A Daisy and a baby; a band and bounty hunter

It's been about two years and a half since the second season of “The Mandalorian.” Now that it's back, I will have to make the same comments I made when I wrote about “Quantumania:” Backgrounder needed.

Not only would you benefit from a refresher of the first two seasons, but you also have to watch some explainer videos covering the following topics: the Darksaber, Tarre Vizsla and the Vizsla clan, the different Mandalorian factions, the Death Watch, Children of the Watch, Nite Owls, the back story of Bo-Katan Kryze, what happened in “Night of a Thousand Tears.”

It would likewise help to have watched relevant episodes of “Star Wars: Rebels,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” and the last half of “The Book of Boba Fett,” aka “The Mandalorian” season 2.5.

We all know fans who have studied this fictional history down to the important names, timelines, and key characters. Have them on speed dial.

Let's say you can't keep up with all that. The good news is, there's enough to enjoy in the 35-minute first episode of The Mandalorian season 3. The next episode will be out by the time you read this. You get to hear Pedro Pascal's voice, see Grogu and a tree full of Kowakians and workshop with Anzellans.

It kind of makes you miss “Andor” — a direct, compelling, thrilling, heartfelt story about humans under the boot of fascism.

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Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine bought the rights to best-selling author Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel, “Daisy Jones & the Six,” even before it hit the stores in 2019. It's finally out on Amazon Prime.

It's about the rise and fall of a '70s rock band. I didn't read the book, but after watching the first episode, I could tell the band is loosely based on Fleetwood Mac. Their album “Rumours” never gets old. Keyboardist Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse) gives off the Christine McVie vibes, and Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) has some Stevie Nicks in her. The boys, Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), Graham Dunne (Will Harris), Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse) and Warren Rojas (Sebastian Chacon), however, didn't remind me of any Fleetwood man in particular.

As with any story on bands, this has the usual ingredients: the humble, earnest and optimistic beginnings, the squabbles, the quest for recognition, the triumphs and travails of fame, drugs, alcohol, and easy sex. It has a predictable side, but with stories like these, if they're made well enough, they're light viewing for anyone who's spent years in rock clubs, has been in a band, is band-adjacent, or is a music fan.

There is something just really “clean” about it. As much as we love them, all our favorite rock haunts back in the day had that thick, palpable veil of sweat, smoke, sex, graffiti and alcohol.

Original music for the series has been written and put together by Phoebe Bridgers, Marcus Mumford and Jackson Browne with Blake Mills. Daisy Jones & the Six have now become the first fictional band to hit No. 1 on iTunes.

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The first of eight episodes of “The Mandalorian” season 3 debuted on March 1 on Disney+. The first three of 1- episodes of “Daisy Jones & The Six” rolled out on March 3 on Amazon Prime.