Just now, DanteRotterdam said:

Except last episode turned out not to be a “set up episode” at all. Its story was finished and nothing in this week’s episode happened because of it.

You missed the "Last episode set up Cara Dune" part. Presumably, she's going to be a recurring character.

That’s not what a set up episode is though. Introducing new characters (even recurring ones) is not a set up.
Not trying to be pedantic here because I actually quite liked the ATST episode quite a bit, the last one however felt a bit flat to me...

10 hours ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Well... I guess I can only speak for myself of course but I just felt ep1 was an episode comprised of one illogical plot point after another, I thought that as an introduction it was fine but as an actual episode it failed.
I had the same feeling with this last episode. It did nothing to push the story along it was full of illogical actions from the Mandalorian’s side (leaving the mark alone in the ship that is worked on, really?), the mechanic felt completely out of place and the fan service was just too much with that kid sitting there with his feet up on the table.
Filloni really is not up to this. At least I don’t think he is.

That's fair. I don't agree, but I see where you're coming from.

2 hours ago, Daeglan said:

Im sure this episode is a set up episode. Like the last episode. Last episode introduced Cara. This one gave us a hint of someone.

It might also hint that Fennec Shand isn't quite dead. I still think she is, but that last scene brought me from 95% sure to 85% sure. I'd be happy to see more of her, but not too soon, I guess.

7 hours ago, DanteRotterdam said:

That is true. However, as it stands now it added nothing to the ungoing story. It didn’t propel it forward nor did it give any insight into the Mandalorian himself nor Baby Yoda.

Pretty much this though. It did show us another trick Mandy's tool box, something we've seen the show introduce gradually. Starting of with the pistol and armor in the first episode, as well as the stun bayonet. Ep2 showed us the rifle, flamethrower and vibroknife. Ep3 expanded on the capabilities of his helmet and rifle scope, as well as the whistling birds. Ep4 his explosive charges. Ep5 the flares.

Still, unless it proves otherwise, it seems to be the most continuity-light episode so far. I guess he made use of his Blurrg-wrangling skills in getting that dewback.

It did however establish that, in fact, in post empire galaxy the SJWs have indeed won. The bar that didn't serve droids is now run by one. L3-37 did not die in vain!

9 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

As of the last episode, it is now clear that the Mandalorian is irredeemably a bad person. He leaves a kid alone in a vehicle sitting under the heat of two suns. What a scumbag.

Nah, he left the ramp down, so it's barely worse than disintegrating a few jawas.

That's not typically how Filoni works. It may be several episodes or seasons even before he flanges back to something introduced earlier, it's rare it comes to importance a quick as a single episode unless it's a continuation episode.

3 hours ago, Eoen said:

Is it the Fett?

Moff Gideon, I think, the real main antagonist. He probably has some Empire tech to heal Fennec.

I've enjoyed every episode so far, and I think Chapter 5 might be better once you can watch it all in one go. It played on some spaghetti western tropes and I think it will serve to entangle Mando with Fennec, simply because he agreed to help Toro Calican and now Fennec could be directed at Mando by Gideon.

41 minutes ago, Varlie said:

That's not typically how Filoni works. It may be several episodes or seasons even before he flanges back to something introduced earlier, it's rare it comes to importance a quick as a single episode unless it's a continuation episode.

Yeah, but this time he is not the showrunner though...

1 minute ago, StarkJunior said:

It played on some spaghetti western tropes

Yeah... it even introduced savages to negotiate passage with. Come to think of it that could be perceived as a bit problematic if you think too much of it.

1 hour ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Except last episode turned out not to be a “set up episode” at all. Its story was finished and nothing in this week’s episode happened because of it.

Last episode introduced Cara Dune, and established firmly that hiding isn't an option. We also have a new mystery person.

A well-written episode of a show can be full of set-up and still seem like 100% stand-alone filler, until you rewatch it after having seen the rest of the show. When you rewatch the first season of Agents Of SHIELD, it's amazing how much set-up for the end-of-season revelations and true allegiances for certain characters there was.

I hope you’re right.

2 hours ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Yeah, but this time he is not the showrunner though...

Filoni and Favreau are co-listed as Executive Producers and writers for this show. The other executive producers and writers don't get the same double-billing. I don't doubt Favreau is the defacto shot-caller, but Filoni clearly has huge input into the shows development.

29 minutes ago, Vondy said:

Filoni and Favreau are co-listed as Executive Producers and writers for this show. The other executive producers and writers don't get the same double-billing. I don't doubt Favreau is the defacto shot-caller, but Filoni clearly has huge input into the shows development.

George Lucas has a credit too...

4 minutes ago, Eoen said:

George Lucas has a credit too...

Because he created Star Wars, not because he even looked at the scripts for this show.

He gets a creator credit on absolutely every piece of Star Wars media, and will continue to do so for as long as Star Wars exists, long after his death.

See also Stan Lee & Steve Ditko getting a credit on Spider-Man: Far From Home and Ian Fleming getting one for No Time To Die.

Filoni is an executive producer, director, and writer on this show, and has the biggest creative input after Favreau himself.

11 minutes ago, micheldebruyn said:

Because he created Star Wars, not because he even looked at the scripts for this show.

He gets a creator credit on absolutely every piece of Star Wars media, and will continue to do so for as long as Star Wars exists, long after his death.

See also Stan Lee & Steve Ditko getting a credit on Spider-Man: Far From Home and Ian Fleming getting one for No Time To Die.

Filoni is an executive producer, director, and writer on this show, and has the biggest creative input after Favreau himself.

I heard or read he was a consultant on this show.

Another good episode. I'm enjoying this series very much.

59 minutes ago, Eoen said:

I heard or read he was a consultant on this show.

If he is, it is uncredited.

And we're well passed the point where I'll believe any article or youtube video that isn't sourced extremely well about anything involving Star Wars.

12 hours ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

This was the first episode that I didn't rewatch within the next 24 hours. In fact, I still haven't rewatched it.

Yeah, me too. I've rewatched each one so far, almost immediately. Still haven't rewatched this one though. Hmm. Maybe I'll like it better 2nd time.

I liked his sort of trade-sign language stuff he did with the Sand People. Cool new addition to lore.

It's funny that every time you see Sand People in your binoc..., there are already other ones BEHIND YOU! it's too late! haha.

I didn't mind the old baby sittin', droid wranglin' mechanic grandma either. Fun character. Gotta have some normal people as foil for the Mando.

Probably because it was a simple episode following the western formula. A short action sequence to show off how deadly the galaxy is (space fight) steadily building tension (the job, the distance between mandolorian and the upcomer with the partnership fought with tension.) followed by short sequences of release and a swift resolution. If there isn't any tension for the audience then it mightn't work. It worked on me as I expected the Corellian to survive and I was wrong. Just this style of presentation either works for the viewer or doesn't, there's no inbetween.

I had vibes of a fistful of Dollars in this, where the two protagonists really didn't get along, especially Clint Eastwoods character. He was constantly angling to screw his partner out of the deal and keep the reward for himself and it was only toward the end of that movie, after they had been utterly humiliated did they put on the big boy pants and attacked the bandits together and destroyed them in a release of tension, then a climatic showdown where that same cowboy came to his partners aid. It was probably the least "good" the gunman with no name was portrayed on screen as even in the first movie he had a strong sense of moralit, just he kept that very close to his chest to stop anyone predicting his agenda, here he was just a self serving bastard who changed as the movie went on and was rewarded when it was revealed the other man was never after the money, just revenge for his sister whom the other man killed.

Basically the inverse happened here, they started off fairly trustful, but through abuse of that trust and likely a lack of any rest the second hunter got it in his head that all the glory could be his and tried to take it, learning all the wrong lessons in the last showdown. He had the advantage but pretty much wasted all of it by taking rather then acting, a character flaw he exhibited previously by being too willing to concede his hand and giving the Mando all the money. Also, I mean. the sun had risen and fallen at least twice, he can't have possibly gotten any sleep from meeting the mando to his eventual death. That's a interesting touch had they intended it; almost as if the Mando wanted the corellian to exhaust himself first just in case a situation like this happened.

5 hours ago, Mandelore of the Rings said:

It's funny that every time you see Sand People in your binoc..., there are already other ones BEHIND YOU! it's too late! haha.

Valid ambush tactic that they seem to have mastered, stay hidden until your partners show themselves out in the distance to get your prey's attention and then surprise them. My players have attempted diversions like this in game a few times to varying degrees of success.
I guess if they traveled to Tantooine at some point and trained under tusken raiders for a few weeks I would give them a couple boost die on their attempts going forward.

Why hasn't anyone (apologies if someone has) mentioned the scream? The Krayt dragon howl/scream thingy that, presumably, the Yodelling performed as it woke up alone on the ship?

Also, otherwise, as we all the preceding episodes, this was a great episode!

Loved the cruising through the desert, great music, great visuals.

Sand People hand-speak was cool. Loved that development. More world-building.

The whole episode was cool, great even, as it set up the changes to Tatooine after the death of Jabba, and the Empire of course, the cost of a hangar bay, repairs ...

But most of all, I really liked the moment they swooped off in the darkness towards Fennec.

Yup. Another cash-out of niceness and awesome.

([made up] Spoiler) Yoda species if they live long enough, more than 1500 years, go into a chrysalis state and become Krayt dragons. That's why Krayt dragons are so rare and becoming more rare as the yoda species has near died out.

3 hours ago, Varlie said:

Valid ambush tactic that they seem to have mastered, stay hidden until your partners show themselves out in the distance to get your prey's attention and then surprise them. My players have attempted diversions like this in game a few times to varying degrees of success.
I guess if they traveled to Tantooine at some point and trained under tusken raiders for a few weeks I would give them a couple boost die on their attempts going forward.

Interestingly, during the scene where the rookie dismounts the speeder bike and goes for his binocs, the Mando is actually looking in the direction those other two Tusken Raiders would have approached from. So odds are good that he saw those two coming (apparently being familiar with their tactics as well as enough of their culture to communicate via sign language) and decided to let the rookie learn a valuable lesson about not underestimating a potential enemy.

I noticed that as well. He looks off in that direction and then swings his leg over the bike so he's ready to stand. I feel the same way that he decided to use it as a lesson for the rookie.

20 hours ago, penpenpen said:

It did however establish that, in fact, in post empire galaxy the SJWs have indeed won. The bar that didn't serve droids is now run by one. L3-37 did not die in vain!

Well actually...

The bar was owned by a wookiee who didn't really have a droid problem besides not wanting them to take up space for paying customers.

The bartender that worked for him though hated droids, and would have had a shared history with the Mandalorian as his parents were killed by separatist droids also.

The bartender probably retired, died, etc, and the wookiee probably got a bargin on some of Jabba's old droids. Simple automation stealing jobs due to capitalism situation. Droids are probably still not allowed.

I don't think working as slave labor would be a SJW win...

1 minute ago, kmanweiss said:

I don't think working as slave labor would be a SJW win...

Well, if you think about it, Aw never mind. I really shouldn't.