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Carl Weathers directs and stars in this week’s ‘The Siege’ and it was one big old trip down memory lane. We were immediately won over at the sight of The Child helping Mando repair his ship. Seeing the little guy in a maintenance chute struggling to take directions and subsequently electrocuting himself was just adorable. They know just how to use the little fella to pull our heartstrings when they want to.
But with the ship still in less than stellar condition Mando decides to make a pit stop and luckily he was just passing the planet we ended last season with … and wouldn’t you know it, Cara Dune and Greef Karga are still hanging out there too! Not only are they still in town, they run the dang place! Cara as a Marshal and Greef as sort of a mayor/boss type. Offering to fix the ship but of course asking for a favor in return, Greef wants to blow up a nearby base where all those stormtroopers came from last year. In his employ is yet another familiar face, Mythrol or as I call him, that one fish looking dude played by Horatio Sanz. From all the way back in Episode One, now he is working off a debt.
We even see the bar that featured in the shootout last season, now converted into a school. This is where Mando leaves The Child for safekeeping and we get to see The Child steal some interstellar Oreos using his Force powers. That kid is turning into a Sith, I tell ya!
So the gang is off to blow up an Imperial base which turns out to be not so deserted. What is it with every Imperial base having one super easy destruct button? This one positioned over lava and all that is needed is to turn off cooling lines? Like how did the Empire last as long as they did? There are some funny moments here and there with Sanz and Weathers bickering, a few decent action bits but pretty paint-by-numbers stuff for the most part …
That is until a corner is turned and what I assume will become a pivotal reveal is found. Imperial scientists scrambling to wipe drives, and tanks of what appear to be bodies of different mangled types line one room. Through a recent message not only does Mando find out Moff Gideon survived, but the experiments in the base were utilizing The Child’s blood which is noted for a high ‘M’ count which can only be referencing Midichlorians. My mind raced for a guess as to what these experiments could be and I had one giant idea … well technically two but still part of a greater whole.
What if this series is setting up the back story for the cloned Emperor and/or how the Emperor created Snoke in the newest Star Wars trilogy? How crazy would it be if this cute little child was what gave the Force to two of the biggest monsters in the galaxy? While at the same time filling in what was huge gaping plot holes in those films. I mean if they pull it off just right it could be genius.
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Anyway, upon realizing The Child is in danger Mando jets off to town while the rest of the crew take the hard way out, shooting and eventually absconding with a tank which Cara deftly runs straight off a cliff. All of the action here is just okay, nothing really wowed me about it. Weathers’ direction is fairly straightforward and not very memorable. The tank chase starts to heat things up starting as a speeder chase and evolving into a TIE Fighter canyon sequence. We do love ships in tight spaces and again a fun sequence but I never felt any stakes or tension during it. It’s not until the moment all hope seems lost and Mando flies to the rescue on a repaired ship that I finally felt impressed. Those last few minutes of dogfighting were fantastic. Really captured an energy and excitement to them that could have benefited much of the episode. Even the end having The Child puke on itself was a funny little button to hit home how crazy the flying was.
With everyone saved and a job still to do, Mando flies off but we see the pieces coming into place. Gideon has had a tracker put on the ship and the New Republic X-Wing pilot from a couple weeks ago is in town after all the excitement asking questions. I feel like a big battle is coming and I’m excited!
It was also nice to have the pilot and Cara discuss her Alderaan roots and remind us that in this world an entire planet was wiped out, survivors and family littering the galaxy. Just more great world building moments.
This wasn’t the best episode by any stretch but still managed to be fun and move things forward in a brisk fashion. Weathers was a competent enough director but overall something was lacking compared to the rest of the season.
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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