Still shaken by the monumental announcements from Disney, which unveiled its plans for the Star Wars universe in the coming years, we have launched the new episode of The Mandalorian 2 with mixed feelings: it is the penultimate of the season, to begin with, but also the first of this 2020 tranche to have been written neither by Jon Favreau nor by Dave Filoni, the two creators of the series. It was in fact who wrote and shot it Rick Famuyiwa, a name not exactly very famous, although this Nigerian director has distinguished himself over the years for some excellent authorial proofs. We wondered, in short, what could possibly lead to a series that desperately needs something more than a massive dose of fanservice and the answer was exactly this: something more.
The avenger
Chapter 15 immediately continues the storyline that began last week: Moff gideon he took Grogu and the Mandalorian needs someone who can enter the imperial systems to retrieve the coordinates of his cruiser. The only one who could help our protagonist is Migs Mayfield, the former imperial sniper that Din had captured in episode 6 of the first season, now in forced labor in a New Republic prison. Freed him with the help of Cara Dune, the team made up of Mando, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand travels to Morak, a planet with an Imperial refinery where Migs could find the coordinates in question. The mission, however, will take a daring and unexpected turn when Mando literally comes face to face not only with the Empire, but with his own faith: how far would he be willing to go to get the Child back?
Lights and shadows
Almost forty minutes of episode and zero seconds devoted to Yellow. The "baby Yoda" is not in the slightest this week, proving that The Mandalorian can stand on his legs without the comfortable commercial support of the most beloved alien of the moment. And it does so with an episode that perfectly balances action and introspection, loading us on a real roller coaster. The first few minutes, with the recruitment of Migs Mayfield, again played by comedian Bill Burr, are not exactly the most original in the world: Famuyiwa uses dialogue to establish relationships between the members of this unprecedented and shabby team of anti-heroes, but immediately begins to lay the foundations for the narrative hub. of the episode when he forces Mando to take off his Mandalorian armor and his helmet to put on an imperial stormtrooper outfit and infiltrate the refinery along with Migs.
The two arrive at the refinery after an interesting conversation - more than anything else, a monologue - about the meaning of the ideals and the helmet that Mando refuses to take off, and a confrontation with pirates who regularly try to loot cargoes of ridonium, a highly explosive mineral that the Empire is threateningly accumulating. The short battle is an opportunity to show us the other side of the Empire, a faction also made up of ordinary men who fight for the most disparate reasons. The Mandalorian in this episode plays on the not always clear distinction between good and evil: when the narrative mixes these colors, any universe is enriched. Famuyiwa knows this well and operates through the character of Mayfield, characterizing him beautifully through his past and Burr's excellent acting rehearsal.
At the same time, Mando comes to terms with his Credo: the moment in which he is forced to take off his helmet could become an annual appointment, but in this case Pedro Pascal does not hesitate for a single moment when he realizes that it is the only way to get to the little one. Grogu. Too bad the slimy commander throws a spoke in his wheel Valin Hess. An unscrupulous character, outlined as a true archetype of the Empire, Hess is the engine of a brief but tense conversation that ends with his death and the daring escape of Mando and Mayfield. In a particularly stingy episode of fanservice than usual, Hess and Mayfield in fact discuss the infamous Operation: Ash which some readers will probably remember for his important role in Star Wars Battlefront II.
Review the seismic bombs of the Slave I of Boba Fett We were certainly pleased - Jango Fett had used them in Episode II: Attack of the Clones to sow Obi-Wan Kenobi - but the bounty hunter played by Temuera Morrison did very little in this episode, other than a funny joke about his recognizable face. The lion's share, in fact, was made by Cara Dune and Fennec Shand with their sniper rifles as they covered Mando and Mayfield's escape. A sober episode, therefore, which treads its hand on the characterization of the characters through the reasons that push them to act, whether they are in theEmpire, in the New Republic or in between: in this sense, the original title of the chapter could refer to each of the three characters seated around the imperial table: the Mandalorian, the repentant former Imperial, and the unscrupulous commander.
Comment
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7.5
The final battle is upon us: the episode ends with a holographic message from Mando preparing Moff Gideon for his arrival. Next week Favreau and Filoni will have a scarce hour to close the storyline in a satisfactory way and we will have to sum up a season made up of ups and downs: although chapter 15 was undoubtedly among the first, we cannot help but asking ourselves if it wouldn't have been better to spend more time on the season finale considering how much meat was on fire in a few episodes.
PRO
- A balanced episode between action and introspection
- The tense conversation about Operation: Ash
- Basically another transitional episode ...
- ... right at the end of the season?
