‘The Mandalorian’ Ep. 6 Review: The ‘Western In Space’ Is At Risk Of Becoming ‘Law & Order: Mandalorian’

Disney


When I finished up the third episode of The Mandalorian, I wondered in my review if this is what Star Wars should be.

Star Wars, at its core, is about wonder and awe. It’s about otherworldly action grounded in relatable sentiments, most notably, the love of your friends and family. At its best, Star Wars blends thrilling gun-blazing set pieces with emotional story-telling that culminates in the magic that is Star Wars. Regardless of how you may feel about the franchise now, that’s likely why you got into it in the first place.

And the reason that I felt The Mandalorian was Star Wars operating at the peak of its powers was exactly that: the series’ early combination of an emotionally rich plot with jaw-dropping action was as good as I’d ever seen in a Star Wars property that has been released during my lifetime.

But while the show still sparkles at moments, it has since reverted back to the almost formulaic nature of the Star Wars entries that came before.

Warning: spoilers for The Mandalorian will follow.

What I found so appealing in the early goings of The Mandalorian was the lore of the hero himself and his connection with the endlessly adorable Baby Yoda. The scenes between the two crackled with both mysticism and exhilaration in ways that I’ve never seen while watching Star Wars. The threat of the remnants of the Empire desperately searching for this high-value target that just so happened to be a descendant or clone or son or whatever the fuck, the same species as Yoda! Exciting shit. And then pairing that overwhelming cute creature with this Iron Man/Batman-like faceless warrior with a heart of gold and an arsenal of weapons and you had, as I’ve said over and over, Star Wars at its best.

But, unfortunately, since episode 3, The Mandalorian has transitioned from serialized storytelling — namely, the story of the Mandalorian saving and fleeing with Baby Yoda — to more episodic adventures. “This week onnnnnn The Mandalorian, our hero encounters a ___________ on the planet of ____________! Will he survive? Tune in to find out!” the narrator yells.

This is not to say that The Mandalorian is no longer exciting or thrilling, the action sequences still soar and the Mandalorian himself is as badass as ever. But with the constantly rotating cast of characters — and more importantly, directors — the series’ constant shift in tone and sensibility from episode to episode is jarring.

Take last week, for example, which ended with a Tatooine-based cliffhanger of an unknown person happening upon the body of Fennec Shand, a mercenary who Mando says “made her name killing for all the top crime syndicates, including the Hutt.” Again, exciting stuff! I was genuinely looking forward to seeing where this plot thread lead. And yet, this week, we’re suddenly flung into a bizarro world, surrealist Suicide Squad-esque comedy with Majin Buu and Bill Burr? It’s these fluctuations in identity that I find detrimental to the series, which began as Justified in space and has since morphed into Law & Order: Mandalorian.

And frankly, that’s the point: Law & Order is one of the longest-running shows on television and there’s no doubt that the Mouse House is looking for longevity out of this Disney+ tentpole. If they were to play all of their Baby Yoda cards now, there could possibly be none left to play in the future. So, by having the Mandalorian partake in seemingly weekly side quests that are ancillary to the main story, Disney is effectively able to prolong the show’s life into the foreseeable future.

The Mandalorian is still a worthy entry into the Star Wars canon, although it has the potential to be one of the all-time greats if it were to lean further into dramatic serialization and less into pulpy adventure-of-the-week action.

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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.