Viewer Log: The Mandalorian ep 4

The Hunter finds a kindred spirit, and a place to rest his weary head.

Last time on The Mandalorian, said Mandalorian fulfilled his contract and dropped the Kid off with the Imperials. And while he takes the Beskar steel and gets a new outfit out of the deal, it’s pretty clear that he’s not feeling stoked about his choice. Just before leaving to continue his lone gunslinger bit, he decides to instead do the right thing and save the Kid. Yeah, Mando, embrace your inner John Wayne! While he kills a lot of Stormtrooper and later Guildsmen, the pair of Mandalorian and Kid are almost overrun by the latter group. That is until his Mandalorian clansmen join the fray, revealing their presence on the planet. The other Mandalorians will find a new hideout for their people while The Mandalorian takes the Kid to find somewhere to hide.

Chapter 4, Sanctuary

I think he misses that carriage thing already.
Much easier to handle baby Yoda when you can lock him in
his metaphorical room.

We open on some random villagers gathering blue krill creatures. It’s a very peaceful, tranquil moment, right up until blaster fire starts raining down and a group of alien raiders attack the village. Talk about killing a mood. A woman and her daughter watch the raid occur from under a shrimping basket. The alien creatures steal the majority of the villages harvest before running back into the forest. Shockingly, the show doesn’t do the thing where the mother and child come out of hiding just to be grabbed by the enemy that they thought had just left. Little victories.

We then rejoin the Mandalorian and the Kid flying in deep space. Much like last time, the Kid feels the need to continually touch different switches and dials, much to his guardian’s annoyance. The Mandalorian detects a planet, Sorgen. It’s a planet that lacks just about any modern convenience, but isn’t a desert planet, so it’s still got a leg up on Tatooine. And I’ve sure there’s absolutely NO chance of The Mandalorian getting roped into some greater good cause here. None at all. They land and The Mandalorian leaves the Kid, somehow thinking telling the alien baby to stay will make it stay put. It’s like he hasn’t been looking after the thing for the last few days. The Kid immediately follows, so The Mandalorian just sighs and has him come along.

They arrive at some kind of old timey canteen, looking for food and lodging. He tries to pump a waitress for info on a mysterious woman he spotted staring at him, but the place is so… old timey, that the waitress doesn’t get it. He pays her extra to look after the kid while he follows after the disappearing woman. He finds her out back and the two warriors start fist fighting. They end up knocking each other to the ground with their blasters to each other’s head, with the Kid watching while eating a little bowl of soup. I burst out laughing at that reveal. They go back in for soup. We find out she’s an ex-soldier, having worked for the as mercenary muscle for the rebellion before the Empire fell. After the Empire’s fall, she kept up the mercenary work, she’s vague about it, but it’s clear her work would be enough for the Bounty Hunter’s Guild to be interested in her bounty. She assumed he’d come to get a bounty on her, hence why she tried to cave in his skull. The Mandalorian has no hard feelings, though. She tells him to move on, as the Sogren is really only big enough for one drifter to hide out on.

So. Damn. Cute. Even in incredibly tense situations.

That night a pair of fellows approach the Mandalorian while he’s performing maintenance on his ship. They’re looking to pay him to take of the raiders. Not going to lie, approaching a member of a super soldier warrior clan to take care of your enemies is a good idea, in theory. The Mandalorian really isn’t into doing charity work, as he sees it, as the village couldn’t possibly have enough to pay him to do that kind of job. He tries to brush them off, but their whining about farming in the middle of nowhere piques his interest. He takes their credits and pays the soldier, Cara Dune, to help him out. The Mandalorian is pretty confident that the two of them can handle anything that the raiders might throw. Side note, given what happened last time, I’m shocked ol’ Mando is willing to leave his ship unattended. What if there are forest Jawas?

The now trio arrive in the village and begin setting up shop. The woman from the opening, Omera, sets up The Mandalorian in her barn. She introduces her daughter, Winta, to the Mandalorian. The little girl clearly takes an immediate shine to the Kid… as her mother does to a certain stoic warrior. The Mandalorian starts performing maintenance on his rifle when the two return to bring him lunch. Winta wants to play the Kid, which The Mandalorian allows. Way to not be a helicopter dad, Mando. With the kids gone, Omera asks a very personal question of the Mandalorian… how long since he’s taken off his helmet. The Mandalorian reveals that he’s worn his helmet in public since he was around the children’s age, when the Mandalorian adopted him. He does take it off when alone, but only when alone. Omera leaves him, and once he’s alone, Mando removes his helmet and starts eating.

Later on, The Mandalorian and Cara start investigating the raiders line of attack. Things seem normal… right up until they see the footprints of an Imperial Walker, an AT-ST. Oh no. They go back to the villagers and he tells them “They can’t live here anymore.” Cara takes over explaining (good call there) that the AT-ST pretty much makes it impossible for them to stay in the area, as that sort of heavy weapon pretty much guarantees that the Raiders will win any battle. The Villagers don’t seem to take the hint, wanting to stay and fight. For some reason, this gets the Mandalorian to agree to keep helping. I guess he responds well to gumption, and Cara technically works for him, so she’s in too. They have the villagers start setting up traps and give them basic training in weapons and marksmanship. Only Omera is any kind of a shot, what a shock. The plan is to get the villagers just good enough to distract the raiders while the actual mercenaries focus on the AT-ST. At night fall, they move out.

Huh, this seems way scarier than it did back on Endor...

The Mandalorian and Cara start their raided, planting explosives in the Raider’s armory. They lure in and kill a few more of them, and repeat the process while their explosive cycles down. They escape just as the bomb goes off. The Raiders pull out their AT-ST, which is much scarier than I remember them looking on Endor. They do their best to serpentine around the AT-ST’s shots as they run through the forest. They make it back to camp, and prepare their troops for battle. Unfortunately, the AT-ST pilot seems to be too smart to step into the pond they booby trapped. It switches on it’s search light and sets a building ablaze before the raiders charge. The villagers start firing on the Raiders, while The Mandalorian and Cara try to figure out how to make the AT-ST step forward. Cara takes The Mandalorian’s pulse rifle, runs in and takes careful shots at the AT-ST with it just at the edge of the water. She actually is able to shoot it in the eye, which proved to be all they needed to get it to step forward and pitch sideways. The Mandalorian then runs up and thermo-grenades it into oblivion. I don’t think the raiders will be a problem any more.

The next day, everyone enjoys the peace that their mission created. Cara and The Mandalorian watch the Kid and kids play for a bit. Cara asks about what happens if he takes the Helmet off in front of people, to which he says that the only thing that happens is that he can’t put it on again. Which is a much bigger deal when you think about it for a second and realize that, for a Mandalorian, that kind of means you’re giving up your heritage. The Mandalorian plans to move on in a few days, given how their antics will draw people’s attention, but he’s going to leave the Kid. The Mandalorian seems to think he’ll be safe.

A mysterious figure, meanwhile, is tracking through the forest using one of their locator fobs.

Omera tries to convince the Mandalorian to stay, but he can’t bring himself to do it. While they’re talking the mysterious figure has a rifle out and pointed at the crowd. He fires at the Kid. Or almost does. Cara got him first. I think I love this woman. They find the Fob, and realize what that means. No peaceful life for The Mandalorian or the Kid. Cara offers to come with him, but he tells her to go her own way, as they’re heading for the “Razercrest.” They have a sort of “We’ll see you again” moment, before she starts hiking off on her own. The villagers all wave goodbye as The Mandalorian and the Kid ride off.

Anybody shocked that I got a serious Magnificent Seven vibe from this episode? Though I guess Dynamic Duo or Terrific Trio would be a more accurate title in this case. Mercenaries are hired by a small town being squeezed out by people of ill repute to take care of their enemies, seems an on-point comparison. Spoiler for the Magnificent Seven if you haven’t seen it. Hell, the main difference is that everyone makes it out alive. I liked the addition of Cara Dune, and hope she doesn’t end up being a one off. She’s a brawler but also a crack shot, what’s not to love? We got just enough of her so that Cara is about as mysterious as her stoic friend, the Mandalorian, with the obvious exception that we’ve seen her face. I think she and the Mandalorian would work well together in most situations, and am willing to bet that he’ll probably need back up again in the near future. My only real complaint for the episode is that the hint of romantic feelings forming between Omera and the Mandalorian feels a bit rushed. They throw in a few lines about the group being in town for several weeks, but if you missed those lines, you could be forgiven for thinking that Omera seemed to have developed a pretty strong attachment to what amounts to a talking suit of armor in just over two days. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with quick romances, but maybe show a bit more than she being curious about his helmet and being a crack shot before you try to make me believe that The Mandalorian seriously considered taking off his helmet, forgoing his people, to stay with her. It’s a bit much to swallow. But then again, that’s a minor nitpick at best. I’m looking forward to next weeks episode already. Have a goodnight everybody. 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/viewer-log-ep-4-31958059
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero