I don’t think in the four years I’ve had this blog I’ve written a post specifically thanking an actor for their performance in a show or television series but it’s happening today: I’m thanking Pedro Pascal for his performance in The Mandalorian.

Last year around this time of the year my love for Star Wars had mostly dimmed to nothingness. If not for The Mandalorian and his exciting adventures with The Child, I would’ve been even more depressed. Despite loving the series and being excited for this show’s second season I didn’t dare get too exhilarated for what the second season could off.

The Sequel Trilogy ultimately broke my belief that Star Wars could be great anymore. I felt like the Hollywood goliaths holding the franchise in their hands didn’t understand Star Wars and that they had turned it into a mockery of what it once was. The Rise of Skywalker was an absolute travesty! Yes, there were lightsaber duels and X-wings, beloved characters and brand-new characters that seemed pretty likable, but the overall experience left me hollow as the story made no sense and only seemed to make the franchise as a whole feel like it wasn’t worth watching anymore.

Now, after eight non-stop incredible episodes of The Mandalorian, concluding with an episode that still has me floored, I’m in love with this franchise again. And at the helm of this remarkable series is Pedro Pascal.

Prior to The Mandalorian I had no idea who this guy was. I had unknowingly seen him in two movies; The Great Wall and Triple Frontier but ultimately he was a side character to actors who were more recognizable (Matt Damon, Oscar Isaac, and Ben Affleck.) My mother knew him from the Netflix drug-cartel drama, Narcos, where he pretty much stole the show. She was pretty excited when she found out he would play the lead in The Mandalorian.

I was excited but skeptical. However, as soon as I heard him speak those first words (“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”) I was in love with this new character.

He was so unbelievably cool in the way he carried himself and even after discovering that he was mostly a voice actor for the character in the first season I didn’t even care. For the second season, he was able to truly embrace the role of the masked hero as he was finally able to play the character more often thanks to his filming schedule not being as packed.

Pascal’s acting for the character has been at all-time high. The subtleties in his performance have been so amazing but the last two episodes have really knocked me out of the park.

We got two incredible scenes featuring Mando without his helmet, allowing Pascal to work his magic. One scene was very awkward and cringe-worthy in an impeccable manner, the other was emotional and utterly wrecked me.

Pascal’s ability to be that incredibly awesome hero who seems invincible at one second and then so unsure of himself and vulnerable at other times is what has brought me to writing this post.

The previous best-acted character in Star Wars was Kylo Ren via Adam Driver who really brought an inner pain to Kylo in a way that I wished we had seen from Anakin Skywalker. Pedro Pascal has blown Driver’s performance out of the water and if he isn’t nominated for an Emmy next year for The Mandalorian I’m starting a riot. Just kidding. But seriously, he needs that Emmy nomination (and the win) because that acting was superb.

And don’t forget, his last moments with Grogu…? That was a puppet he was acting with!

Okay, I’ve gone on gushing about this man for too long. All in all, I’m just thanking the actor for essentially saving Star Wars and giving us the best character to cheer for since Luke Skywalker.

I thank you for reading and I hope you have a spectacular day.