Ok, so the fam and I just mainlined both seasons of Mando in 24 hours. It was like a SW injection to the veins.
I get what everyone has been saying. It was very OT, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Some of the episodes were better than others (duh), and a few of them were s-l-o-w. The one with Ahsoka put me to sleep. So much talking that I glazed over. I find Rosario Dawson to be boring as hell. The ones directed by Opie's daughter were less exciting, while the ones directed by Robert Rodriguez were incredible. I'm a huge Desperado fan, so I wasn't surprised when the better episodes of S2 were his.
I went in 100% cold, having avoided spoilers for over a year. I knew baby yoda existed just because I'm alive, on the internet, and follow SW toys. But I knew nothing of the plot of the series or where it was going.
I will say, I am proud of the actors I recognized in costume. In the very first ep, my wife and I looked at each other and said "That blue fish guy is Horatio Sans!" I also correctly identified one of the funny S1 Scout Troopers (that abduct the child from the Ugnaught) as Jason Sudeikis. And I appreciated that everyone carried their valuables in ice cream makers, a nice nod to Willrow Hood, the ice cream man.
I was laughing my ass off at Timothy Oliphant in boba fett's armor. I absolutely loved Deadwood and Justified, so that episode was classic. But my favorite cameo was in the slow Ahsoka episode. I was watching Mando face off in the street with the magistrate lady's right hand man, and he said, "Fight's not with you, Mandalorian." I thought to myself: "wow this really is a space western b/c that line is straight out of the final quickdraw scene of Tombsto.... holy shit that's Johnny Ringo!" And sure enough, Michael Biehn it was. I totally had not recognized him before then in the first 92% of the episode.
I have little to say that hasn't already been said. It really does fill out the world nicely while feeling new yet familiar all at once. I had a few quibbles here and there, but overall, I couldn't have asked for better. It was abundantly clear the people making the show had sensibilities that are very much in line with our generation of SW fans.