– Spoiler Review –
The Mandalorian “Chapter 4 – Sanctuary” finds the Mandalorian trying to locate a safe place to lay low after stealing away the Child, but like any good Western, there’s lawlessness no matter where one goes.
As the Mandalorian settles a little bit into the life of the peaceful village he reluctantly agrees to help fight back raiders, we get scant details about him beyond simply how big of a heart he has due to his interactions with Baby Yoda. For starters, those curious about the whole no removing the helmet rule will have some answers, with a few more questions, and one helluva tease. While it’s not clear if the tribe directly saved him from the Separatists or if they later swooped in, they did take him into their tribe, hence why he was helmetless in the flashbacks while the foundlings of their tribe already have helmets. If he takes it off (in front of others), he can’t wear it again, aka he can’t consider himself a Mandalorian anymore. Why this is important to the tribe he’s a part of, or if this was some new rule for all Mandalorians due to the “Great Purge,” remains to be seen. Right after he tells village leader Omera this, as she goes off to play with the children who are playing with Baby Yoda in more uncontrollable cuteness, the Mando prepares to eat the meal she left him by….taking off his helmet! His head is off-screen, conveniently enough, leaving us with a tease we might finally get to see Pedro Pascal’s wonderful face. His concern for Baby Yoda has only intensified, and knowing his lifestyle isn’t fitting for the kid, I understand him wanting to find a peaceful, remote place to leave him. But when a bounty hunter comes and ruins the peace after the Mando and Cara Dune help the villagers fight back raiders (more on that in a moment), did he get so caught up in the village, Omera, and the peace of it all that he somehow forgot all those people with tracking fobs for Baby Yoda? It seems like an uncharacteristic slip, as it was rather obvious the trackers were still working the moment he took Baby Yoda, so why/how did he forget that and ever think leaving the kid someplace remote would even be possible? Besides convenient memory loss, “Chapter 4 – Sanctuary” continued to build up the Mando as a big ol’ softie, with some heart, and plenty of other good instincts.
“Chapter 4” introduces us to four female characters, a marked improvement from the show’s paltry single digit female character amount in the opening three episodes; it doesn’t quite make up for it, but it’s an important step in the right direction. Cara Dune (Gina Carano) catches the Mandalorian’s eye when he takes little Baby Yoda for soup at a local watering hole, and we quickly learn about her shocktrooper past for the Rebellion, taking out Imperial warlords quick and dirty before the New Republic started getting too official for that work to go unnoticed. She’s been jumping planets looking for dirty work ever since, since she’s not exactly the peaceful type, something actress Carano exudes in every facet of the character, from how she walks, talks, and brawls; that real-life MMA history brings some great physicality to the show and it’s fisticuffs. While she parts ways with the Mando by episode’s end, thankfully some trailers have teased we’ll see her again, and I think the show will be better off for it. Then there’s Omera (mentioned earlier) and her daughter Winta, with Omera seemingly being the leader of the village, who takes interest in the Mandalorian’s past while hinting at an interesting one of her own. She’s an absolutely crack shot and is quick on her feet, like how she saved her and her daughter from the raiders in the tense opening scene, making me wonder if she had a past that brought her to the village and she took off whatever ‘armor’ she wore. Winta and Baby Yoda bond quite a bit, bringing out some of the episode’s most adorable moments, but when the Mandalorian must take the Child with him instead of leaving him behind to enjoy a tranquil life, she hugs him goodbye and it was impossible not to cry. The other female character is the bartender, but she doesn’t get a name, unlike the random background Mando from the previous Chapter, so while this Chapter made some great strides, it stumbles to the finish line.
The cold opening with the raider’s attack on the village was quick and effective, really driving the threat they posed to the villagers, even though the overall battle went a little easy in the end. It wasn’t immediately clear to me why the raiders wanted the fish, but on my second watch of the episode, it was far clearer, as the two guards the Mando and Cara take out before entering the big hut were holding cups contain the same color liquid as the giant vats did in the hut did, so I guess the fish made them some decent liquor/beer type stuff. While the overall threat of the group didn’t feel that menacing, as seems to be the case with most Westerns which follow the trope of the toughened warriors teaching the mostly peaceful villagers to fight, the scale of their AT-ST in the battle made the vehicle spooky and seem more deadly (though having been playing Jedi: Fallen Order and taking down two at once comes at odds with its deadliness here); I get why they couldn’t stomp around and blast everything with it, as it would hurt the merchandise, but it seem silly with how little the AT-ST was being used.
But forget all that because Baby Yoda has no flippin’ right to be as adorable as he is, but he continues to raise the bar each episode. From him playing with the ship’s switches (I can relate), sipping soup over Cara and the Mando’s fight, laying back to enjoy the stars, or being so damn happy he made the kids happy again after spitting out the frog, my heart was melting all over again. Just when you think he can’t get any cuter, he goes and proves us all wrong…though no one is mad about it!
Here are a few other things:
- It was both cool and surprising to see a Loth-cat in live-action, after seeing them so often in Star Wars Rebels for a few years! Would this technically be a Sorg-cat, since it’s on Sorgan?
- I really need to understand these tracking fobs because I feel like they are opening up a can of worms. At first it seemed likely the fob was tracking Baby Yoda’s floating cradle, but he’s since lost it and they’re still tracking him, but how? Is there something embedded in his body, but then why didn’t the ones guarding him, or anyone, take it out? Did it just need his space social security number, or whatever they first talked about in “Chapter 1?” If so, how come the First Order didn’t just use a tracking fob to locate Luke Skywalker? That’s why it feels like this opens a can of worms, because what’s there to say this technology couldn’t be used on anyone? Hopefully we’ll get a little more explanation instead of it being hand-waved away!
- Not content to have one female director after last week, Bryce Dallas Howard, whose dad came on to direct Solo, directed “Chapter 4!”
The Mandalorian “Chapter 4 – Sanctuary” introduced some great new characters, began uncovering some Mando layers, and made Baby Yoda even more damn cute.
+ Peeling back some Mando layers
+ More Cara Dune, and pronto
+ Baby Yoda cuteness reaches new zenith
+ Turning some of the gender disparity around
– Threat seemed too easy/Mando really forgot about the fobs?
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
THE MANDALORIAN REVIEWS
Season One: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 – The Child | Chapter 3 – The Sin | Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger | Chapter 6 – The Prisoner | Chapter 7 – The Reckoning | Chapter 8 – Redemption