The Mandalorian - Season 1
“The Mandalorian continues Star Wars' penchant for creating worlds that are overwhelmingly populated by men.”
Title: The Mandalorian
Episodes Reviewed: Season 1
Creator: Jon Favreau 👨🏼🇺🇸
Writers: Jon Favreau 👨🏼🇺🇸 (9 eps), George Lucas 👨🏼🇺🇸 (9 eps), Rick Famuyiwa 👨🏿🇺🇸 (1 ep), Gina Atwater 👩🏾🇺🇸 (1 ep), Dave Filoni 👨🏼🇺🇸 (1 ep), and Christopher L. Yost 👨🏼🇺🇸 (1 ep)
Directors: Deborah Chow 👩🏻🇨🇦 (2 eps), Rick Famuyiwa 👨🏿🇺🇸 (2 eps), Dave Filoni 👨🏼🇺🇸 (2 eps), Bryce Dallas Howard 👩🏼🇺🇸 (1 ep), and Taika Waititi 👨🏽🇳🇿 (1 ep)
Reviewed by Monique 👩🏾🇺🇸
—SPOILERS AHEAD—
Technical: 4.5/5
When Disney+ debuted last year, the only thing I wanted to watch was The Mandalorian. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint.
The series gives both diehard fans of Star Wars and casual viewers alike some escapist nostalgia, reminiscent of classic sci-fi and fantasy from the ‘80s and ‘90s that use puppetry and other practical effects. Here, the best puppet of all is The Child, aka Baby Yoda, who has completely stolen the hearts of viewers worldwide. While most people probably came to The Mandalorian to learn more about the Mandalorians themselves, a mysterious tribe of warriors, they stayed for Baby Yoda.
A couple of episodes do stagnate, padding the story with one too many side quests like the prison break of “Chapter 6: The Prisoner,” before moving on to the next big plot point. But overall, The Mandalorian gives a delightful send-up to serials like Xena: Warrior Princess or Stargate SG-1 from the turn of the millennium, and to films about ronin on the run found in Akira Kurosawa’s pioneering Seven Samurai (1954) or the Lone Wolf and Cub films of the ‘70s.
Specifically, the silent nature of the Mandalorian himself reminds me of the protagonists from Genndy Tartakovsky’s animated shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Samurai Jack. Like Jack, a pensive samurai trapped in the future, and Tartakovsky’s brooding interpretations of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala, the Mandalorian is at his best when left alone to make sense of his environment. This often results in immersive and exciting action scenes. In “Chapter 3: The Sin,” the Mandalorian devises and enacts a plan to blaze through the Imperial compound to save the Child, resulting in one of the best heist sequences of the series.
Gender: 4/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? NOPE
The Mandalorian continues Star Wars' abysmal track record of creating worlds that are overwhelmingly populated by men. The women who do appear, though, begin to bridge the Star Wars gender gap through positive characterization.
The Armorer (Emily Swallow), for instance, is the keeper of the Mandalorian way of life. Stoic and strong, the Armorer pushes the franchise's boundaries as a woman who helms a male-based society. While we never learn much about her besides a penchant for reciting the Mandalorian warrior code and philosophy, her position as a guru or sensei—usually a male archetype—forces Star Wars fans to see women in a different light.
Mercenary-for-hire Cara Dune (Gina Carano) used to be in service to the Republic as a shock trooper. She eventually joins forces with the Mandalorian after they realize a bounty sits on both their heads. Carano’s history as an MMA fighter comes into play as she performs her own stunts in the series, lending more credibility to her character’s prowess.
Fennec Shand, played by Ming-Na Wen, stands as one of the few women of Asian descent to be represented in Star Wars. Like the other women listed above, Fennec displays extreme strength and cunning. As a hitwoman with a large bounty on her head, she uses her wits to evade capture, even after the Mandalorian thinks he has her pinned down.
Even though these women all have positive traits, however, simply tagging them as “strong women” comes with its own flattening effect. All three have their femininity either toned down or, in the case of The Armorer, erased entirely for the sake of excelling in a male-dominated society. For instance, subscribing to “The Way” means swearing an oath to never take off your helmet unless defeated in battle. While this rule creates a society devoid of gender politics, it also robs viewers of seeing the face of a woman presiding over an elite warrior class.
To complicate matters, two other women in the series, Omera (Julia Jones) and Xi’an (Natalia Tena), are primarily characterized as love interests to the Mandalorian. Omera, who belongs to an Indigenous community in space, could have showcased her emotional strength as a mother and pillar of her community. Instead, she focuses on securing the Mandalorian as her new husband. Xi’an, an alien criminal the Mandalorian once had a dalliance with, is like Harley Quinn on steroids—wild and contrary for no reason other than to fulfill the role of an evil Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She sucks, to be honest, and is easily my least favorite female character in the series.
Despite these hiccups, the Armorer, Cara, and Fennec constitute a starting place for Star Wars to rectify how the franchise has treated women in the past. Thankfully, the creative team includes female directors in its push for inclusion, with Bryce Dallas Howard and Deborah Chow among those bringing The Mandalorian to life. It’s worth noting that Chow will also direct the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off set for Disney+ in the near future, so it’s good to hear Star Wars will continue to bring more women into the fold.
Race: 4.5/5
Pedro Pascal plays the Mandalorian, making him a rare person of color to headline a Star Wars project. However, Lucasfilm and Disney sustained critiques for having Pascal remain behind a helmet throughout the series. For many fans, it reminds them of Star Wars’ history of erasing actors of color with makeup or in post-production, including Lupita Nyong’o as CGI character Maz Kanata and the Black and Asian women who played enslaved Twi’leks in past films. But with Chilean American Pascal in the role, Star Wars has increased its Latino representation with a character who is impactful and integral to the lore, and that’s a good thing.
Carl Weathers also co-stars as Greef Karga, the leader of a powerful bounty hunter guild, and the Mandalorian's frenemy. Weathers plays him with a boisterous and regal quality, uplifting the character from a mere shady gangster to a prince among thieves. Jones, Wen, Taika Waititi, Richard Ayoade, Omid Abtahi, and Giancarlo Esposito round out the leading and supporting cast with Indigenous, East Asian, Black, Middle Eastern, and Afro-Latino representation.
On the directing end, racial inclusion continues with Chow, Waititi, and Nigerian American Rick Famuyiwa. All three of these directors also appear as characters within the series, with Chow and Famuyiwa visible while Waititi voices a droid.
The series has a strong sense of racial and cultural diversity in front of and behind the camera. Like with Pascal or Waititi, however, some of this diversity is hidden behind makeup, prosthetics, and CGI.
LGBTQ: 1/5
There’s no LGBTQ representation to speak of in this series, which is unfortunate but par for the course for Star Wars.
Mediaversity Grade: C- 3.50/5
The Mandalorian is a great example of when the people behind a project put their best foot forward to make it as inclusive and forward-thinking as possible. While a project will never address everything an audience might want, it gets credit for pushing Star Wars forward into the 21st century regarding gender and racial representation—and especially for introducing us to Baby Yoda.
Like The Mandalorian? Try these other sci-fi westerns.
Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017)
Westworld - Season 3
Dark Matter - Season 1