While viewers might be originally attracted to watching “The Mandalorian” after seeing the memes of the cute Baby Yoda, or because of the hype around Disney+, they will quickly find that the show is worthy of the praise. While this show has countless easter eggs and cameos that will satisfy any Star Wars superfan, along with it feeling like something straight out of the Original Trilogy or the “Clone Wars” TV show, it also offers a lot to those who aren’t as familiar with the Star Wars universe. This balance is expertly maintained throughout the story and provides a consistently positive viewing experience.  As one of the main staples on the new streaming service Disney+, the series takes place immediately following the original trilogy, occurring shortly after the events of “Return of the Jedi.” In just its first five episodes, the series has quickly become a fast-paced, action-packed thrill ride with gunfights and dogfights, along with the introduction of an adorable companion.

Since the first episode, “The Mandalorian” has jumped around to many different planets following a protagonist nicknamed “Mando” who works as a bounty hunter. Mando is shrouded in secrecy, as the audience isn’t shown his face and knows very little of his backstory. 

“The Mandalorian” is a very important series for the Walt Disney Company as it has quickly become the main attraction for its new streaming service. Not to mention that many fans have been very skeptical of the direction of Star Wars as despite having some recent hits, like “Rogue One”, it has also had huge misses, including “The Last Jedi”. Adding even more to this is with the upcoming release of “The Rise of Skywalker” on December 19th, which will be the ninth and final, “The Mandalorian” has a lot of pressure on its shoulders to succeed and so far, it has done just that.  

With some of the benefits out there, it must be said that the show isn’t perfect and may not appeal to everyone. These imperfections mostly stem from how Disney has gone about releasing their original show, which severely differs from that of other streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. Rather than releasing the episodes all at once, “The Mandalorian” instead comes out once a week, usually on Fridays. This is a bit of a hard adjustment in an era of binge-watching, especially with the fact that the episodes typically are just over 30 minutes. While this does leave viewers wanting more, it also creates a situation where the viewer is checking to see how much time is left, and it can be unsatisfying at the end of the episode. 

Despite this, “The Mandalorian” is still a very good show, which should be conveyed from the fact that its negative attributes are based on the fact that it sometimes ends quickly and that the episodes only come out once a week. This show alone is worthy of at least exploring the Disney+ 7-day trial and if they can keep it up, “The Mandalorian” may be worth the subscription by itself. 

Overall, in just five episodes, “The Mandalorian” has become must-watch television as it captivates the viewer and leaves them sitting on the edge of their seats through action-packed scenes and a great story arch.

Rating: ★★★★☆