At long last, episode 1 of the Mandalorian’s second season has been released. As always, its good qualities continue to shine. The story remains clear and enjoyable, the environment remains rugged and beautiful, and the acting remains believable and moves the story along quite well. 

The Mandalorian is well loved (at least by me) for its rugged simplicity, in the best sense of the word. The plot line is simple enough for those who aren’t Star Wars fanatics to follow, but fits in nicely with the Star Wars universe and so can satisfy the avid fan. The first episode carries this simplicity with it, while still expanding from where we left off last season. In it, the Mandalorian continues his adventures throughout the galaxy, this time to find more of the Child’s ( AKA Baby Yoda’s) people. 

But this task isn’t easy – foes, human and non-human, stand in his way. This seems to be the essential premise of the show, and very easy to understand. It allows more energy to be put into the characters, the environments, the scenes, and so on, without having to create complex, winding storylines that distract from the special moments that can make or break a television series. 

The environment takes place in a beautiful and rugged setting, which seems to be a common theme in the show, apart from the various indoor places which range from steely and sleek to dusty and dry. In the last episode we saw a lot of deserts, which is why it reminded me of a sort of Space-Western, with the Mandalorian as our rogue sheriff or cowboy. The rugged, open environments continue in this newest episode, which allows viewers to watch vast open and observe the various terrains of the many planets which our hero is sure to visit. 

The acting remains believable, which is hard to pull off when the viewers can’t see the main character’s facial expressions under his steel helmet. Although the story is one focused on mainly outer quests and adventures, you can see the chemistry between the actors develop. Which is also impressive, considering the second main character, Baby Yoda, is a puppet.

The relationship between the acting and the storyline is also interesting. The Mandalorian seems very intent on bringing Baby Yoda to his people, which would make him the person who causes the storyline to progress. However, the adventure progresses naturally, as if it were meant to happen, predetermined by fate. How will this relationship continue to play out? We’ll have to see. 

All in all, my prediction seems to be coming true. The wild ride of the Mandalorian continues. Will it continue to be so…. wild? I guess we’ll have to see.