Welcome back to The Real World According To Sam! Today is Force Friday and we're picking up where we left off last week. Today, we are going to talk about the fourth episode of the Disney + original series, The Mandalorian.
Reviews for this first season will be FULL of SPOILERS!!! If you have not watched this show, and want to, then I recommend you just go watch it, and then come back. If I decide that I like doing this and want to talk about the second season, I will do so without spoilers. However, I'm not yet sure if I will do that. I just want to talk about some more Star Wars stuff right now.
Chapter 4: Sanctuary
Directed by: Bryce Dallas Howard
Written by: Jon Favreau
Synopsis:
The Mandalorian teams up with an ex-soldier to protect a farming village from raiders.
Review:
Chapter 4 is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who we have not yet talked about, so let's see what she's done. She hasn't directed very much, just a few short projects I have never heard of or seen (but then, there are dozens of things I haven't seen that a lot of people have). She is mainly recognizable for some of her acting credits. Some of these include Claire Dearing (one of the main characters in Jurassic World), Grace in Pete's Dragon, and Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 (2007). Despite not having many directing credits for television, I think a good job was still done with this episode of the Mandalorian.
This is the halfway point of this first season. This is an episode that has a lot more talking and personal interactions. There is still action, but of a different variety than we have seen in the previous episodes. This time, the Mandalorian is on a planet called Sorgan. He is trying to go into hiding with the Child and ends up on what seems to be a quiet planet. It gets a bit uncomfortable momentarily when he encounters a former shocktrooper, who he then teams up with to stop a local problem. A small farming village has been undergoing raids from pillagers and they try to enlist the help of the Mandalorian. In the village is a widowed woman and her daughter who are the central village characters we get to see. They have the most interaction with the Mandalorian and the Child, apart from the shocktrooper.
In this episode, we learn a little more about the Mandalorian way of life and how it is perceived by non-Mandalorians. We also get to see a different corner of the galaxy and a new kind of threat (similar to some of the smaller conflicts shown in a few episodes of The Clone Wars). This isn't a fight against an Empire or some bounty hunters, and it isn't a fight that can be won by a single person. This one requires more effort and strategy than the previous conflicts within the show.
The things I like most about this episode are:
- the Child - Baby Yoda (that isn't actually Yoda) is one of the most adorable things I have seen and whenever it has screentime, it steals the show. This IS the Baby Yoda show, whether you like it or not.
- Cara Dune - the shocktrooper provides a new character perspective for this time frame of the Star Wars universe. I thought she was really cool and interesting. I hope we get to see more of her and characters like her.
- the setting - I really like the locales provided in this episode. I like the blue tones of the farming village and the contrast they provide to the color tones the rest of the show has had up to this point.
- the Mandalorian - It is pretty impossible to NOT like the Mandalorian and what he brings to the story. Every episode we get to know more about him despite not being able to see his face and not being very talkative. He kicks major butt, and I've yet to have a problem with him being one of the two main focuses of this show.
Once more, the action is great, the characters are intriguing, and the tension levels continue to rise. There isn't a dull moment, even though the pacing of this episode is much more calm than previous ones. I still don't have any negatives I can personally point out, so we have another Lone Star rating of ✯✯✯✯✯ for The Mandalorian.
Thanks for joining me for another Force Friday here at The Real World According To Sam. I'll be back with book reviews next Monday and Wednesday, and a review of the next episode of The Mandalorian, next Friday. Have a great weekend!
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