Summary: Mando meets with an old friend Ran for work. Mando uses his ship and joins Mayfeld, Burg, Zero and Xi'an to go rescue Qin, Xi'an's brother who has been arrested. The team get into the spaceship, and after fighting security droids, they make it to the control panel where a soldier calls for the New Republic before he is killed. Now on a time limit, the group go free Qin, but the group betrays Mando and leaves him to die. Mando escapes and defeats each member of the crew before leaving with Qin and returning to Ran. Mando collects his pay. Ran prepares to kill Mando as he flies away but it's revealed that Mando put the tracking beacon on Qin, allowing the New Republic to arrive and blow up Ran's shuttle.
The Good: This was a very fun concept for an episode. Having Mando interact with a crew working for a man he was formerly partnered with was pretty interesting. There was a lot of tension throughout the episode and I was always on edge, expecting the crew to turn on Mando at any given moment. It was never a matter of if, only when they would betray him, and that gave the episode more tension than it otherwise would have had. Furthermore, the dynamic between Mando and the crew allowed for some neat moral exploration, most notably when the group encounters the soldier who threatens to call for backup. What really made this work was how different it felt from everything that came before. I'm really enjoying how "The Mandalorian" is paying homage to tons of different genres, taking tropes from various different genres in each episode. Before this, there were references to westerns, monster movies and war movies, and now we get an episode dedicated to heist movies and thriller/horror movies. It was a wonderful change of tone, and it adds a degree more excitement for each episode when we don't know what kind of story to expect. This episode really nailed the heist and horror aspects. The first half of the episode was an exciting heist as the crew breaks into the ship and there is a wonderfully choreographed fight scene between Mando and the security droids. But when the crew turns on Mando, the tone turns ominous and we get a wonderful parody of a horror movie as Mando hunts down each crew member one after the other. The sequence is brilliantly executed, and manages to include just about every trope possible, making it both tense and funny, which was very impressive. I also liked the parallel with Baby Yoda hiding from Zero in Mando's ship, showing us a much goofier type of thriller. The Bad: Nothing outwardly bad. I'm still a little disappointed that the show has gone for a more procedural style of storytelling, but I'm alright with it as long as the episodes are as well done as this one. The Unknown: Where is Mando going next? What kind of episode are we getting next? Best Moment: The end of the episode was really well done. Mando escapes with Ran's money, and after what happened with Toro in the last episode, and the crew in this one, he is anticipating a betrayal. So in a master stroke, he sneakily leads the New Republic to Ran's shuttle and get shim killed without any trouble. It's a wonderfully satisfying moment as Qin and Ran get outsmarted, made better by the return of X-Wings, which will please any "Star Wars" fan. Character of the Episode: Mando. Conclusion: This was really strong stuff. While there isn't much of importance for the plot or characters, this was just fun. What this episode lacked in meaning, it made up for with pure entertainment value. I would be fine with more episodes like this. Score: 65
2 Comments
Ben
12/16/2019 02:35:45 pm
I thought this episode was a lot of fun, and a lot better than last weeks. Great cast choices.
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Aaronic
12/16/2019 03:42:31 pm
I absolutely agree on the casting! I'm a fan of Bill Burr, so it was nice seeing him.
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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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