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The Mandalorian: The Passenger

“We’re lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives.”

Chapter Ten

Returning to Mos Eisley, the Mandalorian and the Child are given a new lead and a passenger – a frog woman who needs transport to a neighboring planet where her husband awaits with information on where to find another Mandalorian...

I hate spiders. So... nope. I’m not doing this episode…

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Still there? Fine, I’ll talk about the spiders.

Well, in a little bit. Somehow I’ve seen this episode three times. I don’t know why, because it is the most outright horror themed episode of the series so far. Things start out fairly light with more banter with Peli, who comes across as slightly less annoying but just as flippant. But then things quickly fall apart in a string of unfortunate events. First Djarin gets hijacked and thrown off his speeder. Then he gets pulled over, tries to run, wrecks his ship, deals with an unruly passenger, tries (unsuccessfully) to wrangle his charge, discovers this ice planet he crashed on is not devoid of life, fights for his life (and for those in his charge) and finally, to add insult to injury, has to be saved by the very cops (Republic patrol) that tried to pull him over in the first place. Maybe the title should’ve been "Mando and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."


For the most part, this episode has a lot of the same flaws as the first episode, in that it doesn’t really advance the story but it is a lot of fun (if you like spiders). It also has some really subtle but effective world building. Namely the Republic is starting to gain power; having a couple of X-Wings show up on patrol basically indicates that a section of the galaxy is now under the protection of the government set up after the fall of the Empire.

The rest of the story is honestly just a character building exercise as we explore the relationship between Mando and the Child, and how he treats his passenger. Both are treated with a level of impatience, but he clearly has affection for the Child, treating him as both charge, and on a few occasions as a father. We know he cares, but to what degree is still left largely unknown. Responsibility does not always equal love, especially in this context.

Yummmy!


Which brings me to the controversy of this episode. How aware is the Child? Developmentally, is he still an infant? Does he understand morality? He clearly understands he isn’t supposed to eat those eggs, otherwise he wouldn’t try to hide it. Yet he also displays absolutely no remorse or even hesitation, as if he is nothing more than just want, take, have. Those are dangerous impulses for a potential Jedi. Is that why he is in exile? Fifty years is old enough that he would’ve been around during the fall, and that begs the question; Did he ever encounter another Jedi?

The other intriguing character is the Frog Lady. She is one of those instances where the character leaps out fully formed (pun intended), without the need to do much beyond establish her motivations. I don’t quite know why or how she works as well as she does, but there’s just something neat about her. Like how she uses that droid head to communicate, or when the stakes called for it letting loose and running on all fours for real speed. I wonder, was she aware that the Child was eating her eggs? She must’ve known how many were there. Perhaps she’s just used to her young being eaten… that’s dark.



Alright, the Spiders. Or more aptly named, ice dwelling arachnid monsters with very sharp teeth. I mean things were pretty bad before the Child decided to eat that baby IDAMwVST… that doesn’t work, does it? Fine, I'll call them Space Spiders. So the Space Spiders must’ve reacted to one of them dying, like some kind of scent released upon death to warn of a predator in the area? Which makes me wonder, what could be a predator of these creatures? Yikes.


Anyway, the escalation of size was just absurd, but wonderfully tense. The frantic run for the ship, with flame throwers and impossible odds, was just amazing. I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen until those pilots showed up and saved the day. It shows that the Rebellion did recruit heroes first, and while duty is important, they are willing to do the right thing. Which yet another lovely little world building detail. Now they are off to drop off the Frog Lady and maybe finally find another Mandalorian.

Bits:

I know we’ve seen the Falcon get banged up quite a bit, and Luke’s X-Wing crashed into a bog relatively intact. But how strong are the ships that they can handle this level of abuse and still allow for flight?

The chase through the clouds was very pretty, and the ice world had some gorgeous vistas. The cave was visually interesting, and I have to admit the Space Spiders were one of the more unique looking monsters we’ve seen so far.

How many eggs did the Child eat? The little bastard.

Dave Filoni plays pilot Trapper Wolf. He has produced Star Wars projects since The Clone Wars, and is an active presence behind The Mandalorian.

Quotes:

Mando: “May the Force be with you.”
Captain Teva: “And also with you.”

Mando: “I'm not a taxi service.”
Peli Motto: “I know, I know, I hear you. But I can vouch for her.”
Mando: “What's the cargo?”
Peli Motto: (checking with Frog Lady briefly) “It's her spawn. She needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox or her line will end. If you jump into hyperspace, they'll die. She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben.”
Mando: “She said all that?”
Peli Motto: “I paraphrased.”

Overall, a fun if somewhat shallow episode.

3 out of 4 Frog Lady Eggs… may they rest in pieces.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was written by Judith Horst.

Images sourced from Star Wars.com

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

1 comment:

  1. I get that the Child eating the Fish Lady's eggs was supposed to be shocking, but it made me laugh like a loon.

    ReplyDelete

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