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Oh, thank goodness! With this week’s episode of The Mandalorian, ‘The Gunslinger’, things returned to proper form. Starting with a chase through space that was full on movie quality, I had a good feeling about this one. Mando slamming into full reverse to gain the upper hand and his ‘that’s my line’ schtick was the first of many moments that gave me feelings of Firefly which is always a good thing.
After being damaged from the battle, Mando landed on a familiar little desert planet and what must be the center of the universe … at least where Star Wars is concerned, Tatooine. Not just Tatooine but good ole Mos Eisley cantina, although things looked much different from the last time we saw it. My biggest and almost only complaint about the episode was Mos Eisley went from bustling port in the prequels and the original trilogy to an almost barren wasteland of a town here. Where were all the people? The scum and hive of villainy was barren of almost all humanoid life. This felt like more of a budget decision rather than a story based one.
We did get an idea of the world post Return of the Jedi though as we see a display of Stormtrooper helmets on pikes, suggesting that once word of the Emperor’s fall spread things got nasty for the Empire all over the galaxy.
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A big surprise and almost taking me out of things for a moment was the mechanic Mando meets, Peli Motto, as played by Amy Sedaris! The comedy icon best known for Strangers with Candy is just about the last person I expect to see in any genre show much less the granddaddy of all sci-fi. Making things weirder is Sedaris seems to be cosplaying as Ellen Ripley from Alien. With a dark curly wig and muddy brown jumpsuit it can’t be just by chance that she makes such a dead ringer for the iconic science fiction heroine. Once I got past the oddness of the casting I enjoyed her appearance quite a bit. She was funny yet grounded and she actually calls out Mando’s terrible parenting skills or lack thereof. Yeah Mando, you don’t leave kids unattended in ships for long periods! She even babysits baby Yoda, planning to profit from the extra fees.
Once Mando arrived in Mos Eisley Cantina we got to the driving force of the episode and my second complaint. Meeting a young wannabee bounty hunter named Toro Calican, Mando gets roped into pursuing an assassin, Fennec Shand, played by the always amazing Ming-Na Wen. Toro is played by Jake Cannavale, son of Bobby Cannavale, and let’s just say he ain’t his papa! Very weak acting from the young man, thankfully his green status as a hunter made his stiffness seem almost like a character choice. Also it should be noted it looked like Mando and Toro’s meeting place was at the infamous Greedo table.
I loved the whole pursuit section of the episode, the waiting for nightfall, the charge into battle and flashing to disarm Fennec’s scope, all great classic western type scenes. Ming-Na was great and I was sorely disappointed when she gets shot in Toro’s sudden but inevitable turn. Luckily as we see a strange figure approach her body later, we can hope she will return.
Moments like the Tusken Raider sign language talk are really giving a different text to view the franchise through, fleshing out these cultures and widening our views even if just by small amounts. It really is amazing how last week’s outing was so sub-par and this week came back full speed. It makes you appreciate just how important the right director can be to a series’ strength. The showdown with Toro did feel a bit quicker than I’d expect but aside from these few little gripes this was a great episode when all was said and done.
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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