It is fascinating that, with the exception of 7, you named the episodes that barely, if at all, moved the plot along. My favorites were 1, 3, 7 & 8, so I am…well, like I said, fascinated.
It’s not that weird, is it? Not everyone likes/prefers series to tell one large story, but rather wants mini-adventures with a connecting through-line. This is one of the reasons I enjoyed this show so much as I don’t like the modern Netflix/HBO style of stretching one story into hundreds of hours. I get why some people like it, but to me it just feels like padding. SW shows like the Mandalorian, CW, Rebels, etc. manage to keep my attention much easier because most episodes are (more-or-less) standalone stories, that occasionally continues or adds to a larger narrative. In this sense The Mandalorian was nearly perfectly structured for my preferences (I actually would have liked a few more episodes like 4-6).
Similarly, my favourite episodes were 2 & 6.
That really helped me understand. Clearly, I want the opposite (though honestly, I did really like 2 & 6, it’s just that the overall plot grabs me more). So, the fact that the show manages to hit some notes for both of us is pretty great; they’re striking a good balance.
Yeah, Favreau and Filoni both seem to have a really good grasp on the nuances in what both SW fans and regular viewers want out of a show and have struck a really good balance, which is no small feat in general, let alone with SW.