The Mandalorian - Chapter 21 - Review

After a story that didn’t feature the title character and a really short episode last time, I was hoping that Chapter 21 would provide a real sense of wow and move the story along. Thankfully it managed to do both, though with some odd moments thrown in for good measure.

Seeing the Pirates invade Nevarro once more, this time with their full cruiser backing them up, it could have been a season long threat and when Greef Karga sent out a message for help, I just assumed it was going to Din Djarin. So consider me surprised when he sent the message out to Captain Carson Teva of the New Republic. Seeing a Y-Wing was a fun moment, but then seeing members of the rest of the crew just sitting around a base, drinking and playing space pool, was too much. Of course, that scene is loaded with special guests, Star Wars icon Dave Filoni is there as Trapper Wolf once again, with Deborah Chow and Rick Famuyiwa sitting beside him. The three made guest appearances in the first season and are of course producers of the various shows, with Chow having directed all of Obi-Wan Kenobi. What was the best surprise for me though was seeing a Lasat and I thought it looked a heck of a lot like Zeb, or Garazeb Orrelios if you use his full name, from Star Wars Rebels. Hearing Steve Blum’s voice bring the character to life all but confirmed it, but seeing the name in the credits was just perfect. I am sure countless folks will watch the sequence again for so many easter eggs.

Of course, the plot did move forward with Teva heading to Coroscant in order to get permission to go and rescue Nevarro from the Pirates. Seeing Elia Kane there was a bit of a surprise, but more so was seeing Tim Meadows pop up as the head of the requisitions area. Having a little debate about the merits of saving people who need it, rather than letting them suffer first, could have derailed things, but instead they pushed it right along. This is where things fell apart for me, we saw that Teva tracked down Din and the other Mandalorians by using R5, except how did he know that R5 was with Din. One could argue that Peli Motto, the person who sold Din that droid, was passing information along, but she doesn’t seem the type. Regardless of how, Teva found them and passed on the news and with that, Din inspired someone else to convince the Covert to help out.

I was worried that the rescue wouldn’t be that spectacular, if only because the show has done it a few times now and failed to provide any sense of wow to its fights this season. I was wrong. A simple ploy was all that was needed to divert the cruiser away from the city and giving Bo-Katan and the rest a window in. The action in the air was great, there were some moments where it was a little busy, but for the most part everything was great. On the ground though, there were moments that impressed and moments that felt weak and there was no middle ground. Paz Vizsla literally smacking down in the middle and then unloading his blaster was great, seeing him turn around and keep the heat on, even more so. Where it failed is when they then cut around to people either shooting and getting tiny little hits or worse, being shot and acting like its nothing, once you see it, it makes sense.

The ending however was the most interesting part, both Bo-Katan and Teva’s parts. For Bo-Katan, seeing her remove the helmet in the hope that she can convince other people to join the cult, I mean join the convert was not a direction I expected things to take. I honestly believe that both she and Din will not remain with them past the end of the season, something will force them to leave and this could be the start of that. Given her belief that those who follow the way are in a cult, seeing her willing to head out to recruit more to the ‘cause’ seems a bit stupid, but hey, they might have more in place than we know. The other ending with Teva is interesting as it finally confirms that Moff Gideon is lose, something we have known for ages, given that Giancarlo Esposito was at the launch event of the season, something that other actors from season 2 were excluded from. The whole ‘its beskar’ thing is a simple red hearing meant to make people think it was Din, but more than likely, it’s a section of the Mandalorians that Bo-Katan lost control over, that have done the extraction.

After two episodes, where not a lot moved the story along, it was great to finally see thing picking up. A scene that was loaded with easter eggs will please some, but it was the battle that was the highlight for me, even if some action on the ground was wonky. With new threats and paths to take going forward, it seems that I might finally be able to enjoy the show again and that makes me happy.

The Score

9.0

The Pros

+The scene in the pilot bar was loaded with so many fun little bits, including the return of Zeb

+The fight in the air was great, with plenty of tricky corners helping sell it…

The Cons

-… on the ground it was good, but there were far to many ‘power rangers’ style moments

-Trying to get people to think that Din is responsible for extracting Moff Gideon is just cheap