Spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6. So you don’t have to watch it.
I really liked this series for a long time. Seasons one and two, while notoriously underwhelming for me, made me feel like there was life in Star Wars for the first time in a long, long time. The series, despite many weak episodes, had accumulated a lot of tribute on me – which it now gambles away a little more with each new episode of the third season. I have to say, were it not for a few bright moments and nice cameos, it could have competed with episode four for worst Mandalorian episode ever.
Although I have to say that I’m not completely uncritical about the small roles of Christopher Lloyd (“Doc Brown” or almost more importantly “Judge Doom” from Roger Rabbit) and the basically likeable Jack Black. Especially the latter has such a high recognition value that one can almost speak of stunt casting. His indispensable “Jack Blackness” shakes my escapism, my ability to sink into this distant world. But it’s not that bad, because the bad design of the planet Plazir already completely prevents that.
That was hard prequel vibes again, how artificial and to top it all randomly generated it looked. The infantile narrative style, including the Elon Musk shoutout (“Hyperloop”) then gave the rest of my vacation-per-series. But first things first: the stolen fleet under Bo-Katan’s former subordinate Ax Woves ends the love story of two fish creatures who have run away together. When I got out of bed this morning, I wasn’t expecting to hear a short time later a Mon Calamari saying, “Who cares about fate, I love you!” with the energy of a high school production of Romeo and Juliet. That was close to the philosophizing fish from Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, but probably wasn’t meant to be funny.
I know people like to argue that this show is only for kids anyway, but episode six was so infantile at times that it was hard to endure. To a hero of my childhood like Lloyd, a line like “The Quacta calls the Stifling slimy!” Putting it in your mouth isn’t a nice move (maybe it was more fun playing than hearing it) and anyway, it started right back up with very convenient story twists, such as remote control of Bo-Katans spaceship, just as she and Mando were about to head for their compatriots, who are just earning their money here as the Regents’ private army. And of course the authors have once again placed a side quest before reaching the goal, which only these two can solve:
The battle droids, converted into servants, become dangerous to the residents. However, because Plazir’s constitution bans 15 military from the city, the Mandalorian Protectors are not allowed to address the issue. But the two visitors… because they are Mandalorians and weapons are part of their culture? The headache of trying to understand that wasn’t bad parenting.
Anyway, whatever comes after is fun for a while. Mando demonstrates cultural sensitivity and a knack for diplomacy with a group of Ugnaughts, and in just over 15 minutes of investigation Bo-Katan and Mando are allowed to puzzle a bit and fight until the culprit is unmasked. In the end, it all happens very quickly, as if the person responsible – Christopher Lloyd’s head of security Helgait – hadn’t even tried to cover his tracks. And of course it culminates in a “Yes-I-was it”, “Yes, shame on you!” confrontation with the regent, which lacks any seriousness. But how are you supposed to make them out of trash? After decades of loyal service to the queen, why did Helgait suddenly jeopardize the lives of the residents? I don’t know, he doesn’t like Jack Black. You have to decide for yourself whether this is enough for you as a plan.
In any case, for a moment, everyone is as upset as … just like the Montague and Lorenzo actors in the last scene of the same junior high production of Romeo and Juliet. And I feel stupid for thinking about that slob even a second longer than it lasted. There’s even a second stiff and unnecessary declaration of love before we can finally get back to the A-story… Mh… maybe we’ll discuss the ranking of my Mando Season 3 shit list again, because that was bad.
And that wasn’t even the end. Eventually, Bo-Katan wants to reposition herself as the leader of the Mandalorians, which of course can only be settled through a fight between her and Ax Woves. Of course, we could have saved ourselves that if everyone involved had come to the conclusion that Bo has long been the legal owner of the Darksaber. How annoying you find it that the possession of the discount lightsaber was regulated as a formality because Mrs. Kryze Mando saved the ass in episode three, I’ll leave to you. I had taken a stab at it at the time, but since the two didn’t acknowledge the change of ownership, I thought nothing of it. Now this circumstance is enough for episode six but a weary sigh of a revelation.
So an episode to sleep over. After all, the first step towards the renewal of Mandalore has been taken. I’m just wondering where this is all headed and if this was the storyline everyone was waiting for. I’ve gradually reached the point where I’m rapidly losing interest. A pity.
