Last week, The Mandalorian returned in shockingly lackluster fashion. The premiere was repetitive, bizzarely edited and paced, and ultimately could be deemed as one of the worst episodes in series history (still not as bad as Chapter 5 “The Gunslinger” though).
Thankfully, The Mandalorian Chapter 18, ‘The Mines of Mandalore’ was a triumphant return to form.
Based on what he told literally everyone in the Season 3 Premiere, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us) flies to Mandalore in order to find the Living Waters of the Mines of Manadalore so he can atone for the transgression of his removing his helmet. He and (sweet baby boy) Grogu along with an R5 astromech droid land on Mandalore and are besieged by a treacherous landscape, local beastly inhabitants and a large, menacing half creature/half machine with a penchant for murdering Mandalorians (who are likely seeking redemption themselves). In order to save Din, who has been captured by this creature machine, Grogu flies off to recruit Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica) to save Din from certain death.
The Mandalorian Chapter 18 in many ways is the antithesis of the premiere. The story is straightforward and has all the hallmarks of a classic Mandalorian episode. It’s heavy on sweeping, breathtaking landscapes, big-time action sequences and undeniable cuteness from our sweet baby boy. However, just like a classic Mandalorian episode, there’s still enough room for logical plot and character development.
The plot development here is not just Mando’s search for The Living Waters, but an ideological debate of the Mandalores. On one side is Mando/Din who strongly believes in “the way” or the code of The Mandalore that his sect of Mandalorians ascribes. Meanwhile, Bo Katan is staunchly critical of his faith, which she considers fanaticism. She knows this disagreement over faith has divided her people, but she herself cannot pass on the opportunity to openly doubt and criticize Mando’s beliefs. Yet, despite the ideological differences for the two, this does not prevent either from respecting the other, or laying their lives down for the other. One has to wonder if the bond these two will lead to their factions joining together to restore the glory of Mandalore or on a smaller scale join up for a big fight at season’s end.
Making Bo Katan the hero of the episode was the absolute right call. The last time we spent any considerable amount of time with Bo was during the Season 2 finale where she found herself at odds with Mando over his ownership of the dark saber. Here, Bo is a more well-rounded character speaking as a person with depth and emotion rather than someone spouting revolutionary rhetoric. Bo has always been intriguing but the character (and the show writers) have always kept us at an arm’s length. If the aforementioned theory of them uniting the Mandalores comes true, we the audience need to invest in Bo on a similar wavelength as we do Mando himself. Katee Sackhoff was excellent in her sparing use in the previous season, the show will only become that much better with her in a more prominent role.
If there are criticisms to be made of this episode it would be the dialogue. A lot of Mando’s dialogue is blatant exposition. It is literally, “This is what this is. This is why we’re doing this. Oh, look at this.” Depending on how you take it, this can come off as very heavy-handed and not unlike the beating-a-dead-horse style of storytelling from the premiere. But, the blatant exposition is there because Mando is talking directly to Grogu. A parent will recognize that this is often how we speak to children on car rides. It’s our time to educate them about their surroundings as well as explain why things are happening. So it does make sense in the context of the episode, but one can easily see this can get old quickly.
‘The Mines of Mandalore’ really absolves the premiere episode of all its sins. It has the proper amounts of action, adventure, whimsy, drama and suspense — all the ingredients that have made The Mandalorian one of the most beloved shows on television.
