The third season of Disney’s The Mandalorian appears to be the worst received to date with viewership declining and ratings for the latest episodes tanking. This season has three of the lowest-rated episodes of the series, with this week’s offering, featuring Jack Black and Lizzo, coming in at the lowest of them all.
This week’s episode, “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire,” features comedian Jack Black as “Captain Bombardier” and pop singer Lizzo as “The Duchess,” who, along with stars Pedro Pascal and Katee Sackhoff, take on rampaging robots and blow things up.
While the Star Wars characters are certainly experts at blowing things up, it appears that the fans are blowing the episode off. According to ratings at both IMBD.com and Rotten Tomatoes, it is the lowest-rated entry of all three seasons of the series, Bounding Into Comics points out.
The episode has earned but a 6.8 viewer rating at IMDB, the lowest by nearly a full percentage point of the year. None of the other five episodes have earned less than a 7.1, and most are 7.5 and higher. Indeed, this week’s is the lowest rated of all three seasons.
This season also suffers with the three worst-rated episodes of the series with its March 1 episode winning only a 7.5 rating and its March 15 episode hitting a low of 7.1. The only other episode as low rated is the 7.5 rating seen from season one’s Dec. 6, 2019 episode. These aside, every other episode rates higher than 7.5 and most are in the 8 range or more.
So, of the four episodes rated at 7.5 and below at IMBD, three of them are in this season. Meaning half the season so far has been panned by fans.
The ratings are no better at popular movie site Rotten Tomatoes.
Ratings for season three of The Mandalorian have cratered on Rotten Tomatoes compared to seasons one and two. So far this year, the audience score has reached only 68 percent. That compares very unfavorably with season one, which earned a 92 percent audience score, and season two, which found itself with a 91 percent rating.
Some fans took to social media to blast the Lizzo-starring episode.
Jon Favreau, I believed in you. I put my faith in you. Dude. YOU SUCK. Season 3 has killed Mando. middle schoolers could write a better story. Bryce Dallas Howard, YOU ARE NO BETTER. #starwars #TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/87M0kAZ98i
— Echo Base Network | Beep/bop/boop (@network_echo) April 5, 2023
the mandalorian spoilers but not really
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no I can’t believe that writers sat down in a room, wrote a season that has nothing to do with the main character and said “omg this eats” pic.twitter.com/jiKbdtapek— elia (@valentinescyare) April 5, 2023
What is THE MANDALORIAN even about anymore https://t.co/1y4jQEb9b1
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) April 5, 2023
Nothing. After seasons 1 and 2, the show is completely aimless and reversed everything they happened at the end of season 2. Everything in season 3 is a huge downgrade and Mando has became a boring and generic character.
— Richie Harris (@RichieH95283265) April 5, 2023
Viewership has also begun to spiral down for the series. According to Nielsen ratings, during the season three premiere the series earned 823 million minutes streamed whereas during the season two premiere, the series racked up 1.030 billion minutes watched, Bounding wrote.
The series has not been without controversy. Season two was retooled when Disney fired actress Gina Carano after season one because executives did not like her social media posts. And on the other end of the political scale, star, Padro Pascal, raised eyebrows when he said Kyle Rittenhouse “murdered” the violent criminals and Antifa rioters who attacked him during a Wisconsin riot in 2020, despite that he was acquitted for the shootings when it was ruled that he acted in self-defense.
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