WARNING: SPOILERS LIE AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 11 OF THE MANDALORIAN, IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE EPISODE, GO BACK AND WATCH IT!
This is the way.
(Courtesy of Lucasfilm)
Well, this episode is a lot more personable than the last. By personable, I mean, there are more characters dealing with our Mandalorian this time around. We got some answers to questions we had, and we got to see some other Mandalorian action in the episode. For fans of The Clone Wars, this was a doozy of an episode. It certainly made up for the episode that was probably the most maligned from last season also directed by Bryce Dallas Howard.
So to quickly start off for Clone Wars fans. Take a second. Breath. The moment is hopefully coming soon. You got your Bo-Katan fix here. Hopefully we get to see more of her and her squad. Because damn, are they badass. It was also nice to see the full resolution of the Frog plot from the last episode. In a cute moment, we got to see the embrace of the last two lovers of their species. But let’s dig into the nitty gritty of this episode.
The Most Action Packed Of The Season So-Far
The first episode had lots of action involving the Krayt Dragon, but this one topped that action fest. The corridors of the stolen Imperial Freighter were subject to some of the most badass action. Overall, this one definitely put the pedal to the metal as opposed to the last episode. That episode featured more frights than action with all the spiders. This time around, we’re just given scene after scene of action involving Mando and the rest of Bo-Katan’s crew.
Speaking of Bo-Katan, Katee Sackhoff has done it again. When you give her an iconic performance in a sci-fi show, she knocks it out of the park. I’m sure fans of all walks of Star Wars life are going to appreciate her turn as the character. The rest of her crew including Mercedes Varnado (WWE’s Sasha Banks) and Simon Kassianides both had smaller roles but joined in on the fun. I’d love to see some sort of side-story involving this group and we can only hope that they return at some point during this season.
After all, Bo-Katan does make an offer to Mando that he can’t refuse. It is a little disappointing that we made all the hullabaloo about Varnado’s character from the trailer. All that hype and questioning added up to little more than a side character. So for those fans looking for more from Varnado, hopefully this gives her a boost in her career outside of WWE.
We Definitely Heard Ashoka’s Name
Now because this is The Mandalorian, the likelihood that we get to see Ahsoka Tano in the very next episode, is probably low. I don’t really have a problem with that, because we spent the majority of this episode with a Clone Wars character. So we could use a gap with a new character crafted for the show. Plus it’ll keep building the excitement for when they’re going to show Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka. That was the news that dominated the build-up to the show, and it’ll likely dominate the build to the later episodes in the season.
So that’s the current quest for Mando. We got to the other Mandalorians, they helped, but now we need to find Ahsoka. Plus, Moff Gideon is now feasibly on the tail of either our hero or his friends that stole that Freighter. Finally, Bo-Katan is after the Darksaber, so I’m thinking we’re going to get that confrontation some point later in the season.
A Great Episode That Stands Alone But Adds To The Overall Story
The episode starts off slowly, but then picks up the pace. It was nice to see the variety of creatures including the Mon Calamari making an appearance. I wish we could have gotten more from Mando on the boat with the child, but that scene was quickly obliterated by the appearance of Bo-Katan and her squad. That’s obviously on purpose to give the audience the red herring that this is going to be another “fetch quest” of an episode. It’s a neat trick from Jon Favreau on the audience that I fell for.
That’s the reason why we continue to watch The Mandalorian. It might get old at some point, but tricking me into thinking we’re in for one thing and getting another, still works wonders. I’ll have to watch this one over again a couple times to get all the Easter Eggs strewn throughout, but this one seemed lighter than the last two episodes. For good reason though, we don’t want to overload the show with them. At a certain point, too many overshadows the show itself.
Overall, this was one of the better episodes of the series and it continues to do a great job of providing us with new Star Wars. It provides us with new Star Wars with familiar characters and motifs though. So we get that feeling of nostalgia, but it’s not an overriding factor.
I heavily look forward to the next chapters in the show, this one was great.
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