The Mandalorian Chapter 6: The Prisoner is already in the books and the drunk love of the series is starting to get punchy. Each week, after waking at 3:00 AM to see the new episode, I take a little time to check social media for early reactions to gauge if my own evaluation matches the general sentiment. This time, I knew the blue milk was starting to sour because the relative universal love for Baby Yoda has gotten to be too much sweet for some already. The Mandalorian, in general, has began its stock correction after spiking so high. Last week’s perceived wasted use of Ming-Na Wen has caused the show’s first real backlash. So far, these reprisals against this perfectly mixed drink haven’t affected what I write, but rumblings in the back of this cantina are heating up. Doctor Cornelius Evazan has a self esteem problem, and Ponda Baba just doesn’t like anything Disney. He’s got the ban-sentence on twelve websites. He’ll use every opportunity to tell you this. This little one’s not worth the effort. Come, let me get you something.
There are spoilers ahead, but this time, very little speculation. I’ve made a mistake. I wrongly assumed that we’d see something in every episode that would bring questions to the big picture. After all, if there are only eight episodes, why do we have what some would call filler episodes? That’s where we all may have been caught making assumptions. If you’ve ever seen Night Shift with Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton, you know what happens when we assume. We thought eight episodes meant this story would be packed tightly, and it would take us to a destination in chapter eight. No stops along the way. Where we went wrong is that these are stories. The arc is there, but this first season will be a simple arc. A cruise is the sailing and the ports, not the last dock. This is The Decameron. It’s simple. We’re running from the plague. But it’s the stories we hear and tell along the way that get us to the destination. Enjoy those stories.
Lost did this to us. This may seem like a tangent, but it’s not. We’ve become conditioned to expect a formulaic answer and new mystery in every episode. There just aren’t going to be that many reveals. One of my favorite episodes of Lost is one that is famously criticized as pointless filler. It was a total Twilight Zone story that didn’t propel the overall arc or move the plot along. Siblings Nikki and Paulo are mistakenly buried alive after being bitten by spiders. Tons of viewers were furious with this “waste” of an episode. Never mind the character development of the main characters who became tertiary in this episodic tale. One of the characters developed in this episode is the forgotten character of the island itself. The strength in that episode is its ability to stand alone while not being a weight bearing wall on the structure of the world that’s being built.
The Mandalorian Chapter 6: The Prisoner harkens to a time before we expected the party to be what it looked like when it was encapsulated in a selfie. You’re doing duck face, your bestie is sticking her tongue out, that cool guy you just met is doing devil hands, and you all have half empty drinks, indicating it was a grand time. Even the guy photobombing you is evidence that the party rocked. You forgot the boring beer run, asking so-and-so, who never chips in for money. That party ran out of ice before you got to make your second cocktail. The neighbor asked you to turn the music down. There were seemingly pointless moments that you missed out on because you just wanted “PARTY.” You connected with so-and-so on that beer run, and now you’re closer than ever. When the ice ran out you had whiskey, neat for the first time and you discovered that you really liked it. The neighbor who came over turned out to be someone from your home town, and you’ve been good friends ever since. The story happens in the details. Don’t underestimate the side quest.
In this episode of The Mandalorian, we got to see feet on the ground action with a band of new characters who took us on a ride-along during their heist. This was Escape from Alcatraz (1979) with a cool Pedro Pascal in the lead instead of Clint Eastwood. These are the kinds of characters we never got to see in the abandoned live-action Star Wars: Underworld.
A spicy Twi’lek who has a past with Mando; a Devaronian like the one erased from the cantina scene in the Special Edition, but who still survives in Legends books like Star Wars: Tales from the Cantina; a potty-mouthed mercenary human straight out of Hill Street Blues; and a sardonic droid named Zero team up with the Mandalorian to break the Twi’lek’s ungrateful brother out of a maximum security prison. Hijinks and double crosses ensue, loyalties flip like pancakes, and then X-WINGS! X-Wing pilots from the New Republic come in to save the day, manipulated into action by Mando himself. Is there nothing he can’t do? We also get to see he doesn’t just have a soft side for not so defenseless toddlers, but he’s got a case of the mercies. Expect to see him pay in season two for letting some of these awesome characters survive.
The Prisoner is my favorite episode so far. If you’re having trouble enjoying it, try watching it again when the season ends. We can only speculate on whether this season will be encapsulated, or if we’ll be left with a cliffhanger overlooking a wretched hive of scum and villainy. When we have some more Mandalorian, and maybe more Star Wars live-action television under our collective belt, we’ll be able to appreciate stand alone adventures like The Prisoner. Everything doesn’t have to be binged, and every step you take across the room doesn’t have to be a direct line to the bar. Mingle a bit. Enjoy yourself. This party has just begun, and this episode was your selfie. Say cheese.
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