The Mandalorian: Chapter 18- The Mines of Mandalore

 "Did you think your dad was the only Mandalorian?"

This is an interesting and fascinating episode: a bit of humour with good old Peli- it's good that we get to see her every now and again- on Tattooine, and then it's off to explore the ruins of Mandalore. I'm not sure why Mando was so keen to resurrect that IG droid last week when it seems like any half-knackered R5 astromech droid will do, but never mind.

It's superb, tension-filled stuff, with evocative ruins, monsters and a splendid end of level boss, a skittering insect thing that pilots a big robot that in turn pilots this big mecha thing. As all-out action it's superb. Yet as lore, it's fascinating. We see the mines, the waters, we hear of the mythology, in no way based on the tale of Theseus. And we get to know Bo-Katan a little better as she not only rescues Din butbthe two of them seem to bond, despite their differences. As Bo-Katan says, it's more important than ever for Mandalorians to unite.

The characterisation is handled superbly. It's all subtext, all showing and not telling, but the relationships between the two Mandalorians and the increasingly brave and capable Grogu are fascinating. It's also deeply evocative to see what's left of Mandalore, which looks dead from space. That ending, too...

Superb as ever.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 7: In the Name of Honour

 "I gave you my word. I'm with you until we both fall."

So the season has ended already. It's been a little uneven and experimental at times in recent episodes, yes, but that's no bad thing. And this is a true climax, the ending to a Western movie in which the sheriff and his gang have to do the right thing to protect the townsfolk from the baddies. It's all quite topical, really; I'm typing this as Putin and his fascist underlings murder their way to lebensraum in Ukraine, not an inch of which must be surrendered. May Zelenskyy be as successful as Fett.

This is at once a splendid selection of great-looking CGI set pieces and full of surprises, sort of. The suspense lies in which allies will arrive and the answer is, of course, all of them, from Baby Yoda to the entire population of Freetown. But there's good  haracter stuff, too, as former bounty hunter Boba finally learns what it is to be a hero, to be respected, to... ride a Rancor. And yes, the extraordinarily well done CGI Rancor, cleverly foreshadowed a few episodes aho with Boba saying he wanted to ride it, is the visual highlight, even more than those two ED-209's with force fields that turn up as end-of-level bosses.

But what really matters is when the Freetowners turn up, enraged by the murder of their sheriff and, of course, Grogu returning to his dad, Beskar armour clad, to help save the day by putting the Rancor to sleep and then, er, curling up to sleep next to it in an incredibly cute way.

This is a perfectly structured and awesome finale to a bravely experimental variation on The Mandalorian which develops Boba Fett while reminding us that Westerns are often metaphors for not appeasing fascists and shooting them instead, whatever John Wayne's dodgy politics.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 5: The Return of the Mandalorian

 "Dated a Jawa for a while. They're quite furry. Very furry."

This episode is, needless to say, not like the others. It would be blatantly obvious to point out that the eponymous Boba Fett isn't even bloody in this episode, but I'm going to have to do so. Plot-wise, of course, this is to move the Mandalorian into place so that Fennec Shand can hire him on Boba's behalf; presumably it's back to normal next episode, with Mando back to being a guest star in someone else's show.

It's also true that the first half of this episode is just fighting and exposition, while the second half is an exztended montage of welding bits of an antique starship from Naboo last seen in The Phantom Menace. The whole episode is literally fanwank of the most outrageous kind.

So why is this an absolutely brilliant bit of telly?

Partly it's just that it's so well-made and acted, and helmed with aplomb by Hollywood's own Bryce Dallas Howard, but a lot of it is also how, appropriately for Star Wars, the tale of the Mandalorian has a fairytale quality beneath the Western exterior, and this is never so apparent as here. We're reminded of the lrgends surrounding the Darksabre, and how these uber-traditionalist Mandalorianns are those who were exiled to a remote moon, not those who remained on Mandalor to be destroyed by the empire. We learn much mythology that will no doubt become relevant later, with the Madalorian poised as mythical hero.

We are also reminded not to put too store in those too unthinkingly dependent on tradition, too, as Mando is unjustly shunned after having to remove his helmet. I suspect the armourer will later come to regret this.

I've enjoyed this series very much so. But it's striking that this episode, much more like that of another show entirely, should be my favourite so far.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 10- The Passenger

 "What can I say? I'm a great judge of character."

Ok, this episode isn't as awesome as last week's, mainly because it's ultimately a filler episode about getting from Point A to Point B, as far as the arc is concerned, with a bit of picaresque fun and adventure on the way in something of a story of the week. There's a lot less to analyse as it's all rather straightforward in comparison. You can't deny, though, that it's all very well done.

Mando, in travelling to meet this mysterious other Mandalorian, has to transport a cute and amusing frog lady with her jar of eggs which Baby Yoda, the little sod, tries to eat. He gets intercepted by a couple of cops for a broken taillight and runs away, crashing and incurring the wrath of a family of particularly fearsome spiders. That's it. That's the plot. But the way it's done is rather entertaining, despite the fact this is all filler- although I like the way the cops (New Republic types with X-Wings) basically let Mando off at the end.

I don't even mind Dr Mandible(!) looking a bit crap, or all the cutesyness. This is a superbly entertaining episode which continues the strong start to a second season which so far is better than the first. And we even get a cameo from Richard Ayoade.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 9- The Marshal

 “There's no such thing as an abandoned Sarlacc pit."

"There is if you eat the Sarlacc..."

I simply cannot emphasise simply how good this opening episode is to this second season of the greatest science fiction Western since Firefly. I's a masterful piece of telly, however much the role of the Krayt Dragon may owe to Dune.

And a Western this episode most assuredly is, as the framing of the opening shot, with Mando and Baby Yoda walking towards the camera shows us. As the season opener this episode is quite arc-heavy, and so we're teased, after a superbly effective opening sequence which entertains us wth lots of action while subtly dropping a lot of exposition, with rumours of of another Mandalorian on Tattooine, in the forgotten town of Mos Pelgo. The apparent Mandalorian we see- the Marshal- is of course a red herring, but how did that armour get into the possession of those Jawas from whom he bought it, and who is that mysterious watching figure at the end, played- very interestingly- by Temuera Morrison?

The Marshal is, of course, blatantly a sheriff straight from the tropes of the Western, and to drive the point home he's even played, rather well, by Timothy Olyphant, Seth from Deadwood- and the fact the Weequay barman is played by W. Earl Brown makes this almost a Deadwood mini-reunion.

The plot- the villagers and Tusken Raiders must make common cause and use cunning to slay a massive burrowing dragon (yeah, that bit owes slightly less to Westerns), gives us loads of entertainment while eminding us how much we like our protagonist, whose face is hidden but who shows himself yet again to have surprising depths as a character. And it's a rollicking tale that feels much shorter than it is. 

I love the genre playfulness, too; Mando and the Marshal are set to have a typical Western duel, holsters ready, in the saloon, when the ground begins to shake and the Western is interrupted by a trope from another genre. And there's some nice world building- as soon as the Empire is destroyed at the end of Return of the Jedi, the mining corporation moves in and enslaves everyone. It's Star Wars, but definitely a Western and not fairytale.

Welcome back, The Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 5- The Gunslinger

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold...”

Another filler episode, then, our second in a row. It’s reasonably diverting, although notably not as good, so can we get back to the arc please?

This is only a sub-par episode by its own standards, of course. The opening starship battle is retro and cool, and the story of the week about a triangle of bounty hunters is intriguing enough, plus we get to see Ming-Na Wen. The comic mechanic and her card playing put droids are fun too. And it’s nice to see Mos Eisley again- this time a little less pernickety about droids.

But there’s not much development of plot or character, or much world building, although I like the Stormtrooper heads on spikes, and Toro’s defensive protest that “This ain’t Corellia” when showing off the speeder bikes.

But this is ultimately a double cross narrative that doesn’t go anywhere beyond this episode. It’s pretty much a Western with sci-fi trappings; even the Tusken Raiders are blatantly equated with Native Americans. Diverting, but please- no more filler.