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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
The fifth episode of The Mandalorian, titled “Chapter 5: The Gunslinger,” was released earlier today, December 6, following last week’s episode. This episode was written and directed by Dave Filoni, who directed episode one of the show. As per usual spoilers will follow so fair warning.
This episode was outstanding. There’s a lot to unpack so let’s get into it. The episode opens in space during a dogfight between Mando and another bounty hunter. At one point the other bounty hunter says to Mando, “I can bring ya in warm or I can bring ya in cold,” and he manages to shoot out one of Mando’s engines on his ship. Then, proving his skills in space combat, gets behind the bounty hunter and replies with “that’s my line,” and destroys the other guy’s ship, saving himself and Baby Yoda.
Afterwards, through a bit of fan service from the writers, the Mando finds himself hovering over Tatooine and he lands at a repair facility in Mos Eisley. The facility is ran by a woman named Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) who, after telling the Mandalorian what needs to be fixed, stumbles upon Baby Yoda after he wakes from a nap when the Mando left him on the ship. She’s actually a nicer lady than I expected and looked after him for the Mando which is the exact opposite of what I thought would happen.
Meanwhile, the Mando goes to a cantina, which actually looks like the same one where Luke met Han in A New Hope, looking for work but instead he finds young bounty hunter to be Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) who needs Mando’s help. Toro is hunting a mercenary named Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) who was very active in the last years of the Empire and is now on the run after the New Republic captured her employers. She’s rather dangerous and the Mando knows it. So he wishes Toro good luck but all he wants is the bounty itself in order to get him into the bounty hunter’s guild so he offers the Mando all the credits, which he takes. The Mando and Toro meet up at the bay where Mando’s ship is and they depart on a pair of speeders to find their target.
Filoni captured great shots of Toro and the Mandalorian riding their speeders through the desert and the cinematography for that sequence was outstanding. The shots are so beautiful and the transitions are great. Midway through their ride they come upon a group of the always friendly Tusken Raiders. Toro’s bright idea is to make sure they keep their distance and after he gets surprised by a couple behind him, the Mandalorian, who apparently knows whatever language Tusken Raiders use, bargains to let them pass through their land in exchange for Toro’s binoculars.
They eventually come upon a dewback dragging its rider through the sand and after some quick investiagating, the Mando realizes its a trap set by Fennec. They decide to wait it out and after Toro finishes his first watch, wakes the Mando and he decides they’ll make a blitz attack towards Fennec using some flash grenades which will temporarily disable her scope for them to continue towards her. During their charge the Mando’s speeder gets blown up and he’s thrown out and barely escapes after Toro manages to surprise Fennec which turns into a fist fight.
After the Mando saves Fennec and they cuff her, realizing there is only room for two on the speeder, the Mandalorian goes to find the dewback but in the process, Fennec tells Toro about the Mandalorian and his deception towards the guild. So he decides to turn on the Mandalorian but not before killing Fennec and leaving her body to rot. Once the Mandalorian finds Fennec’s body he heads back to the bay where his ship is. Toro then holds up the Mando and tells Peli to cuff him but he uses a flash grenade as she cuffs him and it throws off Toro. Once he kills Toro he takes his credits and gives them to Peli for the repairs and he departs Tatooine. The camera then pans back to Fennec’s body and someone is walking up to Fennec and the shot only shows the lower armor of the person. The person kneels down and the shot cuts to black.
The rumors have been going crazy since this episode came out. Most theories are that the person over Fennec was the infamous Boba Fett and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true. There are a few things that make this theory highly possible to be true. For one, Fett had spurs on his boots and in the background of the shot, spurs could be heard as he walked. For two, it was never actually confirmed that he died in that Sarlacc pit when Luke was rescuing everyone in Return of the Jedi and thirdly, the episode takes place on Tatooine. What do you think?
This episode was crazy and with only three remaining, the show could be going in tons of directions. The writers and producers are continuing to give the fans more with every episode and this is turning out to be one of the best Star Wars shows ever.
The Mandalorian‘s sixth episode releases next Friday, December 13, so stay right here for our review!
What are your thoughts on The Mandalorian so far? What are your theories for who that mysterious character was in the last shot? Are you excited for a potential return of Boba Fett? Do you think it could be someone else? Let us know down in the comments and stay right here at The Cinema Spot for more Star Wars related content!
Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
