How does the sophomore episode of the Disney + series stack up? Mild spoilers for the first two episodes ahead.
One concern I had about the initial episode of The Mandalorian was that it was perhaps a touch too reliant on Easter eggs and callbacks. Take the scene where Mando meets his Imperial informant. It begins with him encountering an eye on a stick style door guardian familiar from Return of the Jedi. This raised a smile and made sense in the wider Star Wars universe, after all, why would Jabba be the only one with this kind of device? Upon entering the building Mando then encounters a gonk droid last seen in A New Hope, before coming across a bunch of stormtroopers. It felt like overkill, and that’s just one scene! Thankfully the second episode feels a lot more balanced and when it does use familiar elements they have a purpose rather than being window dressing.
The episode picks up right where we left off with Mando having acquired his target, (I won’t go into details of this character here as it is one of the best surprises and if you can avoid spoilers until March, I urge you to do so) and facing the challenge of getting off-planet. He meets a number of obstacles along the way including a welcome return of the Jawas! The droid thieves are in full force in this episode including an amazing set piece onboard their signature sand crawler. This sequence brings to mind a level from the SNES game Super Star Wars which will no doubt conjure some happy memories for viewers of a certain age. Later Mando must do battle with a creature somewhat reminiscent of one of the arena beasts from Attack of the Clones which goes to show that modern TV can do CGI that surpasses that of the older movies. All in all, it makes for an action-packed half-hour. That’s right half hour, whereas the first episode ran to around 38 minutes this one is svelte at 27 if you discount the recap and credits. It’s a bold move in an age where streaming shows regularly push beyond 60 minutes but it’s working so far for this show. Having a short run time means that we’re not getting caught in the trap that so many shows do, where the too little plot is spread over too much run time. The downside, of course, is that some viewers may feel short-changed with a first season that when all is said and done won’t be too much longer than the most recent films. At least so far Favreau and his team are delivering quality over quantity.
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Jim King brings us his thoughts on Chapter 2
Name: The Mandalorian
Description: The travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.
Jim King is a lifelong geek who enjoys talking about anything and everything out of the ordinary. He co-hosts a Star Trek podcast and is pretty good at Street Fighter 2.
