After last week’s explosive episode, The Mandalorian slows down a bit to give a story about survival.
1. Wagon Train
This episode, more than the others, really leans into the idea of this being a Western series. This is essentially an episode of Wagon Train or Gunsmoke (or even the back half of Three Amigos or Blazing Saddles), where our hero comes to down, teaches the denizens of the village to defend themselves against the evil that is threatening them, and then moves along at the end of the episode. It’s sort of a cliched plot, but it is one that works, and one with which a lot of younger Star Wars fans may bot be very familiar.
This really does hit all the beats, though: romantic interest, the potential for a ‘permanent’ home, a training sequence, an innocent child through which we see the invading forces. Writer Jon Favreau and director Bryce Dallas Howard are both a little young to have grown up in the height of Westerns, but have no trouble slipping into these tropes comfortably.
2. Cara Dune
The former Rebellion member and Shock Trooper Cara Dune gets introduced early on in the episode when tussling with the Mando, and she is instantly the type of character that a fandom, but especially Star Wars fans, will get behind in a big way. She’s tough, she’s sexy, she can handle a blaster. Mark my words: there will be some sort of Cara Dune spin off, likely in novel or comic form (but honestly, maybe a Disney+ series), within the next 2 years. For a fanbase that is in need of female characters, and since the Skywalker Saga is wrapping up, I see big things for Cara Dune.
3. Some more origin stuff
We get a little more information about the Mandalorian himself in this episode, too. While we’ve been given small bits about his family life, we now know that the Mandalorians took him in as a child, so he is not Mandalorian by birth. We also know that he hasn’t taken his helmet off in front of people since he was a child. None of this is necessarily new information, but it does confirm a lot of what we thought about his origin, and it gives a little bit of a framework in which to see the character.
4. Remnants of the Empire
The appearance of an AT-ST is the latest in a line of ‘cameos’ that we’ve seen so far of various pieces of Star Wars lore, popping up in unexpected places. Something like the AT-ST is clearly left over from some Imperial mission, as it seems quite unlikely that one would be shipped to Sorgan (no idea if that is the correct spelling or not) after the Empire fell. This continues the ‘Wild West’ theme of the show, with the galaxy remaining very much in flux after the fall of the Empire, and certain lands being lawless, or at least rougher than your average planet.
5. The Yodel long game
I think we all knew the Mandalorian wasn’t going to leave Yodel on Sorgan by himself, even if he wanted to, but his inability to find a safe haven (a “Sanctuary,” even. #rimshot) for Yodel presents the series with a long-term plot, but also a long-term problem. Sure, it could be Kung Fu and just ave the two travel forever without a real destination, but that’s not Star Wars‘ style. Until they find a way to eliminate whatever is allowing Yodel to be tracked, there’s going to be episodes like this one. And while they may be satisfying half hours, it may not necessarily make for a satisfying series without too much of a forward momentum.
I still very much enjoyed the episode, and I’m fine with the show being slow and meandering. But for the overall success of Disney+ and future Star Wars properties, I think the show may need to ramp up the action a little bit.
