– Spoiler Review –
“Chapter 6 – The Prisoner” gets The Mandalorian back on track a little, offering a tense and fun episode (with some great cameos!), even though some problems still persist.
Since “Chapter 3,” The Mandalorian has adopted a procedural format, with the plotline regarding the Imperial Remnant’s desire to use Baby Yoda taking a backseat, and after “Chapter 5,” it was getting far too noticeable. “Chapter 6” changes the show’s formula enough to distract that there’s been more telling than showing about Baby Yoda still being hunted, as it offers plenty of escalating tension for a fun, involved episode. Instead of wandering between planets, the Mando takes up a job through an old contact, and it becomes strikingly clear it’s going to be more trouble than it’s worth: busting someone out of a New Republic prison ship. Mando’s stuck working with a crew, a group bursting with signs of untrustworthiness, with one of them sharing a bit of history with our masked main character from a past job or two. Not only is there duplicity coming from within the crew, making the job more difficult than it already is, things quickly get out of hand and ratchet up the tension to keep viewers on their seat for most of the episode: the sole New Republic officer (cameo #1!) sets off a ticking time bomb with a NR strike force (more cameos!), the rest of the crew turns on the Mando and leaves him locked in a cell, and even Baby Yoda must evade capture in the most frighteningly cute sequence of the episode. There might be some paper thin personalities in the crew, but the acting more than makes up for it, as I really enjoyed Mayfeld’s (Bill Burr) shiftiness, the Devaronian Burg’s (Clancy Brown) brutishness, and Twi’lek Xi’an’s (Natalia Tena) unhinged but perceptive personality, while the droid Zero (Richard Ayoade voice, Chris Bartlett suit) wasn’t anything spectacular, but had a unique design with some engaging quirks. While the majority of the characters we meet this episode are mainly human, white, and male, I’m glad several of the more important ones were of different species, something I hope this show can focus on doing more of in the future. The ramping tension moves the episode along fast, though not too fast, allowing each of the crew’s personalities a moment to shine and their motivations made clear, and if we would ever see them again, I’d look forward to it.
A few excellent action sequences unfold within the episode, like when Mando takes down several of the New Republic’s droid police force by himself, using all of his suit’s tricks and blaster-repellent beskar to survive the encounter unharmed, or when he goes one v one with Burg for an epic brawl. His fights with the other two mercenaries are solid, with Xi’an showing off some sick knife throwing skills, while the creepy, almost horror-like vibe to the Mando taking down Mayfeld was one of my favorite visuals of the episode…besides the ending. That New Republic strike team alerted by the lone guard? After taking out the mercenaries who betrayed him and saving Baby Yoda from the droid (in the episode’s, and maybe series’ funniest moment), Mando makes a deal with the convict they freed (Xi’an’s brother, Qin), so he can get paid despite leaving the others behind; as insurance, he places the tracker on Qin (Ismael Cruz Cordova), and moments before Qin and the man who hired the crew, Ran (Mark Boone Junior), try to shoot him in the back, the NR strike team appears out of hyperspace…and it’s 3 X-wings! The pilots (more on those cameos on a moment) take out the station, letting Mando get away with the cash and his life. Nothing like seeing X-wings again, and unlike the previous episode’s more gratuitous callbacks, it fit well within the narrative of the show.
The cameos and appearances in “Chapter 6” were all great ways of getting some familiar faces or voices into Star Wars. For starters, Burg was played by Clancy Brown, who has been voicing characters in Star Wars animation for years, from Maul’s brother Savage Oppress in The Clone Wars to villain Montross in Legends video game Bounty Hunter, so it was awesome to finally see and hear him on screen; Davan, the New Republic officer on the prison ship, was played by Matt Lanter, the fantastic voice of Anakin Skywalker from The Clone Wars; Trapper Wolf, the bearded X-wing pilot, was played by none other than Dave Filoni, mastermind of Star Wars animation and writer/director/executive producer of this show, who’s name having wolf in it is no surprise given his affinity for the creatures (hence loth-wolves in Star Wars Rebels!); the other male X-wing pilot, Jib Dodger, was Rick Famuyiwa, director of the episode; and the female X-wing pilot, Sash Ketter, is Debroah Chow, who was the first female director of a live-action SW project with “Chapter 3,” still one of the season’s best.
As much fun as I had with this episode, despite a bit of a course correction over the past few, the gender disparity problem rears its ugly head again this episode. Of the 6 main new characters we meet, 5 are males (even the droid is coded male) and 1 female, while adding in the cameos means we have 8 new male characters and only 2 female characters. Once you add in the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda, it’s 10 to 2 on the episode, though one can take some solace it’s not all human characters. The show’s bane has been a simple and easy thing to fix or adjust, especially considering it’s nearly the year 2020 for crying out loud, so here’s hoping the final two episodes can do better, but considering the show’s track record, I highly doubt it; time to start moving that hope towards the second season, at this point.
Here are a few other things:
- Everyone wants to know what the Mando looks like under his helmet, and while all of us watching at home can be rather sure it’ll be Pedro Pascal as an older version of the young kid from his flashbacks, depending on the episode…it might not actually be! Turns out Pascal isn’t always in the suit, as his doubles play the Mando instead from time to time, though it’s always Pascal’s voice. One of his doubles is the grandson of John Wayne; fitting for the show since it owes a lot to Westerns.
- If you weren’t too happy with the first round of official Baby Yoda merchandise, the next round will probably be exactly the toys you’re looking for, as there’s Hasbro has multiple new items, some that talk and interact with frogs, others being small two-sets with the little green one in adorable poses. May 2020 can’t come soon enough, but get ahead of the game and pre-order them now (via io9)!
The Mandalorian “Chapter 6 – The Prisoner” still avoids pushing the larger story forward, but the small change in formula is enough to distract, as this tension filled episode is fun to watch from start to finish, though the gender issue flares up once again.
+ Escalating tension
+ Mando working his way through the mercenaries
+ The plight of Baby Yoda
+ X-wings and cameos, oh my!
– Gender disparity is a real problem
– Still not tackling the main story
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 4 – The Sanctuary | Chapter 5 – The Gunslinger | Chapter 7 – The Reckoning | Chapter 8 – Redemption