For this, the last Tuesday TV Touchbase for 2020, I would take a look at the season finales of The Mandalorian & The Crown.
The 2nd season of The Mandalorian ended in epic fashion. The pursuit of Grogu, the erstwhile "Baby Yoda", has led to Moff Gideon's star cruiser. Bo-Katan, Koska, Fennec and Dune fight through stormtroopers to the bridge where Bo-Katan plans to confront Moff Gideon, defeat him and reclaim the Darksaber.
How cool is it that all four of these warriors are women.
Meanwhile the Mandalorian himself, Din Djarin, makes a bee line for where Grogu is being held captive. There are a crap ton of Dark Troopers in Djarin's way. Mando ejects the bulk of the Dark Troopers into space but one is still on the ship. In a throw down with just one Dark Trooper, Mando is very much outmatched but manages to eke out a win over the imposing super strong trooper droid.
Then Mando finds Grogu and yep, Moff Gideon is with him. Which puts a crimp on Bo's plan to kick his ass on the bridge.
Moff Gideon and the Mandalorian get into it. Mando's a bit tapped out from taking out that dark trooper but he does have an edge over Gideon. It seems for all of the Darksaber's power, the one thing it can't cut is Beskar which is what Mando's armor is made of.
Mando defeats Gideon in battle but the war is not yet won. The Dark Troopers shot into space are back and no way in hell Mando and his four warrior friends can defeat this horde.
Then a ship arrives and it's one occupant comes aboard, a dark cloaked individual with a green glowing light saber. This hooded savior shreds the Dark Trooper multitudes with his blazing emerald swords and the Force. Arriving on the bridge, this person pulls back his hood to reveal...
Luke Skywalker!
Damn!
The sequence gives us a chance to see Luke Skywalker being a bad ass, something he didn't get to show way back in the movies.
And Luke is brought to life by none other than Mark Hamill is own damn self. But not without some help through the use of a CGI version of Hamill's de-aged likeness digitally animated over a body double with the use of motion capture. So we get a still young Luke not long after the events of Return of the Jedi.
Luke is there to take Grogu with him to complete his Jedi training.
Grogu doesn't want to leave Mando.
Then R2-D2 shows up and...
YES! Frickin' R2-D2 shows up!!!!!
Artoo says "Beep, bloop, beep, beep, bloop" which convinces Grogu to go with Luke.
As Grogu leaves, the Mandalorian removes his helmet and tearfully looks on.
Mando took off his helmet, guys!!!!
So what is next for the Mandalorian? Well, it may take awhile to find out. A post credit scene featuring Bobba Fett killing Bib Fortuna and claiming the throne formerly held by Jabba the Hutt. A graphic tells us this will lead into something called "The Book of Bobba Fett".
As for Din Djarin, the Mandalorian himself, the driving purpose of his life for the first two seasons has been the protection of the Child and delivering him to a Jedi. This will disappoint my wife Andrea but this may in fact seal the deal when it comes to "Baby Yoda".
It may well be that Bo-Katan's quest to reclaim Mandalore may become Djarin's new purpose in life. And it does seem that there are larger issues that may demand Mando's attention. Though defeated at the end of Return of the Jedi, the Empire has not faded away and it's loyal attendants like Moff Gideon are determined to reclaim power.
Which we know that by The Force Awakens, the First Order is doing just that. The evolution of the Empire's remnants into the First Order will draw the Mandalorian's attention, whether he wants to be involved or not.
For the 4th season finale of The Crown, the theme seems to be sewing the seeds of one's own destruction.
After 11 years as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher seems to have overstayed her welcome. But even after over a decade in office, Thatcher is not prepared to go. Laser focused on the work of her conservative agenda, she has nothing else she wants to do. She has no other purpose or passion beyond being Prime Minister.
And because she is so laser focused on the work of her conservative agenda and because she has no other purpose or passion beyond being Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher has done little to cultivate any kind of support system. Not enough people have enough empathy for Margaret to support her in her uphill climb to hold on to power as Prime Minister.
After 11 years as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher gets the old "here's your hat, what's your hurry, don't let the door hit you on the way out" brush off and Thatcher is forced to step down.
Thatcher's lack of compassion and her myopic fixation on her conservative agenda ultimately bites her in the ass and costs her the very thing she prized above all else, being Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the royal family determinedly sews the seeds of its downfall in their treatment of Diana. Charles' incessant pining for Camilla and his incessant whining about Diana is getting on everyone's nerves. Outside the walls of her prison castle, Diana is extraordinarily popular. On a visit to America, people just lose their shit when Diana hugs an orphaned AIDS patient, an act of compassion that serves to only piss off Charles. He doesn't like to be upstaged. God, Charles is such an annoying prick in this series. Every effort by Diana to try to please both her husband and the royal family is at the very least ignored or worse, outwardly mocked.
Queen Elizabeth thinks she can put her foot down and demand that Charles and Diana get their shit together and that will solve everything. It does not. In the final scene of the 4th season, the royal family is gathering for a group photo. For the moment, Diana is in the picture but the wheels are turning for Diana's inevitable exit.
With the end of the 4th season, the current cast of The Crown wraps up it's tenure. Olivia Colman was perfect as the Queen as was Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. I never warmed to Tobias Menzies as Prince Phillip.
The 5th sesoson will pick with a new cast. Andrea will likely want to continue to watch even though the reason she wanted to watch this series in the first place was that Matt Smith was Prince Phillip. She too never fully accepted Tobias Menzies as Prince Phillip.
So what's on the horizon for my future TV viewing? I think I might sample the new series on BBC America, The Watch.
Also coming up will be the 2nd season of Snowpiercer and the new Marvel series on Disney +, WandaVision.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and keep it down will, ya? I'm trying to watch some TV here.
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