way possible. Often in the way that makes the audience go “oh, of course!” But it’s all dependent on contained series of dramatic mechanisms that shift those things into focus (again, like last weeks episode did so damn well). And it is completely fair of us to want and expect that basic commitment to storytelling within this show because it’s what all good television does (and I mean all good television).

But there are so many times this season that when it came time to achieve catharsis, they went outside the bounds of the story they were telling, and instead settled on referencing something STAR WARS-IAN. Again, the job is to marry them seamlessly. It can’t be random fan service. I mean, you all know theres tons of people who watch this show and don’t know other star wars things, right? Believe me, the tweet and write at me. And they would find that that ending to be incomprehensible nonsense. And they’re right to find it nonsense because the writers didn’t find the way to integrate it into the story. You need to find the way.

It’s funny, when I think about what I loved about season one of The Mandalorian it was the way they were striking out in a new direction, complete with the mantra: “this is the way,” It felt like a valid anthem. But this season? The phrasing is not only gone, they’ve instead got lazy and settled for cryptic teasing, Rebels allusions, and promising to get around to things before just rushing by when they actually show up. For example ,the last bunch of episodes I’ve been asking on here, “why aren’t they doing FUCKING ANYTHING with Boba Fett? As in, why aren’t they getting into his story? Is there any arc and relationship here? He’s just been fucking standing there and ohhhhh it’s because this is just basically a backdoor pilot for his other show and they’ll get to that later. Cool cool cool, thanks for the non-story.” It’s like they ran out of their own story so they just kept making allusions to other, much better told stories.

In doing so, they fell victim to the modern Star Wars curse. For when they’ve had every chance to branch out, build something new, and make me feel the possibilities for the universe again, they have instead retreated back into the a smallest of circles of species and skywalkers and sabers and so much less. Sometimes they do it because of fear. But mostly, they do it because it’s easy. And ultimately, they won’t be able to escape the orbit of that crushing weight. Which is so frustrating cause you’ve seen me week after week sticking through this show for its high moments… But deep down, I always fear it’s lazy heart.

Which brings us to the act of creation and, perhaps, some inside baseball.

Because being the top creative on a show comes with the glory and attention. but it also means you’re the one who usually takes blame. Which means it’s time to talk about Jon Favreau and his creative style. Because I think Favreau is a really affable person. He has genuine passions for food and podcasts and greater parts of life. He’s funny. He has a weird knacks for cinematic jokes and timing Heck, I’m still someone who goes endlessly to bat for the first Ironman film in a way many seem to have forgotten about. And as an in-industry figure, he’s always been gently good at the showbiz politics. Because he’s been around too long to bite the hands that feed him. He rolls with the punches. He also always very mindful of how he presents himself (watch the way he goes out of his way to be complementary and does his homework on Babish). All these things are great. But then there is the matter of THE WORK.

One of my favorite pieces of writing about creative leadership is Javier Grillo-Marxuach’s “11 Laws of Showrunning” and the one I want to talk about is 8. RESIST THE SIREN CALL OF THE "SEXY GLAMOROUS JOBS” Which basically amounts to not getting caught up in all the fun parts of your job, especially when you’re missing the insane amount of important work that happens in the nitty gritty details. To that, by this point I’ve heard nine million stories of Favreau falling to the siren call, with him never “being around” when you need him, or him ALWAYS hanging around for the things that most fun [I’ve written and delete like 10 different sentences that get into specifics, but it could all be apocryphal so I’m just not going to go there instead talk about the larger philosophy of writing, which is all that matters anyway]. And it’s like, fine, you can do the fun things, you can give people all the ice cream you want. But there is no piece of entertainment that comes out good without getting into the nitty gritty of the script work. You need a writer’s room banging their heads against the wall trying to make it WORK, dammit. Because it’s so very hard to make work. And here, I can see the first-draft-y, shoot from the hip, “eh it will be fine” of it all right on the page… I don’t see the work.

This not the way.

This not the way because it runs counter to everything every smart, thoughtful creative person ever taught me. This is not the way because the work is what builds your story outward. It’s the the thing that builds you new, functional character paths like with Bill Burr’s character and the fish egg couple and every other delightful little surprise that made the Star Wars universe feel a little bit bigger instead of a little bit smaller. It matters because in the end, there is no sadder thing then when someone gets trapped in a game of “remember when?” For it is the path toward stasis and the quiet death of the ouroboros and endless self-reference. And as many people I know enjoyed that finale, I had one friend text outright: “i think i’m done with star wars.”

I don’t enjoy talking about any of this in this way. I just feel sad. Sometimes it’s like everyone’s playing a fun game and you’re on the outside looking in. And on the flip-side, I know sometimes it makes the people on the inside feel like we’re just harshing their buzz or judging, but I swear it’s not. Especially when there’s lots of great writers who can capture and share the enthusiasm that they are feeling. Because often, the job of criticism is to try and speak for people who feel the same way as you… So here and now, I’m just trying to speak for those who felt like they were on the outside of that finale, too.

It’s not a fun place to be.

<3HULK

RANDOM LEFTOVER THOUGHTS

-Since the episode is just, like, a giant set-piece I want to talk about two different tacts with action and how it ties into everything I’ve been saying. The first is the fantastic scene with Mando versus the dark trooper. The metal crunching and the robot punching feels scary and powerful and terrifying. Again, it’s exciting when heroes are tested. But the rest of the action? How many times are character just going to walk toward the frame firing guns cool and nonchalantly and take everyone out like it’s easy? Again, to compare to the drama of the truck chase last week, characters have to be vulnerable and fighting for their life, even in the smaller stuff, otherwise it’s just boring / kewl tuff posturing.

-CGI Luke looked baaaaaaaaaad.

-Esposito got to have a lot of fun again tonight (“assume i know everything”) but I ultimately wish he got a little more substance… he really could have done something with it in those final moments, I think. Even if that substance was more malevolence.

-Oh no the magic blood / rare properties / gifted child AKA eugenics stuff was back.

-I also didn’t like Luke’s KEWL BADASS taking out of the dark troopers. I mean, is this the first time we saw him force crushing dark side style? It’s the same indulgent shit I hated about Vader’s hallway march in Rogue One. And it’s the opposite of everything I loved in Luke’s pacifist style standoff trick in The Last Jedi.

-Real Harry and the Hendersons vibe with him telling grogu to go.

-I’m terrified there’s going to be comments from toxic fans re: the draw between Boba Fett and Sasha Banks that is like, NAH UH BOBA FETT WOULD SO BEAT HER UP because they’ll like her, as long is it doesn’t upset their delicate tuffest boi pecking order.

-The fact that they're ultimately just pawning off Grogu proves to me that they had no fucking idea what they were doing with that plotline on any level.

-I’m tired and that’s all I got. I’ll probably feel less tired about it all later, but for right now…

*sighs in existential*

<3HULK