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RECAP: Mandalorian Season 2 Chapter 10 - The Passenger
Spoiler Free Review:
For Chapter 9 of The Mandalorian, Jon Favreau returned Star Wars to one of its heaviest influences: the Western genre. For Chapter 10, Favreau pivots to another genre, which is definitely in the spirit of both Star Wars and science fiction: the Horror genre. This episode also taps into another part of Star Wars DNA, Ralph McQuarrie concept art, which always delights hardcore fans. Yet one more OT fanboy cozy slipper also appears in this episode: the A280 Blaster Rifle.
The problem is that, as with most horrors, the plot revolves around nonsensical and improperly motivated character decisions. It wouldn't be a horror if the characters just got in the running car instead of hiding behind the rusty chainsaws. I don't think this was a wink to the genre by Favreau the way the casting of Olyphant was in Chapter 9. As such, the improper character motivations served to pull me out of the story a couple of times.
If you're a fan of any long running episodic property, whether it be a television show, comic book, or some other highfalutin piece of entertainment, you're familiar with the chapters that don't advance the overall plot, at least to the general audience's perception. I call these "spin the wheels" episodes. They can be plenty entertaining, but the main arc of the series doesn't seem to advance. This used to send The Walking Dead fans into full blown meltdown. That is what this is.
I suspect that there were character developments here that we'll sense later. This may eventually serve the overall plot even if we didn't feel it advancing. In a vacuum, however, I would rate this episode somewhere in the "alright" category due to the aforementioned wonky character decisions and the, as of this time, perception that the story did not advance. The McQuarrie and OT callbacks, and continued "just the right amount" use of the Peli Motto character earn some bonus points. I would say overall, this is a solid “B” episode. I've watched it twice so far, and neither time did I feel the urge to grab the remote and check in on what Scoob and the gang were doing, so that's something. I also have it on as I write this and it's drawing my attention away from my writing, so good luck to Mr. Nomadscout editing this. (Self-Editor's Note: Mr. Nomadscout hasn't seen this episode, so he can't edit. I hope you enjoy your typographic train wreck).
Spoiler Filled Recap:
The recap for this episode starts with calling back to my second favorite episode of Season 1: The Prisoner. We'll see why later.
We begin literally where Chapter 9 left off, as Mando is still scorching through the desert on Peli Motto's speeder making his return to Mos Eisley. En route, Mando is set upon by a band of ruffians who have designs on taking The Child. Mando is foiled by the speeder bike's deadliest enemy, the rope. Din Djarin makes quick work of the first three highwaymen, at which point the fourth realizes the ol’ hostage tactic is his only hope of escape, so he holds a knife to The Child's neck.
Mando's paternalism is morphing into unconditional love. The man who once handed The Child over to Imperial geneticists tells the final bandit that if he suffers even a single scratch, there is no corner of the galaxy where he could hide to avoid Mando's wrath. Din offers the bandit any of the valuables from the speeder wreckage in exchange for the Child's safe return. The bandit instead chooses the jetpack on Mando's back, to which Din agrees. The exchange is made, and the diminutive desert pirate runs off with his claimed goods. Mando coolly activates the jetpack from his gauntlet, and the bandit does his best bottle rocket impersonation.
Mando must now hump the remaining distance to Mos Esiley on foot. He returns to the spaceport cantina which still employs EV-9D9-like bartenders. EE-VEE-NINE-DEE-NINE, HASBRO. EV-9D9! I WROTE IT DOWN. Mando finds Peli Motto playing sabacc with a giant ant, whom she refers to as "Dr. Mandible.” I thought the name was just a joke, like calling Peter Gallagher "eyebrows", but according to the subtitles and Wookieepedia, this character is Dr. Mandible who conveniently has information that will help Mando's quest to find other Mandalorians. Boy, for a civilization in hiding, a lot of people know their whereabouts with the exception of the actual Mandalorian. Dr. Mandible has a contact who will meet Mando at the hangar and can give him the location of the next covert.
At the hangar, Peli Motto tells Mando a treasure trove of good news. The Mandalorian covert is close. It's in the exact same sector. Furthermore, there is no fee for the information. Mando asks what the bad news is. Peli informs him there is no bad news...except for all the bad news. The "fee" is that the titular "passenger" wants passage to the system and forbids hyperspace travel. The passenger is a giant and adorable frog lady carrying a large jar of floating spherical objects. I personally feel that she looks like a salamander, but the subtitles and Mando himself both refer to her as a frog. It's okay that Mando ain't so good at taxonomy. He's good at killing things, so it evens out. Motto informs Din that the passenger's cargo is her spawn, and that she needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox, but if they jump into hyperspace, the eggs will die. The eggs are also her last brood and her line will end if they are not fertilized. Mando and Frog Lady head out on their slow journey to the estuary moon of Trask where both the Frog Lady's husband and the Mandalorian covert reside. During this ride, we learn that The Child has a taste for Frog Lady eggs, and he eats a couple despite the familicidal consequences.
As Mando feared, an X-Wing security patrol busts the sub-light traveling Razor Crest. Captain Carson Teva in the lead X-Wing informs Mando that "New Republic" means "new rules.” The Crest is no longer grandfathered into running without a transponder. Teva insists that the Crest send them a ping in lieu of the transponder to ensure that he is not Imperial Remnant. After some initial resistance, Mando complies. At this point, the wingman ominously asks Teva to switch to private comms. After a few moments, we see the X-Wings lock their s-foils into attack position. It's done perfectly and in serial. First the wingman and then Captain Teva. For me, this is the highlight of the episode. Teva returns to comms and asks Mando if he was in the proximity of New Republic Correctional Transport, Bothan-Five. The reference to The Prisoner episode in the recap now makes sense. Mando realizes the jig is up and makes a run for it. Captain Teva's wingman jeeringly declares, "we've got a runner.” We see that it's Trapper Wolfe, the Alliance pilot played by Dave Filoni who was last seen in that same The Prisoner episode.
In fleeing the X-Wing security patrol, Mando ditches on an ice planet and somewhat safely crash lands. Unfortunately after coming to this landing, the Crest then crashes through a void in the ice for Crash Landing II: Crash Harder. The Crest now suffers serious damage to include losing the integrity of the hull. We are now departing the "western" and entering the "horror" as signified by the 180 degree flip of environment from desert to tundra. The group is now stranded. Mando informs the passenger that the Crest can't fly and he suspects the temperature will drop significantly at night. He further declares that he can better evaluate their prospects then, and settles in for a nap. Wait. He's going to wait until conditions worsen before ascertaining their survival chances and options. Remember when I mentioned questionable decisions and motivations? Frog Lady protests this bizarre decision, but bad news for her. Mando doesn't speak frog.
Mando is shocked awake by the voice of the assassin droid, Zero, whose shattered remains have been stored in the Crest's hull since The Prisoner episode. Zero is not alive. Frog Lady has simply wired his vocabulator to translate "frog language" to basic so Mando can understand her. Like the slow deployment of the X-Wing s-foils, this is another really cool moment in the episode. While it won't go down as one of the greats, it has great moments. She informs him that the task of getting off the ice cube cannot wait until morning, and leans on his Mandalorian honor code to complete his promised mission. The latter appears to weigh on Mando, and he sets about the task of repairing the Crest. Wait. Mando had the capability to attempt repairs on the ship the whole time, but he made the decision to wait until it got colder to do anything? What?
While Mando is performing repairs, our "only bad decisions considered" cast of characters make their next bad decision. Frog Lady, on a completely alien and unknown planet, takes off with her entire brood into a creepy cave. Everyone outside the horror movie knows it's a monster cave. I just hope it's not giant ice spiders. Inside the cave is a hot spring, and Frog Lady thought the relative safety of the Crest was worth risking for a bath. I'm being a bit snarky because there's probably some survival benefit to temporarily warming up, but this was a stretch for me. As Mando is urging her to return to the Crest, The Child happens to notice a bunch of eggs. He promptly opens one and eats the forming embryo inside. Say, do you know how "eats babies" is a universal expression of evil? People will say "so-and-so eats babies" as an indication of irredeemable loathsomeness. Well, this is the second time in this episode where your beloved "Baby Yoda" has eaten babies.
A well known fact is that hive monsters all have a form of ESP, so when one of the eggs is devoured, all of the other eggs instinctively know to hatch, and the adults all spring from the nest. Yup. It's ice spiders. The trio flee the attacking horde and in a scene reminiscent of Cujo, they decide to make their last stand in the cockpit of the crest. Mando attempts to make flight and begins to take off (note, he had the capacity to repair the Crest the entire time), when the queen spider leaps on the cockpit crashing the Crest to the ground. They're doomed. Just then some familiar sounding laser bolts start plunking off the attackers. Once the coast is clear, Mando checks to find out the identity of the rescuers. It's Captain Teva and Trapper Wolf from earlier armed with their trusty A280 blaster rifles. A HA! Hasbro was very correct to include an A280 with the Dak (Dack) Ralter figure!
Teva informs Mando that he's wanted for the aiding and abetting the escape of prisoner "X-Six-Nine-Eleven" (aka Qin), but he also assisted in the capture of three high priority criminals (Mayfeld, Xi'an, and Burg). Security footage also shows Mando risking his life to protect New Republic Correction Corps Lieutenant Davan. Technically Mando should be arrested, but Teva senses some good in him and decides to let him go, as long as he gets that taillight transponder fixed. Mando makes the cockpit of the Razor Crest airtight, and the episode concludes with the Crest limping off the planet with the cargo door flapping carelessly like the butt-flap of an old man's feetie pajamas.
Again, Mando had the capacity to make the Crest flight-worthy the entire time, but decided not to for reasons. Oh, Kevin eats one more baby for good measure before the closing credits.
Notes:
The Mandalorian is currently streaming on the Disney+ Streaming Service
comments powered by Disqus
For Chapter 9 of The Mandalorian, Jon Favreau returned Star Wars to one of its heaviest influences: the Western genre. For Chapter 10, Favreau pivots to another genre, which is definitely in the spirit of both Star Wars and science fiction: the Horror genre. This episode also taps into another part of Star Wars DNA, Ralph McQuarrie concept art, which always delights hardcore fans. Yet one more OT fanboy cozy slipper also appears in this episode: the A280 Blaster Rifle.
The problem is that, as with most horrors, the plot revolves around nonsensical and improperly motivated character decisions. It wouldn't be a horror if the characters just got in the running car instead of hiding behind the rusty chainsaws. I don't think this was a wink to the genre by Favreau the way the casting of Olyphant was in Chapter 9. As such, the improper character motivations served to pull me out of the story a couple of times.
If you're a fan of any long running episodic property, whether it be a television show, comic book, or some other highfalutin piece of entertainment, you're familiar with the chapters that don't advance the overall plot, at least to the general audience's perception. I call these "spin the wheels" episodes. They can be plenty entertaining, but the main arc of the series doesn't seem to advance. This used to send The Walking Dead fans into full blown meltdown. That is what this is.
I suspect that there were character developments here that we'll sense later. This may eventually serve the overall plot even if we didn't feel it advancing. In a vacuum, however, I would rate this episode somewhere in the "alright" category due to the aforementioned wonky character decisions and the, as of this time, perception that the story did not advance. The McQuarrie and OT callbacks, and continued "just the right amount" use of the Peli Motto character earn some bonus points. I would say overall, this is a solid “B” episode. I've watched it twice so far, and neither time did I feel the urge to grab the remote and check in on what Scoob and the gang were doing, so that's something. I also have it on as I write this and it's drawing my attention away from my writing, so good luck to Mr. Nomadscout editing this. (Self-Editor's Note: Mr. Nomadscout hasn't seen this episode, so he can't edit. I hope you enjoy your typographic train wreck).
Spoiler Filled Recap:
(click for the full sized image)
The recap for this episode starts with calling back to my second favorite episode of Season 1: The Prisoner. We'll see why later.
We begin literally where Chapter 9 left off, as Mando is still scorching through the desert on Peli Motto's speeder making his return to Mos Eisley. En route, Mando is set upon by a band of ruffians who have designs on taking The Child. Mando is foiled by the speeder bike's deadliest enemy, the rope. Din Djarin makes quick work of the first three highwaymen, at which point the fourth realizes the ol’ hostage tactic is his only hope of escape, so he holds a knife to The Child's neck.
(click for the full sized image)
They fly now?
They fly now?
Mando's paternalism is morphing into unconditional love. The man who once handed The Child over to Imperial geneticists tells the final bandit that if he suffers even a single scratch, there is no corner of the galaxy where he could hide to avoid Mando's wrath. Din offers the bandit any of the valuables from the speeder wreckage in exchange for the Child's safe return. The bandit instead chooses the jetpack on Mando's back, to which Din agrees. The exchange is made, and the diminutive desert pirate runs off with his claimed goods. Mando coolly activates the jetpack from his gauntlet, and the bandit does his best bottle rocket impersonation.
(click for the full sized image)
Mando must now hump the remaining distance to Mos Esiley on foot. He returns to the spaceport cantina which still employs EV-9D9-like bartenders. EE-VEE-NINE-DEE-NINE, HASBRO. EV-9D9! I WROTE IT DOWN. Mando finds Peli Motto playing sabacc with a giant ant, whom she refers to as "Dr. Mandible.” I thought the name was just a joke, like calling Peter Gallagher "eyebrows", but according to the subtitles and Wookieepedia, this character is Dr. Mandible who conveniently has information that will help Mando's quest to find other Mandalorians. Boy, for a civilization in hiding, a lot of people know their whereabouts with the exception of the actual Mandalorian. Dr. Mandible has a contact who will meet Mando at the hangar and can give him the location of the next covert.
(click for the full sized image)
At the hangar, Peli Motto tells Mando a treasure trove of good news. The Mandalorian covert is close. It's in the exact same sector. Furthermore, there is no fee for the information. Mando asks what the bad news is. Peli informs him there is no bad news...except for all the bad news. The "fee" is that the titular "passenger" wants passage to the system and forbids hyperspace travel. The passenger is a giant and adorable frog lady carrying a large jar of floating spherical objects. I personally feel that she looks like a salamander, but the subtitles and Mando himself both refer to her as a frog. It's okay that Mando ain't so good at taxonomy. He's good at killing things, so it evens out. Motto informs Din that the passenger's cargo is her spawn, and that she needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox, but if they jump into hyperspace, the eggs will die. The eggs are also her last brood and her line will end if they are not fertilized. Mando and Frog Lady head out on their slow journey to the estuary moon of Trask where both the Frog Lady's husband and the Mandalorian covert reside. During this ride, we learn that The Child has a taste for Frog Lady eggs, and he eats a couple despite the familicidal consequences.
(click for the full sized image)
As Mando feared, an X-Wing security patrol busts the sub-light traveling Razor Crest. Captain Carson Teva in the lead X-Wing informs Mando that "New Republic" means "new rules.” The Crest is no longer grandfathered into running without a transponder. Teva insists that the Crest send them a ping in lieu of the transponder to ensure that he is not Imperial Remnant. After some initial resistance, Mando complies. At this point, the wingman ominously asks Teva to switch to private comms. After a few moments, we see the X-Wings lock their s-foils into attack position. It's done perfectly and in serial. First the wingman and then Captain Teva. For me, this is the highlight of the episode. Teva returns to comms and asks Mando if he was in the proximity of New Republic Correctional Transport, Bothan-Five. The reference to The Prisoner episode in the recap now makes sense. Mando realizes the jig is up and makes a run for it. Captain Teva's wingman jeeringly declares, "we've got a runner.” We see that it's Trapper Wolfe, the Alliance pilot played by Dave Filoni who was last seen in that same The Prisoner episode.
(click for the full sized image)
In fleeing the X-Wing security patrol, Mando ditches on an ice planet and somewhat safely crash lands. Unfortunately after coming to this landing, the Crest then crashes through a void in the ice for Crash Landing II: Crash Harder. The Crest now suffers serious damage to include losing the integrity of the hull. We are now departing the "western" and entering the "horror" as signified by the 180 degree flip of environment from desert to tundra. The group is now stranded. Mando informs the passenger that the Crest can't fly and he suspects the temperature will drop significantly at night. He further declares that he can better evaluate their prospects then, and settles in for a nap. Wait. He's going to wait until conditions worsen before ascertaining their survival chances and options. Remember when I mentioned questionable decisions and motivations? Frog Lady protests this bizarre decision, but bad news for her. Mando doesn't speak frog.
(click for the full sized image)
Mando is shocked awake by the voice of the assassin droid, Zero, whose shattered remains have been stored in the Crest's hull since The Prisoner episode. Zero is not alive. Frog Lady has simply wired his vocabulator to translate "frog language" to basic so Mando can understand her. Like the slow deployment of the X-Wing s-foils, this is another really cool moment in the episode. While it won't go down as one of the greats, it has great moments. She informs him that the task of getting off the ice cube cannot wait until morning, and leans on his Mandalorian honor code to complete his promised mission. The latter appears to weigh on Mando, and he sets about the task of repairing the Crest. Wait. Mando had the capability to attempt repairs on the ship the whole time, but he made the decision to wait until it got colder to do anything? What?
(click for the full sized image)
While Mando is performing repairs, our "only bad decisions considered" cast of characters make their next bad decision. Frog Lady, on a completely alien and unknown planet, takes off with her entire brood into a creepy cave. Everyone outside the horror movie knows it's a monster cave. I just hope it's not giant ice spiders. Inside the cave is a hot spring, and Frog Lady thought the relative safety of the Crest was worth risking for a bath. I'm being a bit snarky because there's probably some survival benefit to temporarily warming up, but this was a stretch for me. As Mando is urging her to return to the Crest, The Child happens to notice a bunch of eggs. He promptly opens one and eats the forming embryo inside. Say, do you know how "eats babies" is a universal expression of evil? People will say "so-and-so eats babies" as an indication of irredeemable loathsomeness. Well, this is the second time in this episode where your beloved "Baby Yoda" has eaten babies.
(click for the full sized image)
A well known fact is that hive monsters all have a form of ESP, so when one of the eggs is devoured, all of the other eggs instinctively know to hatch, and the adults all spring from the nest. Yup. It's ice spiders. The trio flee the attacking horde and in a scene reminiscent of Cujo, they decide to make their last stand in the cockpit of the crest. Mando attempts to make flight and begins to take off (note, he had the capacity to repair the Crest the entire time), when the queen spider leaps on the cockpit crashing the Crest to the ground. They're doomed. Just then some familiar sounding laser bolts start plunking off the attackers. Once the coast is clear, Mando checks to find out the identity of the rescuers. It's Captain Teva and Trapper Wolf from earlier armed with their trusty A280 blaster rifles. A HA! Hasbro was very correct to include an A280 with the Dak (Dack) Ralter figure!
(click for the full sized image)
Teva informs Mando that he's wanted for the aiding and abetting the escape of prisoner "X-Six-Nine-Eleven" (aka Qin), but he also assisted in the capture of three high priority criminals (Mayfeld, Xi'an, and Burg). Security footage also shows Mando risking his life to protect New Republic Correction Corps Lieutenant Davan. Technically Mando should be arrested, but Teva senses some good in him and decides to let him go, as long as he gets that taillight transponder fixed. Mando makes the cockpit of the Razor Crest airtight, and the episode concludes with the Crest limping off the planet with the cargo door flapping carelessly like the butt-flap of an old man's feetie pajamas.
Again, Mando had the capacity to make the Crest flight-worthy the entire time, but decided not to for reasons. Oh, Kevin eats one more baby for good measure before the closing credits.
Notes:
- TVC EV-9D9 NOW!
- Peli Motto also refers to Dr. Mandible as "thorax", but it's just a dig and not more anatomy based character naming
- How in the name of science can equinoctial references have any meaning when interplanetary travel is involved?
- The ice planet may be named Adelphi. Captain Teva instructs Mando to land at "the outpost at Adelphi", but I don't know if this refers to the entire planet, or just a settlement thereon.
- The ice spiders are based on the Ralph McQuarrie concept art for a Dagobah spider, and were also the basis of Krykna from Rebels
- If these spiders from this episode are in fact Krykna, there are some noticeable differences from the Rebels version
- A General Merrick, Captain Teva, and Snap Wexley 3-pack would be swell
- Frog Lady carries a tiny Derringer-like pistol. If Hasbro makes a figure of her, I look forward to Mr. Nomadscout losing it.
- Peli Motto doesn't seem to care or notice that she didn't get her speeder back
The Mandalorian is currently streaming on the Disney+ Streaming Service
comments powered by Disqus
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