Summary: Mando visits Peli, and she gives him R5-D4 to help test Mandalore's atmosphere. Mando goes to Mandalore and sends our R5, who promptly vanishes. Mando goes to investigate himself and fights several unique creatures before being captured. Grogu goes back to the ship and goes to Bo Katan. Bo Katan goes to Mandalore and saves Mando. Together, they go to the mines and Mando starts to bathe but he gets dragged underwater. Bo Katan saves him and realizes there is a mythosaur in the water.
The Good: I was impressed by how quickly the story moved forwards. I expected 1-2 more episodes of filler/time-wasting before we finally got to Mandalore, but pleasingly the story moved along quickly and Mando didn't waste any time in getting to Mandalore. I thought that the planet was visually spectacular. Seeing the ruins of the once magnificent kingdom was compelling, and it created a unique atmosphere for the episode. I was pleased to see Bo Katan play a big role in this episode. Her dynamic with Mando is good, and this episode did a nice job of highlighting their dichotomy. Both are Mandalorian, but both have very different interpretations of what that means to them. I enjoy seeing their ideologies clash. It's nice to see Bo Katan get moments to shine throughout the episode as she saves Mando twice. Grogu also gets some good moments to shine, especially when he has to go get Bo Katan to save Mando. I appreciate the idea of allowing other characters to shine alongside Mando. Peli is becoming a fun character to revisit every now and then. She doesn't have much depth and doesn't offer a whole lot to the story, but it's a fun distraction to visit her and see what she's getting up to. Through longevity of exposure, I am growing to like her. The Bad: Mando settling for the piece of crap R5 droid after going to extreme lengths to bring back IG-11 is some horrendous writing. I thought Mando needed a droid he trusted, so why on Earth is he going to take this pile of junk that is clearly terrified of doing anything? It makes no sense, and it makes Mando seem incompetent to put his life in the hands of this incompetent droid. Speaking of the droid, why did it have to venture so far into a cave to get an atmosphere reading? That makes no sense, and it looks like the droid only went so far because the writers needed a reason for Mando to risk his life. The enemies in Mandalore were cool and visually creative, but they don't feel like a real species. Instead, they feel like video game obstacles to overcome which makes it much less interesting to explore these creatures and what their lives are like. Even though they look pretty cool, they are nowhere near as interesting as many other "Star Wars" creatures. Mando was strangely incompetent in this episode. I get that Grogu and Bo Katan need moments to shine, but to manufacture this happening, Mando had to be much less careful and methodical than what we are used to. I wish that the show had found a better way to have Mando be taken out so that other characters are allowed a more organic chance to shine. This is a "Star Wars" show so of course it's very cheesy. The dialogue in particular is extremely cheesy in this episode, which took me out of the experience at several points. The Unknown: Who was Bo Katan's father? I don't believe we have seen him before. What happened when he died? What is the point of the mythosaur being here? Is this just another enemy to overcome or will it play a larger role in the story? What's next for Mando? He redeemed himself faster than I expected, so what else is going to happen in this season? Best Moment: Bo Katan seeing the ruins of her old home was a quietly beautiful moment. Character of the Episode: Bo Katan. Conclusion: A solid episode that progressed the story more than what I expected, but it got bogged down by some moments of weak writing. Score: 59
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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