The Mandalorian Recap: S1E3 - The Sin

This week, the Mandalorian returned to The Client for that big payday. But if you thought that little reunion was going to go smoothly, you had another thing coming. Let's get into Episode 3 of the Disney+ original series "The Mandalorian." As always, if you haven't seen the most recent episode yet, you shouldn't be reading this blog, so consider yourself warned. Full spoilers ahead!

First and foremost, Baby Yoda remains adorable. I know this episode was technically called "The Sin," but they might as well have called it "Baby Yoda's Day Out." The Internet's collective child was wide awake and in the height of its glory for the first 15 minutes. In the opening minutes, The Child climbed out of its pod and curiously poked around the cockpit of The Mandalorian's ship, finding a metal knob that the bounty hunter explained was "not a toy." Once they touched down, TM embarked out to turn in his highly valued target, and the lil' thing was just poking its head out of its levitating pod, checking out its surroundings - his hair blowing in the wind - entirely cute as a button. It was a joy to watch.

On a serious note, I fear that, if anything happens to the miniature Force-user, the World Wide Web will burst into flames. It's probably going to happen at some point, and it's not gonna be pretty.

The Client and his men determine that the baby is healthy. They're pretty happy about it. The Mandalorian inquires as to how many other hunters had been sent in search of this particular mark. A lot, it turns out. (We later see that literally everyone in the cantina has a tracker-fob.) But to the victor go the spoils. In exchange for the kid, TM (or "Mando," as he is frequently called in this episode), is presented with a huge stack of credits, which he promptly takes to get melted down for new armor.

We found out that there is an underground society of other Mandalorians that are just chilling outside the armor forge. They give TM a hard time, jealous of the exorbitant amount of money he just earned, and envious of the suit of armor he has been building over the course of the season. Things nearly come to blows at one point, but the female armorer breaks things up, reminding the bounty hunters of the vows they have made for their creed. TM explains that he has never taken off his helmet (since joining the guild, we must presume), and that it has never been removed from him by anyone else, either. The armorer offers to forge another signet (similar to the one he had made for him previously) as a reward for taking down the rhino-beast in Episode 2, but he declines that honor because he couldn't have slayed it without the help of another warrior (Baby Yoda). Instead, he has her craft him something called "whistling birds," which he is warned are very powerful, can take out multiple enemies simultaneously and should be used sparingly.

As she begins to pound out the armor, we see more flashes of The Mandalorian's childhood - most of which seem similar if not identical to shots we've seen before. We do appear to get a bit of additional insight this time. We get a better view of the opponents that attacked his childhood village; there were enemy warships, as well as battle droids. We get a better idea of what happened to TM's parents - it appears that they were either taken or killed just moments after they hid their son in the hatch, and almost immediately, a battle droid discovers the hidden child, which is where the flashback ended this time around.

The Mandalorian heads to the local cantina, fully clad in his brand new Beskar steel armor, and it looks glorious. Truly, this man is an intergalactic baller. He meets up with his old friend Greef Karga (Carl Weathers). Greef explains that all of the other bounty hunters hate "Mando" now because finding Baby Yoda raked in the largest treasure any of them had ever seen. But they both got paid (he flashes some silver bars, which he has been keeping inside his tunic), so he's happy with how things turned out. Despite Greef's constant insistence that The Mandalorian take some time off to enjoy his newfound wealth, TM demands to be given his next mission.

Before he departs, Mando expresses some skepticism about the ex-Empire goons who took Baby Yoda, then asks Greef what The Client intends to do with the infant. At the beginning of the episode, Greef had mentioned, "I don't know if he wants to eat it or hang it on his wall, but he's very antsy." He clarifies that he didn't ask what the goal was, though, because having done so would have been a breach of his "code."

The Mandalorian returns to his ship and finds the knob that Baby Yoda was playing with at the beginning of the episode. We can't see the protagonist's facial expressions, but his long, drawn-out reaction indicates that he is considering going back for the child. What a softy.

Mando returns to the village in search of the infant. He finds the baby's pod, destroyed in a dumpster. (At this moment, it was as if millions of Twitter users cried out in terror, for fear that their Baby Yoda had been taken from them prematurely.) It would seem that The Mandalorian is not very pleased about this, either. He immediately heads to a rooftop and pulls out his long-rifle, which can not only see but also hear through walls, to locate The Client. TM draws some stormtroopers outside of the building, then blows a hole in their wall. Swiftly, he fights his way to the holding cell where Baby Yoda is being kept and monitored. After briefly searching for answers, he grabs the young alien and attempts to make his way out, although he is met with some resistance. He makes light work of those who dared oppose him with a flamethrower built into his armor and those amazing whistling birds!

Elsewhere, the fob trackers of all the bounty hunters light up like the Fourth of July. There's a new bounty, and he's wearing Beskar steel. The hunter has become the hunted.

Mando is eventually surrounded as he makes his way back to his ship. Of all people, Greef is leading the charge. He demands that The Mandalorian put Baby Yoda down and turn himself in peacefully. TM initiates a gunfight and hops into a droid-operated speeder. Greef shoots the droid, crashing the ship and allowing the other hunters to close in on the most wanted man in the galaxy. TM starts blasting away his enemies, popping shots and disintegrating them one shot at a time. It seems as though all is lost. TM looks Baby Yoda in the eyes and it mutters its first adorable sounds.

Suddenly, the Mandalorians from the forge fly in for the save, over the rooftops, allowing TM to escape. Greef sneaks onto Mando's ship and confronts his former friend one final time. Greef accuses The Mandalorian of breaking the code - a sin worthy of death. Mando shoots Greef in the chest, blasting him out of the ship and back to the planet below. We later see that Greef took the shot to those precious silver bars that he was holding so dear, so he's going to be just fine.

As Mando flies away, a jetpack-clad Mandalorian soars up to salute him. TM takes the metal knob and gives it to Baby Yoda. So precious. So heart-warming. Such a great episode.

Questions

There are two recurring themes that, if I'm not mistaken, have been brought up in every episode so far:

• The value of Beskar steel - and the fact that The Mandalorian is one of the very few who possess it
• The fact that The Mandalorian cannot remove his helmet

• What were they monitoring Baby Yoda for? Midi-chlorians?
• What the fight between The Mandalorian and Greef an act? Greef didn't seem too trigger-happy during that shootout, and Mando shot him right where he had seen those credits.
• Will we learn more about the Mandalorian purge that forced them all to go underground?
• Upon further contemplation (conversations with co-workers and the Ringer article I hyperlinked at the top of the blog), the odds that The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda both survive this series are very low. (Why haven't they been mentioned in any other movies or TV shows?) What is the end game here?

Quotes

• "Easy with that." - The Mandalorian, responding to the stormtroopers' rough handling of Baby Yoda's cradle.
• "Such a large bounty for such a small package." - The Client
• "Our secrecy is our survival. Our survival is our strength." - The female armorer describes the Mandalorian creed
• "This is the way." - The Mandalorian mantra
• "How do I know I can trust you?" "Because I'm your only hope." - The Mandalorian and Greef Karga
• "I gotta get one of those." - The Mandalorian wants a jetpack

Qualms

At this point, I really don't have any complaints about this episode. Each episode keeps getting better and better. I love it. The only thing I wish would have happened was that I wanted Baby Yoda to save The Mandalorian from that final fight, but I'm all right with what ended up happening, so it's cool.

Instant Analysis

I thought this was a great episode. We had some great action scenes, wth the hostile break-in to The Client's lab and the shootout at the end. The Mandalorian went full "face turn," to use a pro wrestling term. He's a good guy now and he's going to take care of Baby Yoda. It's awesome. Seeing the Mandalorians come to the aid of one of their own was awesome. I'm really digging this show.

Episode 3 of #TheMandalorian was better than like three or four actual #StarWars movies.

— Aaron Christensen (@atownmania) November 23, 2019

I loved this opening paragraph in the aforementioned Ringer article:

Here's what a very wise former co-worker had to say:

"Tombstone, 13 Assassins, the Mandalorian Ep. 3. All masterpieces of the cinematic showdown. In Episode 3, we feel the heart of The Mandalorian, plus we get more 'ice cream maker' and vibroblades."

- Estevan Ramirez

***

That's it for now! What did you think? Leave a comment below, find me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter (@atownmania and @sottunderground). I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories.

Until next time,

I have spoken.

The Mandalorian Recap: S1E2 - The Child

Before we get into this blog, let me quickly remind you that we're going to be breaking down every episode of the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian," including full spoilers. Please stop here if you're not caught up through Season 1 Episode 2, "The Child."

When last we left our pal, The Mandalorian, he had tracked down an invaluable bounty - a baby Yoda. This 50-year-old child, we learned, has been the source of much strife in nearby regions, resulting in the death of many bounty hunters who had sought to bring the infant in, dead or alive.

Episode 2, "The Child," begins with The Mandalorian being jumped by a group of bounty hunters. It seems that the hunt continues for the galaxy's hottest commodity, and The Mandalorian must now protect it. TM is wounded in the scuffle, but he is able to overcome his foes, shooting and killing them with his long rifle, which apparently has the ability to disintegrate targets. Pretty nifty.

We see in several instances throughout the episode that Baby Yoda is a pretty observant little thing. After his fight with the bounty hunters, The Mandalorian takes some time to fix up his wounds. The child watches him curiously from his pod and somehow gets out of it! It waddles over and seems to attempt to heal his bloody babysitter, but TM, perhaps surprised to see it walking around, picks it up and puts it back in its crib.

The Mandalorian had a couple encounters with Jawas in this outing. Upon coming across them for the first time, he sniped a couple from long distance, completely eviscerating them with his gun. The battle eventually spilled over onto the desert dwellers' sandcrawler. In a slightly humorous encounter, the midget meanies threw heaps of junk out of their vehicle at The Mandalorian as he attempted to scale the side of the ship. Ultimately, TM made his way to the top of the tank, only to be electrocuted and tossed back down to the earth below. All the while, Baby Yoda looked on, from a safe distance inside his levitating pod.

Upon regaining consciousness, The Mandalorian returns to his spaceship, which he discovers has been ransacked by the Jawas. He returns to the mysterious stranger, Kuiil (who saved his life in Episode 1) and explains that his ship is no longer functional. They take off to track the Jawas on foot.

Kuiil barters with the Jawas to get The Mandalorian's stolen parts back. The Jawas explain in their native jibberish that they will willingly trade the ship's scraps for the Mandalorian's Beskar steel armor. (Again, making a big deal about that steel!) That's not going to fly, though, because TM humorously explains that he shouldn't have to trade anything to get back parts that were his to begin with. The Jawas compromise and say that they'll return the goods if the bounty hunter brings them back "The Egg."

"The Egg" belongs to a beast that dwells in a nearby cave. The Mandalorian tracks down the monster and gives us the best scene of the evening. A brutal battle ensues between our protagonist and a gnarly space rhinoceros. Just when it would seem that all was lost, Baby Yoda came through with an epic save. After showing previous signs of Force usage, our suspicions were confirmed, as Baby Yoda outstretched its hands and halted the beast mid-stride, raising it up into the air and causing enough separation for The Mandalorian to move in for the kill. The expenditure of Force energy overwhelms Baby Yoda, leaving it completely exhausted.

The Mandalorian exchanges The Egg for the stolen scraps, then we're treated to a little ship repair montage. Kuiil wonders whether Baby Yoda was hurt. TM says the baby was not injured - not physically, anyway. The two do not quite understand what happened with the infant in the heat of battle. TM thanks Kuiil for his help, and the old man wishes the bounty hunter well; he hopes that the baby will bring him a handsome reward.

The Mandalorian takes off in his newly refurbishes ship, and Baby Yoda awakes as they travel through space.

Questions

• Still wondering why they're making such a big deal about the value of Beskar steel... Other than that, seemed like a pretty straight forward episode to me!

Quotes

• "They really don't like you, for some reason." "Well, I did disintegrate a few of them." - Kuiil and The Mandalorian discussing Jawa hostility
  
• "I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion." - The Mandalorian
• "I'm surprised you waited." "I'm surprised you took so long." - The Mandalorian and Kuiil after handing The Egg over to the Jawas

Qualms

• My only problem with this episode was that it ended so quickly. Coming in at about 10 minutes shorter than the season premiere, Episode 2 clocked in at a brief 28 minute run time.

Instant Analysis

We didn't have any takers to provide their brief review of the episode this time around, so I'll just give you my quick thoughts. I thought it was a good episode. Baby Yoda is just adorable. The Mandalorian and his child-like bounty are becoming some of my favorite Star Wars characters - and we're only a couple episodes in! I thought the episode was fun and gave enough action and humor to keep me glued to the TV, and I can't wait to see where they go from here.

***

That'll do it for tonight! We're done with Premiere Week on Disney+, so we'll enter a weekly cycle from here on out, with new episodes of "The Mandalorian" streaming each Friday through December 27, 2019.

What did you think? Do you have any questions about where the plot is heading? Did I leave anything out of this recap? What were your favorite parts? Leave a comment below or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter. You know the drill.

Until next time,

I have spoken.

The Mandalorian Recap: S1E1 - Chapter One

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you know that Disney+ launched today, on November 12, 2019. Years from now, we, as a society, may look back on this day as a landmark moment for popular culture. Truly, if executed as it should be, Disney's brand new streaming service will be life-changing. For the first time ever, most of Disney's movie and television library can be found under the same roof. Animated classics - even those that have been "locked in the Disney Vault" for years - Pixar movies, Disney Channel originals, Marvel, Star Wars and Disney+ originals are all available with the click of a button. It's going to be great.

One of the most highly touted original series to premiere on Launch Day is a weekly, episodic installment of Star Wars content called "The MandalorianThe Mandalorian." As described on IMDb, the series chronicles "the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic."

Be warned: from this point on - and, I hope, weekly, after each episode, I'm going to break down what happens in the show, including FULL SPOILERS. If you haven't watched Episode 1 of "The Mandalorian," now would be a great time to stop reading. (But come back later, please, and discuss with me after you've watched!)

So what is "The Mandalorian"?

"The Mandalorian" will be based on the adventures of a yet-to-be-named bounty hunter. At this point, we honestly don't know much about him. But he is reminiscent of the legendary Star Wars character Boba Fett, and he's apparently very good at what he does. While Episode 1 only lays a little bit of the groundwork for who this guy is and what the series is about, episode previews listed on IMDb (for the first three episodes) seem to indicate that the season will largely revolve around the target acquired at the end of the first show.

If we learned anything about the tone of the series after one episode, it truly feels like a throwback to the O.G. Star Wars. Chronologically, Executive Producer Jon Favreau has stated that "The Mandalorian" takes place five years after the fall of the Empire and the events of "Return of the Jedi." This means that a lot of the characters and set pieces look similar to Episode VI - and that's a good thing. The season premiere does have its fair share of CGI (and, for the most part, it looks really good), but it also incorporates a lot of practical effects, from costumes to creatures and props. It's also nice to see a lot of familiar costumes that look like they walked off of the set of "ROTJ." For a day filled with an over-abundance of Disney nostalgia, this step back into the glory days of George Lucas' original vision was a breath of fresh air.

Who is The Mandalorian?

As far as the character, himself, is concerned, The Mandalorian (who I may periodically start referring to as "TM" for the sake of brevity), looks awesome. He's got great armor, cool weapons and a gorgeous ship. In my mind, he instantly became one of the best-looking characters in the Star Wars universe.

He doesn't talk much. I suppose you could say that TM chooses his words wisely. He's no wise-cracking Marvel character - that's for sure - and, when he does talk, his dialogue seems important.

We learn that he had a troubled childhood. We briefly see glimpses of a child, who we presume was The Mandalorian, running through a pillaged town with his parents, gunshots blasting in every direction. We see a couple images of him being hidden by his father, from which we can deduce that the bounty hunter was raised as an orphan.

I also sensed that TM is inherently kind. At one point, after he is saved from almost certain death, he sincerely thanks a stranger for his help. Behind the rough exterior, it would seem that The Mandalorian is a good person. Time will tell.

Intergalactic fun! - Episode 1 Recap

While some early world of mouth indicated that "The Mandalorian" gets off to a slow start, I dug it from the very beginning. The opening cantina scene (which aired during halftime of last night's Monday Night Football) was a good way to kick things off. It felt like it came from the same vein as the "Han Shot First" scene from Episode IV. The part where that the guy got split in half by the mechanical door was brutal and I loved it.

Upon retrieving his first on-screen bounty, TM hauls the criminal back to his ship. Moments later, a gigantic underwater beast breaks through the ice and attacks the spacecraft. That was a fun moment, introducing the first hint of external danger. Generally, the galaxy is not a safe place. It isn't long before the newly bound prisoner tries to weasel his way to freedom. The Mandalorian puts an end to that unfruitful quest by icing the guy with carbonite - simultaneously linking this series to the iconic moment when Boba Fett dooms Han Solo to a similar fate in the original trilogy.

Carl Weathers (best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the "Rocky" franchise) is introduced as a reluctant creditor who has an exclusive job for The Mandalorian. It's great to see him on the screen again! This leads to TM encountering a group of ex-Empire stormtroopers and a wealthy client (played by veteran actor Werner Herzog). He offers TM a lucrative bounty for a highly valued target. Of course, our man accepts the job and heads out for the task.

Along the way, he is saved by an extra-terrestrial stranger (apparently played by Nick Nolte), who, as previously mentioned, saves The Mandalorian's life, then teaches him how to ride some gnarly fish-beasts to cross the desert planet. Meanwhile, the stranger indicates that this particular region has been a hotbed of mercenary activity as of late, and that all bounty hunters who have passed through have died in their pursuit of treasure.

The Mandalorian reaches his destination at the same time as a robotic bounty hunter who I regret to inform you is not the legendary IG-88. Nope. This one is called IG-11, and he's voiced by "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi. I really liked the character design of IG-11. His robotic movements and ability to rotate his arms and body 360 degrees were really cool.

IG-11, we discover, is after the same bounty as The Mandalorian and, after a brief moment of hostility, it agrees to help TM acquire the target for a share of the reward (and all of the reputation credits associated with the capture). The two join forces to take out the hostile bystanders outside the building in question. This was my favorite scene of the episode - great action and a lot of exciting moments. The robot's (manufacturer-installed) propensity to initiate his self-destruct protocol was hysterical, too.

When the coast is finally clear, The Mandalorian and IG-11 make their way inside the building and eliminate the last man standing. TM's tracking beacon indicates that the target is nearby. TM discovers the bounty's precise location, but shows some signs of confusion. He had been informed that the target was 50 years old, but what they had stumbled across did not meet that description. The camera reveals that the target, in fact, is...

It's a little baby Yoda?!

IG-11 insists that the target must be eliminated, but TM refuses and kills the droid, instead. The episode closes with a shot of The Mandalorian reaching out toward the tiny hands of his childlike bounty.

Whoa.

Questions

• What happened to The Mandalorian as a child?
• What was the significance of the Beskar steel?
• Why don't Mandalorians take off their helmets? (They mentioned it several times, after all.)
• Where did this Yoda baby come from? What does that mean, exactly? Was Yoda not the last of his species?
• Why do so many people want the Yoda baby dead?
• At the end of the episode, was the Yoda baby hovering with the Force, or was the pod/cradle doing it? (Great question from Clyde Ratliff!)
• Will this show affect future movies or the expanded Star Wars universe?

Quotes

• "Stay off the ice. That's the understatement of the millennium." - The Bounty, after narrowly escaping the ice monster
• "We have him four to one." "I like those odds." - Stormtroopers, The Mandalorian
• "Bounty hunting is a complicated profession." - The Client
• "Anyone else?" - The Mandalorian, after eliminating the last hostile

Qualms

• Overall, I really liked this episode, so I really don't have any major complaints about it, but the second I saw that big, intimidating Mandalorian at the weapons forge, I knew they would end up being a female. It just seemed like the obvious "Disney" thing to do. I was right.
• The playback was a little bit choppy for me. I'm unsure whether this was because of my internet connection or because of extremely heavy traffic for the Disney+ servers, as widely reported throughout the day.
• Also, in the opening cantina scene, there were tons of unnecessary commas in the subtitles. That was quite troublesome to me, as a writer.

Instant Analysis

"I expected it to be good, but it was better than I expected. I didn't anticipate it ending that way at all. I thought we were just gonna have a solid action bounty hunter series. I didn't expect to play with emotions. That baby was adorable."

- Clyde Ratliff

"Episode 1 of The Mandalorian brought great interest in to where this series can go. Brought the Star Wars universe to life with a mix of laughs, action, and suspense."

- DJ Mein

"Having had kept up with additional canonical series like 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' and 'Star Wars: Rebels' in recent years, it made this show really exhilarating to watch and makes me excited to see what they have in store next."

- Cody Christensen

"There were a couple of fun surprises for true Star Wars fans. This is a promising series with 21st Century Star Wars special effects."

- Gayle Christensen

"Wtf is that yoda"

- Chris Martellaro

***

Well, what did you think? Did you watch "The Mandalorian"? (If you made it this far, I certainly hope so!) I'd love to hear your thoughts and have a nice, weekly conversation about the show. Feel free to add your thoughts to the comments section below, hit me up on Facebook, or tweet at me (@atownmania or @sottunderground). If you'd like to contribute to these posts in the future, we'd love to have you!

Episode 2 of "The Mandalorian" hits Disney+ this Friday, November 15, and then the weekly cycle will commence, with new episodes streaming each Friday, through December 27, 2019.

Until next time,

Do not self destruct. We’re shooting our way out.