Disney+ was kind to us, offering a second full episode of The Mandalorian in its launch week, so we get to chat about “Chapter Two,” before y’all head out for the weekend.
1. MacGuffins galore
The first episode is based around the bounty hunter’s target, which we find out is a baby Yoda. The second episode doesn’t have quite as extreme MacGuffin, but the smaller one that we get does wind up playing a similarly misleading role.
After having his ship stripped by Jawas, the Mandolorian has to negotiate with them to get his gear back. They want his armor, he says no. They want the baby, he says no. They want ‘the egg,’ and he agrees to retrieve it. We are led to believe that this egg is somehow significant to the Jawas, as they are willing to trade a lot of very expensive tech for it, and so we see the Mandalorian’s struggle against the rhinosaur (trademark Soundgarden, 1996) as some sort of spiritually or culturally significant event.
But nope! They just want to crack it open and feast on the goo inside. It was a moment that was simultaneously funny, frustrating, and relieving.
Also, was anyone else faked out, and thought that maybe the Mando was wandering into a ‘dead’ Sarlacc pit?
2. Repping the Drake’s Cakes
I’ve decided that, until told otherwise, I’m calling this little guy Yodel. He’s cute, he’s small, he’s probably delicious. It fits!
Anyway, Yodel, early in the episode, tries to use the Force to help the Mandalorian heal, but the Mando doesn’t realize this, and basically locks him in his floating crib. But with our hero fighting the rhinosaur, Yodel debuts his early, seemingly innate Force sensitivity, not just stopping the creature, but suspending him in air. This action gives the Mandolorian some time to regroup and plan his final blow.
This action takes a few days’ worth of energy out of Yodel, and everyone seems legitimately shocked by his abilities. There is a through-line in canonically post-Prequel media of people to be skeptical of the Force and Force users. Han Solo dismisses it, Rey isn’t sure it was ever real. And so, even though this is taking place a few years after the fall of Death Star II and the Empire, it makes sense that there isn’t a ton of knowledge out there about the Force.
Add onto that the fact that Yoda, at this point, had not been since ‘in public’ in 30ish years (if Revenge of the Sith is 11 years before the Battle of Yavin IV, The Mandalorian seems to be about 10 years after it). Plus, ‘our’ perspective for that era is very much rooted in Jedi/Republic affairs, so of course the folks we know know Yoda. But would the average denizen on a backwater planet have any clue who he is? This little guy probably is of a totally unseen species for most of these characters, and they likely wouldn’t know a Force user from…the Star Wars equivalent of Adam, for the purposes of the idiom.
3. Not for kids
One of the ‘fears’ I had about this series was the idea that, due to it being on Disney+, that it would lean into the ‘all ages’ mandate of the platform in such a way that would eliminate some of the grittier or scarier elements on Star Wars. Not that I want a raunchy or disturbing Star Wars property, but one of the benefits of the franchise’s 10 films (thus far) has been the ability to get a little rough around the edges.
That concern been pretty much debunked by the first two episodes, and this episode really underscores that with the grisly battle for the egg, ending with a stabbing right in the neck and the image of the beast, felled, with its tongue hanging out.
Not that we’re going to be seeing a Star Wars horror film, but its good to know that the tonal range of the franchise can, more or less, remain in tact for their original programming on Disney+.
4. No disintegrations
One of the aspects I didn’t mention last time, in part because I am limited by these damn five headings, were the references to the Star Wars Holiday Special. I’m less interested in the Life Day mention than I am in the weapon that the Mandalorian brandishes, which is what we saw Boba Fett use in the animated component of the Holiday Special. It’s a fun little Easter Egg that producer/writer Jon Favreau shared on Instagram awhile back.
Continued belowThis episode didn’t dig too deep into Holiday Special nostalgia, but it did follow up on a line from The Empire Strikes Back, where Darth Vader tells Boba Fett, “No disintegrations.” I always wondered if this was a Boba Fett trait in particular, or if this was something Vader said to troublesome bounty hunters, the way my parental instincts make me shout “No running in the house!” whenever one of my kids takes flight in a relative’s home.
But here, we see the Mandalorian straight up disintegrate some folks with his weapon! It was something I probably should have seen coming, but here I am, legitimately surprised by it. Also, the way their cloaks flew off them was a nice visual reference to the way that Luke’s cloak floated away after his death in The Last Jedi. I doubt that the Jawas reached Force transcendence, but it was reminiscent of that wonderful moment.
5. The most deliberate Star Wars yet
This episode, especially the silent first ten or so minutes, felt a lot like one of the Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul episodes where Mike Ehrmantraut was doing something incredibly thorough or detail oriented. This is, hands down, the most patient and relaxed Star Wars, from a pacing perspective, we’ve ever seen. If this was The Clone Wars, all of this would have happened in one episode (first art: Mando getting the assignment, second act, finding Yodel, third act, getting his gear back). That’s not a knock on The Clone Wars, but rather an observation about just how content Favreau and co (including this week’s director, Dope‘s Rick Famuyiwa) to let this show play out slowly, and not rush anything.
I could see some viewers upset about this, but I’m loving it. The combination of shorter episodes and a more deliberate pace means that we are getting something much closer to an auteur’s vision than your standard, ‘pump out X number of Y minute long episodes,’ TV fare.
Also, can we please make sure that Nick Nolte’s Ugnaught (Kuiil) shows up again? I’m not done speaking about how much I enjoy his “I have spoken.”
Is it next Friday yet?
