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Guest star-palooza was this week’s theme as ‘The Prisoner’ became one of the strongest episodes of the series yet. Mando, being short on funds, reaches out to an old friend in a less than trustworthy Ranzar Malk played by Sons of Anarchy star Mark Boone Jr., enlisting Mando into a prison break and a motley crew of cutthroats along for the ride.
Leading this group is Mayfeld, a gunner with an extra mechanical arm and played by the always hysterical Bill Burr. This continues the series trend in casting comedic actors in mostly non comedic roles. Mayfeld gets some funny lines but by no means is he comic relief. His best line however has to be when they take a swing at how infamously bad Stormtroopers are at shooting. That and suggesting Mando might be a Gungan under the helmet felt like a nod to the fans’ hatred for Jar Jar.
We get an appearance from Clancy Brown as the muscle of the group, Burg, a member of the devil-faced alien species that usually populates background shots. A droid named Zero is voiced Richard Ayoade, again another solid comic actor. A Twi’lek woman named Xi’an rounds out the group and played by genre veteran Natalia Tena from both Game of Thrones and the ‘Harry Potter’ franchises.
We get a little window into Mando’s past, seeing the type of crew he used to roll with, and some vague hints at darker times in his past where he enjoyed the violence a bit more. It’s also suggested though not confirmed that he and Xi’an may have had a thing once upon a time.
The early interactions on the ship did a lot in building tension and immediately establishing the prickly nature of their partnership. When Bill Burr found lil Yoda and proceeded to drop him, though accidentally, I could hear social media crying out for Burr’s head.
So as we found out, the prison was on a new Republic ship and you got the typical passing by cells scene with a variety of characters leaping out angrily as they passed. Then the confrontation with droid guards where once again Mando went headfirst into the fray and showed why Mandolorians are considered the greatest warriors in the galaxy. This scene was fantastic and really all the action scenes balanced Mando’s many tools and skills well, showing his versatility.
So we eventually got to the mystery prisoner in question and it turns out to be Xi’an’s brother Qin who Mando apparently left behind way back when. This was a bit out of left field and my only real complaint about this week’s plot but there isn’t a good way to set this up without revealing the twist.
Of course there is the inevitable double-cross. These stories always have one and the foreshadowing had been a bit heavy. Mando of course makes quick work on breaking out and turning the tables which brought us to my absolute favorite part: Mando went full Batman!
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Stalking his prey after the emergency lights went red. Lurking in the rafters and then sneaking up on each team member, it was fantastic! Especially the scene with the lights flashing and him disappearing and reappearing, just great staging, direction, the lighting was all pitch perfect. Of course Mando makes short work of them and we see later locks them up in the prison before returning to his ship and taking out Zero, who has his own tense yet adorable pursuit of baby Yoda ending in his being shot as little Yoda has the cutest confused moment thinking he somehow did it. Just when you think he can’t get cuter, he does.
Mando did return Qin and collect his money moving the story forward but not before leaving the Republic distress beacon which ended with all on the space station destroyed. A fitting double-cross payback. This was an amazing episode with some of the best direction of the season. An episode full of great actors and amazing action that completely makes up for the dip in quality in past weeks. Next week’s episode drops early on Wednesday as there is a tie in with Rise of Skywalker of some sort. Only two episodes left to go!
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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