I was not going to write about The Mandalorian this week, but there were so many cool things from the episode that I could not resist. This was a setup episode that moves the characters into position for the big Grogu rescue and sometimes those kinds of episodes can be a little boring, but this one definitely entertained (Bill Burr never hurts). Anyways, there are a few things I want to discuss about the episode…
Boba Fett’s Lookin’ So Fresh,So Clean
I read one of the 1200 articles from ScreenRant about why Boba Fett’s armor is clean and painted like new since it came back to him. They basically said it was just fan service and blah blah blah. To me there was actually an in-universe explanation (normally I would go with the cynical “they did it to sell more toys”).
The armor looked like it had seen some rough days when Cobb Vanth was wearing it. Fett had been without his armor for a few years and he finally had it back. Maybe when he was working all those missions for Vader, he just never took the time to properly care for it. But as he spent time without it, he realized how much it was a part of him. If he is taking the time to clean it, he may have felt it was time to restore it back to it’s original polish and shine. Or maybe he sees the way Din takes care of his armor and it reminds him of his father. Who knows, but it was not nearly as crazy as people made it seem.
Also, maybe Cobb smells bad and Boba just wanted to give it a proper cleaning.
The Coolness of Migs Mayfeld
I did not expect to get so much depth from Mayfeld. Burr really crushed the episode. First he challenges Mando’s strict helmet rule by pointing out that he was willing to wear a different helmet for the kid. Mayfeld says that everyone has a line they won’t cross, until they cross it, then the line just moves. The cool thing about Mayfeld’s monologue during the ride is that it felt like a Bill Burr bit, so either they let Burr just riff and do his own thing or they wrote it knowing his style (when he said “I’m just sayin'”, I half expected him to laugh and do one of his rants about cruise ships).
Then when he sees Din without his helmet, instead of gloating and saying that he was right, Mayfeld comes to his aid with the Imperial officer. We learn a little about Mayfeld’s backstory and why he left the Empire. Also, the shot at the end when he blows up the rhydonium was pretty awesome. I hope we see more of Migs Mayfeld next season or maybe in one of the spin-off shows. I was honestly hoping he would volunteer to come with Mando and the gang to rescue Grogu.
The Armor Swap
Can we talk about Pedro Pascal’s acting in this episode? Has anyone ever pulled off making the audience feel uncomfortable like Pascal does when he is wearing the trooper armor? You ever have to wear something that is not you? That feeling you have all day (for many guys it is when they have to wear a suit) of being uncomfortable and not yourself. That is how Din looks when he is in the passenger side of the transport.
Then he takes off the helmet and we see his face, as does the Imperial officer. He just looks so dejected and unsure of himself. Fortunately Migs jumps in for the rescue. It just shows how much Grogu means to Din that he is now willing to cross that line in order to rescue the child.
My favorite part though was the line from Burr about going to fill out those TPS reports. I wonder if that was in the script (I think Jon Favreau and Ron Livingston are good friends, they were in Swingers together) or did Burr just improvise. Either way, it was funny to hear an Office Space line in Star Wars.
