Welcome back to the blog readers. The Mandalorian has been killing it for me on Disney+ since its long-awaited comeback, and I just saw the newest episode, titled "Chapter 19: The Convert," directed by Minari's Lee Isaac Chung and written by Jon Favreau and Noah Kloor. Was it as good as the previous two episodes? Stick around to find out.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
I will say that this episode was jarring for me. Obviously the stuff with Bo-Katan and Mando is intriguing as hell, but what in the world was the rest of this episode supposed to be? And is there even a point in it? I promise I will go more into detail on that but before I do, I want to talk about the good stuff first.
The episode picks up right where we left off last week, with Bo-Katan saving Mando from the Living Waters of Mandalore and coming face-to-"face" with the legendary Mythosaur. I half expected Bo-Katan to tell Mando about the creature, so I'm surprised to see her lie to him about it. Hopefully it comes out later on and Mando doesn't feel slighted about it. Maybe knowing that now her castle is destroyed she won't tell him and risk losing an ally. Especially now that Mando has been redeemed and Bo-Katan has joined the clan. I must say that moment surprised me, and my theory that I posted 2 weeks ago is beginning to lose a lot of momentum. The dogfight scene above Bo-Katan's castle was thrilling and eventful, and it may have lasting consequences for our characters.
Before I get to the rest of the episode, I want to talk about the ending. That ending is crazy, and a twist that I did not see coming at all. I should have known that something was coming when Bo-Katan didn't take her helmet off and they did a wonderful job of again subverting expectations with that reveal that she was welcomed into the clan and actually joined it. Wonderful work by Katee Sackhoff, and we didn't even need to see her face.
But now for the rest of the episode. What in the world happened here? And what exactly was this supposed to be? I knew that Omid Abtahi would be coming back as Dr. Pershing, but I did not expect the role to be like this. It's almost like Jon Favreau walked in on a script-writing meeting with Tony Gilroy and said, "Yeah, that's what we want to do." Right there, that is some jarring shit, because I will go on the record and say that I wasn't the biggest fan of Andor. But, before you put words in my mouth, I did appreciate what they were going for and there were some killer moments in Andor, like Luthen's monologue and that entire episode in general (One Way Out!), the Ferrix riot, the Aldhani heist, the performances of Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgård, and Andy Serkis's guest performance.
What jarred me about this part of the episode is basically the abandonment of what makes this show special, and that is the relationship between Mando and Grogu. Yeah, they have their supporting cast and their varying adventures, but when you decide to relegate the lifeblood of your series to the back seat, you are bound to lose some people. Now, don't get me wrong, I'll definitely be watching next week's episode, but I need a pallet cleanser after this.
What this is is basically a character study of Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane, since it has been years since the defeat and arrest of Moff Gideon. They should have gotten less time this episode or their own whole episode if that's what you wanted to do. The rest of the episode follows the two of them as they attempt to redeem themselves for their war crimes by working for the New Republic. Now that you think about it, maybe that is why they included this in the episode, since the common theme is redemption. The one positive is that we get to return to and see more of Coruscant, a location I have been dying to return to ever since the prequels.
Pershing is basically frustrated with the New Republic since he cannot continue the research that got him to this point, and finds an unlikely ally in Elia Kane, one of Moff Gideon's commanders (at least that's what he thinks). She basically shows him how wonderful Coruscant can be, claims to be traumatized by her past with Gideon and redeemed for her actions by working with the New Republic. She later convinces him to leave their designated section and steal a portable lab so Pershing can continue his research. How did I not know that this was going to be a setup from the start? She gets Pershing arrested by the New Republic and put into their mind-wiping program. (By the way, was the name of the program a nod to Stranger Things? It's called the Mind Flayer.) However, the one thing that surprised me was Elia Kane sabotaging the process and basically frying the poor guy's brain.
Abtahi does give a good enough performance in the episode that warranted a reaction out of me, but I was so emotionally jarred from the complete deviation from the normal. I hope this isn't something we have to get used to for the final 5 episodes of this season, because we should be keeping the focus on the namesake of the show. Aside from the Pershing stuff, the content with Mando, Bo-Katan and Grogu was phenomenal and sets up a whole host of problems I think for the two Mandalorians.
Thank you guys so much for reading my review of this episode, and I will see you guys for the next review.