The Mandalorian — ‘Chapter 12: The Siege’ [2x4] ★★★★☆
By: Dan Owen
Tags: The Mandalorian, Star Wars, Review, Culture, TV

This season’s turning out to be an embarassment of riches! The Mandalorian doesn’t offer complex characterisations or intricate storytelling, but it’s become unerringly efficient and entertaining. As a weekly spectacle full of joy, it’s hard to beat what showrunner Jon Favreau has been putting out. Each ‘Chapter’ may be a variation of some kind of “mission” Mando (Pedro Pascal) undertakes, in exchange for information or while his ship’s being repaired, but when they’re this enjoyable it’s hard to criticise the template.

Mando and The Child return to Nevarro for repairs to the Razor Crest, reuniting with his old friends Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano). A lot’s changed since he’s been gone, as the town’s in the midst of regeneration now that Cara is providing security as the Marshall, and Greef has become the magistrate with ex-felon Mythrol (Horatio Sanz) working as his assistant. The Child is sent to school, while Greef discusses securing the planet’s longterm prosperity by destroying an old Imperial base nearby. It’s manned by a skeleton crew, so shouldn’t be too much trouble, so Mando agrees to help… only to discover the base is a cover for a mysterious laboratory once run by Dr Pershing (Omid Abtahi), who captured The Child last season and has apparently extracted blood with a high “M-count” in order to create clones.

But before they can investigate further, they come under attack from Stormtroopers and have to fight their way out of the base, with Cara stealing an armoured ground transport, pursed down a valley by speeder bikes manned by scout troopers and a handful of TIE Fighters.

Once again, this was a streamlined narrative it’s easy to just sit back and enjoy. As Friday night feet-up entertainment, The Mandalorian has found its niche. I’ve noticed more essays about how this show feels more like “real Star Wars”, compared to the prequel and sequel trilogies, and I think an important factor is the limitations. While it’s a big-budget TV series, it still can’t do everything the $200M+ Lucasfilm movies could deliver, but that’s to its benefit. You can see the compromises or clever uses of their technology to get around problems the movies wouldn’t have, and the reliance more on practical effects and puppets just gives it a charm not seen since the hallowed Original Trilogy. When things have that noticeable tactility, for kids it’s like seeing toys come to life… whereas the post-Phantom Menace films are more redolent of video games.

“The Siege” was directed by Carl Weathers, surprisingly, although I’ve since learned he’s been behind the camera many times before. He shot an episode of Hawaii Five-0 only last year, a handful of episodes of Sheena in 2001–02, and even eight instalments of Silk Stalkings way back in 1997. This is certainly the biggest and most complex thing he’s worked on as a director, and I didn’t notice any signs of difficulties. I’m sure The Mandalorian is a well-oiled machine with lots of talented folk helping along the way (plus there’s a heavy reliance on what the VFX teams add to the end result), but Weathers certainly acquitted himself well with a thrilling action set-piece (which he also starred in). The best moment, however, had to be the Razor Crest’s dogfight with the remaining TIE Fighters — particularly the sound design for the sequence where it dropped out of the sky and went into a spinning dive.

The only area this episode fell down in, is with the group dynamic. The writing from Jon Favreau just didn’t nail the chemistry between Mando, Greef, and Cara. They were a fun trio last season, but “The Siege” lacked quality in their interactions, and they came across as mean most of the time in how they treated poor Mythrol. (I did enjoy his line about the lack of guard rails inside the Imperial base, which is a fatal design flaw the Empire has in so many of their constructs!)

For those interested in the bigger picture, “The Siege” certainly shed some light on a few mysteries lingering from season 1. The Child’s high “M-count” must refer to “midichlorians”, the controversial scientific “explanation” for the Force introduced in The Phantom Menace. So it seems that Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) is creating clones that are as force-sensitive as The Child, perhaps intending them to be an unstoppable Sith army?

Cast & Crew

writer: Jon Favreau.

director: Carl Weathers.

guest starring: Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Horatio Sanz, Omid Abtahi & Giancarlo Esposito.