– Spoiler Review –
Baby Yoda, aka the Child, is quite the cute troublemaker, isn’t he!? The Mandalorian “Chapter 10 – The Passenger” finds Din and the Child helping out a stranger who might have a lead on more Mandalorians, but nothing is ever that simple in another rollicking episode.
“Chapter 10 – The Passenger” picks up directly from where “Chapter 9 – The Marshal” left off and I’m very excited by this minor but, to me and I’m sure a few other fans’, important development. Last season the first three episodes could be lumped together as they also picked up right after another, almost forming a mini-arc for the season, while the final two episodes were an extension/their own arc, but the 3 episodes in-between felt like stand-alone episodes without any ties to the main story besides Din and Baby Yoda starring in them. While we’re only two episodes in, it feels like this season might be headed towards full serialization, connecting and continuing from the one before it right up until the finale, which would bode well for it since, as enjoyable as most of those standalone episodes were, they got a bit aggravating as the tension of other hunters chasing down Baby Yoda didn’t feel as urgent. Not only does “The Passenger” seem to imply the serialization route this season, but it and the previous episode have proven even the littlest things mattered from season one, including those stand-alone episodes; carrying over events and details from those cures some of their waning appeal and adds to the cohesion of the series in fun and memorable ways. In “The Marshal,” it was Din’s ability to communicate with the Tuskens (as seen in “Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger”) that helped bring about the krayt dragon’s death, while in “Chapter 10,” his time breaking in and out of the New Republic prison (as seen in “Chapter 6 – The Prisoner”) that both hinders and helps his latest job.
After an ambush on his return to the Razor Crest on Tatooine, Mando walks his spoils back to Mos Eisley and Peli Motto, whose sabacc opponent has a contact with a lead on some Mandalorians. There’s just one tiny catch: the contact’s husband is the one with the info, so Din has to bring her to him, but then there’s the bigger catch: it can only be done at sublight speed lest her eggs die due to jumping into hyperspace. I loved how Motto (played by Amy Sedaris) delivers this complicated series of revelations, her speaking the species’ language was a funny touch, and I’m going to miss her special brand of humor that’s punctuated these first two episodes. The Passenger is a frog-like species (potentially the Rybet) that Din can’t understand, and the eggs she’s laid are the final batch of her life-cycle, so getting to the new home her husband selected for them is of the upmost importance to her. Her motivation and determination helped add so much to the character, as she goes from what seems like a burden to a complex being whom Din has to learn to work with and assist, even when things go awry, giving depth to this slight but entertaining detour. Her ingenuity with rigging Zero’s head (the droid from Chapter 5) to translate for her, to get her point across, was a neat moment, while I also really enjoyed the show’s commitment to her frog-ness, from how she uses her tongue to pick up her clothes in a hurry to her leaping on all fours to get away faster; that she was portrayed by an actor in a suit added even more to character and performance, as it gave Misty Rosas another chance to shine after her turn as the performer for Kuiil (voiced by Nick Nolte to memorable effect). Knowing this episode will pick back up with her still in Mando’s care, as the Razor Crest literally limps to her husband and their new planet, makes me happy since she’s not done on the show yet!
Traveling at sublight speeds makes a few minutes or even hours of a hyperspace trip into something far longer, but also opens up the possibility of…interference from others. Just as their trip seems to be going smoothly, a pair of New Republic X-wings happen upon the Razor Crest on their patrol, leading to a hilarious conversation that might just put Han’s famous one on the Death Star to shame, as Din is even more awkward than Han could manage. The pilots try to be nice about requesting a transponder ID, but the moment they realize he might have been the one at the prison barge in last season, Din drops all pretense and blasts towards the nearest planet, leading to a visually stunning race through atmo and an icy canyon system. Din’s sick moves leave the X-wings in the dust, but the planet isn’t as helpful, giving way beneath the ship and sending them tumbling, and in disrepair, into its depths. Din might want to look into investing into a better, tougher ship, or giving it beskar shielding, because the poor sap gets the ship destroyed more often than naught.
The biggest trouble is yet to come…and it’s from the smallest of sources: Baby Yoda! After taking a bit of a backseat last Chapter, the Child is front and center here, up to more adorable antics. The hilarious thread of Baby Yoda’s hunger goes from a running joke in season one to plot device here, as first and foremost Din has to continue to scold the Child for eating the poor woman’s eggs! We knew he had a thing for frogs after season one, but his childish hunger knows no bounds and he was immediately attracted to the frog eggs, wiggling his way into their tank time and time again, despite Mando’s warnings. Once the Child and Din catch up with the Passenger, who snuck away to a hidden hot spring not too far away to relax and comfort/warm up her eggs from the frigid cold of the planet, another denial of eating her eggs, which he has no shame asking in front of her, the Child smells a new food source nearby. He cracks open one of the many eggs on the ground, eating a spider-like creature…only for the rest of the eggs to begin rumbling, opening, and pouring out their contents in retaliation. It’s not just the eggs’ content that comes after them, but many older ones, including one enormous, gigantic one! So yes, there is bigger trouble than Baby Yoda this episode, but it was his stomach that brought it about.
The spiders look A LOT like the Krykna, as seen in Star Wars Rebels during their time on Atollon, but those were impervious to blaster fire whereas Mando’s pistol and flamethrower are enough to stem the hoard chasing him, the Child, and the Passenger; probably same species, different variation, as is the case with many Star Wars creatures. It’s a terrifying sequence, them running away and fighting back the spiders, claustrophobic as they traverse the cave system and then into the hole-filled Razor Crest, and it looks spectacular, adding to the creepy feeling as the spiders swarm them. The Passenger even manages to help out, revealing a hidden blaster and protecting the Child, despite his unending hunger for her unborn children, and together it’s just enough for them to seal themselves in the cockpit and take off. Well, until the giant parent spider, whom Mando seemingly blew up moments earlier, returns, grounding the ship and breaking through the glass. All seems lost, but the X-wings return, the two pilots mowing down the spiders with their rifles! There’s a bit of a negotiation standoff between the pilots and Din, as they list his ‘crimes’ but also how he helped the New Republic, like trying to save the officer Davan (played by Matt Lanter) or leaving those other criminals in the cells in Chapter 6, and the pilots decide to call everything squared when Din offers to decline the bounty for the new prisoners. Thankfully Din’s a decent enough mechanic, able to repair the ship enough to takeoff and seal the cockpit, leaving the rest of the ship open to the vacuum of space as they limp to their final destination. We’ll have to tune in next week, next Chapter, to see what comes next!
Here are a few other things:
- Directed by Peyton Reed, “Chapter 10 – The Passenger” was a perfect mashup of humor and breakneck pace, as it was a full 40 minutes, without any dull moments, from the opening ambush scene until the scramble to survive the spiders; a real thrill ride.
- I thought it was damn adorable when it’s revealed Mando sleeps in the little cramped space with Baby Yoda hanging in a sling over him, but I about lost my mind with the “awwws” when Baby Yoda snuggles up to Mando when they’re sleeping on the floor of the ship.
- We saw a shot of the ship floating towards the next planet in the season’s first trailer and considering the Passenger’s proclivity for water, I imagine the trailer scenes with them at the dock being watched by Sasha Banks’ character, and later chilling on a boat, are from the next episode as it looks like a great place for the Passenger and her husband to raise their newborn hatchlings.
- The fact the bug playing sabacc is actually named Dr. Mandible, and it’s not just Motto’s nickname for him, is hilarious. Of course that’s his name!
- Dave Filoni, executive producer for the animation side of Star Wars and director/writer of an episode in both seasons of this show, returns as Trapper Wolf, the X-wing pilot! But he doesn’t get as much spotlight as the other pilot Carson Teva, played by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, a big fan of Star Wars and notable actor/comedian in shows like Kim’s Convenience.
- Ludwig Göransson plays around with the Mandalorian theme song a bit, in different, unique ways, with my favorite during Din trying to take off from the ice pit the first time, as the theme builds up as the engines do. Brilliant music continues to be brilliant, folks.
The Mandalorian “Chapter 10 – The Passenger” makes for an entertaining, strange, and fast-paced detour on the latest lead on Din and Baby Yoda’s quest for more Mandalorians, while the hint at a more serialized season is welcomed.
+ Bad Baby Yoda, Bad!
+ The Passenger character
+ Great pace and humor
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE MANDALORIAN REVIEWS
Season Two: Chapter 9 – The Marshal | Chapter 11 – The Heiress | Chapter 12 – The Siege | Chapter 13 – The Jedi | Chapter 14 – The Tragedy
Season One: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 – The Child | Chapter 3 – The Sin | Chapter 4 – The Sanctuary | Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger | Chapter 6 – The Prisoner | Chapter 7 – The Reckoning | Chapter 8 – Redemption