The Mandalorian: Chapter 22- Guns for Hire

 "I don't think they get many of our kind here..."

The Mandalorian can pretty much do no wrong at the moment. Take this episode, for example. Narratively, it's a case of the season arc quite transparently stopping for an episode so we can have a quasi-whodunit set in a decadent society where all citizens live lives of leisure, served by droids, and where blatantly Asimov themes of robotics, as on the Spacer worlds, play out.

And yet... look at the world building. The ultimate culprit, played by the wonderful octogenarian Christopher Lloyd, is a Separatist devotee of Count Dooku. Mando gets to show off his experience of Ugnaught culture. We have a brief appearance of star-cross'd lovers, a Quarren captain and a Mon Calamari prince. And we get a droid bar. I love the droid bar. Yet I also love the depiction of a post-work society which will, in a few generations, collapse into utter decadence.

It's such fun seeing droid-hating Mando interact with Bo Katan here, both joint stars of the show here. Yet the conclusion almost transcends all as Bo-Katan wins over the mercenary Mandalorians by taking the Darksabre from a willing Mando... on a devilishly clever technicality. This is all just bloody brilliant. And Grogu even gets a bloody knighthood...

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 11- The Heiress

 "No, I have enough pets..."

Right, the Granada Sherlock Holmes has nearly finished, with one episode left (tomorrow), so it's time to alternate Sapphire & Steel with some other unfinished business and finish the promising second season of The Mandalorian. It's an impressive episode to return to, ad a reminder of how Jon Favreau has created an impressive piece of television, and quite conceivably a better space opera Western than Firefly.

Compared to last episode, which was essentially about getting from A to B with some excitement on the way, this episode is quite evantful. Yet the bare bones of the plot- Mando arrives on Trask (home of the Quarrens and Mon Calamari- it's great to finally see the planet, with its AT-AT cranes, dodgy mechanics, piracy and living squid soups) in search of other Mandalorians in order to get directions to a Jedi so he can take babby Yoda where it belongs- barely scratches the surface of what is going on here.

Those three other Mandalorians, led by the enigmatic and dangerous Bo-Katan are not as expected. It;s shocking to see them remove their helmets- but we now learn that most do; it's only the extreme "Chid of the Watch" faction, to which Mando belongs, that hold on to "the Way". This is quite a revelation and a superby done twist. Moreover, while Bo-Katan happens to be broadly aligned with the goodies, she is ambitious and power-hungry, and prepared to twist her promises. I wouldn't be surprised if she were to turn up one day as an antagonist. However, Mando now has a place to head for in order to meet a Jedi.

There's also plenty of action, plenty of humour and plenty of action, plus of course plenty of the usual Imperial dastardliness. I've really missed The Mandalorian and it's time to catch up completely.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 4- Sanctuary

“Stop touching things!"

A bit of a change of pace, here: our protagonist has suddenly burned loads of bridges and is looking after a child with a huge bounty on it's head. No wonder that he spends the episode on an out-of-the way episode hiding from what is, in effect, the season arc.

Much of this episode I like, including bounty hunter Cara, the cool red-eyed and menacing AT-ST which is shot like a monster in a horror film, and the doomed romance between our protaonist and the village woman. I like the way there's a third world but chilled and pleasant looking mud hut village in this futuristic world, and the cuteness of Baby Yoda playing with the other kids. But, well, there's a "but" coming.

The opening flashback sequence set in this very village- is this of our Mandalorian himself, showing what happened to him before he was found by Mandalorians, or is it perhaps a less literal parallel? And why, in protecting the village from these baddies with a badass AT-ST, does he not use his ship? He may not want to attract attention, but the agreed upon plan has that effect anyway.

Nonetheless, we get some nice moments, including the revelation that the Mandalorian hasn’t revealed his face to anyone since he was a teenager, and this episode more than any other gives a strong impression of chivalry and the ideals of knightly behaviour in a science fiction context, suggesting a meaning beyond an arty and well-made show which might otherwise nevertheless remain in its geeky ghetto.

But this, of course, is an interlude. Our protagonist and the pointy rated child must move on, and I suspect it’s time for the series arc to return. Again, good stuff, but a more flawed episode than the previous three.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

“If you’re listening to this, you are the resistance.”

This is it, then: the moment the Terminator franchise leaps headlong over a large carnivorous fish of the genus carcharhinus.

So what’s so awful about it? After all, it’s inoressive the way they briefly manage to get a T-800 looking like Arbus for a few seconds later on, and there’s a nice little fourth-wall breaking moment later on where Marcus uses a song as terminator bait, and it’s You Could Be Mine by Guns ‘n’ Roses, straight from the T2 soundtrack. Indeed, the first scene, with Marcus signing away his body in return for a kiss an hour before his judicial killing,  is dramatic and interesting.

And yet the film is a crashing disappointment, a generic action film with no time travel and bland CGI terminators that look like nothing special. Even the various air, sea and giant terminators don’t manage to excite; it’s all just a soup of bland CGI dullness.

There’s a glimmer on interest in the decision to set the film in 2018(!), Much earlier than the usual 2029 (although the year Skynet assumes control, after all the times-windy ness of earlier films, is kept wisely vague) so we get a John Connor who is not yet in charge and a young Kyle Reese, played charismatically by the sadly late Anton Yelchin. Trouble is, the part of John Connor absolutely requires a charismatic actor... and they cast Christian Bloody Bale.

Annoyingly, this is a film you probably need to see if you’re a Terminator completist. It won’t be much fun, though. Full, full, full.