The Mandalorian Chapter 19 Spoiler Discussion

[Weather Witch]

After the Mandalorian text being an actual Bible quote, and the baptisms, I learned today that early Christians referred to themselves as "The Way". Not even kidding, though that name obviously didn't stick in the end. I thought weapons are part of my religion was a bit on the nose, but oof. It's definitely interesting viewing the series through that lense.

 

[Iceman]

After the Mandalorian text being an actual Bible quote, and the baptisms, I learned today that early Christians referred to themselves as "The Way". Not even kidding, though that name obviously didn't stick in the end. I thought weapons are part of my religion was a bit on the nose, but oof. It's definitely interesting viewing the series through that lense.

Hmm, I kind of don’t like that lol. Don’t mind “The Way” in fiction but it’s a bit more sinister when used in real life, even if so long ago. Don’t want it to be any kind of homage to that.

 

[Weather Witch]

Hmm, I kind of don’t like that lol. Don’t mind “The Way” in fiction but it’s a bit more sinister when used in real life, even if so long ago. Don’t want it to be any kind of homage to that.

I'm admittedly not really sure how I feel about it either. Including parts of a Bible quote in Mando'a kinda tipped the scales for me there. Without that, I'd say it could all be circumstantial evidence, but this is a bit much when you factor in everything else. In case anyone is wondering, the quote is from Exodus:

Spoiler

 

[Iceman]

I'm admittedly not really sure how I feel about it either. Including parts of a Bible quote in Mando'a kinda tipped the scales for me there. Without that, I'd say it could all be circumstantial evidence, but this is a bit much when you factor in everything else. In case anyone is wondering, the quote is from Exodus:

Spoiler

Thanks for the background info, I like knowing this kind of thing regardless.

 

[Sithborg]

I assure you, I am not actively, consciously looking for this stuff. Believe me when I say it is an immediate reaction. Like "oh yikes, that shot needed some more time" as soon as I'm looking at it.

Now, it is true that I love special effects. I wanted to be Ray Harryhausen when I was a kid. I'm pretty steeped in this topic, so it would be fair to say I'm more sensitive to it then your average bear. It's akin to me and auto-tune: I've also steeped myself in audio engineering, and I can hear auto-tune easily. I don't have to consciously seek it out, it's just instantly apparent to me, the way you don't have to think about what color a stop sign is, you just know when you look at it.

Yeah, the more we see the Volume used, the more you begin to see its limitations. One of those limitations is areas that are supposed to be crowded. You end up with unnatural gaps in people, which is just noticeable. Also, it can't handle night scenes very well.

 

[Weather Witch]

Yeah, the more we see the Volume used, the more you begin to see its limitations. One of those limitations is areas that are supposed to be crowded. You end up with unnatural gaps in people, which is just noticeable. Also, it can't handle night scenes very well.

It's definitely not perfect, but still convincing enough not to take me out of the experience. I'd rather have a slightly janky Coruscant vs forest planet of the week in Stargate SG-1.

 

[Sithborg]

I mean, sure there is some nostalgia of seeing Coruscant as we first saw it in AOTC.

But after Andor, do I have accept it?

 

[Weather Witch]

I mean, sure there is some nostalgia of seeing Coruscant as we first saw it in AOTC.

But after Andor, do I have accept it?

I don't mean just Coruscant specifically. Andor spends a lot of time going back to the same sets again for later episodes. Ferrix is lovely, but they use those sets in 11 out of the 12 episodes. Even had the SG-1 rebel base in the forest type thing. With Andor's homeworld being another forest. It works well for that show, but for Mandalorian, they want to cover more ground. Much less screentime per location and a lot more places.

Just look at all the details, interiors, exteriors, Coruscant shots, background extras, and props for something simple as the characters traveling from Amnesty to the ship's lab. All places we'll likely never see again. Alternative would be to scale down the scope, story, and locations massively. I'd take it occasionally looking a little bit janky over that.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I don't mean just Coruscant specifically. Andor spends a lot of time going back to the same sets again for later episodes. Ferrix is lovely, but they use those sets in 11 out of the 12 episodes. Even had the SG-1 rebel base in the forest type thing. With Andor's homeworld being another forest. It works well for that show, but for Mandalorian, they want to cover more ground. Much less screentime per location and a lot more places.

Just look at all the details, interiors, exteriors, Coruscant shots, background extras, and props for something simple as the characters traveling from Amnesty to the ship's lab. All places we'll likely never see again. Alternative would be to scale down the scope, story, and locations massively. I'd take it occasionally looking a little bit janky over that.

While I get that's what they "want to do", they spend a lot of time on desert/rocky worlds, and inside corridors on ships/bases. It's not a show where they are exploring the greater galaxy. How many times have we gone back to Tatooine?

I think a lot of the issues with Mando from a writing perspective is Favs seems to think a change of location somehow replaces well written characters, plot, and structure. I'm still feeling the whiplash of the first episode of the season, where they just kept travelling for no discernable reason.

Thinking about the best episodes of the show, most take place in one location with not much to it. The Child, The Prisoner, The Heiress, The Jedi, The Tragedy, The Believer. Not big travel episodes, and even The Believer isn't one that is super alien.

 

[Weather Witch]

While I get that's what they "want to do", they spend a lot of time on desert/rocky worlds, and inside corridors on ships/bases. It's not a show where they are exploring the greater galaxy. How many times have we gone back to Tatooine?

I'm not saying this show has unlimited diversity, but the comparison above was to Andor. This show gives us way more small sets. Andor just utilizes theirs more and has way better cinematography. Even all the more contained episodes you mentioned, have plenty of sets created only for that specific episode.

That's why I mentioned all the stuff with the train, train station, and shipyard. They go the extra mile there. They could've just cut to the ship door opening and that would've been fine from a story perspective. Instead, we get a LOT more. Is it perfect? Eh. Though I do really like their visual world-building.

The Karthon Chop Fields and the Ring City from BoBF also come to mind.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I'm not saying this show has unlimited diversity, but the comparison above was to Andor. This show gives us way more small sets. Andor just utilizes theirs more and has way better cinematography. Even all the more contained episodes you mentioned, have plenty of sets created only for that specific episode.

That's why I mentioned all the stuff with the train, train station, and shipyard. They go the extra mile there. They could've just cut to the ship door opening and that would've been fine from a story perspective. Instead, we get a LOT more. Is it perfect? Eh. Though I do really like their visual world-building.

The Karthon Chop Fields and the Ring City from BoBF also come to mind.

Does it? Think of where Andor went all season. Did go back to one location multiple times? Yes. But following the multiple characters around, it explored as many different small locations in a season then any season of the Mando so far. More I'd argue. Every episode of Andor has a new set for it. Probably multiple ones.

What sets were built for just the tragedy that weren't used again? The Child? Heck, let's look at the last two episodes of the Mando. Did they do the Coruscant stuff? Yes. But every other location is one that appears in multiple episodes and more importanty, they aren't building a bunch of different sets. They just redress a lot of the time. Unlike Andor. Like take the beach episode. Where it has at least 6 different locations, all so he can be hauled off to a prison, that has multiple, tangible locations. Andor builds a lot of sets. Far more then the Mando.

The difference is the quality control aspect. Gilroy cares about making the show look good. So beyond a lot of practical locations and sets, the filming is done a far more thoughtful and deliberate manner. Mando and Boba both have that, "slap, bam, let's shoot this ****er" quality to them.

This is why Mando and Boba have this thing where, even if it's a "new location" it feels like the exact same place. Even in The Jedi, you have the "brand new set". That does very little to differ from the other town sets they've built. As they basically build a main road and that's it. It's the same with their ice caves, which felt just like the Mando caves, so on and so forth. The only difference is the color of the walls.

 

[Sithborg]

Funny you mention the shipyard, because the shot of them starting to run on the bridge is one of the most hilarious shots in the show. It looked so bad. And again, night/dark scenes are where the Volume fails.

 

[Weather Witch]

Guess we can just agree to disagree. I probably should've done that earlier. There's more than enough arguing over Star Wars already. Hell, with all the recent confirmations about how this leads to the Sequels, a lot of people on Youtube right now are yelling about stuff they were perfectly fine with last week. Never a dull moment, right?

I'm having a blast with this and really liked Andor as well. Both bring something entirely different and I want both of these in my Star Wars. It's about having fun with these shows in the end.

 

[Slick]

 

[Albright]

Episode was ok, but I had a lot of Terrence & Phillip vibes, when you actually want to know, who Cartmans father was….

 

[Ninjablade]

A carnival music rendition of the March of the Resistance playing really threw me in for a loop

 

[Prison Mike]

Pretty weak episode overall. Ended up fast forwarding through some scenes with that Scientist. Got pretty boring.

 

[Bobber]

While this episode was very boring, I think it was the best episode of the season so far. At least it attempts to tell some sort of story, and is not just a series of mindless action scenes that serve no purpose.

 

[Arrow1987]

so is dr. pershing dead. and i wonder if elias kane is working for the first order or the growing first order.