THE MANDALORIAN: James Mangold, Robert Rodriguez & Others Reportedly Directed Sequences For Season 2

Sequences...lol

These episodes are only half an hour a piece, what constitutes as a "sequence"?

Because of the logistics of shooting on the “Volume” set, this makes sense. The shooting schedule is out of order and the directors were very collaborative from the start. If an outside director drops by for a casual set visit, I can easily see Favreau et al letting them in on the action.

George Miller has to direct an episode.

It's a common criticism of modern series, especially the binge-ers on Netflix etc, that there isn't enough plot to justify the run time / number of episodes. I think it's interesting that The Mandalorian has virtually no plot to speak of but is generally much loved. I think that is for a number of reasons (short episodes / weekly release / it's not The Last Jedi / etc) but a major one is that they didn't fill up the time with endless dialogue. It sticks to the "show don't tell" principle of screenwriting - having the main protagonist almost entirely in a helmet probably aided that, but thankfully they didn't force the other characters into too much exposition either. It stays enigmatic. It allows the aliens, the sets, and (yes those LED) backgrounds to shine through. We get time to look at nerdy stuff that gets us (me!) excited - like guns and door mechanisms! And - how strange - the audience feels it is getting to know Mando by what he DOESN'T say! Screenwriters take note!!

If they manage to very slowly (over 3 - 5 seasons maybe!) develop Mando himself into maybe developing a conscience about some of his previous bounties, becoming a father figure to baby Yoda, or perhaps assuming some kind of leadership role (of who or what, I know not!) despite having been mostly a loner throughout his life, then THAT would constitute character development, and political statement, and it would have taken place with it being rammed down our throats.

Here's hoping!