I like the action of this show a lot, but it's weakest when it's the main cast just mowing down useless storm troopers which is what a majority of this episode was. I'll take the Ashoka fight/Mando western showdown from a few episodes ago a hundred times over before I watch a bunch of faceless soldiers run into a hallway to get destroyed. I realized about 10 minutes in that unlike the end of S1 that everyone was going to make it out alive - there just didn't seem like there were any stakes compared to S1 where it seemed like NO ONE was making it out alive.
The fan service parts of it are fine. I got hype when I saw the green lightsaber, but then in rolls R2 which reminded me of "HEY REMEMBER THIS?" and I kind of rolled my eyes. I've said it earlier in this topic that the thing I like most about this show is how far removed it is from actual Star Wars, and this was to me maybe the most Star Wars the show has been and as a result a lot of it fell kind of flat. There was very little interesting acting, dialogue, or set pieces, and it was a lot of just running through hallways and shooting. Even Moff Gideon did not seem as threatening as he normally does which I just attribute to weaker dialogue.
Anyway, as for the show going forward, I am interested in where they are taking it. Obviously the heart of the show was Mando/Grogu's relationship. Will there be a time skip to a point where they are back together for some reason or another? Is it going to now be an arc of Mando darksaber shenanigans? Will it take some time off and The Book of Boba Fett kind of act as a S3? Lets be real - Grogu is a merchandising and storytelling dream and if they remove him from the show forever I think Favreau is smart enough to know what would be a mistake, but who knows, maybe he's bold enough to say that story is done and end it.
I know I said a lot of negative things but to be clear I didn't DISLIKE the episode. Just compared to the bangers that were the highs of this season this one felt flat.
