Streamin' Meemies: The Book of Boba Fett Season 1 Episode 7, "In the Name of Honor"

 

Well....that was a finale, I guess.

I will say this: it's the third-best episode of the season, and the best of the Boba-centric episodes. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, and it shows: he seems to come around only to handle the fast-moving action scenes and big screaming fights, and smaller episodes with character-centric moments are either beyond him or uninteresting to him. (Though I would have loved to see what Bryce Dallas Howard could have done with this material, as she directed the best episode of the season.) And this episode certainly had both action and fights, I suppose he did a fair-to-middling job with it. 

However, this episode laid bare the show's glaring weakness, something I (and many other people) have been pointing out all along: this show is only marginally a show about Boba Fett. First and foremost, it exists to set up Season 3 of The Mandalorian, which was made clear by episode 5, "Return of..." well lookee here! Who'da thunk it? It also exists to dip into Empire and Jedi nostalgia, as seen in Episode 6, "From the Desert Comes a Stranger," and a second incarnation of CGI and deepfake Luke Skywalker (albeit a far better representation this time).  Finally, it reminded us there is still an Ahsoka Tano show on the way, while completely neglecting to show us the necessary conversation she and Luke should have had about his father and her history with Anakin. Episode 6 was not particularly fast-moving, and by God that should have been shown. 

This is irritating as all get out, and absolutely a squandered opportunity. I've never been a Boba Fett fangirl, but you must admit that for a character from 40 years ago, he was a near blank slate. (At least as far as the movies go--I know he was fleshed out more in the books and comics.) He could have been considered the same as a new character; they could have done anything with him, as they did with Din Djarin and Baby Yoda. Do the powers that be at Disney not comprehend that this is precisely the reason we like Mando so much, because he's not a flippin' Jedi and a bloody Skywalker, and through him we can watch fascinating stories about denizens of the Star Wars universe like the Mandalorians that are not bound up with the Force? Boba Fett could have been the same way. Indeed, the first four episodes made feeble stabs in that direction. 

Unfortunately, those efforts were incredibly clumsy and ham-handed, and only served to hopelessly muddle whatever characterization Boba possessed, which was not much to begin with. The best of those was probably Episode 2, "The Tribes of Tatooine," with the terrific train chase and Boba's making his gaffi stick. But then (and I will keep beating this drum until the end of time, I suspect) IN THE VERY NEXT EPISODE THE TUSKENS WERE KILLED OFF FOR NO GODDAMN REASON. This was another missed opportunity, as what happened in episode 2 was begging to be used as the motivation for Boba's entire character arc. 

Instead, we got such treacly nonsense as "I'm tired of working for idiots who are going to get me killed," and "I will rule with respect" (talking about taking over Jabba the Hutt's operation). This is okay, my dude, but still does not answer the question of WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? You could have taken your ship and jumped the hell off Tatooine, never to return (once you got your armor back, that is). But if the whole POINT of getting the armor back and taking over Jabba's operation was to RESTRUCTURE AND RUN THE TATOOINE UNDERWORLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE TUSKENS......well, right there is an actual SHOW, instead of the incoherent mess we received.   

So now we come to the finale, and Robert Rodriguez taking the reins for what is basically a forty-minute running battle between Boba's bunch and the Pykes. At the beginning, they get their asses kicked, but then the Freetowners come in to join them. This drives the Pykes away, and they think they're home free, until two huge Scorkenen battle droids come stalking down the streets of Mos Espa to take them on. This makes the group scatter and run, with Boba and Din Djarin trying to cover them (among other things, we see all the cool bombs, shots and other things built into Mandalorian armor). Boba jets away to get his last ace in the hole, which is of course the Rancor, and Mando is running through the streets trying to lure the battle droid away. In the middle of all this mayhem, he runs across Peli Motto and her droids, bearing him a gift--Baby Yoda, who had arrived earlier in Luke's X-Wing, piloted by R2. So now we know what choice Grogu made (and in addition he is wearing the beskar mail shirt). Their reunion is heartwarming, as Grogu uses the Force to launch himself into Mando's arms. 

In fact, Grogu apparently learned a substantial amount from Luke in the short time he was there, as there are two scenes where he uses the Force to protect Mando. He rips part of one leg off one of the Scorkenens, allowing the Rancor (which Boba has arrived on by this time) to tear the thing to pieces. After Boba and the Rancor destroy the second droid, Boba gets knocked off to have his showdown with Cad Bane and the Rancor goes on a rampage (climbing Mos Espa's tower in a deliberate homage to King Kong). Mando tries to ride it and calm it down, but the Rancor will accept only one Mandalorian, and Mando ain't it. In fact, the creature tries to nibble down on Mando's head, so it's a good thing beskar armor is well nigh indestructible. But as the Rancor flings Mando down in the street and prepares to charge him, the tiny Grogu waddles out to protect his Dad (and the Rancor pauses, obviously having no idea what to make of this miniscule being standing in front of it) and puts the Rancor to sleep. (This so drains him he curls up beside the prone monster for a nap himself.) 

This is all well and good, and most of this is fairly exciting. However, it also belongs in the third season of The Mandalorian, not this show. I'm thinking nearly all of this storyline could have been covered in two or three extra episodes of Season 3, which would have made for a tighter, more relevant story without wasting time on the muddled mess of attempting to flesh out Boba Fett's character. It was done in such a half-assed way that I'd almost rather not have the show at all. This is rather puzzling, as all of the episodes were written by Jon Favreau or Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. I'm still thinking there must have been some sort of behind-the-scenes scuffle that would account for such a disjointed mid-season pivot, but I suppose we'll never know. 

At any rate, the bottom line is that the Boba Fett part of this show irritated and disappointed me, and I'm not too keen on The Book of Boba Fett Season 2, if there is one. Also, Bryce Dallas Howard should direct all of The Mandalorian Season 3. 

I have spoken. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Book of Boba Fett Season 1 Episode 6, "From the Desert Comes a Stranger"

 

This show is a mess. 

I say that with regret. I'm certainly not against the idea of a show about Boba Fett in and of itself, especially if Ming-Na Wen plays a prominent part. The first four episodes weren't outstanding, and were absolutely wrong-headed and dumb in fridging the Tuskens, but I think it could have built into something more interesting if it had been given the chance. I'm wondering if there was some sort of internal fight at Disney and some higher-up forced Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni's hand with a "WAIT WE MUST BE MORE LIKE MARVEL STUDIOS AND HAVE EACH SHOW SET UP AND LEAD INTO THE NEXT," because all of a sudden The Mandalorian was dragged onto the screen. 

And last week's episode was good. That's the most unsettling part of it. "Return of the Mandalorian" was good, and poor Boba got left in the dust. Which leads to this episode, where we see him for two or three brief shots and he doesn't have a single line. And we're back to Din Djarin, and Cobb Vanth and Ahsoka Tano from season 2 of The Mandalorian, and we see......guess who again? 

This episode isn't quite as good as last week's, and the closing scene set a fire under certain quarters of the internet. We see Master Luke training Grogu, having him raise frogs from swamp water and use the Force to jump into the air (and in a hilarious scene, Grogu can only do the tiniest little hop, because after all he's still a baby) and fight with a "training module" that keeps zapping Grogu as he hops from rock to rock in the river, until he finally becomes fed up with it and smashes it into the water. But one definitely gets the sense that he's only doing this because Luke is asking, not because he really wants to. Luke gets this vibe as well: "It's more like he's remembering than I'm actually teaching him anything."

Ahsoka Tano: "Sometimes the student guides the master."

Luke: "Sometimes I wonder if his heart is in it."

Ahsoka: "So much like your father."

Luke: "What should I do about him?"

Ahsoka: "Trust your instincts."

(As an aside: Really? That's all we get between Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano? This scene is bursting with subtext. One gets the feeling that they've talked all about Anakin and each of them knows what happened when he was young and how Luke managed to redeem him, but boy howdy I would've liked to see that complete scene. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to, not in this show or The Mandalorian either. Maybe in Ahsoka's show? 

Another aside: This CGI'd Luke was a helluva lot better than the one in The Mandalorian Season 2. Maybe the guy Lucasfilm hired, who worked up the deepfake on YouTube, worked on this episode?)

This leads to the episode's final scene, and The Choice That Shook the Internet. Luke's Jedi training house is complete (and was constructed by six-legged ant droids, in an absurd bit of Star Wars weirdness) and Luke and Grogu are sitting inside. Luke takes out the little beskar chainmail shirt Din Djarin brought for him and lays it down in front of Grogu, then Yoda's miniature lightsaber, and tells Grogu he has a choice.

"The Mandalorian wanted you to have this. But before you take it, I will give you a choice. This is a lightsaber. It belonged to my teacher, Master Yoda. Now, I'm offering it to you. But you may choose only one. If you choose the armor, you'll return to your friend, the Mandalorian. However, you will be giving in to attachment to those that you love and forsaking the way of the Jedi. But if you choose the lightsaber, you will be the first student in my academy, and I will train you to be a great Jedi. It will take you many years to master the ways of the Force, and you may never see the Mandalorian again. Because a short time for you is lifetime for someone else. Which do you choose?"

(Argh. This is why these two episodes really belonged in the third season of The Mandalorian, dammit. I do not like how they were shoehorned into this show, no matter how good they are in and of themselves.)

There's also so much to unpack in this scene: Luke (and Ahsoka, to an extent) falling into the "Jedi attachment-free" bullshit that ruined Anakin Skywalker; Luke's setting things in motion for the downfall of his school and his withdrawal from the galaxy decades later, as seen in The Last Jedi; and Luke's wrong-headedness in not realizing that Grogu can be both a Jedi and a Mandalorian, as the Armorer pointed out in the previous episode about the person who forged the Darksaber. (Which, to be fair, Luke may not be aware of.) I suppose we'll see what Grogu chooses in the next episode. Although I'm pretty sure Peli Motto didn't build that second little seat in Mando's Starfighter for nothing. 

Yeah, and some other things happened in this episode as well: Cobb Vanth reappears, still the sheriff of Mos Pelgo, or Freetown, who Mando goes to see in an effort to convince him to join Boba Fett's fight. Vanth also has a shootout of his own, with a gunslinger from the Pyke Syndicate who wipes the floor with him (although I don't think Vanth is dead, as said blue-skinned gunslinger was also aiming for his deputy and the shot that dropped Vanth to the sand was a bit off to one side). In Mos Espo, Garsa Fwip's bar is blown to smithereens by a couple of Pykesters. We also see a barnstorming session at Jabba's palace, with Fennec Shand briefing everybody as to what the Pyke Syndicate is doing. 

Oh yeah, and Boba Fett makes all of a two- or three-minute appearance in his own show! 

If this is the result of some interior tussle over the future of the franchise, I hope it gets worked out. Because the quality of this show is simply not up to par, and everyone should know it. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Book of Boba Fett Season 1 Ep 5, "Return of the Mandalorian"

 

You know, if I was Temuera Morrison, I might be a wee bit ticked that the best episode of my show.....had nothing to do with me at all. 

That's right, folks. Episode 5 of Boba Fett is actually a stealth episode of The Mandalorian! 

In one way, this is definitely not a bad thing. This episode, superbly directed by Bryce Dallas Howard (I'm very tempted to just say hand her the keys to all the director's chairs going forward), was fun and emotional and squee-inducing (it had a fucking Ringworld!), while showing us what's become of our favorite doting father since the sad separation from his Baby Yoda. Din Djarin is obviously lost and adrift; he's gone back to bounty hunting, clumsily swinging the Darksaber around like a knobbly-headed sledgehammer instead of the finely-tuned lethal weapon it is, to the point where he slices his leg with his own weapon. (The way he was stabbing and hacking with the Darksaber, it's a wonder he didn't cut the limb right off. In a later scene when the Armorer is trying to teach him the finesse necessary to use it, she remarks that he is "fighting against the blade." On Wookieepedia the article on kyber crystals, which power lightsabers, says they're quasi-sentient, so I can easily imagine the Darksaber's crystal wondering what the hell the untalented oaf hacking at things with it thinks he's doing.) After turning in his bounty and gaining the information he demanded, Mando descends to a lower level of the Ringworld and finds the two remaining members of his fundamentalist Mandalorian sect, the Armorer and a new character named Paz Vizsla. He doesn't remain with them long, because Paz is jealous of the fact that Mando has the Darksaber (which the Armorer says was forged a thousand years ago by Paz's ancestor, Tarre Vizsla) and challenges him for it. Despite his ineptness with the Darksaber, Mando manages to win, but loses all the same....because apparently a condition of the challenge is that each fighter must answer the question, "Have you ever removed your helmet?" and Mando admits that he did. The Armorer doesn't even give him a chance to explain and casts him out, saying he is a Mandalorian no more. 

(But we're there long enough to hear some general backstory about Mandalore, the Darksaber, and Bo-Katan Kryze, including a flashback to Mandalore's Great Purge, when the Empire all but wiped them out. This looked a helluva lot like a Terminator 2 outtake. Oh, and the Armorer forges Mando's cool beskar spear into....something....for his founding. From the tiny links I saw hitting the floor, I suspect it will be a Baby Yoda-sized mithril beskar chainmail shirt.)

Mando leaves the Ringworld and returns to Tatooine via commercial freighter (following a hilarious scene where the boarding droid demands he remove his weapons, and he fills up a good-sized suitcase with everything stashed and hidden in his armor) to meet the mechanic Peli Motto, who says she has a replacement for the Razor Crest. This turns out to be an absurdly tiny Naboo Starfighter, and though Peli persuades Mando to stay and help her put it back together, this is about the most impractical thing she could have saddled a bounty hunter with, despite its prodigious speed. The Razor Crest had, among other things, an actual living space, sleeping quarters and bathroom. This new ship has none of that. I guess Mando (and Grogu, because you know he'll be reunited with his kid in The Mandalorian Season 3) is just going to stay in hotels and bring back the chopped-off heads of his targets from now on (and maybe invest in a lot of diapers, cockpit catheters and urinary leg bags) because that ship isn't going to have room for anything else.

Nevertheless, the scenes in the middle of the episode of Din and Peli repairing and reassembling the ship were one of the best parts of it, mainly because of Amy Sedaris' hilariously improvised dialogue ("I dated a Jawa for awhile. They're quite furry. Quite furry. Lots of issues."), and Bryce Dallas Howard's wonderful eye for tiny details in characterizing Peli and her pack of droids. When Mando first shows up, Peli is chasing down a womp-rat who grabbed one of her smallest droids, BD. She yells at the other droids to help her, and not only do they fail to do that, they take turns hiding behind each other. At one point, little BD is so happy to have helped Mando put a part on the ship in its proper place that it stomps both feet up and down and shakes. In another scene, the droids are trying to guide one of the starfighter's new engines into its proper place, and one of the droids almost gets its head smashed. It pulls its head out, grabs it in both hands and runs away, clearly done with helping with the repair, at least for a while. In the background of one of the long shots of the repair bay, a rat (or Tatooine equivalent) runs across the sandy floor. These scenes were just a delight, and they were all punctuated by Amy Sedaris' funny, idiosyncratic banter. 

After the Starfighter is finished, Din takes it out for a run, shooting across Mos Eisley and through the same canyon where Anakin Skywalker pod-raced and Luke Skywalker chased womp-rats. He then takes the ship up and out of the atmosphere, where he gets caught by one of the same New Republic cops who tracked him in Season 2. One of them recognizes his voice and starts to question him, but he pressed the SUPER-SEKRIT BUTTON and the ship accelerates so fast it instantly vanishes from sight. When he touches back down in Peli Motto's courtyard, she asks him: "How was it?"

"Wizard," he replies.

(Apparently this, like several other references in this episode, is a callback to the prequel trilogy? I still have no great desire to watch it.)

Peli then tells Mando a "friend" has dropped by. Said "friend" is of course Fennec Shand, who says she wants to hire him as "muscle." When Mando realizes it's for Boba Fett he hands Fennec her money back: "Tell him it's on the house. But first I have to pay a visit to a little friend."

Well, well, well. This all but begs for the NEXT episode also to be about Din Djarin and Grogu, but I think we've shortchanged Boba Fett and Fennec Shand quite enough. I also think the powers-that-be may regret taking this diversion, because this episode shows just why Boba Fett is falling short. The protagonist's characterization is hopelessly muddled, we still have no real idea why he's doing what he's doing, and (banging the drum once again) the TUSKENS STILL DIDN'T HAVE TO BE SACRIFICED TO MOTIVATE HIM. Maybe if Bryce Dallas Howard were to direct the final two episodes? Regardless, even if--as I suspect he will--Boba gets to ride his baby Rancor, this show's first season (except for this episode) is going to be mediocre at best. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 ep 8, "The Rescue"

 

Well, this was....a finale, one that was both satisfying and unsatisfying at the same time. 

By the way, do I need to say that SPOILERS ABOUND?? I'm sure most of y'all have heard about the big reveal in this episode. If not, well, get thine eyes off my page right now and don't complain to me, because I AM going to talk about it. (I'm not terribly patient with spoiler whiners anyway. If you can't stand to watch something because you know the Big Thing that happened sooner than you should have, you must not be much of a fan of said thing in the first place. I find it's usually more interesting to analyze what led up to the Big Ass Spoiler, and how it fits into the overall context of the show. But anyway.)

We open on Boba Fett's wacky ship, Slave-1, hunting down the scientist, Dr, Pershing, who first experimented on Baby Grogu. He shoots an "ion cannon" to shut down all their electronics, and Din Djarin and Cara Dune board the ship. One of the troopers aboard holds a gun to the doctor's head and taunts Cara about Alderaan (apparently the teardrop tattoo on her cheek is the symbol of an Alderaan survivor). Bad move, as Cara tells him twice to stand down and then shoots him in the face, cool as a cucumber. (Dr. Pershing survives, but the incident leaves a lasting impression on him, as he henceforth babbles about every little thing he knows.) Boba Fett then takes the group to the planet where Mando first met Bo-Katan Kryze and her sidekick Koska, where Din recruits the two of them by telling Bo-Katan he knows where Moff Gideon is. (After a testy set-to with Boba Fett where Bo-Katan taunts him for being a clone and not a real Mandalorian, and Boba and Koska take turns throwing each other across the floor.) Bo-Katan agrees as long as she can get the Darksaber, and Mando says he doesn't care what she does with Gideon or his ship as long as he gets his kid back. 

On the way to Mando's coordinates, Bo-Katan (who seems to naturally assume command of the little group, and no one objects) works out their plan: they will emerge from hyperspace in Dr. Pershing's ship with Boba Fett following behind, firing on them. They'll demand an emergency landing on Gideon's cruiser, then Bo-Katan, Kosak, Cara Dune and Fennec Shand will charge out and lay waste to as many stormtroopers as they can, fighting their way to the bridge where they assume Moff Gideon will be. Amid all the noise and distraction, Mando will sneak out behind them and make his way to the Dark Troopers' compartment, sealing them away before they can become active, and then go down to the brig where Grogu is being held. 

This is not a bad plan, and it's tremendous fun to see these four female badasses charging through Moff Gideon's ship, taking out all the hapless Stormtroopers they run across. Of course, the Dark Troopers are a different proposition altogether, as Mando finds out when he gets to their compartment and discovers the doors are opening and they're ready to march. He manages to shut the doors, but one gets out and proceeds to whoop his ass up and down the hallway. In fact, it's only because of Ahsoka Tano's beskar spear (quite useful, that--I hope he gets a chance to thank her someday) that he survives. He then opens the compartment and sends the rest of the platoon tumbling out into space, and afterwards makes his way to the brig. 

Where he finds Moff Gideon waiting for him, holding the Darksaber above our poor handcuffed baby's head. 

Gideon says that he knows Din is traveling with Bo-Katan, and she's come for the Darksaber. Mando says, again, that he doesn't care about that, and only wants Baby Grogu. Gideon fakes Mando out, saying he's gotten what he wants from Baby Grogu, namely the child's blood (with a creepy proclamation about said blood bringing "order" to the galaxy, again reminding us that the First Order is already starting to rise). Mando starts to pick up the baby, and Gideon attacks him anyway--and again, the beskar spear saves Mando's life (even though it glows red when the darksaber is held against it). The two of them go round in the hallway for a bit, but finally Mando wrenches the saber out of Gideon's hand. He doesn't kill the Moff because Cara Dune asked him not to, saying he holds quite a bit of intelligence that could be useful to the New Republic. So Mando handcuffs Gideon, frees Baby Grogu, picks up the darksaber and makes his way to the bridge. 

Where he finds, to his shock, that Bo-Katan cannot take the Darksaber, because, as Moff Gideon taunts, "it must be won in combat." Mando tries a couple of times to give it to her, even saying "I yield" as if she had met him in battle, but Bo-Katan says the Moff is right. But there's no more time to talk about it, because the alarm goes off to signal that the remaining Dark Troopers (who are droids and can withstand the vacuum of space, after all) have made their way back on board and are heading for the bridge. Koska closes the blast doors and everyone stands facing them, weapons drawn. But they all know, as Moff Gideon says (and somebody really should have taped his mouth shut), "After a valiant stand, everyone in this room but me and the Child will be dead."

This sequence, and indeed the remainder of the episode, is very well shot and edited, ruthlessly ratcheting up the tension. The Dark Troopers march to the blast doors and start pounding on them, and it's plain to see they are going to give way. But then another alarm goes off, and a single X-Wing fighter jumps in and lands in the launch tube. Cara scoffs at the idea of a single X-Wing helping them, but the camera focuses on Grogu, and we see his ears perking up. The remainder of the Dark Trooper platoon below also turns to face the intruder, and Moff Gideon suddenly begins to look alarmed. On the fuzzy screen, a single figure in a hood emerges, brandishes a lightsaber, and proceeds to cut every single Dark Trooper into its constituent bits. 

(A desperate Moff Gideon tries to take advantage of the distraction by pulling a dropped blaster and firing first at Bo-Katan and then Baby Grogu, but the shot is stopped by Bo-Katan's armor and Din throws himself in front of the baby. Cara Dune then knocks Moff Gideon senseless, as should have been done before this.)

We follow the lone Jedi as he makes his way to the bridge, using both his lightsaber and the Force to eliminate the Dark Troopers. As the shot switches from the black-and-white ship's screens, we see the lightsaber is green and the hand carrying it is gloved. Grogu is fascinated by what's going on, resting his little hand on the screen as he follows the Jedi's progress. The Jedi finally makes it to the bridge, squeezing the last Dark Trooper in a Force-crushing fist, and Din Djarin opens up the blast doors and lets him in. 

And y'all know who it is, right? Of course. Luke Skywalker. 

A CGI-deaged Luke Skywalker, to be sure, with Mark Hamill's younger face overlaid on top of another actor's. The technology has improved a bit from a cringingly artificial young Carrie Fisher in Rogue One, but it still doesn't have the movements and expressions of real flesh. No matter, because the scene is brief. Luke has come to take Grogu for training; he says the baby is strong in the Force, but strength without training is useless. At first Mando says, "He doesn't want to go with you," but Luke replies: "He wants your permission." 

Then we have the scene that I'm sure generated a thousand tears, as Din Djarin says goodbye to Baby Grogu. He lifts the little one up and tells him he needs to go, that it's all right, and they'll meet again. The baby reaches out his hand to touch Mando's helmet, and Mando, knowing what he really wants, takes off his helmet in front of Luke, God and everyone and lets the baby touch his face. Din sets Grogu down and the baby slowly toddles over to Luke, aided by the appearance of R2, who comes in and chirps to the baby, encouraging him the rest of the way. Luke picks Grogu up and he and R2 walk away, and the episode ends with everyone standing on the bridge watching him go. 

Now, I am of two decidedly conflicting minds about this. Obviously Grogu needs training, and Din cannot do it. Story-wise, Luke is not only the logical choice but perhaps the only choice: as Ahsoka Tano said, "There are not many Jedi left." Still, it's not a choice made in a vacuum, and even though the characters don't have any knowledge of the dreadful fate of Luke's Jedi academy, we the viewers do. (As a matter of fact, time-wise, Ben Solo may already be born and toddling about. It would be very interesting if, since Ben and Baby Grogu might be roughly the same developmental age and might even be growing up and training together, Grogu would be the first to be tipped off to Ben's Dark Side tendencies.) So despite the fact that the story really couldn't have resorted to the dea ex machina of a hitherto unknown Jedi popping out of nowhere and agreeing to travel with Mando and train Grogu just so the two of them wouldn't be separated, it was still hard. I can only hope that further down the line we will see Baby Grogu again, since to me, his and Din Djarin's relationship has been the heart of this show. Also, it was nice to get a Star Wars story that doesn't revolve around the sometimes suffocating Skywalker family, as after a while they tend to suck all the air out of any room. 

Be that as it may, the stakes for next season--Din Djarin's inheriting a Darksaber and a throne he doesn't want, along with a ready-made conflict with Bo-Katan Kryze--have been set. And of course we have the tag scene, wherein Boba Fett and Fennec Shand return to Jabba the Hutt's palace, and Boba shoots Bib Fortuna off the throne and claims it for himself, with Fennec smugly sitting on the throne arm and drinking some bright blue liquor. Followed by a title card proclaiming "The Book of Boba Fett, coming December 2021." I knew next to nothing about Boba Fett before this, but The Mandalorian made him interesting enough for me to watch. There's still some confusion over whether Boba's show will be a separate thing or the actual third season of The Mandalorian, but we shall see. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 Ep 6, "The Tragedy"

 

I think The Mandalorian can rightly pride itself on its lean, mean, efficient storytelling. You'd think, with each episode's budget rumored to be in the $15 million range, they would be drawn out and overstuffed. But just like the early rock songs, the episodes show up, say their piece in 2-3 minutes (or 30) and get out. Most of the time, this is fine. But sometimes, no amount of crisp storytelling and balls-to-the-wall action sequences can paper over plot holes big enough to shoot the Razor Crest through.

Unfortunately, this episode is one of those times. 

Not that there aren't good things about it. The opening sequence, for instance, with Mando letting Baby Yoda play with his favorite joystick knob and seemingly delighting to call Grogu by his real name, just to see his ears flick and his head snap up, is one of them. He even lets Grogu practice his Jedi powers, having him Force-yank the knob out of his hand. Mando is saying he's going to take the kid to Tython and find a Jedi to train him, and it's obvious every word coming out of his mouth is a desperate attempt to talk himself into thinking this is a good thing. 

They reach Tython, land the Razor Crest, and Mando jetpacks himself and Grogu to the top of the hill where the temple/Seeing Stone is. He places Grogu on the nondescript hump that is the Seeing Stone and waits for the little one to trigger something. Then there is the whining sound of an (ugly-ass) ship coming in and landing. Mando looks to see who is emerging and runs back to Grogu, saying "We have to get out of here, kid!" But while he was gone, Baby touched the stone and activated it, sending a blue-white column of Force power shooting up into the sky, surrounding him and the stone. This doesn't stop Mando from trying to reach through the energy and grab Grogu, which gets him (and not for the first time this episode) knocked ass over teakettle. 

To buy time for whatever is going down, Mando rushes down the hill to meet whoever disembarked from the ugly ship. (I know these episodes are shot on a soundstage with huge digital screens providing the background images, but man, this really looked like it was filmed on location. Especially all the running up and down the hills and over, through and behind rocks. Hopefully there will be another behind the scenes documentary, as there was for Season 1, and we'll see if this was the case.) Of course, this person proves to be....wait for it....Boba Fett, having tracked him all the way from Tatooine.

(Plot Hole #1: How?)

Now I am not a Boba Fett fanatic like most. Never having watched most of the prequel trilogy, I hardly knew who the guy was until his reveal in Episode 1 of the season and the entire fandom went apocaleptic. Mando doesn't believe his assertion that the other armor belongs to him either, but Boba has a bit of an ace in the hole: the assassin Fennec Shand, who he rescued on Tatooine way back in season 1 after she was left for dead. (And revived her by apparently....inserting steampunk pistons in place of her blaster-ravaged guts? This civilization has thousands of clones to fight its wars, but can't manage replacement body parts?) Boba suggests instead of everyone shooting each other, they all stand down and talk. Fennec will lay down her sniper rifle, and Mando his jetpack. Fennec says the bounty on Grogu has increased exponentially--and sure enough, as they are talking, another ship lands next to the Razor Crest and vomits forth a legion of stormtroopers. Mando runs back up the hill again, thinking to try to grab Grogu.

(Plot Hole #2: FOR FRAK'S SAKE, MANDO! Y'ALL JUST RAN OFF AND LEFT YOUR FUCKING JETPACK! COME ON! IT WOULD TAKE ALL OF FIVE SECONDS TO GRAB IT AND PUT IT ON, AND GET TO THE TOP OF THE HILL A WEE BIT FASTER!!)

Grogu's still...communing with the Force, or whatever the heck he's doing, and Mando tries once again to penetrate it, and once again gets thrown ass over teakettle. This time he's knocked clear out, which I surmise is only to let Boba Fett and Fennec Shand unleash two magnificent cans of whoop-ass. Which they ably proceed to do, in an admittedly exciting action sequence. Fennec jumps in the air, runs across rocks and rarely misses her shots, and Boba swings his metal hook-ended thingie and takes down Stormtroopers coming and going. In the middle of this, he also spots the Razor Crest (CONVENIENTLY SITTING THERE WITH ITS LANDING RAMP DOWN) and retrieves his armor. This is a good thing, timing-wise, as Mando finally wakes up and tries ONE MORE TIME to fetch Grogu. 

(Plot Hole #3: Isn't this the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Also, WHY DON'T YOU USE THE KID'S NAME, SEEING AS EVERY TIME YOU'VE SAID IT BEFORE HIS ADORABLE LITTLE HEAD WHIPS AROUND? But no, Mando just likes playing Force gymnastics, I guess.)

After Grogu plows his butt into the dirt a third time, Mando runs (RUNS...ARGHH) back down the hill, meets up with Fennec, and gets surrounded by Stormtroopers. They're badly outnumbered, and things are getting dicey when a re-armored Boba Fett steps in. He proceeds to clear out the entire bunch, so much so they break and run back to their transports. Said transports take off, and Boba zeroes in on them and shoots off his jetpack rocket, bringing both of them down in flames. 

Now. (Plot Hole #4: Instead of IMMEDIATELY grabbing his own jetpack and scooting up the hill to Grogu, who had FALLEN OVER WITH EXHAUSTION AND RELEASED THE FORCE COLUMN RIGHT AFTER MANDO LEFT THE THIRD TIME) Mando, Boba and Fennec stop to have a fucking CONVERSATION. While it's nice that Mando recognizes the armor belongs to Boba and all, and Boba's a foundling like his father before him, y'all don't have fucking TIME to stand around and flap your jaws, folks. This is proven minutes later, when laser shots come out of the sky and blow up the poor Razor Crest. They see the outline of a huge ship up there, and Fennec tells Boba to get to his own (ugly-ass) ship. Boba jets off, and (Plot Hole #5: MANDO STILL DOESN'T GET HIS GODDAMN JETPACK) we see just who this is: Moff Gideon, sending his Dark Stormtroopers down to grab the baby. Four of them jet through the sky, while Mando and Fennec run back up the hill.

*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*

Of course, you know what happens, don't you? The Dark Stormtroopers scoop up Grogu and take off. Never mind that if Mando had jetted STRAIGHT BACK UP THERE, he could have gotten to Grogu before they did. Which undoubtedly would have led to an aerial battle, but hell, that's what Boba's ugly-ass ship is there for, isn't it? Now, I don't know if they could have gotten away...they might all have ended up in Moff Gideon's custody. But at least that would have made a bit more sense. 

As it is, Boba follows the Dark Stormtroopers far enough to see that they're going back to an Imperial Cruiser (Plot Hole #6: Why don't they shoot him out of the sky? For that matter, why didn't they blow up his ship the same time as the Razor Crest?). The cruiser jumps away, leaving the three behind. Down on the planet, Mando paws through the remains of his ship to find Baby's toy and his beskar spear, and Boba says he and Fennec owe Mando a debt for the return of the armor. The first part of paying that off is taking him back to Navarro, where he asks Cara Dune to find an Imperial prisoner, another guy from the first season. He also tells her Moff Gideon has Grogu (or "the kid," since she doesn't know Mando has discovered Grogu's name). 

Final scene: Aboard Moff Gideon's cruiser, he goes down to the chamber where Grogu is being held, to find the baby tossing, Force-choking, and smashing his Stormtrooper guards (although he doesn't manage to kill them, since they both eventually get to their feet and stagger off). Moff Gideon is very pleased by this display of Grogu's abilities and even shows the frightened baby the darksaber--which Grogu tries to reach out to, evidently recognizing what it is. Moff Gideon is obviously not worried that Grogu will escape; as he says, using the Force makes him "very sleepy." Still, they stun the kid and put shackles on his little hands, and leave him there passed out in the chamber. 

The first time I watched this, it went by fast enough that I didn't notice the plot holes. The second time, taking my notes, I thought: Really? Jon Favreau usually writes better episodes than this. I guess he knows he has two episodes remaining and however many millions of dollars left to spend, and he's going to stretch it out and spend it. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 Ep 5, "The Jedi"

 

As the title implies, this is the episode where Ahsoka Tano, the breakout character of the animated Star Wars series, Clone Wars and Rebels, was set to make her live-action debut. I more than half expected this to be a long-drawn-out tease, where we would get a glimpse of Ahsoka in the final minutes, but no. The opening minutes of this episode are eerie, fast-paced fight scenes on the forest planet Corvus, where Ahsoka is seen right away, fighting alien guards of the capital city, Catodan. Wielding her twin white lightsabers, she fights her way to the gates of the capital city, demanding information from the woman called the Magistrate. The Magistrate threatens to execute some of the townspeople, and Ahsoka gives her one day to change her mind before walking back into the fog. 

(As an aside: what the devil is happening on this planet? Bo-Katan Kryze called Corvus a "forest planet" in the previous episode, but in the next scene where Mando is bringing the Razor Crest in for a landing, it looks like half the planet is on fire. The background for the entire episode is a burnt forest, not a whole one, with stripped trees sticking out of the ground like broken toothpicks. The atmosphere is also a smoky/foggy haze, obscuring the sun. Yet nobody remarks on this?)

Mando lands his ship outside the castle/capital city, takes Baby (who has been playing with the shift knob again) and walks to Catodan. The Magistrate's right hand man, Lang, lets him in, and after Mando tries unsuccessfully to get information from some of the frightened locals, he is taken to see the Magistrate. Along the way they pass the prisoners seen earlier, who are strung up on poles and being tortured. The Magistrate is holding court in another compound inside the city (which has water and un-burnt trees) and upon seeing Mando, offers him the job of killing a troublesome Jedi. Without missing a beat, Mando plays along with this, and the Magistrate offers him a spear/staff of pure beskar for the job. 

Mando strides off into the burned-out forest outside the castle, carrying Baby slung at his side in his little pouch. (Lang asks, "What is that thing?" and again without missing a beat, Mando says, "I keep it around for luck.") They reach the specified coordinates and Mando sets Baby Yoda on a rock to look around with his spyglass. Ahsoka Tano ambushes him from behind, and they go around for a bit before Mando manages to yell her name and that Bo-Katan sent him. "We need to talk," he says.

"I hope it's about him," Ahsoka says, noticing the curious baby perched on the rock. 

Ahsoka sits communing with Baby for a while, while Mando paces nervously in the background. Finally she brings the baby and tells Mando what she discovered: that he has a name, Grogu; that he was raised at the Jedi temple in Coruscant, and was taken away and hidden during the Clone Wars (and apparently there's a gap in his memory, as we're not told who did that or how he got to where Mando found him); and she's seen only one other being like him, the Jedi Master Yoda. Ahsoka asks if he still uses the Force. Mando betrays how little he knows about the Jedi, as he refers to Baby Yoda's "powers," and Ahsoka has to explain the Force to him. Mando says he has been tasked to bring this child to the Jedi and wants Ahsoka to train him. Since Baby Grogu was tired out by Ahsoka's questioning and is nodding off, Ahsoka says she'll test him in the morning.

(All right. Grogu? Really? It's nice that Baby Yoda has a name, but that hard "g" doesn't suit him at all. Also, hearing it makes me wonder if he's Baby Groot's long-lost cousin.)

In the morning, Ahsoka tries to get Baby Grogu to show he can use the Force. She does this by sending him a rock through the air and telling him to send it back. Mando objects: "He doesn't understand," but Ahsoka says, "He does." The baby isn't listening though, just letting the rock fall to the ground, so Ahsoka tells Mando to see if he can get Grogu to cooperate. Mando steps up and pulls the shiny shift knob out of his pocket, telling Grogu to take it. The baby does--in fact, he zips it through the air to his little hands pretty damn fast. This makes Mando crow with pride: "I knew you could do it!"

Pride goeth before a fall, though, as Ahsoka next says she will not train Grogu. 

She gives a couple of reasons for this. The first is his attachment to Mando, which is obvious to anyone, with or without the Force. She notes the little one is scared, and he had to hide his powers to survive. Finally, she says that this fear, and his attachment to Mando, will lead him to the Dark Side, and she will not put this child through that.

This bears a bit of unpacking, I think. First, we all know Ahsoka is talking about Anakin Skywalker, even if Mando doesn't. Aside from that, this bit of dialogue is vague enough to allow for individual interpretations, so here's mine: Ahsoka knows that Grogu is, or will be, very strong in the Force; this baby is frightened and traumatized (understandably so, with all that has happened and been done to him); and right now, his attachment to Din Djarin is probably the only thing that's keeping him from falling to the dark path. Training Grogu would require years, and Mando can't stick around on this burning planet for years (even if he and Ahsoka would get along during the training). I think Ahsoka believes it would be more dangerous to separate the two of them, which is why she refuses. (Also, I think she can't take Grogu on right now because she has her own quest: namely, hunting down someone whose name we'll hear in a bit.)

Mando objects to this: this is the quest he has been sent on, even though we see throughout this episode that he really doesn't want to hand Grogu over. He tells Ahsoka the Magistrate sent him to kill her, and strikes a bargain: he will help Ahsoka take the Magistrate down if Grogu is trained. 

Ahsoka returns to Catodan at the end of her promised day and attacks. She cuts their huge gong, used to sound the alarm (and this planet belongs to an interstellar civilization? Really? Every time I saw the city, I kept thinking it was some kind of medieval fortress), in half with her lightsaber and confronts the Magistrate, tossing one of Mando's beskar shoulder pads on the ground and informing her the "bounty hunter" has failed. The next bit is a fantastically choreographed and shot running battle through the city, with Lang taking his guards and battle droids after Ahsoka and her cutting them down one by one, and Mando releasing the prisoners and herding all the townspeople off the streets. Finally, Ahsoka pins down the Magistrate in her garden and the two go at it on her boardwalk, with the Magistrate wielding that beskar staff that can withstand the lightsaber's blows. Outside, Lang and Mando meet in a sort of High Noon-ish pose, although they're not shooting each other yet because they're listening to Ahsoka and the Magistrate. Ahsoka finally whips the staff from the Magistrate's hand and demands the piece of information she was searching for all along: "Where is your master? Where is Grand Admiral Thrawn?" We don't see what happens to the Magistrate, but I imagine she winds up as dead as Lang after Mando quick-draws and shoots him down. 

Afterwards, the townspeople are released, Ahsoka gives Mando the beskar staff, and he goes back to the Razor Crest to hand Baby Grogu over. The baby is sleeping in his little hammock, and for the longest time Mando just sits with him; we know, if we didn't already, that he does not want to do this. Finally, Ahsoka shows up and again states that she cannot train Grogu, noting: "You're like a father to him." She offers a compromise, telling Mando take the baby to Tython, to a ruined Jedi temple with a "seeing stone"; set Grogu there, and if he chooses he can reach out with the Force and see if there is a Jedi who will train him. Although Ahsoka isn't optimistic: "There are not many Jedi left." 

So Mando takes off, and Ahsoka Tano turns and walks back to the city. 

Whew. As I said, I've never watched the animated series and thus have never seen Ahsoka in her earlier incarnations, but this left quite the impression. If, as is rumored, she's getting her own show on Disney Plus, I would happily watch it. What this episode does, however, is drive home the fact that the heart and soul of The Mandalorian is Din Djarin and Baby Grogu. I'm sure there are confrontations with Moff Gideon to come (where's that tracking beacon?), but this episode moved both the plot and the characterizations forward. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 Ep 4, "The Siege"

 

 

 The Mandalorian's sweet spot for episode length is 30-40 minutes, seems like. Which is okay, as this show doesn't have--or doesn't yet have--the depth of themes and character found in some other shows I watch (particularly The Expanse and Star Trek: Picard). Again, this is fine: bright, cheery and occasionally mindless is fun too. But when you get action-heavy episodes like this one, you wish--or at least I do--that they would slow down just a bit, to let the show breathe and the characters reflect. 

This picks up right after the ending of episode 3, with Mando now knowing where to take Baby Yoda...except that he can't get there, as the Razor Crest is still broken down. The opening scene is quite funny, with Mando trying to fix the hyperdrive and even utilizing the baby, who has wiggled into a small compartment and is attempting to follow Daddy's instructions to "insert the red wire where the blue wire was, and the blue wire where the red wire was, and don't let them touch." (This must be a major jury-rigging of the system, since I can't imagine that the ship would have been designed so that such a crucial component could only be reached by a tiny green Yodaling.) Baby lets them touch, of course, and sparks fly and smoke drifts out of the compartment (don't worry, he's okay). After this Mando stops for lunch--soup--and tells Baby Yoda the ship must be repaired and they're going to Nevarro. This is another sweet scene, as baby is carefully watching Daddy and lifting his  cup to drink at the same time Mando drinks his. 

They limp back to Nevarro (and there must be some more time dilation going on here, as I got the impression that several months had passed), to find that Greef Carga and Cara Dune, from last season, are running the place now. Cara Dune is the Marshal and has cleaned up the most of the planet, as shown by the scene where she quite ably kicks the asses of several ugly growly aliens who have stolen something. She also rescues a little chittering critter they were about to eat that looks like a cross between a rat, an otter and a mongoose.

Mando lands the poor battered Razor Crest (he can't even get the off ramp to drop all the way down and has to jump off it), and Greef Carga gets his mechanics started on fixing it. He and Cara take Mando on a tour of the cleaned-up town, and stop at someplace I don't think has been shown in Star Wars before: a school, helmed by a protocol droid. They drop Baby Yoda off there, as both Greef and Cara want Mando's help with something. 

(Baby Yoda is really too young to be in school, but he's distracted by the bright blue macaroon cookies the student sitting next to him is eating. He waves his little hand and asks for a cookie, but the student turns him down. He waits a minute, until the student is distracted by the lesson, and uses the Force to drag the cookie sleeve off the other's desk and to his own, and when the other student looks around, baby is happily munching on his stolen cookies.)

This "something" turns out to be a mission to shut down an old Imperial base, supposedly staffed by a skeleton crew.  (This falls into the now-predictable series pattern of "Mando is talked or coerced into doing something dangerous before he can proceed to the next stop on his quest," which is okay, I suppose.) The group--Cara, Greeg and Mando, plus a fourth: Mythrol, the bright blue amphibian-creature Mando dragged back for a bounty in the very first episode of the series--set off in Mythrol's landspeeder. 

They reach the base, only to discover (of course) it's not quite as abandoned as Greef Carga thought. They slink through the hallways and finally reach the reactor, only to find it perched on the cliff above a lava pool with no guardrails. (Obviously OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, does not exist in the Star Wars universe.) Greef Carga bullies Mythrol into going out on the catwalk and sabotaging it, which he does. Then they run to get out of there before the reactor explodes and the base falls into the lava, only to stumble across a room where two people are frantically trying to wipe all records from a computer. 

This is the point of this episode, as the base was not hiding an armory as Greef thought, but a lab. A lab containing the twisted, mutated bodies of several beings floating in stasis. Cara insists that Mythrol break into the computer to find out what is going on. He does, and finds a message recorded only three days before, from the same scientist who was shown to be doing something to Baby Yoda in Season 1: using the baby's blood, with its high "M-count" (presumably midichlorians), in experimental transfusions to create....something. Which evidently didn't work, as the test subjects died and the scientist didn't have access to any more blood. This message was sent to Moff Gideon, who everyone had thought was dead. 

But Moff Gideon isn't dead, and Mando realizes he is in deep, deep shit. The four of them fight their way out; Mando to flies off with his jetpack to Baby Yoda, and Greef, Cara and Mythrol hijack a vehicle and lead first three Stormtroopers on speeder bikes and then four TIE fighters on a merry chase. (This is a slam-bang action sequence, by the way, tightly directed by Carl Weathers [who also plays Greef Carga]. I don't know if he's directed anything before, but he did a good job with this.) They do their best to outrun and shoot down their pursuers, but they're outnumbered--that is, until the Razor Crest swoops in and blasts the last three TIE fighters into fragments. This involves a great deal of spinning and swooping, with Baby Yoda cheering Daddy on and excitedly waving his cookies. (The Razor Crest's cockpit must have some helluva artificial gravity, as the neither Mando or Baby Yoda are belted in, but they're not thrown around or battered into mush during all of those fancy maneuvers.) As the last fighter falls in pieces to Nevarro's surface, Mando looks around in triumph--and Baby Yoda, made sick by all the spinning, promptly vomits. (And Mando has nothing to mop it up with except his cape. I wonder how he does laundry?)

After this, knowing he has to hide from Moff Gideon, Mando takes off. The last two scenes are on Nevarro: Captain Teva, the New Republic officer from two episodes ago, comes to question Greef Carga about the destruction of the base. Neither Greef nor Cara Dune gives Mando up, of course. Teva also talks to Cara, in a nice little scene that shows that Cara, as a refugee from Alderaan who "lost everyone," wants nothing to do with the New Republic, at least for now. 

But we're not quite done yet. The final scene shifts to a Star Destroyer, and we see the very much alive Moff Gideon. He gets a report from a spy on Nevarro--one of Greef Carga's mechanics--who informs him that the tracking device has been placed on the Razor Crest, and Mando does indeed still have "the asset." The camera pulls back to show Moff Gideon presiding over a hold full of--what? beings, perhaps clones, wearing black, very Darth Vader-looking armor? In any event, we know that Mando is now headed to find Ahsoka Tano, and Moff Gideon won't be far behind.

This episode definitely moved the plot along and ramped up the stakes. I can't fault it for that, but I still feel the show needs to delve into its characters a bit more, particularly given the bombshell dropped on Mando in the last episode. We need to see how he deals with that, or I'm going to be grumbling at Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 Ep 3, "The Heiress"

 

This episode was good in that it was fast-paced and moved the plot forward, but bad in that it was only 36 minutes and didn't give the viewer (or the characters) time to absorb what was revealed. It was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, the second episode she's done for the series, and the episode as a whole was definitely an improvement over the first one she did. It flowed well and was edited well, and the shots and cinematography were better. I just wish it had five or ten more minutes, and maybe a couple of scenes, added to the runtime to let the myriad reveals soak in. 

Furthermore, a couple of those reveals didn't make much sense unless you've also watched the animated series Star Wars: Rebels  and Clone Wars. Which I haven't. I only realized why the Star Wars geeks were jumping up and down over mention of a particular name after reading other reviews. That's fine--I presume I'll learn about that person when they finally make their appearance. Still, I think it would behoove showrunners Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau to remember that not all viewers of The Mandalorian have watched every single thing that came before.

At any rate, this episode picks up right on the heels of the last, with the poor battered Razor Crest finally limping in to the water world Trask. After a hairy manual dive to the floating spacedock, Mando delivers Frog Lady to her husband in a touching reunion. (And also after Mando sets down on the dock, pronouncing the landing "nice and easy," the ship promptly falls off the edge into the water. [Good thing that cockpit was pressurized and waterproof.] A modified AT-AT walker, the same kind seen in The Empire Strikes Back, had to pluck the poor kelp-draped ship out of the ocean. I rather like these reminders that at least half the time, our hero Mandalorian is a hapless fuckup.) He's directed to a dockside tavern--and in the background, we see a mysterious woman watching him and then disappearing--where he orders a bowl of chowder for Baby Yoda and asks the server where to find more of his kind. Baby Yoda's bowl of food is delivered from a thick tube snaking out of the ceiling, and our favorite foundling picks up his spoon and leans over it, ready to dig in--and out of the thick gloppy liquid comes a miniature squid thing to attach to his face, a la Alien. Which only elicits one comment from Dadalorian: "Don't play with your food," as he plucks the thing off baby's face and drops it back in the bowl. 

(Sorry, that's a little bit crooked--I made it with Windows Snipping Tool.)

(This episode was written by Jon Favreau, as were the first two episodes of the season. I love his flashes of dry humor.)

In response to Mando's inquiry, a tentacle-faced being that looks like a descendent of Cthulhu comes over and says he can lead Mando to other Mandalorians. Before I had a chance to say "OH MANDO NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING," we cut to Mando and baby on board a ship. The tentacle-faced species, called the Quarren on my closed captioning, ask Mando, "Ever see a mamacore eat?" as they open up a watery hold in the ship's center. He pushes Mando to let Baby Yoda watch, saying "the kid'll like it," as he lowers a net and dumps some fish into the hold. Baby Yoda's pram floats close to the edge and he leans over to watch--and the Quarren kicks the pram over the edge as the beast inside comes up to feed (although we see baby quickly press the button to close the pram's hatch). The huge beastie inside swallows Baby Yoda whole, and Mando dives in after him. 

The Quarren quickly close the bars over the hold, revealing this was a plot to drown Mando and take his armor. They seem well on their way to doing just that, as Mando tries to surface in the narrow band of air under the bars only for the Quarren to poke at him with harpoons to push him back down. But they're interrupted by the sight of three Mandalorians jetting to the deck and kicking the Quarren's asses. They open the hold and haul Mando out, and after he chokes out, "Help the child," one of them dives in to rescue baby. She pulls Baby Yoda and his somewhat crunched pram out of the water, and gives him back to Mando. 

Mando says he has been looking for other Mandalorians because he has been tasked to deliver the child to its kind, and the lead Mandalorian takes her helmet off, to reveal a redheaded Katee Sackhoff (formerly Starbuck on the Battlestar Galactica reboot). Of course this offends Mando, who jumps to his feet, demanding "Where did you get that armor?" 

"It's been in my family for three generations," she replies, naming herself Bo-Katan Kryze, and them proclaims him a "Child of the Watch," a member of a splinter fundamentalist Mandalorian faction. Now this is what I mean about this episode needing some more time to breathe, as this is the sort of revelation that would have shaken Mando to the core, and he should have had some time to process it (and at the very least, ask Bo-Katan a helluva lot more questions). He does seem to be upset, as he immediately jets off. The three non-Watch Mandalorians blow up the fishing ship and follow. 

Which is a good thing, as after Mando reaches the dock he's attacked by relatives of the fallen Quarren and Bo-Katan and her companions have to rescue him again. Bo says she can give him the name and location of a Jedi if he helps them out with their mission--stealing weapons from a freighter soon to lift off. Mando agrees, and drops Baby Yoda off with Mr. and Mrs. Frog, giving him strict instructions to "be respectful and mind your manners" (i.e., don't eat any more of the Frog couple's eggs). 

The remainder of the episode is given over to the Mandalorians' assault on the freighter. It's tightly written and shot, and again may I say that Bryce Dallas Howard does an excellent job directing it. The four Mandalorians pretty much mow down all the Stormtroopers on board, even opening up a cargo hatch and spacing a bunch of them after they're unwisely trapped in the "cargo control area." In the middle of the fight, Bo-Katan reveals she left out a few salient facts about her description of the original mission--she's not just going to hijack some of the weapons, she's going to commandeer the ship itself. (Mando objects, but she informs him the terms have changed, smugly repeating the Mandalorian creed: "This is the Way.") At that point the captain, realizing his goose is probably cooked, makes contact with someone asking for backup--and we see it's our good friend Moff Gideon from Season 1. The Moff denies the backup and orders the captain to crash the ship rather than let the pirates have it. 

The captain throws the freighter into a steep suicide dive, and Mando and company reach the bridge just in time to prevent it from crashing into the ocean. (Bo-Katan, revealing she is also looking for the stolen Darksaber, tries to interrogate the captain as to its whereabouts, but he swallows a suicide capsule rather than answer her.) Afterwards, Bo-Katan once again asks Mando to join them. He refuses, reminding her he has to settle Baby Yoda first. At that point she gives him the name of the Jedi that has everyone jumping up and down and yelling: Ahsoka Tano, from Clone Wars. 

The last scene has Mando and baby returning to the Razor Crest, which looks like it was "repaired" by space netting inside and out. I do hope the poor thing holds together once it clears the atmosphere...Mando lifts off, and the planet's last gift is an alien squid which looks at Baby Yoda and starts to pounce, only for Mando to reach out and snatch it out of the air. So Baby Yoda gets a good meal as they leave. 

Since there's still five episodes to go, I don't think they're going to catch up with Ahsoka Tano right away? It seems like that should be saved until the last or next to last episode. And they definitely need to address how Mando is going to deal with what's been revealed to him. Regardless, this was fun, if a bit too jam-packed. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 Ep 2, "The Passenger"

 

(Before we begin, a content warning: if you have a spider phobia, you might want to think twice about watching this. Seriously.)

Mando's quest this season is simple: Find the Child's (Baby Yoda's) people. He thinks his best way of doing this is to locate another Mandalorian covert after his home one was destroyed. His first attempt on Tatooine didn't play out, even though he managed to pick up some old (unknown to him, Boba Fett's) armor. This episode picks up right on the heels of the first, with Mando speeding across the sands of Tatooine after killing the Krayt Dragon. He's roaring right along when he runs across a rope strung across the path, which upends everybody ass over teakettle and smashes the landspeeder (and probably would have cut Mando in half if it weren't for the beskar armor). Whoever these beings are, they're after the Child. One of them picks Baby Yoda up and holds a knife to his throat, and Mando quickly goes into bargaining mode, appealing to the fellow's greed to take his jetpack and let the baby go. Of course, once the being takes off with the jetpack, Mando presses the remote controls and shoots the alien up in the air, letting him drop to the sand and bringing the jet pack back to him. Then Mando has to gather up the armor and the baby, and hoof it back to Mos Eisley. 

In the cantina, the mechanic Peri Motto is playing cards with a giant ant, Dr Mandible (in an apparent in-joke hat tip to the director, who also directed Marvel's Ant-Man). Peri demands Mando back her stake in exchange for a tip from Dr. Mandible, who claims there is another Mandalorian on a moon of the gas giant Trask, one system over. Only catch is, he must transport a passenger to said moon. (And at sublight speeds, which is ludicrous. Now, I know no one watches Star Wars for any sort of scientific accuracy, and hasn't ever since Han Solo made the Kessel run in twelve parsecs. But really? Sublight to another star system, in an ancient Imperial cargo hauler? Even if it's only a few light-years away, and say they managed to get up to half lightspeed....argghhh. Everybody would have starved to death before they were a quarter of the way there. I'm sorry, but hopping around in space isn't the same as driving down the block. This is one thing about The Expanse: they at least try to depict how big space is, and how huge the distances we're talking about are.) The passenger, a giant Frog Lady, has to take her clutch of eggs there to be fertilized. Mando says he's not a taxi service, but grudgingly agrees. (Baby Yoda, upon seeing the container with all the floating eggs, coos and gurgles.)

They take off, with Frog Lady in the cockpit and her egg container strapped in back. Which is also a plot hole...why wouldn't she keep it up front with her? We soon find out why, when Mando sets the ship on autopilot and climbs down into the lower compartment to get some sleep....and Baby Yoda is there with the container's lid flung open, snacking away. (He doesn't know what he's doing, of course. He's just a hungry toddler, sticking everything within reach in his mouth.) Mando snatches him up, yelling "No no no no!" and sticks him in the sleeping compartment, where he has a sling rigged up above the bed.

But there's shortly another interruption, when the Razor Crest is tracked by two New Republic ships patrolling the Rim. Mando tries to bullshit his way out of this situation, but it doesn't work, so he dives into the atmosphere of a very conveniently located ice planet nearby. The ships follow, and there's a merry chase down into an ice canyon. Mando dives the Razor Crest into a crack in the glacier, damaging the ship as it comes to rest on the floor. The two patrol ships go on by--but the floor suddenly gives way and the Razor Crest falls into a subterranean cave, smashing up a goodly portion of the ship before it comes to rest. 

(Truthfully, he should not have been able to fix it. But, you know, the show still has a season and a half, at least, to run, so we're just going to ignore the fact that the hull has ruptured in several places and the lower compartment isn't remotely vacuum-worthy...)

After a lecture from Frog Lady, who hijacks the vocal apparatus of a killer droid's head in storage to speak to Mando, the hapless Mandalorian goes outside to begin repairs. After a while Baby Yoda comes out and begins babbling and waving his little arms at Daddy, trying to show him something. This is adorable--in fact, Baby Yoda is adorable throughout, even though he manages to eat several of an intelligent species' eggs. Mando realizes Frog Lady has gone off further into the cave and follows her, to find her bathing in a warm pool, evidently a hot spring. (Maybe she's also squirted out some eggs to replace the ones Baby Yoda ate, as there suddenly seems to be quite a few more of them.)

Mando puts Baby Yoda down to gather up the eggs, and of course our hungry little Child wanders off. He comes upon a snowfield with dotted with a great many humps nearly as tall as he is, and tears one of them open. Inside is a spider embryo, which he promptly pops into his mouth! (His species must have a cast-iron gut, as he eats everything he runs across no matter what planet he's on, and doesn't seem to be bothered by alien DNA, proteins or amino acids.) But the ground starts rumbling, he looks around...and the humps start hatching out white spiders. More and more of them. Baby runs screaming back to Daddy, who looks to see the snow burst open with an avalanche of spiders, bigger and bigger, culminating in a monster taller than the Razor Crest. 

Mando grabs the eggs and baby, and he and Frog Lady run like hell back to the Razor Crest. But of course that busted-open hull isn't much of an impediment, and the spiders swarm the lower compartment after them. They climb into the cockpit, and Mando activates the flamethrower on his arm, crisping the critters. (But a few make it through, one climbing on top of Baby Yoda's head, who incinerates it using the Force. Frog Lady witnesses this, and one wonders if this will come back to bite Mando later.) Mando fires the Razor Crest up (I hadn't thought he'd gotten nearly that far in fixing it, but you know, the demands of the plot) and starts to lift off, but Mama Arachnid slams down on top of them, pinning the ship to the floor of the cave. At that point, this is pretty much the end of the line...until the sounds of laser fire come from outside. 

Mando goes out to check, and lo and behold, there are the two patrol ships, who have tracked him down. After they've destroyed the spider horde, he asks if they're going to arrest him. They're not. They ran the "tabs" on the Razor Crest, and there is a warrant out for him...but he also saved a New Republic officer back in episode 5 of season 1, so they let the warrant slide. (And then they get in their ships and go off and leave him there, which...for crying out loud. For all they knew, they were leaving him to die. With "friends" like those, the Mandalorian sure as hell doesn't need any enemies.)

Mando gets back to fixing the ship (which more or less looks like he's spot-welding it...surrrre), and manages to get it back together enough to limp on to Trask, with only one pressurized compartment, the cockpit. That's where the episode ends, with the Razor Crest staggering through space, with its two lower hatches hanging open. 

As you may have gathered, despite the cuteness of Baby Yoda and the fact that he actually had something to do with the plot, this episode did not do much for me. It's my least favorite of all The Mandalorian episodes to date. It certainly didn't seem to move the story forward. One only hopes when they get to Trask in the next episode, it will be a little better. 

Streamin' Meemies: The Mandalorian Season 2 Ep 1, "The Marshal"

 

It's nice that Star Trek: Discovery streams on Thursday nights and The Mandalorian streams on Friday nights, because you get quite the contrast. Discovery is more ambitious and more flawed; because it sets its sights so high, it has greater opportunities to fall on its face (which Discovery has done, more than once). The Mandalorian, on the other hand, is even-keeled and lower-key. It knows what it wants to be: bright, cheerful and fun, and working on making the audience fall in love with a certain precious baby (not that it had to work too hard). This season takes up where Season 1 leaves off, with Din Djarin accepting his role as guardian and foster parent to the Child (the official name; of course everyone knows it's really Baby Yoda, and hopefully in this season the characters will come to realize that as well), and his quest to find the Child's people. 

It's also an interesting contrast that this iteration of the Star Wars universe, five years after the fall of the Empire, is unapologetically a space Western, something we see right off the bat in this episode. Now that Star Trek: Discovery has leapfrogged nine hundred years into the future, after the still mysterious incident known as the Burn and the dissolution of the Federation, it has taken on something of a Wild West sheen as well, albeit with a darker edge. In "The Marshal," The Mandalorian returns to Tatooine on the hunt for others of his kind (after his own secret covert was destroyed in the last episode of season 1), to connect him to another covert and possibly find clues to the location of Baby Yoda's home planet.

(As an aside, there are a lot of Easter eggs in this episode. As I have not watched the entire prequel trilogy--I've only seen Revenge of the Sith--a great many of them sailed right over my head, to be discovered only on reading other reviews. These did not affect the story or my enjoyment thereof, so they were Easter eggs done right. Second aside: If you have Disney Plus, you should really watch Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, an eight-part documentary showing how the series was made. Cast members, the directors, and showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are interviewed, and especially in the episode showing how the groundbreaking special effects are done, it's fascinating.) 

The show opens with the Mandalorian walking down a seedy alley covered with graffiti, surrounded by creatures with glowing red eyes (who apparently know enough to leave him alone) followed by Baby Yoda in his little floating crib. They're going to see Gor Koresh, who runs a fighting ring, and Mando's come to ask if Koresh has heard where another Mandalorian might be. Gor Koresh and his henchpeople pull down on Mando and try to take the Beskar armor, and Mando kicks all their asses. (With a delightful intercut where Baby Yoda, knowing what is going down, hits the button on the front of his crib and the hatch closes over him.) Gor Koresh runs outside; Mando follows, throwing out a futuristic lasso--which, I suppose, is another indication that this show is a Western at heart--and strings him upside down on a light pole. After promising the thrashing Koresh that he will "not die by my hand," Mando worms out the information that there is a Mandalorian on Tatooine. Then he stalks off and leaves the alien hanging there, easy prey for the creatures with red eyes. (Always inquire about the fine print.)

Cut to the Razor Crest coming in over Tatooine (and flying over some gorgeous stark desert scenery, which is bountiful in this episode), and meeting up with the same repair person he visited previously, played by Amy Sedaris. (Mando's also a lot more relaxed around her three little repair droids, showing a change from the previous season.) He tells her about his predicament and she gives him a tip to go looking in an isolated mining town called Mos Pelgo. He asks to borrow her landspeeder and takes off, with Baby Yoda riding shotgun in his little satchel. (It apparently takes them two days to get there, as we see a quick scene of that night, where Mando has stopped to chat with a small group of Tusken Raiders. This will be important later.)

After some more shots of beautiful scenery, Mando and Baby Yoda arrive at the mining town, which is little more than two rows of fab-constructed buildings sitting in the middle of an endless stretch of sand. (Cue the suspicious glances of the townspeople as the Mandalorian With No Name slowly rides through.) Mando, as would be expected, goes into the saloon to ask questions, and when asked by the bartender who he is looking for, delivers the wonderfully deadpan line, "Someone who looks like me." The bartender says there is indeed such a someone in Mos Pelgo, and said someone is standing in the door as Mando turns around.

This is guest star Timothy Olyphaunt, the titular "Marshal," and he is wearing ill-fitting, battered armor, obviously neither new nor made for him. The fact that the Marshal is not a Mandalorian is immediately revealed by the fact that he not only orders a drink, he takes the helmet off. (Huge Mandalorian no-no.) Mando demands the armor back, and this leads to a near shootout (with an anxious Baby Yoda watching from the corner of the room). They are interrupted by a deep bass rumble, and the two go outside to see alarms at the borders of the town going off, and something coming towards the town under the sand. Something impossibly huge, swimming through the sand like a megalodon shark through water. It moves right through the town's one street, to where a hapless bantha is tethered at the end, and an enormous scaled, toothed head rears out of the sand and swallows the beast in one gulp. This monster is called a Krayt Dragon, and it has been terrorizing the town. The Marshal, also known as Cobb Vanth, says that if Mando helps him kill it, he'll give him the armor. (And when they go back in, we see a wise Baby Yoda has once again hidden, this time crawling into a [hopefully clean] metal spittoon sitting on the floor, out of which the top of his head slowly appears.)

Mando agrees, and he and Vanth and baby set off across the Tatooine desert. Along the way, a flashback scene shows the Marshal's story: after the Empire fell, the resulting power vacuum was filled by the Mining Collective, who took over and turned the town into a slave labor camp. Vanth escaped, snatching up a bucket along the way that was, unknown to him, full of valuable crystals. He didn't find this out until after trying to cross the desert and nearly dying, only to be rescued by some Jawas who were more than eager to acquire said bucket. Looking around, Vanth saw the Mandalorian armor and traded for it, and used the armor to come back to Mos Pelgo, throw out--or rather, blow up--the Mining Collective and free his town. This is a neat sequence, with some outstanding background music--The Mandalorian's music is generally quite good, but this music stood out to me.

On their way to the Krayt Dragon's den, they run across a band of Tatooine's indigenous inhabitants, the Tusken Raiders (and their fearsome-looking, toothy lizard-dogs), and we find out that Mando can speak and sign their language. (In fact, the show apparently hired a Deaf actor to construct the Tusken Raiders' sign language.) The Tuskens would also like to get rid of the Krayt Dragon, as they have been feeding it banthas for generations (evidently the monster gets torpid after it feeds). Mando, Vanth and the Tusken group continue on to the dragon's lair, an enormous cave where the beast slumbers inside. A Tusken takes a bantha, tethers it close to the entrance of the cave and summons the dragon--and instead of taking its usual dinner, the dragon comes roaring out and chows down the fleeing Tusken instead.

Cue Mando, in another wonderfully deadpan line delivered to perfection by Pedro Pascal: "They might be open to some fresh ideas."

Said ideas involve, after a great deal of negotiation and arguing both among the Tusken Raiders and Mos Pelgo's inhabitants, both groups working together to bring the monster down. The rest of the episode shows their doing just that. I've read that the budget for each episode of The Mandalorian is $15 million, and we certainly get our money's worth here. From the long string of furry, yak-shaped, wide-mouthed, curly-horned Banthas stretched across the sand dunes, to a raging battle with a Krayt Dragon who looks like a cross between a Dune sandworm and a Tremors graboid (with the additional twist of it spitting out gobs of green acid that melt the fleeing Tuskens right into the sand), we get a helluva spectacle. Finally, after the group has tried twice to shoot and/or blow the thing up, Mando hits upon a last desperate bid. He tells Vanth to shoot one of his armor's rockets at the dragon to get its attention, and takes the bantha laden with the last of the group's bombs (and the detonator for those bombs) and sprints across the sand right into the dragon's path. The dragon comes roaring down and swallows them both. 

After a tense moment when a whimpering Baby Yoda pokes his head up and cries for Dad, the monster's head whips out of the sand and its mouth opens. Mando has triggered some of his armor's electricity--his armor has all sorts of nifty gadgets built in--just enough to get the dragon to spit him out while retaining the bomb-laden bantha. Wheeling through the sky with his Mandalorian jetpack, Mando presses the detonator and blows the dragon's guts to kingdom come. (Although he is vomited out smeared with acid, so presumably he will have to have a good scrubbing-down later.) The Tusken Raiders get tons of meat to carve up, the townspeople are free from the dragon's predations, Mando gets the Marshal's armor back, and all is right with the world. Mando loads up and takes off, riding into the twin sunset back to Mos Eisley, Baby Yoda in his satchel on the landspeeder.

The last shot in the episode pulls back on a man known well to fans (except to me, because I never saw the movie where he made his appearance): a person who has generally been taken to be Boba Fett, Star Wars' original Mandalorian. This is what I mean about the Easter eggs being nice if you understand them, but it isn't necessary. I presume we will meet this mysterious person somewhere down the line, but my not comprehending the story behind this brief shot doesn't take away from my general enjoyment of the episode. Starting its second season, The Mandalorian is doing a good job of distinguishing itself from the original (and even the new) trilogies: frankly, it's good to get away from the sometimes suffocating focus on the Skywalker family and show the other stories that can take place in the wider Star Wars universe.

And of course, featuring the most adorable baby in the world doesn't hurt a bit.