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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
The sixth episode of The Mandalorian, titled “Chapter 6: The Prisoner,” was released earlier today, December 13, following last week’s episode. This episode was directed by Rick Famuyiwa, who also directed episode two. The story of the episode was written by Christopher Yost, writer of Thor: Ragnarok and the teleplay of the episode was written by Yost and Famuyiwa. As per usual, spoilers to follow.
I left this episode feeling very satisfied but the door was left open with where the series will go in the remaining two episodes so a little hint as to where Mando plans to go would’ve been nice. The episode opens with him docking in a mercenary ship platform owned by his old friend Ranzar Malk or Ran for short, played by Mark Boone Jr. of Sons of Anarchy fame. He’s asked the Mandalorian to tag along on a mission, as they need his ship, to rescue a friend of Ran’s who has been captured by the New Republic and Mando, being the usual paranoid man he is, doesn’t like the heat it could come with.
The rescue team includes a variety of shifty characters. The defacto leader is played greatly by comedian Bill Burr, an ex-Imperial sharpshooter named Mayfeld and he wasn’t a Stormtrooper. A Devaron named Burg, the muscle of the group, played by Clancy Brown (Clone Wars and Rebels), a great callback to the Clone Wars show with a Twi’lek character named Xi’an, played by Natalia Tena, who was Tonks from the Harry Potter films (rest in peace) and a bug eyed droid named Q9-0 or just Zero, voiced by Richard Ayoade, who has directed music videos for the Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend. Xi’an, like Ran, has a history with the Mando and it’s implied they have a romantic history together as well but more on old histories later. As this episode is packed with references to Star Wars lore from the whole timeline, Mayfeld suggests the Mando is actually a Gungan and even remarks, “is that why yousa don’t wanna show your face?,” a nice callback to Jar Jar and company.
Once they get to the prisoner ship, they fight a few droids and once again the show proves how great of a fighter the Mando is as he flanks them and takes them out with ease, granted they were just droids, but regardless he’s a fighter above the rest. As they are walking through the ship, prisoners jump to their doors and one prisoner is a Ardennian, like the same crew member from Solo: A Star Wars Story, who was voiced by The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, another great callback to past Star Wars adventures. The crew get to the control room and find an unexpected New Republic solider who pulls out an inactivated tracking beacon. After unsuccessful negotiations with the solider from Mando, Xi’an kills him and as he falls he activates the beacon and the crew now have twenty minutes.
After recusing said prisoner, Xi’an’s brother (Ismael Cruz Cordova) who also has a history with the Mando, the crew double crosses the Mandalorian and throws him in the cell. Dyn eventually escapes and goes back to the control room and splits the crew up. One by one he takes out the crew and comes to Qin, Xi’an’s brother, and they bargain to leave together so Mando can get his payday. This episode didn’t do much with Baby Yoda but Zero finds him after he escapes his makeshift bedroom and Baby Yoda goes to hide. As Zero finds him back in his bedroom, Baby Yoda attempts to use the Force but just as this happens, Mando blasts the droid, once again saving his adorable little friend and Baby Yoda is a little confused until Mando takes him along to the cockpit.
Cut back to Ran on the mercenary ship and Mando gets his payday and leaves, “no questions asked,” as they say. Remember that tracking beacon? Unknown to everyone, the Mandalorian took the beacon and put it on Qin and just as the Mando is getting further from the ship, three X-wing New Republic fighters drop in from hyper space, played by Deborah Chow, Dave Filoni and Famuyiwa. They destroy the ship and the Mando jumps to hyper space. The show cuts to the crew who actually got thrown in a cell on that prison ship and screen cuts to black.
While it would have been great if the series went in a forward direction to continue his journey to put Baby Yoda in safe hands, this backward direction, bringing in new characters and further exploring Mando’s backstory still made for a great episode. Famuyiwa’s direction was stellar in this episode. He created some great shots during fight scenes and the tension was there during the control room scene with the New Republic soldier. With Deborah Chow and Taika Waititi directing the remaining two episodes, respectively, I’m looking forward to what they will create with those episodes and how they will help wrap the show up.
The Mandalorian‘s seventh episode releases next Wednesday, December 18, as the epic conclusion to the Skywalker saga, The Rise of Skywalker, releases next Friday instead, on December 20. Stay tuned for our reviews of that episode and the film!
What are your thoughts on this week’s episode? Did you enjoy the exploration of the Mando’s backstory or are you just ready for him to find a safe place for Baby Yoda? How are you feeling about the series thus far? 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.
