Coming off what Star Wars has been for the last several years, I wasn't as much excited about The Mandalorian as I was curious. As far as Star Wars has fallen I still have hope that it'll become great again, or at least be passable entertainment, which is exactly what The Mandalorian is.
The first episode of The Mandalorian was pretty good overall, although it by no means was great on the level of the prequels or especially the OT. I guess the best direct comparison would be between this and Rogue One; the look and feel of this was very Rogue One, as was the more gritty, underbelly of Star Wars feel that it had. This show definitely was interesting based on the fact that it didn't have anything directly to do with the events of the original trilogy or the sequel trilogy, which was very refreshing imo. I want to see more Star Wars that isn't trying to succeed on the coattails of the original or prequel trilogy, but instead does its own thing set in the Star Wars universe.
The production quality of the show was pretty good and a lot of practical effects were used which made it feel very authentic. There were parts that felt cheap or like I was watching someone's fan movie, but overall the show looked great as did the alien costumes and sets. We are introduced to several characters, but unfortunately the main character has felt fairly undeveloped. However I won't criticize this too much since it's only the first episode. As for what happened in the first episode, there is a somewhat strange tonal shift at one point in the episode that was a bit off, but it did little to distract from the overall good quality of the episode. The climax and final scene of episode 1 were the best part and the ending definitely left you on a cliffhanger that makes me want to watch the next episode. One other thing I wanted to mention about the ending is the best depiction of an IG droid in all of Star Wars, which was totally bad ass!
While it wasn't riveting by any means, The Mandalorian's first episode was a breath of fresh air for the franchise. It was cool, well made, entertaining, but most of all it felt like Star Wars. Particularly this felt like if someone adapted an EU novel or comic into a high budget TV show or movie, which is something I wish Disney would have done instead of scrapping the old Legends EU. I will be watching the next episode and likely the whole first season. I really hope that Disney doesn't drop the ball on this show or ruin it in some way. I'd like to be optimistic, but this is the same Disney and Lucasfilm that brought us TLJ and Solo. We'll see I guess.
The Mandalorian: Episode 1: 7/10