Spoiler alert: this blog is published after The Mandalorian airs on Disney+. Do not read unless you have watched season two, episode seven.
“If you’re born on Mandalore, you believe one thing; if you’re born on Alderaan, you believe something else. But guess what? Neither one of them exist any more” – Migs Mayfeld
You won’t like him when he’s angry. Not if you’re Moff Gideon, anyway.
After 15 episodes of the Mandalorian, we finally see our hero lose his temper this week. Up to this point, Mando has usually subscribed to the Teddy Roosevelt maxim: speak softly and carry a big stick (or small blaster plus grenades). But when he messages Gideon on his cruiser to let him know that he wants his small green boy back, the language is strong and the delivery forceful.
“You have something that I want,” he says (which is pretty much the same language Werner Herzog’s Client used to use). “You may think you have some idea what you are in possession of, but you do not. Soon he will be back with me. He means more to me than you will ever know.”
That is a touching way to talk about a creature whose main contribution to the relationship is eating or thinking of eating – and who could be in the process of wandering to the dark side. But still, it is enough to put the heebie-jeebies up Moff, with Giancarlo Esposito’s eyes widening as if he has just seen an old Mexican guy with his finger hovering over a bell. Next week’s finale should be a cracker.
Not that this instalment was a slouch. It is another mission episode, with another supporting gang on another planet with the same old enemy. But, directed by Rick Famuyiwa, it feels fresh and the suspense never drops. From the transporter chase – in which Mando and Mayfeld (an intergalactic prisoner on day release) hold off raiders while keeping their payload of rhydonium from blowing up in a pastiche of the French classic The Wages of Fear – to the disconcerting exchange with Mayfeld’s old Imperial boss and an escape scene on the precipitous banks of a dam, you don’t get time to catch your breath.
Along the way, we get to like Mayfeld a bit more. He is a former Imperial operative who stitched up Mando like a Trask kipper during last season’s prison break, but this week bails out our hero on more than one occasion. We also get to see the winning features of Pedro Pascal, as entering the Imperial base (to access their comms and get the whereabouts of Moff Gideon’s cruiser) means – gasp – Din Djarin showing his face.
Mostly, the Pascal fizzog is kept in neutral as Mando pretends to be the half-deaf “Brown Eyes”. Meanwhile, Mayfeld reminisces about Operation Cinder, and all the thousands of people who died, with his old boss, Valin Hess. That doesn’t end well, with Hess delighting in the memory and insisting that people would happily welcome the return of the Empire, as they prefer “order” to “freedom”. (An interesting proposition to consider at this point in time, eh, UK readers?)
In response, and on behalf of the dead, Mayfeld ends up blasting Hess – and the escape is on. The duo climb on to the window ledges and shuffle across the precipice, shooting troopers who are trying to blast their ankles. From the opposite side of the ravine, Fennec Shand and Cara Dune snipe away, before Boba Fett swoops in on his sideways ship to take our crew to safety and blow up a couple of Tie fighters with a lovely blue bomb. The gang leave Mayfeld a free man – Dune decides to tell his prison bosses that he died in an explosion – and head off in search of Moff.
The moral of the story
One good deed deserves another. Yes, Din Djarin was responsible for Mayfeld ending up in jail in the first place. But, by freeing him, he earns some begrudging respect from the cynical mercenary with his salt and ginger beard. In turn, Mayfeld fulfils his part of the bargain in a dangerous mission, despite having more than one opportunity to turn rat. Indeed, we get to learn enough about his background to understand that his motivations are a bit more complicated than “I’ll do whatever for whoever pays me most”. We will surely see him again.
Featured creatures
Apparently, the only creatures native to Morak are humans. So who are those raiders jumping off their floating rafts? Answers gratefully received.
Cameo corner
It is largely about Bill Burr this week, but, for those who watched Valin Hess and felt particularly chilled, there may be a reason for that: Richard Brake also played the Night King in Game of Thrones …
Grogu watch
Entirely absent. We don’t know if he is well, if he is hungry, if he even has the knob from a gear stick to play with. It is awful.
