The Mandalorian episode 2 directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) is an improvement over the series premiere. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes this episode isn’t bloated or slight at all, the runtime simply fits the story of the episode. Jon Favreau and Famuyiwa concoct a story with minimal dialogue, fun action set-pieces and the most adorable baby alien as “The Child.”
To avoid any confusion between the name of the show and the title character, we will be calling the character "Mando," until his actual name is revealed.
Minor spoilers follow, so be warned.
The Story in The Mandalorian Episode 2
After discovering Baby Yoda (let’s just call him Yodi for now) at the end of the Pilot, Mando (Pedro Pascal) is walking to his ship while Yodi floats alongside in a crib. In the review for the pilot, I complained about the score crossing into Creed territory and taking me out of the story at one point. In “The Child,” those same musical themes are present, but Ludwig Göransson’s score now seems like a perfect fit for this Star Wars story.
After a brief skirmish, the duo return to Mando’s ship and find Jawas ransacking the vessel. He tries to get his parts back by initiating a failed attack on a Sandcrawler. Kuiil (Nick Nolte) from the pilot pops up again and offers to negotiate with the Jawas.
A bargain is struck between the Jawas and Mando. Bring the Jawas an egg from a Mud Horn (Looks like a rhino, but is the size of an elephant) and he will receive his parts from the Jawas.
You’ll need to watch the episode to see how he recovers the egg. The Jawas promptly eatch the yoke and after some help from Kuiil in repairing the ship, Mando and his ward are off on the next adventure.
The Set Pieces
There are two dynamic set pieces that take up the bulk of the episode’s runtime. The set pieces takes on an extra layer of importance as the 1st line of “basic” dialogue isn’t spoken until at least 10 minutes into the episode.
Sandcrawler
The Sandcrawler scene involves Mando trying to climb up the side of the crawler to retrieve his stolen ship parts. Some highlights include:
- Throwing a Jawa out of a window from the outside with his hands
- Yanks a Jawa to the ground with his whip
- Blasts a few of them
- Once he gets to the top of the crawler, he’s immediately tased, falls back to ground and is unconscious until Yodi awakens him with The Force (Could be wrong here).
Mud Horn
Mando is pretty much destroyed in the fight. His blaster, whip and flamethrower are all useless against the beast. He does receive help from an unexpected source.
Baby Yoda
The highlight of Mandalorian episode 2 is the presence of Yodi. Whether he’s trying to heal Mando’s injuries using the force or eating a lizard in the background while Kuiil and Mando talk, you and Mando feel connected to this whimsical creature.
What did you think of Chapter 2?
The Review
Chapter 2: The Mandalorian
PROS
- Confident storytelling
- Couple Great Action set pieces
- Baby Yoda
CONS
- Still don't know where we are in the galaxy
