Chapter 5 of The Mandalorian is out and this episode is directed by the great Dave Filoni. His masterpiece, The Clone Wars, was loved by tons of Star Wars fans and his efforts to the Star Wars universe have been incredible. This episode is surely well anticipated, even more so than the last.
Filoni takes us back to a familiar and legendary planet, Tatooine. This is where Star Wars started, Luke and Uncle Owen, Anakin, and the pod races, Jabba the Hutt and the Sarlacc, Tatooine is home to many great Star Wars moments. Now, the Mandalorian has the chance to make his mark on the planet.
THE LANDING
A familiar spot and one of the Sandcrawler’s favorites, Mos Eisley, is where the Mandalorian is headed to fix his engines after the first real dogfight we’ve seen in the show. After he brake-checks the assassin after him and blows him up he’s off to repair his engine. The Mandalorian shows off his brains here and outsmarts this bounty hunter that’s hot on his tail. With some quick thinking, he’s back in the clear to land and make some repairs.
The docking bay he lands in has an interesting mechanic there to work on his ship, she’s somewhat friendly and has a few droids to help her. We get to see more of Mando’s hatred for droids when he shoots at one’s foot to scare it off. He refuses to allow droids to touch his ship. This fear of droids is showing to be pretty powerful in this show, good thing the Trade Federation collapsed and the stormtroopers are clones.
His childhood must have been scarring for him. He doesn’t trust any droid to any extent and this shows how bad his experience really must have been. Does this lend to why he’s such a stone-cold killer? Or is the Mandalorian training just that good?
A NEW FRIEND
In search of work on this planet, Mando wanders into a bar. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same bar as when Luke met Han, so it didn’t have that classic music playing. I missed it, not going to lie, I think it would have been a classic reference to A New Hope. But anyway, Mando finds some work in assisting another “bounty hunter”. The setting looked similar to the Han shot first scene, especially where he sat to chat with this stranger.
This guy is new to the profession, Toro Calican, and doesn’t offer much, except a well-paying bounty. It’s enough for Mando because he’ll keep the whole fee and this other guy will be let into the guild, so it’s a win-win. Oh, wait they’re also after one of the most deadly assassins in the entire galaxy, so that’ll be a good challenge for the two of them.
Out on their journey, we encounter another classic character, Sandpeople. Those iconic screeches are one of the scariest and coolest things in Star Wars. Aside from Anakin murdering like 70 of them, this was our first real interaction with them and it was extremely fascinating to watch him interact with them. The sign-language used between them and the gift he gave for safe passage was a perfect addition to this episode like Mando said, they think they’re the locals.
Off to find the target Mando and this new bounty hunter finds a dead hunter on a Dewback. As Mando investigates he takes a couple of shots and his beautiful armor protects him, only because of the range, though. They finally get to the target, only because of Mando’s brilliant planning and waiting for nightfall and using the flashes as cover. Shand, the target, almost chokes out the new guy and if it weren’t for the team, they probably wouldn’t have been able to take her downtown.
CROSSED
Shand knows about Mando’s recent past and his betrayal of the guild and uses that to her advantage, or so she thinks. She lets the new guy know all about it, everything from the shoot-out on Navaro to the child and he’s pretty convinced. This guy isn’t the brightest, as we saw earlier, he unknowingly goes after the most dangerous assassin in the galaxy and now he lets her corrupt his planning. She manipulated him and it backfired for the both of them.
A shot to the gut and the new guy is off to look for this child and turn them both in to make himself a legend. If he can bring in both Mando and the child there’s no way the guild won’t let him in and as one of the most respected there. Mando, the child, and Shand… it seems like a no brainer that this guy, engulfed with pride, would take this chance to make him a real bounty hunter and a highly paid one, too.
Foolish of Mando to trust this guy as much as he did, he returns to his ship to find him with the Child and holding the mechanic hostage. Mando was clever enough to get his way out of it and kill this new guy before he could do anything with the child. He’s off, once again, to find cover for the child and protection. He’s growing more and more attached as he travels more with the child. It seems only natural, but it is surprising to see Mando take on such a dad role.
Before this episode ends, someone stops by Shand’s body. What could this mean? Will he try and take her in as a bounty to make some money? Or will this mysterious figure pick her up as an ally and a partner in getting the child? It will be exciting to see why he went back to her body. Because of this, we know she isn’t dead.
There is a good chance it will be Moff Gideon. There are only a few episodes left and he still needs to make an appearance. It’s on Tatooine and his appearance in the trailer was on a desert looking planet. Will he be the next antagonist? It will be exciting to finally see his character and more of what remains of the Empire.
THAT’S MY LINE…
Another fantastic episode of The Mandalorian, we are taken back to a classic Star Wars location and it felt so good. Tatooine is the beginning of the story and Mando’s journey fits perfectly with this planet. What other wretched hive for scum and villainy would be a better choice? I certainly can’t think of any.
Overall, this episode felt short, but that’s most likely because I was so into every minute of it. I can’t take my eyes off the screen, so thank you Filoni, for giving us quality content to submerge into. The reference to the movies with the Sandpeople was the cherry on top for this episode and made it, for me, a real Star Wars experience.
What do you think will happen next week? What role do you think Shand will play in Mando’s journey? Do you think we’ll finally discover where the fob is on the child? Did the mechanic retire peacefully? We can’t wait to find out what they have in store next. The western feel is perfect and the show is consistently wowing us.
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