Welcome back to the blog readers. This season of The Mandalorian has honestly been hit and miss. There is good and there is bad, and I really hope that these final three episodes are on the rise so we can say this season is a success. Did we start on the right track with this episode, titled "Chapter 22: Guns for Hire," written by Jon Favreau, and directed by Bryce Dallas Howard? Stick around to find out.
SPOILERS: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
Alright now, we have to discuss the elephant in the room. This episode was not good, and it really does come as a surprise because every episode so far has been at least good. I was taken back with some of the decisions that were made in this episode, and some of the surprises did not sit well with me al all.
I do want to start with what was good about the episode. It was really nice to see Simon Kassianides and Mercedes Varnado (Mercedes Moné in the realm of professional wrestling) reprising their Season 2 characters Axe Woves and Koska Reeves respectively, although Varnado didn't really have much to do in this episode, but Axe Woves did. Turns out since Bo-Katan abandoned her quest to reclaim Mandalore, he was one of the Mandalorians who left her and became a mercenary. It doesn't seem like too much of a character shift so I was completely fine with that.
And that does tie into the ending of the episode, although it turned out to be a lot less dramatic than I thought it would be. Bo-Katan challenged Axe for leadership and defeated him, and got the Darksaber back. Mando made the claim that he was defeated by that Terminator-looking thing in the mines of Mandalore and had the weapon taken from him, and Bo-Katan defeated that creature to rightfully earn the Darksaber back. From the minute he got that weapon, he did not want it and tried to get rid of it at any opportunity that he could. I thought she would challenge for it, but I guess nobody had to die for it. A win's a win right? Bo-Katan finally has her birthright back, and I told you that this story was not going to conclude this season.
Another positive I had with the episode is the music. I really do miss Ludwig Göransson, but composer Joseph Shirley has really stepped up in his place. He continues to excel and show off his variety. He borrowed some familiar themes from Göransson and even expands on them with some clever motifs. Maybe Ludwig will be back for Season 4? One final thing is Grogu. He will never not be the best thing about this show. There was much more Grogu cuteness this time around over last week, and I found myself laughing or awwing about 4 times because of him. Man, I love this little green puppet baby.
That was pretty much it for the good I had in this episode. Here, I'll say it. What the actual hell was that? I did not expect anything remotely similar to what we got. A whodunit involving a mystery and royals? And two completely out-of-place cameos left me absolutely scratching my head. So the Mandalorians that broke off from Bo-Katan found themselves hired by the leaders of Plazir-15, an Outer Rim independent planet, and her and Mando get sidetracked by those royals. Captain Bombardier, played by JACK BLACK of all people, and his wife, the Dutchess, played by LIZZO??? Yeah, I'm just as confused as you. Why is this the combination of actors we need in a Star Wars show? Don't get me wrong, I don't hate their characters. It's just that these two actors feel SO out of place in Star Wars, especially on this show.
So basically the mystery involves malfunctioning droids across the city, and it's up to Bo-Katan and Mando to determine why these droids are malfunctioning and who is responsible. The events leading up to the reveal are pretty uninteresting: chasing a repurposed Super Battle Droid throughout a populated area, the typical "machine comes to life while it's being investigated and tries to kill the protagonists" trope, and the over-the-top damsels in distress (the royals). The reveal was actually kind of interesting though, as it was revealed to be Separatist Loyalist Commissioner Helgait, played by Christopher Lloyd!!!!! The Back to the future Legend actually plays this character pretty well, and I liked the touch where he sympathized with Count Dooku.
I feel really bad saying this next part, but this was the weakest episode of The Mandalorian to date, and it really is a shame because I love this show dearly. We really need to get back on track next week if we're going to have a good finale. Please Moff Gideon!
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