So, I’ve avoided reviewing The Mandalorian these last few weeks because, frankly, I didn’t have all that much to say about the show. It had fallen into a predictable pattern: Mando and Baby Yoda reach a new planet, they run into a friend/foe, Mando defeats the foe, they make a new friend, they leave the planet for the next as soon as someone realizes just what Baby Yoda is. While the show continued to be competently written, directed, and acted, well, there’s not all that much one can say about seeing the same story play out week after week. Of course, all that changed with this week’s offering, “The Reckoning,” which finally started to provide answers that would have been much more helpful weeks ago.
Greef Karga’s message to Mando was, in the words of the late, great Admiral Akbar, a trap. You knew it. I knew it. I’m 98% sure Mando knew it. Yet, recognizing the thing we’ve all known since that first bounty hunter showed up on Sorgan in Chapter 4 – that Baby Yoda will never be safe until the Client is dealt with permanently – Mando makes the smartest move of the series and gets the gang back together. Now, again, this is something that he should have done weeks ago. Hell, Cara Dune should have been part of his crew from the second she showed up. Kuiil should have been on speed dial from the word go. IG-11, well, sure, whatever with him. But it’s hard to root for Mando when it takes him weeks to come to the same conclusions the audience made from the jump. And Cara and Mando thinking that there would only be four Storm Troopers and that the Client was the only ex-Imperial involved in the search for the Child? Yeah, these are not the brightest bunch of folks.
The addition of Giancarlo Esposito (Gus from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) as Moff Gideon is an inspired one, and his appearance at the episode’s end certainly adds a level of gravitas tinged with menace to the proceedings, but I can’t help but think that having him appear earlier would have improved things enormously. Esposito is enough of a name (or at least enough of a recognizable face/voice) that having Gideon check in over subspace with the Client at some point early in the season would have added a much-needed layer of tension to the series. Once Mando escaped with Baby Yoda, the only real tension in the story was whether or not they would escape the villain of the week (and we all knew they would). The stakes were so low that the show became an exercise in seeing how darn cute Baby Yoda could be while Mando continue to exude no personality. Introducing the threat of Gideon early would have left that looming over the show. You know a man like him is not going to let his prize escape (as we saw this week, with the host of troopers he brought to ensure his success). If we knew he was out there pulling the strings, trying desperately to recover what he thought was his, well, I would have been more hyped to reach this conclusion.
That being said, “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” is the best episode the show has had in weeks. Yes, it took too long to get to the showdown. But it revealed several important pieces of information. For one, Baby Yoda is not, apparently, a clone. He’s something else (likely just a baby from Yoda’s species, ripe with Force powers). He, on the other hand, learned not to Force choke Cara when she arm wrestles with Mando. That is not ok, Baby Yoda. We also learned that Kuiil has many skills, and those include reprogramming IG-11 (who I suspect will save they day in the season finale, killing those two troopers off and allowing Kuiil and Baby Yoda to escape). This episode had actual stakes. While those who have read up on the series likely know which characters are still working on season two at the moment, there were moments where it was possible one of our heroes would be hurt or even killed. The buddy cop quality to the relationship between Cara and Mando was lovely to get back. It was fun to watch Karga try and talk his way out of trouble. And it was great to see Mando have more time with Kuiil, his mentor in the series. I just wish we’d had the chance to watch these relationships develop over the course of the season rather than in short episodic bursts.
I’ll be tackling the season finale when it airs next week, even though I suspect we can all deduce right now what’s about to go down. And I’ll offer up some general thoughts on how this initial season shook out (I also suspect you can deduce what my thoughts will consist of. . .) The Mandalorian has been an interesting exercise in how Star Wars fits into the live action episodic template. I’m not sure it was a success, but we’ll see what happens with the final showdown at the Nevarro corral.
