“The marshal” helps overcome familiar storytelling with slick action, nostalgia, and the scene-stealing Baby Yoda

By: Keaton Marcus

Perhaps we haven’t gotten too many anticipated movies release in theaters this year, but between The Boys season two and now the sophomore year of The Mandalorian, TV has been booming with excitement. The first season of The Mandalorian was a refreshing, nostalgia-filled detour from the sequel trilogy, and spiked in popularity, largely thanks to “Baby Yoda”. Now, the second has finally arrived on Disney Plus, or at least the first episode, and it proves to be an entertaining, action-packed premiere at the expense of climactic storytelling.

Dubbed “The Marshal”, we begin at a unique setting where Mando enters a fight club looking for information, but things go south quickly, and director Jon Favreau shows off more excellent choreography and the deadliness of our hero. However, from there, it’s back to Tatooine to find some Beskar armor from newcomer Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), who poses as one of his kind, but quickly reveals himself as the setting’s Sheriff. To retrieve his armor, Mando must aid Vanth into destroying a massive sand creature that threatens to destroy the town. However, even with the welcome help of the village, and the Tusken raiders, the enemy is a difficult opponent as they must strategize how to kill it. Through constant nostalgia, the once again scene-stealing Baby Yoda, and grand scale, crisp action sequences, the first episode mostly overcomes its familiar storytelling.

There are many easter eggs for die-hard fans to unlock. From the Gamorreans fighting at the start, to the return of R5-D4, the setting in general, and the nostalgic involvement with the Tusken raiders, this episode will definitely bring back fond memories of the classic originals. This, although, is unfortunately at the expense of a truly compelling narrative, which has gotten a bit lost here. To be fair, season one didn’t exactly help, with each episode playing almost like an anthology series, only loosely connected with the previous, but I was expecting something far more unique than what we received. If you’re just looking for a thoroughly entertaining episode packed with eye-candy and fan service, The Marshall is surely for your demographic, but if viewers want a change from the norms of the franchise, this won’t hit the bar. For me, I desired a mix of both, wanting plenty of callbacks, but also a bit of uniqueness to separate it from its predecessor. Ultimately, the easter eggs and action won me over, but if this continues for the entire season, I won’t be too fond of watching.

All the technical aspects are still here, with a plethora of magnificent practical effects, and gorgeous cinematography, this will likely be another Emmy winner in its respective categories. Additionally, even without the iconic John Williams, Ludwig Goransson returns for a mystical and pulse-pounding score that still blows us away with his sheer skill at creating tone and atmosphere with solely music. After doing the impressive soundtrack for Tenet earlier this year, this guy has become quite the next Hans Zimmer. Just to bring that last little cherry on top to the episode, the aspect ratio changes to full screen for the final battle with the sand worm (I guess that’s what you call it), which brings to question whether this sequence was filmed with IMAX cameras or not. Otherwise, it’s pleasuring to see action sequences with such scope in broad daylight, with plenty of exciting camera work and dazzling shots to keep it exciting. This may be another monster-hunting adventure on Tatooine, but despite the lack of fresh insight, the pure style and craft put into this begs to differ.

The final opinion is: The Mandalorian’s “The Marshal” rebounds from what it lacks in fresh storytelling with action sequences crafted with flair and creativity, excellent nostalgia, a mesmerizing soundtrack and a killer reveal at the end. I would say…BINGE IT

TV Review: The Mandalorian S2 - Episode 1

“The marshal” helps overcome familiar storytelling with slick action, nostalgia, and the scene-stealing Baby Yoda

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