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CLL #27 - Mandalorian S3
104 Plays1 year ago
Thanks for checking out Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers Podcast! On episode #27, Jonathan and Chris get together for a full breakdown of Mandalorian Season 3 in the featured discussion! Before breaking down each individual episode of Season 3, the boys discuss news items like the closure of Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World, the Writers Guild of America Strike, and Indiana Jones franchise making its way to Disney+!
0:00 Introduction
3:10 HDYGTW
8:21 Galactic Starcruiser RIP
19:02 WGA Strike
27:17 Indiana Jones Franchise on D+
36:17 Mando Season 3 Breakdown
1:25:20 Final Thoughts/Outro
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Transcript
Introduction and Sci-Fi Setting
00:00:00
Speaker
Captain's logs. I'm Solo. I'm Captain Millennium Falcon. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. I already have one message from Starfleet coming in on secured channel.
Podcast Introduction and Promotions
00:00:28
Speaker
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Hosts' Introduction and Show Focus
00:01:15
Speaker
Hey, welcome to episode 27 of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers podcast. If this is your first time listening, we are the podcast with Geek News Now that discusses both Star Trek and Star Wars in the same show. My name is Jonathan. I'm one of the co-hosts.
00:01:33
Speaker
Joining me this episode as he is every other episode, well, almost at least, is my co-host, Chris. How's it going, Chris? I'm good, Jonathan. How are you doing today?
Recording Delays and Personal Updates
00:01:43
Speaker
I'm good. I'm good. It's been a little while since we talked. Plans just kept getting, you know, we just kept having interferences and we couldn't record as quickly as we would have liked. Right. Right.
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, like I always say, sometimes adulting sucks, you know what I mean? There's always something that comes up, you know, that always takes precedent, you know, but we're here and that's all that matters. Exactly.
The Mandalorian Season 3 Discussion
00:02:12
Speaker
Today, we're going to talk about the full season three of The Mandalorian. So I know in our last episode, we kind of teased our overall thoughts, had a little bit of a discussion, but we're kind of we're going to break down each episode here tonight and kind of give you our final thoughts on it. And Chris and I both had the chance to rewatch most, if not all of season three, at least a second time. So, you know, we kind of have it fresh in mind and
00:02:42
Speaker
have given it time to digest the first viewing and started a second one to see if we noticed anything that we liked, anything that intensified what we didn't like, and we'll give you all of that here shortly.
Chris's Fan Club Involvement
00:02:58
Speaker
Sounds good. I'm ready to go when you are. So we're going to put that on pause for a minute, and we're going to start with how did you geek this week? Chris, how did you geek this week?
00:03:11
Speaker
Well, I didn't really geek out a whole lot. I did go to a chapter meeting yesterday with my fellow crew members of the USS Stella Parada. We are going to be we have some tables being set up at Three Rivers Comic Con, which is two weeks from now. We are working. We have a bunch of new things that we're going to do this year, some new games that we're going to do and surprises that we're going to be giving out to people. We're working on raising money for our charity called Extra Life, which helps to bring
00:03:41
Speaker
funding for kids who are in the hospital and who are have cancer or other life threatening illnesses. So we're really looking forward to that. Also, since our last show, I don't know if I don't think I mentioned this in the last episode, but I actually passed my tests and got promoted a first officer of the Stella Parada. So that was nice. That was really nice. Yeah, really great group of people. And it's nice to have a lot of fun with them. Yeah, I think the last time
00:04:10
Speaker
that we recorded you had just passed your ensign? Yes, I just got promoted to ensign and it was on April 1st. I'd say about a month later, I got actually after I finished the testing, I got promoted to the first officer since there was a vacancy. So that's pretty cool. Very good, very good.
00:04:30
Speaker
It's almost like a field commission. Yeah, pretty much. Our commanding officer said to me, Chris, we can promote you to Lieutenant Commander now since you're first officer. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I said, I want to get there on my own.
00:04:45
Speaker
Ranking in the Star Trek fan club, it's nothing real. It's just individually what you do for fun. So I can't pull rank on somebody or anything like that. So crew members have the option. Do you want to actually do a rank or not? I think right now, besides the captain, I'm the only other one who's actually doing the rank. That's about it. But it's something fun for every unique individual. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha.
00:05:11
Speaker
Yeah, I know you have a lot of fun with Stella Pirata, so I'm glad that you found something that has been so enjoyable and that you're not only putting into, but you're getting something out of, even if it is intangible. It's still just fun. Right, exactly. That's what it is. We don't even necessarily see ourselves as like a Star Trek club. We see ourselves more as a geek club, so anybody can come and join from any walks of life. We have people in the crew that are not even Star Trek fans.
00:05:40
Speaker
So, you know, it's just people that we know friends that have decided, Hey, you know what? This group seems pretty cool. Let's go out, you know, and join them. All right. So, um, yeah, I guess me, um, how did I geek this week?
Movie Review and Childhood Books
00:05:54
Speaker
Uh, well, uh, Kylie and I went to see,
00:05:58
Speaker
The movie, Are You There God, it's me, Margaret, over the weekend. Oh, yeah? How was that? It was cute. It was actually really quite very cute. It was very funny. Rachel McAdams is in it as the mom, and she does great. Kathy Bates is in the movie, too. I mean, it was just a lot of fun. Of course, I never read the book growing up, because the subject material really wasn't aimed towards me at all. Sure.
00:06:31
Speaker
Just being honest, you know, I am I am male so I did not have You know the the Judy Bloom Library like You know probably a lot of my fellow students may have had but yeah, I mean I was familiar with the story and it was you know It's fun to see you know, this this book that has been cherished by so many generations of young girls finally, you know make it to the big screen and
00:06:57
Speaker
It was good, it was enjoyable. I don't know why it took 50, almost 60 years to adapt it, but hey, better late than never, right? Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Judy Bloom's a really great author. When you were a kid, did you ever read any of her Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing books with Peter Hatcher and Fudge? I vaguely remember reading, I probably at some point read Super Fudge. I don't remember the other ones.
00:07:27
Speaker
I have a hard time recalling some of my childhood memory, some of the books that I read, if I'm being honest. It's just hard for me to
Personal Traits and Star Wars News
00:07:35
Speaker
manifest that. I know your memory is...
00:07:38
Speaker
Uh, mine pales in comparisons to yours. So mine gets kind of scary sometimes though I remember like little things like dates and stuff like that and I i've even said to my wife i'm like Where the heck does that come from? I don't know. It's like i've always been able to do that like with dates and stuff My brothers do this are the same way for some odd reason. I don't know why Yeah, it's just part of your personality. You know, it's part of who you are. You're you know, it's it's
00:08:04
Speaker
It's a beneficial skill to have, I guess. I guess so. If anything, it brings back good memories. I guess we can leave it at that. On that note, we're going to discuss the news. Move the ship out of the asteroid field so that we can send a clear transmission. Captain, incoming message.
00:08:32
Speaker
We don't really have a whole lot. We have a couple kind of upsetting stories, some out-of-nowhere stories that nobody saw coming. The first news item that we have is about Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser. That was, if you remember, that is the immersive two-day kind of live role-playing experience that Disney has themed in Star Wars.
00:08:59
Speaker
Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios Resort. It's nearby Galaxy's Edge and it opened last year in 2022 and its final reservations are going to be September 28th to September 30th, 2023.
00:09:17
Speaker
like right around 18 months after the, um, experience opened, it's being shut down, which nobody saw that coming. Uh, and I mean, you know, you, you can look at so many articles that have already hit the internet and you can see everybody has a theory about why it's closing. None of them are probably accurate. I'm sure Disney really knows the reason why they're deciding to close it at this point. So,
00:09:42
Speaker
Um, just be wary of what you read on the internet. It's probably not true. Absolutely. Absolutely. So I guess the, you know, the biggest thing that, you know, I'm upset about about with this is that I won't get the chance to experience it. Um, it's, it's an expensive experience, but I, I, from what I've seen, it's a once in a lifetime. And some, and in some people's cases, I know people that have done it three, four or five times. Really?
00:10:07
Speaker
Yes. I mean, not personally, no, but no, like through social media and people that I interact with. There are people that have done it multiple times. It is that, I mean, they get that much enjoyment out of it. And I just, yeah, I'm just kind of upset that I won't ever get to do it just because it is very pricey. What do you think, Chris? Did you see this coming?
00:10:27
Speaker
To be honest with you, I had a hunch based on what I heard the prices were of going and staying there. I knew that a lot of people wouldn't be able to do it unless they maybe did it one time, unless they had the income, like you were saying, to be able to go and do that. But I think it's a real shame, I think, because I wish they would have made it where it was more accessible to a lot more people, like the value resorts or some of the other places where you can stay, where it would have been more inclusive with more people.
00:10:55
Speaker
with different financial backgrounds because only a select few probably only really got to enjoy what it really had. And I think it's a loss for the park because I think that was something unique compared to anything else in Disney World. So it's a shame, especially for super fans like you, you're not going to be able to get
00:11:17
Speaker
like immersed in that world now that just out of just to make sure that i'm hearing this right the galactic star cruiser is different from galaxy's edge right correct that's the park right galaxy's edge is the park galactic star cruiser is the immersive uh interactive experience that you know it basically from the time that you walk into the building you are in star wars right
Disney's Star Cruiser and Galaxy's Edge
00:11:43
Speaker
Um, you stay in the resort, you know, the vast majority of the activities that you can that are included with your experience are inside the actual resort. Uh, there's missions there's, um,
00:11:58
Speaker
There's live entertainment, all your food is included for the two nights. Every meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner is included every night that you stay there. So your first night you get a dinner, your second day you get breakfast, lunch, and then you get dinner, and then your last day you get breakfast as well. So from the time that you start to the time that you leave,
00:12:24
Speaker
All your food is included. All your drinks are included at the resort. You get food when you get to the, you know, because part of your day on that on that first that want that only full day. Part of your day is at Galaxy's Edge, right? You have a essentially you're you're on a cruise ship in space. So you're stopping at
00:12:46
Speaker
Galaxy's Edge as one of your port days, which, you know, when you're on a cruise, you visit various ports. That's what the concept is. So and the story that you're participating in from the time that you check into the resort continues at Galaxy's Edge. Like, you know, so you get you find out more of the story by interacting at Galaxy's Edge. So it's all it all feeds into it.
00:13:13
Speaker
Okay. Where it's essentially, like I said, it's an immersive role-playing experience. And I don't know if, I just don't know if Disney explained and did the marketing around what the experience truly is. I think a lot of people saw the price and then didn't get any, they didn't get a whole lot of what the experience is like to justify the price tag.
00:13:41
Speaker
I think if they had given more information and shown a lot more of people's experiences doing it, you could kind of structure it like a film trailer, right?
00:13:54
Speaker
promo videos so that it doesn't give story stuff, but it shows people interacting and showing what is actually going on inside the building while you're there. Right, right, exactly. So I guess the next question is, what are they going to do with it? Are they going to just leave it sit or are they going to use it for storage or are they going to actually maybe revamp it, redevelop it so that maybe they can make it more accessible for people? Let's try it again. Right. It's hard to say. Nobody knows. At this point, your guess is as good as mine and I have
00:14:23
Speaker
I mean, I have theories, but nothing that I really can share that makes any sense at all. It's just all kind of like a jumble in my brain. Sure. Well, hopefully it's not what the memes are saying going around because they're showing it as with a spirit Halloween sign up at this point. You see that going around for any business anymore.
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, well, you know, I mean... People try to bring humor to it, I guess. Yeah, exactly. I've seen Spirit Halloween on Mars, too. Right. Yeah, I mean, hey, you know, I love the meme just as much as the next person. So did I share a Spirit Halloween sign on the Galactic Star Cruiser? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Yes.
00:15:16
Speaker
Well, it's funny when it is for anything. It really is. There's just something comical about it because you see him pop up everywhere every year. But I mean, in the end, though, it's a shame that at least Disney made the effort to go and build this immersive community. But I think they just need to go back to the drawing board and maybe revamp it. I wish what they would have done in the beginning altogether was that I don't remember if it was called Lucas World or Star Wars World. There was this picture of what looked like a park.
00:15:45
Speaker
With all the different star wars planets if you went around Kind of like an epcot and the death star was in the center like the epcot ball plant was a spaceship earth Yeah, yeah, that's called. Okay. Well, I mean that you've got the world showcase which are your countries all the various pavilions and that's So yeah, it's like an epcot concept, but you're visiting different star wars worlds That's it that what I personally think that would have taken off. I think that what people would have been crazy for that I
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, when people think Star Wars, they think the stuff they've already seen, the stuff they've already experienced. With Galaxy's Edge, the part of the Hollywood Studios theme park that's dedicated to Star Wars, it is a single location that really doesn't exist in any movies or TV shows.
00:16:40
Speaker
you know, exists, of course, as a portion, you know, a themed area of the park, but it also as far as other media, it really only exists in comics, books, comics and books. It's never been seen on on the TV screen or the the silver screen for film. Right. So it's I just I just
00:17:05
Speaker
I was I would be afraid that you know living the Star Wars greatest hits wouldn't It would be it would be novel for a little bit, but I think it would get Just kind of boring and bland You know the more you do it and and if it was more like that, you know where it was an entire theme park I just I don't I don't think that
Disney's Innovation and Amusement Parks
00:17:29
Speaker
they would be able to justify, you know, that an entire theme park dedicated to Star Wars. I really don't think that's sustainable. Okay. I mean, it's very possible. You know, I didn't know that Galaxy's Edge was part of the studio. Was it MGM Studios? MGM Studios was the old name. Yeah, they changed it several years ago. Now it's just Disney's Hollywood Studios. Oh, okay. Okay, man. I haven't been there in ages. I don't remember.
00:17:58
Speaker
I still call it MGM Studios from time to time. It's been 20 years since I've been to Disney for my honeymoon. I'm sure a lot of things have changed that I just don't know about. Oh, yeah. Hey, the parks are always evolving and changing and rides are being added, rides are being re-themed.
00:18:19
Speaker
Uh, that's, that's kind of the one thing, you know, they're, they're not afraid to innovate. They're not afraid to change things, you know, and make them give things a refresh. So that's good. That's good. It keeps everything more entertaining. It's always something new. Right. Right. Like, you know, local amusement parks, they kind of don't really do much theming. It's just, you know, rides, uh, carnival food and, um, you know, that kind of stuff. It's, you know, a theme park is, it's meant to be.
00:18:48
Speaker
You know changing and growing exactly definitely definitely. Yeah, so yeah, that's unfortunately galactic Star Cruiser is closing September 28th.
Writers Guild Strike and AI in Scriptwriting
00:19:01
Speaker
And I guess the other kind of down news that we have is the Writers Guild of America strike that's going on right now. That strike started May 2nd. They went on a voluntary labor strike. The biggest issues right now facing the writers are they don't feel like they're getting the proper residual income for shows that they write on. Streaming shows don't release numbers, viewership totals. Streaming movies don't release how many people watch the movie because these streaming services aren't revealing that
00:19:30
Speaker
amount of data. So, you know, if these writers have contracts that say, you know, the more successful film is, the more residual income that they're going to get from it, because, you know, more people are experiencing their work. So, you know, it's kind of like a pay for play type scenario. And these writers aren't necessarily getting accurate income, you know,
00:19:53
Speaker
And I guess the other big issue with the contract and why the writers are uncertain about their future is programmers have developed AI programs that are so advanced. They're able to write entire scripts for films in entire seasons of TV shows. But it's a computer. It's an algorithm doing this. It's software called Chat GPT.
00:20:21
Speaker
And it's relatively new, but you're finding it pop up in a lot of places. Like I saw an option to use chat GPT on the Expedia Travel app today. Oh, really? And I didn't really click on it, but I'm like, OK, this program is really taking off. And, you know, if you're a television writer, would you want a computer that someone just tells
00:20:47
Speaker
I wanna show featuring this, this, this, this, this, featuring having these elements. Okay, go make, go come up with a pilot for a show.
00:20:56
Speaker
And the computer produces it in a day, you know, like produces an entire TV pilot in a day, something that takes readers potentially weeks. Right. Yeah, you would think about it. Okay, they might the AI can create these shows, these stories, but where's the heart in it? Where's the meaning the talking about social commentary, things like that. I mean, you can't think of AI would just randomly start doing that. I would think that's pretty soulless. I don't I mean, it's
00:21:24
Speaker
I mean, yeah, it probably is a little soulless, but if you're going to rely on a computer to build the framework of a script and then have a writer tweak it and change it so that it sounds more human, well, then you just even further lessen the role of the writer. Right, exactly.
00:21:43
Speaker
And given these studios and these companies that produce this content, even less incentive to pay the writers, you know, an actual livable wage. Right, right. It almost comes off to me as like some form of plagiarism. You're taking other people's work and putting it in the computer and saying, come up with something similar.
00:22:02
Speaker
I mean, that I guess just from from four years of college, having that drilled in my brain, you know, just like you, you know, that just that's just the way it kind of comes off to me. I could very well be over simplifying my explanation of how it works. I'm not a programmer. I don't understand the nuances of it. And that may be just a very crude explanation, but it's something like that. You're basically you're putting data in and you're asking for data out.
00:22:30
Speaker
Essentially, so you're you're feeding it the information that you want and then you're you're asking for it to create something similar Yeah, I guess it could be a form of plagiarism, but that's I guess if you would if you look at it a certain way, maybe Yeah from a certain point of view. Hmm. Yeah, there you go. Perfect. Exactly Nice Obi-Wan quote there, sir Bringing it back on top
00:22:56
Speaker
Wonderful. So that's the big reason for this writer strike. And it's hopefully it doesn't last too, too long. Hopefully not. Yeah, I mean, because like you and I were talking before we started recording. I mean, so it's already affected the upcoming fall TV season getting ready to come up with new scripts and start filming, but also it's affecting the streaming services as well. Yeah, yeah, I mean, so essentially,
00:23:23
Speaker
part of the, you know, when you get a show, all right, say, we'll use an example from Star Wars, we'll use the example of Andor season two, right? So Star Wars Andor season two was filming, you know, they were, they were, you know, they were filming the season getting ready for, you know, it to debut sometime in 2024. Well, right now production on the show has stopped because, well, yes, you have a script
00:23:50
Speaker
for an episode of a TV show, if something in that script doesn't quite work out when you're filming it, you have writers on set to change the script of the episode. They're making real-time edits to the script. And with a writer strike, you can't have that writer on set. And with Andor specifically, a lot of the show is being written by Tony Gilroy. Well, Tony Gilroy is a director. He's a producer. He's a writer.
00:24:21
Speaker
He's in Writers Guild of America. He's in DGA. He's probably in Producers Guild of America as well. Well, he's not going to cross picket lines by writing on his own show because he's standing
00:24:34
Speaker
He's a member of WGA, plus he's in a union that's standing in solidarity with WGA. So he's refusing to work because of the strike. So that's on hold. So that show is probably going to get pushed back to who knows when in 2024 now.
00:24:53
Speaker
it's going to affect existing seasons or seasons of Trek shows that we either, you know, it's going to affect the feature seasons of the existing shows. Strange New Worlds is going to affect Prodigy. It's going to affect Lower Decks. It's going to affect any potential new shows that are coming out. This is going to have effects for quite a few months after
00:25:20
Speaker
even, you know, after 2024. Oh, absolutely. I mean, they already said online that strange new world season three is going to be delayed from all of this. I don't know if they were in pre production, I guess at this point, to start getting the scripts together and getting ready to start filming. I mean, I think they only only
00:25:39
Speaker
Authorize season three just a couple months ago but already everything's being pushed back so probably have at least an i would say almost a year and a half wait for the next third season of strange new worlds yeah i would say if this strike lasts if this strike last three months like the one in two thousand seven did. It's gonna affect shows it's gonna probably delay stuff by about a year yeah.
00:26:02
Speaker
It's amazing how that how that happens. You have a strike that only lasts a couple of months, but it just the lingering after effects of everything. It's like a it's like a plague, basically, you know, in the industry and then it how it affects everything and everything kind of has to take its time to kind of resettle back into a normal routine again, kind of like what happened with Covid. Mm hmm. You know, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And you know, with as much as Covid delayed things, it's not going to be nearly as long because
00:26:32
Speaker
you know, once the writers return to stuff, they'll be able to pick up where they left off. Right. It's not like entire productions had to tear down and then set back up again. You know, it's, you know, it's this is nothing, this is nothing like COVID. We're not comparing it to that at all. But you know, you're going to see something that lasts three months end up affecting things for 12 months. Right, right. Yeah, that's that was my whole point is that it's just going to take time for things to kind of get back into place and
00:26:59
Speaker
You know, yeah, yeah, it's it's probably a little bit easier resuming work after this writer strike ends But you know than it was after kovat, but you know, it's it's it's gonna be a similar, you know Situation I guess with which just with project restarting quickly, right? Right
00:27:16
Speaker
Yeah. So the only other bit of news that I found, and this is some good news, right?
Indiana Jones Franchise News
00:27:24
Speaker
I think so. We're getting the entire Indiana Jones franchise on Disney Plus at the end of May. So right in time for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth film to debut in theaters, we're going to have the opportunity to rewatch the entire indie saga. And that includes the young Indiana Jones adventures or Indiana Jones Chronicles that they
00:27:46
Speaker
done back in the early 90s. That's going to be on Disney Plus as well, which is kind of exciting that you get to see everything that has been produced under Indiana Jones franchise. Oh, definitely. Do you remember watching the young Indiana Jones Chronicles back then? I probably watched a little bit of it. For my family, it wasn't appointment television, so we might have caught part of the first episode and then maybe never returned to it.
00:28:16
Speaker
Yeah, I do remember at least a lot from the first episode. So I would probably say I watched the full first episode and then for whatever reason never returned to it. Yeah, I remember it being on when I was a kid, but at the same time, I never really got into Indiana Jones until I got maybe into being a teenager. So I missed the Indiana Jones Chronicles.
00:28:39
Speaker
So I'm looking forward to actually being able to watch that and see how that all ties together and fits in. I did hear that Harrison Ford was in one of the episodes. He actually reprised his role and was actually like in elderly makeup being the older Dr. Jones. I want to check that episode out, see what that's all about. But how are you feeling about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny?
00:29:01
Speaker
Uh, I saw that some of the critic reviews are out and they're not favorable, but I don't know if you've seen that at all. Yes, I did. It was on Rotten Tomatoes. I believe it was, what, at a 46%? Yeah. Yeah. It's not reviewing well. Um, I don't care about critics. I know. I want to say, I can't remember what the critic rating was for kingdom of the crystal skull. Let's see if I can figure it out here on the fly.
00:29:34
Speaker
Yeah, I don't I don't remember what the rating for the fourth one was but I know of course, you know The first three are held in very high regard. Yes. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely Which one is your favorite just out of curiosity? My favorite is temple of doom. Are you serious really? Yes. Yes Really? That's my least favorite of the bunch. So tell me what what is it about temple doom you and you enjoy? Uh, I I
00:30:00
Speaker
So, okay. Willie Scott annoys me. That has never changed. Okay. Uh, I do not like her character. I do. I do. I mean, Kate Capshaw is a great actress. I just do not like the way that she portrayed the character. I just, but I, I love the, I, you know, I was, that was, so when that came, when I watched that for the first time, I was probably, um,
00:30:25
Speaker
probably 1213 so kind of you know angsty teen like mad at the world type thing so I think just that how dark that movie was just is what really kind of attracted me to it at the time just it is a very dark story you know you figure you have
00:30:43
Speaker
some pretty crazy, like, cultish, you know, cult beliefs that, you know, the whole ripping the heart out scene was pretty gruesome, you know, using kids for for labor, you know, your minds that was that it's just a pretty dark story. And I don't know, I guess I just I
00:31:06
Speaker
Maybe I just like, maybe I just really like Short Round and just the indie, the banter between Short Round and Indie just never fails to put a smile on my face. Right, exactly, exactly. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely got its good moments. I just, I never could follow the story very well for whatever reason. I particularly like Raiders of the Lost Ark the best. I just love the whole Ark of the Covenant and the Nazis and... Right.
00:31:31
Speaker
Love when he goes down into that that was it like in that pit or whatever and he uses his staff to use the light beam I love that the Boulder going down and then obviously who doesn't love the part where the guy opens up the Ark of the Covenant the Nazi in his face melts off Perfect. Oh, that's stuff that nightmares are made of. Oh, I I mean I am NOT a
00:31:54
Speaker
I'm not saying I don't like Raiders of the Lost Ark. I love it. It's probably the best indie movie. It's probably the best scripted of all of them. It was just because it was so unique. Even though it was inspired by the big adventure films of the 30s, it still was very
00:32:22
Speaker
Fresh for the time, you know it really You know all the all the jet setting all the multiple locations like you didn't know Where the story was going sometimes and and it's just it's it's a great. It's a great film It's like I said, it's probably objectively the best indie film, but it's just it's not my favorite temple doom Yeah, yeah The Last Crusade I it's probably my least watched of the indie films, honestly
00:32:52
Speaker
Really I may have seen that twice in my life where I've seen temple of doom. I've seen Seven or eight times probably I've seen temp. I've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark five or six times I've even seen king kingdom of the crystal skull four times I I like that one. Uh-huh
00:33:17
Speaker
Oh, and by the way, critics also enjoyed that. They gave it a 77, where the audience gave it a 53. Oh, really? Okay. I'm wondering, you know, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny being so low, critics-wise, it being, what, 44%? I wonder if the audience score is going to be the polar opposite.
00:33:42
Speaker
Because that often happens. Right. Absolutely. You know, I mean, so I'm hoping fingers are crossed that Dial of Destiny is going to be really, really good. I'm with you 100%. I don't go by what critics say. I go by what my own brain says when I go and see something. You know, some people are just too nitpicky about stuff. So we can just wait and see what happens.
00:34:03
Speaker
Didn't Harrison Ford also kind of get honored after the showing of it? And he actually had like a five minute standing ovation from the crowd and he actually was moved to tears. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don't know. I haven't read any of the critics reviews of Dial of Destiny. I want to go in completely fresh. I don't want to have any kind of
00:34:25
Speaker
potential bias affecting how I look at the film. Oh, exactly. Yeah, I was just seeing some stories on Twitter and on Entertainment Tonight. I guess there was a big crowd and the audience stood up for him when he came out and he was just in tears, just moved by how everybody appreciated his film work over the last 40 years. Oh, yeah. At least. He started acting in the early 70s.
00:34:55
Speaker
He probably started acting in 75, so he's close to 50 years in acting. Yeah, that sounds about right. One of his first roles was, I think, in American Graffiti, wasn't he? Yeah, and I want to say that was 74, 75. I can't remember the exact year, but it was definitely several years before Star Wars. Oh, yeah, absolutely. All right. Yeah.
00:35:20
Speaker
Yeah, I I don't know. It's something about Indiana Jones. I don't want to know what critics have, you know, have to actually say I'll look at the trailer score. I'll see that. OK, critics for the most part hated it, but I'm not going to go any further. I just I want to go into an indie movie completely unspoiled other than what the trailers have shown me. I want to I want to form my opinion myself. Right. I don't want any kind of bias affecting how I look at it, because if I go there, if I go to the movie and I have fun for two and a half hours,
00:35:50
Speaker
That's all I'm looking for. Exactly. Yes. It may not make my list of favorite indie movies, but I'm hoping I have a good time. That's all I want. Exactly. You just want to go and have a good time, let your brain run loose, right? Yep, absolutely. So that kind of does it for the news. What do you say we talk some Mandalorian season three? Definitely. Looking forward to it. Don't get technical with me. Magic.
00:36:20
Speaker
It is the beginning of wisdom, Valerius, not the end. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense. All right, let's start with chapter 17, which was season three, episode one. That episode was called The Apostate.
00:36:39
Speaker
Uh, just a brief rundown of the, uh, the episode. This is kind of just kind of putting all the characters into place and introducing some bits and bytes of how the rest of the season is going to shake out. So there's really not a whole lot major that happens in this episode. Story-wise, uh, you know, we see Din Djarin assisting the Mandalorians on their new covert planet with that sea beast. Uh, you know, we see Din reuniting with Greef Karraga at Navarro. Um,
00:37:09
Speaker
Of course, you know, Greef Karga wants to thank Din Djarin for everything that he did for them, offering him that cabin and the land. Din rejects his offer because, you know, he has his mission to he wants to, you know, be able to restore his ability to rejoin his covert. Right. So that's his mission. That's the mission that he wants to come out to to have this, at least for part of the season.
00:37:38
Speaker
He rejects Grief Karga's offer for the land. Obviously Din Djarin finds out about the pirate issue that Navarro's having, and he kind of takes out the pirates both on the planet and in space. There's a little space battle. Yeah, so overall, what did you think of the apostate and what we saw in that episode?
00:38:04
Speaker
I like that it started setting up the things that ended up we ended up everything finally came full circle by the end of the season. I liked the episode seeing the grief cargo became that high magistrate. It was the IG 11 thing was kind of interesting. I wasn't expecting it only happened would be the statue and the other half would be, you know, his actual remains. So that was cool. And then we actually got to see what's the character's name from?
00:38:30
Speaker
Oh, and Babu Frick, his species in the episode, which was really cool. Was Babu Frick one of them? I don't know if it was actually Babu Frick. They were all Anzalans, of course, which is, like you said, the same race of creature that Babu Frick is. But yeah, I don't know if any of those were actually Babu Frick. Okay, okay. Well, either way, it was still cool to have that nice little tie in there.
00:38:56
Speaker
And also getting to see Bo-Katan on the throne in her castle. It was kind of foreboding, going there and seeing her just kind of stewing in her own anger and frustration. She's sitting on her throne, but there's nobody there. Yeah.
00:39:11
Speaker
Yeah, it was kind of odd. But it just set up exactly where the character really should have been considering in the end of season two, she didn't have the dark saber. And you can see a lot of the anger and resentment on Moff Gideon's ship about that. And she was probably kind of wondering, where do I go from here? How do I end up getting the dark saber? You know, so it all tied in nicely there. What did you think of the episode?
00:39:35
Speaker
I like you. I just thought it was a nice episode that kind of reintroduces us. It gives us a little bit of an outline of where the story potentially is going this season. Yeah, we didn't get any teases about where Moff Gideon is in all of this. We just, you know, we know that he was captured at the end of the season two.
00:39:53
Speaker
But, you know, the show didn't give us anything in that first episode about him, which was kind of interesting. Right. Exactly. I also like that they didn't. They briefly mentioned Para Dune and what happened with her since Gina Carano's firing. At least they gave it. At least they wrapped it up to some degree. They didn't just leave it hanging out there. So I think if I remember correctly, they said she's now working with the New Republic.
00:40:19
Speaker
Yeah, she's off somewhere working with the New Republic as a ranger. So basically, you know, they gave her the show that we were supposed to get without us actually getting the show. Exactly. So exactly. So Cara, do you enjoy your time as a ranger? You know, maybe we'll see it in a book someday. Yeah, I don't even know if we'll see that. But maybe not. But at least they say they gave her a little ending, which was good. Right.
00:40:44
Speaker
Right. It, yeah, probably, you know, didn't, uh, please everyone, but Hey, nothing pleases everybody. So it's a business, you know, just kind of got to go with the flow. Yeah. And like you said, you know, looking back in retrospect, after watching the whole season again, seeing where this, or knowing how the season wrapped up, seeing everything kind of be put into place in this episode was a fun treat. You know, it, it all didn't seem like it made sense.
00:41:13
Speaker
when you first watched the episode without the context. But after you go back and rewatch it, oh, okay, you see where everything's going. Right, exactly, exactly. But I agree with you, it was a great opening to the season to kind of bring everything together and see where we were going. So excellent. So a week later, we got chapter 18, the minds of Mandalore. So just kind of a recap here, Din Djarin visits Pelimato on Tatooine to try to get the memory circuit he needs to fix IG-88.
00:41:43
Speaker
And of course, he leaves with R5-D4 instead. Thank goodness that poor droid finally got to have something to do in the saga. You know? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm mixed on that droid. I'll tell you, we'll get into it a little bit later. Okay. But yeah, so, hey, whatever. Yeah, Din arrives on Mandalore. He sends R5 to collect the samples. Of course, Din has to go rescue him because he gets into trouble.
00:42:13
Speaker
Din and Grogu then descend further into Mandalore after they learn that the atmosphere is actually breathable that it's not toxic like they were led to believe You know, but of course Din gets beaten by some creature in a droid like body like a crab like or spider like body, but
00:42:35
Speaker
It was a living creature inside of that construct, right? Yes, it was very General Grievous without a doubt. Just like the eyes of General Grievous, you can see the organic piece of him that still remained. It was the same thing in this droid, just with one eye. Yeah. You know, I had seen an interesting theory about this. What if that was a dionoga? What if that was like the creature in the trash compactor in A New Hope?
00:43:02
Speaker
That would be really interesting. You know, the creature in the trash compactor, you kind of just think of it as an animal. Maybe it was something that was like sentient. That was right. That's an interesting theory. Right. And we only ever see the eye and the stock that it's on. We don't ever see what the rest of the creature looks like. And I don't know if it's ever been explained in
00:43:25
Speaker
What in what exists in canon now what a dionoga looks like I mean there were there were descriptions in books that you know It's kind of like you know the eye is just one small part of a very massive underwater beast right exactly exactly so it I mean it's possible that
00:43:42
Speaker
that was a Deinoga inside that because there was water inside the chamber too, wasn't there? Yes. That's what it was like. Inside the construct body. So of course, because the creature has to live in water. It's not a bad theory. No, it's creative, definitely, definitely. So I guess my question is, what was that cyborg creature doing there?
00:44:07
Speaker
Right. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if that creature was in the waters of Mandalore and then whenever Mandalore was destroyed, essentially, when the surface was bombed.
00:44:21
Speaker
if, you know, whenever the Mandalorians had to abandon all of that technology, it somehow found its way in the technology and learn how to operate it. Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Who knows? I mean, apparently several things survived on the planet, even though it was nuked. I mean, that really called the Alamites were some sort of species running around trying to survive. I think Bo Katani even says something about them. Didn't they live on the surface at one point? And then, yeah, I don't know really much about them except they just attacked everybody. Right.
00:44:51
Speaker
Right. Yeah, I don't know either. I don't know. I thought that was kind of fun. I'll tell you the scene that made me smile both times that I watched it was watching Grogu admire those fireworks as they were taking off from Tatooine. Yes, for Boom to Eve, yeah. Yes.
00:45:11
Speaker
Oh, that was so adorable watching his face. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it was just like he was in awe of everything that was going on around me. I'd never seen it before, you know. And we got to give kudos to Amy Sudeikis. Sederis. Sederis. Amy Sederis for her coming back as Pelemodo. She's amazing.
00:45:31
Speaker
in that role. I mean, she owns it. I think it's always funny when she's speaking to the Jawas in their own language, watching her face. She's an amazing addition to that cast. I think she's perfect. Oh, yeah, I think she plays the character so well.
00:45:49
Speaker
I don't know if this is definitely not my favorite appearance of her in the Mandalorian universe, but it was still fun.
00:46:05
Speaker
the caves underneath with the living waters where they're at certainly wasn't expecting him to go down down as far as he did you know I thought it was just you know a pretty level pool but I guess not and then when Bo-Katan actually saw the mythosaur that was pretty cool
00:46:21
Speaker
I don't know a whole lot about Mandalorian lore, so I never really knew what that symbol was. So I think that's what I enjoyed about this season in particular, this episode, is knowing that it was a beast, that they seemed to kind of revere. That was really fascinating. I hope something more comes from that in the future. I hope so too. I mean, there's a ton of Mandalorian lore out there. It's just never really been explored like this.
00:46:47
Speaker
I'm glad that you're getting to experience it for the first time. Yes, yes. And that's what sometimes people who've been following Star Wars and experience everything don't always remember what it's like to have seen or read about something for the first time if they're familiar with all of the lore. It's when people who didn't immerse themselves completely in the books and the whole universe like others
00:47:16
Speaker
when they see stuff on screen for the first time. It's so cool to see somebody experience that for the very first time. Oh, yes, absolutely. I can honestly tell you, it's been a pretty cool ride, definitely. Yeah, I'm happy that you're now...
00:47:32
Speaker
getting all this Mandalorian stuff that, you know, so many fans have had for years. Yes. It's finally making sense. I've watched all these other shows of like, you know, the Clone Wars and Rebels and I'm like, what the heck is going on? I couldn't figure it out. I hated the Mandalorian stuff, but now it's starting to gel and I want more. Right. Yeah. All right. Uh, so any more thoughts on chapter 18? No, not on that one.
00:47:59
Speaker
OK, all right. So with that, we'll move on to Chapter 19. This one was called The Convert. The episode begins. This was an interesting episode, the way it was structured. So the way the episode begins and the way the episode ends and what happens in the middle completely divorced from one another.
Star Wars Storytelling and Character Development
00:48:18
Speaker
I thought we get the episode starting out with Bo-Katan watching Din as he comes back around and recovers from being under the water.
00:48:31
Speaker
They eventually leave the planet, but we don't follow the rest of their story until the end of the episode. So that entire middle of the episode was everything on Coruscant, right? So that's where we spend the vast majority of this episode following Dr. Pershing from the first season of The Mandalorian.
00:48:56
Speaker
He's kind of in the equivalent of bad guy rehab on Coruscant with the New Republic. But, you know, he kind of meets up with several other former Imperials. One he recognizes is Elia Cain, who
00:49:13
Speaker
I can't think of the actress's name, but she really portrayed the character very well. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I thought she was absolutely phenomenal. Yes. I actually have her name here, by the way, in my notes. Okay. Katie M. O'Brien. Okay. Katie O'Brien. Yeah, she nailed this role. Yes, she did. Just like you knew something was not quite
00:49:38
Speaker
on the level with her. I kind of suspected from the very beginning that she was a spy for somebody.
00:49:45
Speaker
And of course, we get that paying off in a few episodes later. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. I feel bad for Dr. Pershing. It sounds like he really wants his, he knows that there's a lot of good that can be done with his cloning technology. It doesn't sound like he wants to clone complete sentient beings. It seems like he wants to use the cloning to help with body parts, things to help people to recover from diseases. But he's being stifled by the New Republic. I guess the New Republic's laws state that cloning is completely outlawed.
00:50:15
Speaker
And I'm wondering if that kind of ties into what's been going on in the Bad Batch with the Empire and them starting to do some cloning research there based off the Kaminoas. I don't know if I'm on to something or not, but... I mean, I would just think the New Republic does not want anything to do with clones because clones are what ultimately caused the downfall of the first Republic, the original Republic. I just think that, you know,
00:50:43
Speaker
because of fast experiences. They're like, we're not taking chances again. No way, no how. Yeah. Well, that makes sense too. Absolutely. I mean, just a lot of cloning stuff all the way around that just kind of went chaotic. You know, it makes sense. Right. But I just wonder how much the Republic, you know, the new Republic actually knows about why the Clone Wars ended, why the Jedi turned or why the clones turned on the Jedi and caused
00:51:09
Speaker
the downfall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. I wonder how common knowledge Order 66 is among the masses. I'm going to guess that it was not very well-known or well-publicized. Why?
00:51:25
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you on that. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the clones during that time may have said something about order 66 and it was probably turned into like all that's just a bunch of drunk talk or something like that. So it was more like a myth than anything. Yeah. Um, of course, you know, the episode or the Coruscant section of the episode ends with, uh, Dr. Pershing being, um,
00:51:49
Speaker
hooked up to the Mind Flayer, which the New Republic was intending to use as essentially a rehabilitative device. But Elia Cain, Sweet Talks, the person, the operator in the room to leave while she watches the therapy on her supposed friend, Dr. Pershing. But of course, she turns up the dial to maximum, which probably scrambled that poor doctor's
00:52:20
Speaker
brains completely. Right. Exactly. Exactly. I was hoping we were going to get some sort of payoff from this later on in the season and I was sad to see that I was wrong. Yeah. You know, I just thought it was a very interesting term from just talking about the Mandalorian stuff. Yeah.
00:52:37
Speaker
Yeah, I mean the only follow-up that we got was just proving what we already knew and just making the connection between who Cain was working for. We knew that she was still loyal to the Empire. We just didn't know who in the Empire she was loyal to. Right, exactly. And that comes out again later in the season as we'll talk about here in a bit.
00:52:54
Speaker
Right, yeah, but we didn't get any follow-up on Dr. Pershing and how he is doing well. Exactly, exactly. What did you think about Mind Flayer in Star Wars? It was very, it was interesting. It actually reminded me, going back to Star Trek, it reminded me of, there's a third season episode called Whom Gods Destroy, where they were using a similar device to actually cause rehabilitation for the mentally, they called it, I think, the criminally insane in the galaxy.
00:53:23
Speaker
And it got used and turned and twisted to harm people a lot like what happened in this episode. It was really interesting, the kind of the comparison, the parallel of that. I like the fact that the New Republic isn't doing anything to torture anybody.
00:53:41
Speaker
What are they doing with this device? They call it rehabilitation, but what kind of rehabilitation is it? They try to just get them to think and be loyal to the new republic. Is that really freedom? Is that really something positive from this machine? You know what I mean? Right, exactly. A bureaucracy is a bureaucracy, I guess. It doesn't matter who's running it, whether it's an empire, whether it's a republic, I think that's
00:54:08
Speaker
kind of the message it's trying to say is that, you know, there are there are heroes and villains on both sides. Yes. Which I mean, in a way is kind of kind of against why you turn to Star Wars. You know, you kind of turn to Star Wars for
00:54:32
Speaker
You know good to be good and evil to be evil there's really seldom a gray area because Because star wars is a fable star wars is mythology. You know, they're often in mythology There are clearly defined heroes and clearly defined villains that you rarely find characters who exist in the gray. Mm-hmm and I I wonder if I wonder if that's
00:54:57
Speaker
I wonder how many people, other people feel that way. Right. What Star Wars is doing now. Yeah. That's a good question. We should post that as like a question maybe for the audience. See if that's something they would, they'd be interesting in answering. Yeah. I think that's a good idea. Let's we'll make a social media post. Uh,
00:55:17
Speaker
About it and we'll see what people have to say. Perfect. I think that's wonderful. I think it's wonderful. All right Go ahead. Sorry. No, no, I was just just gonna recap I was just gonna say I thought it was a pretty good episode I liked that it took a break from just the kind of the Mandalorian story and give us something kind of fresh I did really like by the way seeing the Opera House again on Coruscant. That was cool, right? Yeah, that was really cool. Yes I Going back to the mind flayer. I don't know
00:55:47
Speaker
That name just doesn't seem to fit in Star Wars to me. So the Mind Flayer is something that really made its debut with Dungeons & Dragons. That's where the Mind Flayer first appeared, it's a creature. And then because in the show Stranger Things, because the main characters in that game are Dungeons & Dragons players,
00:56:16
Speaker
They often call the creatures they fight against they they they name them after dnd characters So seeing mind flayer in dungeons and dragons seeing it in stranger things and now in star wars It's just like I don't know. I just feel like that Star Wars could have called it something different. Yes
00:56:35
Speaker
No, I agree with you. I agree with you. It kind of almost makes it sound like a mind ripper more than anything. I agree. I don't like the idea of there being something, it seems more like mind control to me than rehabilitation. I think that was the word I was looking for earlier. Right, right. Okay, yeah, yeah.
00:56:54
Speaker
And then we leave Dr. Pershing. We go back to the story with Din and Bo. They arrive on whatever planet that the Mandalorian covert is hiding away on. They recount their experience bathing in the living waters. And they are both not just Din, but Bo Katan is also brought into the covert, into the clan. So kind of cool, you know, seeing
00:57:23
Speaker
Bo reluctantly joining this sect that she feels is a cult. Yes, exactly. I was wondering when we were watching, I was watching it about what she thought about having to keep her helmet on permanently. Yeah. I know that's kind of a side thing, but I just, you know, you think about these little things sometimes with the characters and what their mindsets are. Yeah. But you're right. I mean, like joining this cult, what would that be like for her? Right.
00:57:51
Speaker
Okay, any more thoughts on chapter 18 or chapter 19. Sorry. Nope Okay. All right. So we'll move on to chapter 20. This one was called the foundling So we see our Mandalorians training on the beach Grogu is training with the other young foundlings a little paintball battle ensues I thought that was cute. I like what they're doing with Grogu. They're turning him into
00:58:18
Speaker
he's actually becoming a character with a personality. You know, he's not just something to sit and watch like, Oh, how cute. Oh, look what he's doing. You know, he's actually becoming a character. He's not just arm candy anymore. Exactly. Yes. I agree. So, um, and then, you know, at the end of that training sequence, this pterodactyl like creature comes and snatches up positive son and flies away with him.
00:58:49
Speaker
You know Mando and Paws try to chase but you know, they they're they basically run out of fuel and can't catch up to the the beast We get the impression that this isn't the first time a child was taken Because it almost sounds like there was a line where Paws Viscilla said something about every time we can never catch up. Uh-huh
00:59:13
Speaker
catch that yes yes I did okay so obviously this has happened before this isn't the first time so it makes you wonder how many how many different young kids got taken by this creature oh absolutely absolutely yeah so Bo Katan comes up with a plan to help them get you know to get to the creatures nest and actually you know rescue the boy which is kind of helping
00:59:41
Speaker
bow become part of the clan, become part of the covert. Uh-huh. Uh, and then, you know, so we kind of move away from that plot and go back to Grogu and he's with the armorer and, uh, you know, she is making him that, uh, the, I guess it's his sigil, right? The mud horn is his sigil that she puts on his chest. Uh-huh.
01:00:11
Speaker
And I got like, I can't help but think is Grogu is now flavor Flav. Yes, exactly. That's a good point. The thing is, you don't see that the rest of the season, right? You don't see him actually wearing that sigil anymore. Not at all. After that episode, it's just never on screen after that. Right. Exactly. Now I'm going to have flavor Flav. Every time I watch that video, thank you very much, sir. I'm going to have that mental image, you know,
01:00:41
Speaker
you know, waiting for him to go, grow, go. Instead of labor claim. You're welcome. Thank you. That's great. If my brain had to visualize that, so does yours. Yeah. Hey, that's fine. That's fine. No problem. So what I really liked about, about that scene was when it leaked into the order 66 attack on the Jedi temple. That was really something.
01:01:10
Speaker
Yes. Uh, did you know who that, did you know, do you know who that Jedi was that rescued? Oh yes. Yeah. I'm at best to play Jar Jar Binks. Yes. So in, you know, he's, he's actually, this is not the first time he's been that character on screen. Really? No. Okay. Um, so if you go to YouTube and look for Star Wars kids on YouTube, look for a show called Jedi, I think it was called Jedi temple challenges. Okay.
01:01:40
Speaker
OK, so do you remember Legends of the Hidden Temple? Yes, growing up. OK, so Jedi Temple Challenge is kind of like Legends of the Hidden Temple, but in the Star Wars universe, you know, kids, kids are basically have to train as Jedi and they eventually go on a mission where it's like they have like a temple where they have to make it through the temple and solve puzzles and stuff along the way. OK.
01:02:10
Speaker
And it was hosted by Ahmed Best. But in the show, Ahmed wasn't playing Ahmed Best. He was he was Jedi Master Kelleran Beck, which is the character that he plays in this episode of The Mandalorian. Oh, wow. OK. So not only did he get to, you know, create this character and host a game show with kids who are Star Wars fans, you know, he got to reprise the character and actually, you know, show off the
01:02:38
Speaker
Ahmed Best, he is a multi-martial art. He is disciplined in multiple forms of martial arts. Everything that he did, all of the moves, all of the lightsaber battles, that was all actually him utilizing his skills. So it's great to see this guy who got
01:03:06
Speaker
so much, so much hate for Jar Jar, really getting to come back and play this crazy badass Jedi character and gets to, you know, really show off his martial arts skills in real, you know, like in front of so many people, right? That probably gave him a hard time 20 years ago. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it was kind of like a redemption for him, like a rebirth.
01:03:31
Speaker
to see him go from this goofy, corny character that is this kind of hero that now is tied to Grogu and his being saved. It was a nice moment to see. I hope we get to see more of his character in flashbacks. That'd be great. Yeah, for sure. So now I wonder, who was it that called the Naboo Royal Cruiser? Who set that up? That's a very good, interesting point.
01:03:59
Speaker
Because at this point Padme would still be alive and she would not really have her suspicions about Anakin. She wouldn't know of Anakin's role in Order 66. Could she have been the one to coordinate it? Could it have been Jar Jar? Senator Binks? That would have been an interesting twist, definitely.
01:04:21
Speaker
I hope we find out.
01:04:37
Speaker
Yeah, you know, but yeah, it's an interesting question. Hopefully we do get an answer with this group of people with the with the Filoni universe. We usually they plant these little questions and then they get answered. So I'm thinking we'll eventually get some sort of payoff for it. I hope so. Yeah, definitely. All right. So we'll move on to Chapter 21. This is the pirate. So the pirates that
01:05:04
Speaker
plagued Navarro back in episode one or back. They're attacking Navarro. Mando is trying to get help from the New Republic, but bureaucracy being what it is, his aid request would never get granted. It would take weeks for someone to show up and help. Carson Teva goes in person to Coruscant and is denied his request. We seem to get more information or more evidence that Elia Cain is
01:05:29
Speaker
Still working for the Imperials just with the way that she was in that episode Carson Teva leaves Coruscant visits the Mandalorians gets them to help Of course, you know, he knows the Mandalorians are there because of our five because of course he does yes Like I said that
01:05:54
Speaker
I don't know what is up with Star Wars trying to make that droid into something more than just a defective, you know, something more than the defective droid that we saw him as in A New Hope. Oh yes, yes. Like, it's so crazy how this character keeps, this droid keeps coming back over and over again. Yeah, somebody's got a little heart for him, definitely, without a doubt. Clearly. Clearly. Filoni or Favreau? One of the two, I'm not sure.
01:06:20
Speaker
Um, so of course he pleads for their assistance covert agrees because they essentially they do it as a favor for for den jaren um because uh because You know he saved the boy. He saved the boy in uh in the previous episode. So he is Much more accepted among the ranks of the covert. So yes, it seems like they do it as a favor to help The mandalorian more so than the new republic. Mm-hmm Yeah, so
01:06:50
Speaker
They eventually win the battle, of course. Bo-Katan meets with the armorer, that's where she confesses that she saw the mythosaur, and that's where we get the revelation that the armorer
01:07:03
Speaker
permits Bo to remove her helmet because she is, quote, you know, she's walking both worlds. Right. She is both Mandalorian of old and Mandalorian of new because, you know, she is what she's just she is Mandalorian because she saw the mythosaur. Right. Exactly. It doesn't matter what side she's on. She's true Mandalorian because of what she saw. Absolutely. Absolutely. What did you think of this episode as a whole?
01:07:30
Speaker
This one, I don't know. I don't know what I thought of it. It almost seems like this episode was just a way to tease us with Zeb. Yes. I agree. That was wonderful to see that. I love seeing these animated characters coming into the real world. It's wonderful. Yeah, I'm kind of convinced that this episode is just an entire 40-minute episode just to show the people that
01:07:58
Speaker
we can bring a character like Zebirellios from animation into live action and make him look pretty damn good. Oh, absolutely. Yes. I mean, they did an amazing job. I just, the whole pirate thing bored me. I'll be honest, I was bored through most of the episode. I mean, obviously there were certain moments that were good. Like when they found the Beskar alloy inside the prison transport from Moff Gideon would set stuff up for later on the rest of the season, you know, but other than that, it wasn't really enjoyable.
01:08:27
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely wasn't the best episode of the season. It was cool to see them bring back the pirate captain, Gorian Shard, because that makeup and that whole thing, whatever creature he is, whatever type of alien he is, looks pretty cool. Kind of reminds me of Pizza the Hutt from Spaceballs.
01:08:49
Speaker
See, he reminds me a little bit of Swamp Thing and Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He's kind of a mishmash of those two to me. Yeah, I can see why you say that. I think the reason why I'm saying this is because he just looks sloppy. You know what I mean? I think that's why he reminds me of Pizza the Hutt. Right, right. Yeah, well, you know, he's got the kelp and the algae and all of that stuff, you know, part of his face, I guess.
01:09:13
Speaker
See, that's where I got the Davy Jones vibe. It's because of that. But Pizza Hut. I don't know. It just kind of came to mind. All right. Yeah. You and I didn't really care for this episode.
01:09:31
Speaker
Do you have anything else to add to this discussion? Not at all. OK, let's move on. Yes. Clearly not our favorite. Chapter twenty two guns for hire. This is kind of a divisive episode, too, isn't it? Kind of because it kind of comes off like it can be filler as well. But at the same time, it's got an interesting little.
01:09:51
Speaker
Plot twists like go in dealing with the droids. You have the Imperial and the Separatist droids that have been reprogrammed But for some reason they're starting to malfunction and then you get to go into the resistor that droid bar That was really cool. I thought yeah, yeah the different droids and watching them like hook up to their like oil drinks and things That that was that was a lot of fun. I Like Jack Black, I thought he did a pretty interesting pretty good job in his character What was he with the king of paracorder or something?
01:10:22
Speaker
Plazia 15 is the planet. Okay Which that name kind of has some Star Trek vibes to it, doesn't it? Yeah, most most Star Wars planets don't have numbers after them, right? But that's more of a common naming convention in Star Trek. Yes, it is. Yeah I mean often they use Roman numerals for the instead of Arabic digits like, you know 15 they would you know
01:10:46
Speaker
it would be Plazier XV, probably in Star Trek, but, you know. I don't know. Yeah, go ahead, sorry. Oh, I see. The moon of Paraquat was where the Duchess actually sent Commissioner Hellgate. That's where I got that name from. Okay, okay. So the captain, his name was Captain Bombardier. So that was Jack Black, and then Lizzo was the Duchess. So what'd you think of Lizzo?
01:11:17
Speaker
Uh, um, she was okay. I mean, she, she definitely wasn't the best actress in, you know, in that scene, in the, in that episode. I mean, I give her, I give her credit for giving the effort. I think, you know, we kind of had talked about this a little bit. I think, I think the more stuff that she's in, she's going to get to,
01:11:45
Speaker
developer acting skills every Not every musical performer who made the leap into acting is you know, their first roles are often not good exactly exactly I mean you could tell she put on she put her best foot forward. She definitely did I mean if she wasn't an awful character, but her acting was definitely wooden But I agree with you She's got potential as time goes on especially if this is what this was what probably her first or second acting role, right? Um, I mean she's been in
01:12:12
Speaker
maybe four or five things at this point. Has she? Yeah. The first thing that I saw her in was that Hustlers movie with Jennifer Lopez about the exotic dancers that kind of hustle their
01:12:29
Speaker
clients and basically steal their credit cards and have an entire credit card fraud ring going. She was in that movie, but she really didn't do much. That I think was probably her first acting roles, but she didn't have a huge part in it from what I can remember. I don't know what she's been in between that and this episode of Mando. I'm not sure, but I mean, she's going to improve. If she really wants to
01:12:58
Speaker
You know, be a performer plus an actress. She will find a way to make it happen. She'll continue to get better. Absolutely. No, I agree with you. Definitely. So I think one of the highlights of this episode was definitely seeing Christopher Lloyd joining the Star Wars Star Wars world.
01:13:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. This episode was definitely Cameo City for sure. And not even from live actors. I mean, just the battle droids from the prequel era. That was cool to see those back. Yes, agreed.
01:13:34
Speaker
Always love seeing battle droids come up because they're so lovably doof. They're such lovable doofuses. They really are. They really are. I couldn't believe how fast the super battle droid can actually run. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, they just kind of stumbled around. That's all we ever really saw them. I didn't know they can like bolt like that.
01:13:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean they were kind of designed to be a little bit more of a threat to Jedi. Yes. So yeah, that's understandable. Because obviously the standard B1 battle droids are just there for
01:14:07
Speaker
firepower. Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. You'd be also do this episode of kind of gave me a little bit of a Star Trek vibe. It was almost like here we got, we've got the Mandalorian, Bo Katan and Grogu going on a mission to a planet and helping the population. Yeah. You know, that's kind of the vibe I got. And I thought that was cool too. Cause Christopher Lloyd was in, in Star Trek. He was commander in Star Trek. So I love that he's now a part of both franchises now. That's really cool. But it was,
01:14:36
Speaker
What I liked about this episode it was again kind of filler, but at the same time it was unique It was different. We hadn't seen in any of the other seasons. So I thought so for me that was a thumbs up Yeah, I and I like the whole like film noir type Yeah thing where you know where bow and din were trying to solve the mystery about why the droids were Going rogue like they were right
01:15:00
Speaker
That was very, very film noir, very detective story-ish. Yes, yes. What did you think about the little Romeo and Juliet subplot at the beginning of the episode between the Quarren and the Mon Calamari? I thought it was a little creepy for some reason. It was odd. I don't, I didn't, to be honest with you, I forgot about it until you just told me and then I was like, oh, I remember it was kind of, it made me cringe.
01:15:26
Speaker
Right. Right. I've only seen that one time and I think that's good enough for me to be honest. It was just weird. Wasn't it like her lover like younger than she was or something? So the Quarren was the captain. She was the female captain of the ship. Right. The Mon Calamari was a prince and they were in love. Right. I don't know if you
01:15:50
Speaker
Again, this may be something that you're not familiar with lore wise, but the Quarren and the Mon Calamari both live on the same planet. Yes. Yeah, I remember that. Okay. And they were enemies for the longest time. They did not get along. So the fact that the Quarren and the Mon Calamari
01:16:11
Speaker
had a relationship and were falling in love is kind of that's why I called it the Romeo and Juliet story because it's very much you know warring factions warring races but you know one from each side is you know they've fallen in love I don't know it's it it just it seemed like that whole thing was tacked on
01:16:34
Speaker
Like it only existed to reintroduce us to the Mandalorians and the Stolen Fleet. Yes, that's about it. I agree with you on that. Yeah, I don't know. I think they could. If they had spent more time with that and not the whole Plazeter 15 thing, it might have
01:16:53
Speaker
done better. And, you know, I don't know. It's weird. Right. The episode, the ending was really good. Where Bo Katera was battling that what he used to, they used to be her army, I believe. Right. And then it's now led by, what's his name? Axe Woves, I believe it is. Right. Right. Okay. Yeah. And she ended up, and Mando ended up kind of saving the day. He said, well, you know what? She beat, she saved me and, uh,
01:17:20
Speaker
in the living waters and they or there was a battle she she fought some that all was the robot she she saved them from the robot and that's how she was able to get the light the dark saber back from him yes yes right yeah that was good so that that should finally some where the character can finally start to grow and get out of this rut she's been in for most of the season you know kind of start to reassume to take her throne back yeah yeah uh yeah i i thought
01:17:49
Speaker
I enjoyed the episode and it definitely works better the second time when it's not just completely out of left field that you're seeing this and you're not expecting it. It definitely plays better the second time around. So yeah, I would urge you to revisit it when you have a chance. Oh, definitely. Definitely. I will. All right. Um, so then I kind of want to talk about the final two episodes together because they were basically one, uh, episode 24 chapter 24.
01:18:17
Speaker
picked up right where chapter 23 led off. So kind of talk about them together. So, you know, we, we get that confirmation that, of course, that Elia Cain is a spy for the empire, but specifically from Moff Gideon, you know, she or he's using her to basically keep track of the Mandalorians and where they are and what they're doing. While he is surprised on Mandalore that that's his base of operations.
01:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, so we get that meeting with the Shadow Council, you know, they're teasing us about Thrawn coming back, they're talking about Project Necromancer, talking about cloning, both with Gideon and, you know, we find out Gideon has clones, but he's keeping that secret from the Shadow Council, where, you know, where Brendan Hux, General Hux from the sequel trilogy, his dad,
01:19:09
Speaker
Is the character that we see in the shadow council and you know, of course Gideon calls him out for being so invested in cloning but surprise Surprise Gideon is also obsessed with clothing closing or cloning. Sorry We get IG 12 and we get a new We get a new means for grogu to cause some trouble. Mm-hmm
01:19:36
Speaker
Kind of reminded me of the original series episode of Star Trek The Menagerie where Captain Pike was in that wheelchair. Yes. Do yes or no. That was it. Yes. Mm-hmm. Kind of. Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. See, look at that Star Trek connection. I didn't even think. Well, we are Star Trek Star Wars tie-in, so it's perfect. But I think Grogu likes no more than Captain Pike did. Right. Right. Of course. Yeah.
01:20:06
Speaker
We find the Mandalorians living on the surface in a pirate ship. Grogu kind of gets Paz Vizsla and Axe Woes and all those factions of the Mandalorians to stop fighting each other and actually work together. Grogu did a great job in being the mediator there.
01:20:28
Speaker
the pirate ship gets destroyed. We find out that surprise, there's an Imperial base beneath Mandalore and it's being used by Moth Gideon. We get introduced to these commando stormtroopers wearing best car armor. But it doesn't seem like there's best car, it's not completely made out of best car. It still looks like the classic stormtrooper armor just, I guess,
01:20:58
Speaker
in fort reinforced with Best car is what my guess would be because I can't imagine You know those some of those commando stormtroopers got taken out pretty easily. Yes, right, you know They wouldn't have it seemed like you know Some blaster shots stop them when you would think that the Mandalorian army and full best car would deflect that. Yes But then getting in his was full best car, right and
01:21:27
Speaker
It would it was definitely a lot more best car than say, you know, the the stormtroopers for sure. But I don't know if it was full best car. I would say there was probably a fair bit of other materials in there, too.
Mandalorian Finale and Future Series
01:21:43
Speaker
But yeah, man, this is just overall this like this two episodes was pretty cool. Like it. Yes. It started off.
01:21:53
Speaker
action-packed and it didn't end for two full episodes. And it really works together when you watch them back to back. It really works well together. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, definitely the fact that they're bringing back Grand Admiral from, they're mentioning him. They're definitely setting the Ahsoka series up without a doubt. Oh yeah. So, and we know that he's going to be played in live action because we've seen the, I think in one of the clips in the trailer, we saw the back of his head. And it's actually, I think it's the actor who's doing it. Who is it, Lars Mikkelsen?
01:22:22
Speaker
Lars Mikkelsen, yeah. Okay, okay, that's what I thought. And he voiced him in Rebels, correct? Correct, correct. Okay, okay. It's nice how everything's starting to tie together from all the different series, you know? Yes. Teasing together quite nicely. And then we saw the Praetorian Guard come back from The Last Jedi. That was pretty cool. Right, right. And, you know, much to the dismay of people on the internet that like to make stupid YouTube videos, Lucasfilm is not rewriting the sequel trilogy.
01:22:51
Speaker
All they're doing is adding to the lore. Yes. Sorry. Sorry to hurt your feelings. Go make another stupid YouTube video. Exactly. No, I agree. I agree. Yeah. The sequel trilogy, it's a lot of what's happening in Mandalorian and how it's informing the sequel trilogy is what the Clone Wars did for the prequel trilogy. Exactly. Yes, it added to the lore. Exactly. Yeah.
01:23:17
Speaker
Overall, what did you think of these two episodes? I loved it. I loved how we got to figure out what happened with Moff Gideon because we didn't see him for half the season. We didn't know what happened. We got to have a really cool base on Mandalore. We got to see the Mandalorians return to their home world like they wanted to, and Bo-Katan has been reinstated into power in that wonderful ceremony that they had. It was nice to see
01:23:41
Speaker
the Mandalorian finally adopting Grogu and finally having him as his son. So calling him Din Grogu is going to take a little bit of work. But yeah, it's cool. And I love the way the episode ended with them actually being it kind of felt like, you know, the Mandalorian always felt like an old Western kind of show based the way it was from the earlier seasons. And so to see him in like his own like cabin home with him sitting on the porch with his son out in the yard, you know, it just
01:24:11
Speaker
It kind of brought that theme home, which I thought was really, really cool. To be honest with you, if they ended the series right there, that actually would be, to me, a pretty decent ending. Yeah, you're not wrong. I actually thought that myself, if we don't get a season four of The Mandalorian, I'm okay with how this ends.
01:24:33
Speaker
Exactly. I mean, think about it. I mean, he doesn't have to be a mercenary now. He's just going to do odd jobs for that one. What's his name again? Carson Teva. Carson Teva and the New Republic. Exactly. So he's going to do odd, odd jobs for them. And then he's going to watch Grogu grow up and keep them safe. You know, and he's finally free. He's been redeemed by his own people. Bo-Katan's back in power. The Mandalorians are back on their planet. So I mean, Amoth Gideon's dead, as far as we know.
01:25:01
Speaker
You know, so they ended it, you know, so I mean, I mean, I'm sure they could come up with more stuff. But if, again, if they ended it like that, it would be a great way to end it. Wouldn't be bad. Yeah. And speaking of things coming to an end, I don't have any more to say about the Mandalorian season three. So I think that's going to do it for episode 27 of Captain's Logs and Lightsabers. Sounds good to me.
01:25:23
Speaker
Any final thoughts, Chris? The only thing I was going to say is, I wish they wouldn't have aired Mandalorian at the same time as Season 3 of Star Trek Picard. Me being the big Star Trek fan, my mental energy was so hyped and obsessed with what was going on with Picard.
01:25:41
Speaker
that when I would watch Mandalorian it kind of felt like it was on the back burner for me and I didn't like that. That's why I was glad when I rewatched the first four episodes I got to see it through new eyes. I think I don't know if that hurt ratings wise on the show it's just for me personally it took me out of the story because I was like okay when what's going on next with Picard you know. Right no you're absolutely right and I kind of experienced the same thing but I didn't
01:26:05
Speaker
I don't know if I articulated it or was able to articulate it the way that you just did. I think you're on to something. I was a lot more invested in the story developing in Picard season three than I was in Mando. And yeah, you're right. It may not be fair for both happening the same week. Essentially, Picard ran two episodes long or no.
01:26:31
Speaker
Oh, Picard started two weeks earlier, but then episodes three through 10 of Picard aligned with episodes one through eight of the Mandalorian. Exactly, exactly. And with all the nostalgia and stuff going on with the Next Generation crew and Picard, it just totally took the funder, in my opinion, away from the Mandalorians. I wish the Mandalorian would have started right around the end of Picard.
01:26:56
Speaker
You know, so I don't know. Maybe I'll do some research to see if there was ever if there was any effect on that or not. Who knows? I mean, you're not going to get word from Disney or Paramount about, you know, what performance was like for either show. Right. I'm thinking to be more of like a fan kind of thing, like online, what people would say. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. You might be able to get somewhere with that. Let me know what you find out. OK, I'll check in.
Upcoming Focus on Star Trek Picard
01:27:21
Speaker
I know in our next episode, we're going to be doing an in-depth review of season three of Star Trek Picard.
01:27:25
Speaker
We are. Yes. So that's going to be so that we can kind of theorize on that a little bit more going into that episode. Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I have nothing else to add to this discussion. Thanks for sticking with us for a little bit longer of an episode. But until episode 28, when we do talk about Star Trek Picard season three, may the force be with you. Live along and prosper.