It’s hard to find a TV show in the last few years that has had as much impact on pop culture as The Mandalorian. From being a part of one of the biggest media franchises in the world and creating the most marketable character in recent memory, this show was a media juggernaut. So naturally, it’s third season was highly-anticipated after a nearly 2.5-year hiatus.

Despite the show’s long hiatus, it hasn’t been that long since we last saw the titular Mandalorian Din Djarin. He appeared in The Book of Boba Fett, which myself and many others found to be underwhelming, but his Din’s episodes were by far the best part of the show if out of place. We’ve also had the disappointing Obi-Wan Kenobi and the fantastic Andor in the meantime, so it’s not like we’ve been starving for content. However, the return of the flagship show for both the series and Disney+ as a whole was still something every fan was looking forward to.

So, did the third season of The Mandalorian live up to the hype? Let’s talk about it.

Positives

The crux of this show has always been the relationship between Din and Grogu, and that relationship is just as strong as ever in Season 3. Seeing how much the two genuinely care for each other just puts a smile on my face every single time. Grogu is also just as adorable as ever, and much more capable after his training in the Book of Boba Fett (more on that later). If you liked the relationship between Joel and Ellie, I mean, Din and Grogu, in previous seasons, you’ll like it here too.

This season also maintains the excellent production value the show has gained a reputation for. From the depths of the destroyed Mandalore to the vast cityscape of Coruscant, every location looks phenomenal. The large monsters such as the crocodile-thing in Episode 1 and the dragon-thing in Episode 4 also look great and add to the tension.

So, some of the biggest staples of the show are still around, so this season is a slam-dunk, right? Well, not exactly.

Negatives

As great as those aspects are, there are a few big problems with this season.

First and foremost, I feel like there’s just too much happening in this season. There’s just a lot of plot lines happening at once that some of them get lost in the shuffle. There are a few examples, but none bigger than Episode 3.

This episode is the longest in the entire series at over 56 minutes. Despite that, the main trio of Din, Grogu and Bo-Katan only appear for about 15 minutes of that runtime. Instead, the focus is on Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane, two side characters, in a plot line that gets very little payoff later in the season. This episode isn’t bad on its own, but it just feels very out of place.

That scattered nature also applies to the tone of each episode. For example, Episode 6 is a light-hearted buddy cop episode featuring cameos from Jack Black and Lizzo. Yet the very next episode features Moff Gideon threatening to complete a genocide and shows Paz Vizsla dying on-screen. Admittedly, I do prefer the darker tone, but I prefer consistency over all else.

One of my other big complaints is that Din feels like a side character in his own show now. He doesn’t really get much time to shine this season, and Bo-Katan bailed him out on a few occasions. In fact, based on recent comments by director Rick Famiyuwa, Din may not even be the main character anymore. For how cool he was in the earlier seasons, that is honestly kind of upsetting.

Finally, I feel like the end of the season was just a bit underwhelming. The show spent so long hiding Gideon from us when it was obvious that he would show up again. As such, having him be the main villain again with not much added threat feels kind of unsatisfying. I love Giancarlo Esposito as much as the next guy, but I hope the show moves onto another villain after three seasons of Gideon.

Verdict

Season 3 of The Mandalorian still has much of what made the show great, and it is still enjoyable. However, the writing isn’t as tight as the first two seasons and it shows at many points. I still love the show, but this season fell a bit short of my high expectations.