I went into this purposely not knowing very much about it. I actively tried to avoid any spoilers/information about this show, knowing that I would see it eventually. I have never seen the Clone Wars cartoon series, but I am a huge fan of the original Star Wars trilogy. And I've seen Episodes 1-3. So there were 2 things I did know: I recognized the iconic style of the armor, and I recognized this little guy from memes around the internet:
I actually had some issues reconciling the timeline of the series, because the internet tends to call this character "Baby Yoda". So I figured this all must have happened Pre-Episode 1, because of Yoda's age. But if that were the case, how are there storm troopers? I ended up just googling this, and it turns out that this character is not baby Yoda, but merely a baby the same race as Yoda. And the series takes place 5 years after Return of the Jedi. Once I got that straight, I was able to just enjoy the series. And enjoy it I did.
I really thought they did a good job with the tone of the show. It felt consistent with the original trilogy. I would put this solidly in the space western genre, in the vein of Firefly or Cowboy Bebop. And like those other series, I liked that you could take each episode as a standalone, but it also fit into the overall story arc of the season. And the recaps at the beginning of each episode were great for reminding you of things that would be important in each episode, without telegraphing the plot too much.
I thought it was a well cast, fun series that brought me back to times spent in my youth watching and overanalyzing the original trilogy. It definitely made me interested in watching Clone Wars, which I assume contains a bit more backstory on the Mandalorians. I am also planning to rewatch this series in the future. Probably right before I watch Season 2.
