The Mandalorian — ‘Chapter 15: The Believer’ [2x7] ★★★★☆
By: Dan Owen
Tags: TV, Review, Television, Star Wars, The Mandalorian

One has to admire how many episodes The Mandalorian produce that are essentially variations on missions to infiltrate or destroy enemy bases. “The Believer” was another enjoyable iteration, given added spark thanks to the return of Migs Mayfield (Bill Burr) from last season’s “The Prisoner”. Mando (Pedro Pascal) asks for Cara Dune’s (Gina Carano) help in releasing Migs from hard labour, as his background as an Imperial soldier means he could help them find Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) ship. And indeed he can, but it requires them to pose as Stormtroopers on the planet Morak, home to a secret rhydonium refinery, which contains an access terminal they can use to find the man holding Grogu.

As it typical for this series, the episode was anchored by a couple of cinematic action sequences that make you doubt this is television. The best was the attack from pirates, who went after the transport Mando and Migs hijacked, with Migs trying to drive them to safety as Mando grappled with dozens of pirates on the roof. It reminded me of a similar set-piece from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), which also involved high-speed vehicles in a daytime jungle environment. But while that movie looked false because of the smeary greenscreen, the cutting-edge way Mandalorian is made without one (the backgrounds are insanely detailed digital images the actors can see and are lit by) made it look almost real at times.

But what elevated “The Believer” over other such episodes was how writer-director Rick Famuyiwa actually spent time on the characters, in a way one could argue The Mandalorian doesn’t always do. It’s a great series, but it’s primarily a visual and emotional one, not always so concerned about deeper character backstories and their internal lives. Migs was already a good anti-hero last year, but here he gained more layers and evokes greater sympathy — becoming a genuinely good partner to Mando, and one of few to see his real face¹. And his background in the Empire came back nicely, with him almost blowing the mission when he found himself sitting across from Valin Hess (Richard Brake) — a hard-nosed officer with no regard for the thousands slaughtered under his command back when Migs was part of his army.

1. It may become a tradition that Pedro Pascal reveals his face once per season, which would be fun. It's incredible he agreed to this role knowing a sizeable number of ordinary folk won't ever link him to the show. Or maybe they'll find a way for him to adapt his beliefs about showing his face, as a few other Mandalorians have done that we've met.

The only weakness with this episode is that Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) and Cara Dune were reduced to “lookout”, with Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) the “getaway driver”. It might have been better to give them more involvement, but this is the trouble with a show when you start assembling a gang that can’t disassemble at the end of an episode.

“The Believer” was also the first episode of The Mandalorian not to feature Grogu, not even briefly, so in some sense it’s good to know the series doesn’t have to rely on his cuteness in any way. There may even come a time when the show could move on from his story, although I doubt Disney would let that happen at this stage. I just have a lingering concern season 5 of The Mandalorian with Grogu still being chased around the galaxy won’t be quite as enjoyable, and maybe a little silly. Mind you, Lone Wolf and Cub reached almost 100 and we’re only on episode 15.

Cast & Crew

writer & director: Rick Famuyiwa.

guest starring: Bill Burr, Gina Carano, Temuera Morrison, Min-Na Wen, Giancarlo Esposito & Richard Brake.