The way I see it, the Mandalorian is a mature story. Not insanely original, but neither is Empire. The characters in the Mandalorian all have reasonable motivations… Cara is good but still cares about surviving, the Guild Leader (blanking on name) is only interested in the money. The bandits in Chapter Six act that way because yes, there are people who act like that and they exist in the Star Wars universe. We see them in the Cantina in ANH. If you were expecting them to be sympathetic, that falls down on one’s personal expectations.
But moving forward, I’d say the Mandalorian is more morally complicated than Empire. Because Empire isn’t as nuanced as you claim. The heroes start good and end good. The villains are bad and end bad, with Vader the sole exception. But you can’t pull off a twist like that multiple times, and still for the purposes of the movie Vader was bad from start to finish. It’s not like he suddenly reveals he an undercover agent which makes us question the conflict.
The Mandalorian actually starts bad and has a redemption story right there. Is it wildly new? No. But it’s far more mature a story than Empire’s “good guys run from bad guys, and learn that fighting isn’t always a good idea”.
I get the feeling that you don’t really like Empire. I don’t think Empire is as dumb and simplistic as you claim, but I agree that Mando is a very nuanced show.
It’s not that I think Empire is bad. It’s that I feel a lot of people put it on this pedestal but when we break it down it’s really not that amazing. It is trying to be a blockbuster and it succeeds flawlessly. For its time, a blockbuster with the heroes losing was unheard of. For that plus great effects, dialogue, and fun yet smart storytelling, it gets a 10/10.
But I see 10/10’s more like what is it trying to do and how well it succeeds in that. So I would consider 1917, my favorite movie of the past year, “better” than Empire… but it’s wrong to compare them because they are trying such different things. Empire is trying to get you to have fun, plain and simple, and that’s fine. It succeeds wonderfully. It is just something I would not call “nuanced” like so many are nowadays. It isn’t the greatest movie of all time.
That all being said… is it still a blast? Yes! For its franchise and time period is it subversive? Yes! Would I watch this movie if it were playing on a random channel? Yes!