The Mandalorian The Mandalorian 1.05-Chapter 5-Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

And slung his gun to shoot Fennec. It's also sort of dig at the character or the hot head young kid who thinks violence is the way in. The Mandalorian is a killer but he's tempered and has a code. The kid was probably right, Fennec would have killed him if he uncuffed her. But he shouldn't have abandoned the plan. He'd of learned a lot from The Mandalorian. Forget right or wrong, what he did was bad business. He wanted the quick and easy path.

 

Yup. In an interview, Favreau mentioned speaking with Lucas about the heart of Star Wars being about providing lessons for how young people should act in life. This was a perfect example of that: don’t be like this kid. Have a moral code.

The episode also literally shoots dead the idea that NOT having a moral code is a key to survival. Being amoral/ unethical can be a dumb way to live, it asserts, and can get you killed. I like that lesson. It cuts against the ethic of many seasons of GoT that seemed to be saying: anyone with a moral code dies early. GoT ended up asserting the value of that morality by the end (which I appreciated), but it’s good to see this show make that case from the outset.

 

Whether they use Boba Fett in this series or not will depend entirely, for me, on how they choose to use him. If they’re just going to continue down the road of making his character a Mandalorian fraud and a pure bad guy then I hope they just forget it. OTOH, it they move the character back to being what he was originally, then I am all for it. As it is, the character of Mando is almost exactly how I imagined Boba Fett to be 40 years ago.

Felt was supposed to be the last (known) Mandalorian. He was to have a harsh sense of justice, be honorable but not necessarily purely good or evil, etc. The way this series has been written would make for a perfect foundation for this original character and it isn’t why I love the series. But I’m tired of seeing Boba Fett’s character retconned into being a sadder and sadder version of what I initially liked, especially since the entire basis of all the following characters—Jango, the Mandalorians, Mando—are all based off of him to begin with. It seems a sad use of what had been a potentially really special character.

One last point: when I was about 7-8 years old I created a scenario with my toys where Boba Fett had to protect a baby. No BS folks. This is EXACTLY how I envisioned Fett as a child.... so if they’re going to rehabilitate the character then bring him in, but if not then move on.

 

Great point about GoT. It was both about cunning and morality, and in the end morality won out. The 'good guys' did survive. Basically to break the wheel all those in power were removed. The old rot or corruption removed. And in a way the White Walkers were the personification of that system.

Oddly when the big bads got their comeuppance in the last season fans of the series turned on it.

Agree it was good to see the ground level kid and his short quick career as a bounty hunter.

 

Posting again before reading the thread. I want to grade this eppy, one point below perfect. It was still really good, but the screen was sooo dark for almost the entire episode that it was almost an audio drama. And it felt like it moved too quickly.

There were so many cool names this ep, and the babysitter ship mechanic lady was really fun. Pelo Motto. And then of course Toro Calican.

Spoiler

shame they killed him off so quick. But at least Fennec Shand is still alive.

I was thinking, "bad father," when Mando leaves the sleeping Baby Yoda on the ship. I was also thinking, "awwwe he's sleeping!" The little pit droids were super cute, too.

Mando really needs to quit being so instantly trusting of every stranger he meets, and remember that he's a wanted fugitive with a very valuable target. This hasn't bothered me until this eppy. Maybe because there was so much of it this time, plus very little characterization. It was all action, pretty much. I'm glad we had the quieter ep last week.

 

So this is really neat, but shots from ANH were actually repurposed for this episode.

 

I think the Toro character is better than some think. He's not deep by any means, but being a flat character isn't in itself a bad thing for a secondary character. What I love about him was how he seemed like a more corrupt, mashed up version of Luke and Han from ANH. And I thought the actor was quite good at this role. He showed some surprising darkness when he shifted to cold-blooded murderer. I thought he portrayed a lot more of the scoundrelesque charm that I wanted from the new Han Solo.

Also, the idea of Boba returning as an antagonist for Mando is awesome. Maybe he's found new armor or taken his own from the usurper Vanth.

 

I have no idea why people are complaining about the actor who played Toro Calican. There was literally nothing wrong with his acting. Star Wars has had simplistic tropes since the first movie came out, and as such, many of the characters that we meet across all Star Wars media will be simplified versions of real people. Plus, the guy was memorable and genuinely fun to watch.

Sometimes it feels like people get mixed up between quirky acting and bad acting, and unless Meryl Streep shows up, then we got a problem. I mean, even Ming-Na Wen's character is the same way, she is super consistent with the tone of the episode. I personally love Filoni's tone, it has a teenager innocence that makes me go back to when I first discovered the GFFA.

 

Considering the proximity of the planet immediately after the skirmish...I reckon there's a chance that Mandy was already on Tatooine, chased by the fighter into orbit and then had to return (not necessarily to the same space port) to patch up the Razor....

 

Toro's whole purpose was to be the naive kid who tries to bite off more than he can chew....and get shwacked by Mando. There was no need to give him more depth than that.

 

I gave this episode a 10 because it gave me the warm Star Wars fuzzies that I crave, even though I would agree 2 and 3 were better. I just love this show. The one question I have is why Toro smashed the tracking fob. My dad’s theory was it was actually linked to the child and it was all a setup so he couldn’t give it to the Mando, but that’s not how it played out. Clearly he didn’t want to give it up because he was in it for the clout and thus needed to be the leader of the mission, but couldn’t he have just kept it? I guess the point was to force Mando to follow him and skip the argument about who gets to hold the fob, but Mando already seemed prepared to pass on the job entirely so it’s pretty bold to assume he was bluffing.

 

The answer’s simple: he was legitimately worried that if he gave Mando the fob, Mando would just go after Fennec himself and leave Toro behind. He smashed it so Mando would need to take him with.

And perhaps he was also trying to impress Mando with his memory skills, seeing as he was trying hard (and too earnestly) to get into the Guild.

 

This was also the episode with the least kills at just 2

 

What's got more kills? A New Hope or The Force Awakens??? That's gotta be the highest death tole in any movie. Hardly anyone was left on Earth in Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

 

You beat me to it, I was going to post the exact same thing. Plus, based on the conversation between Toro and Fennec, Toro had not been informed about the whole mess at Nevarro, therefore he couldn't have known about the kid or the Mando, and he probably thought that the Mando was still part of the Guild. Which would make it more probable for the Mando to steal the job for himself and leave Toro behind, claiming both the reward and the reputation.

 

I totally get why he didn’t hand it over when our Mando requested it, but that doesn’t mean he had to smash it. I wouldn’t say it’s a big deal or anything it just struck me as an odd decision. It had the intended effect though so fair play to him I guess.

 

It foreshadowed how the kid thinks. If he were in the Mandalorian's position and someone gave him the tracker he'd run off to take it for himself. And it doesn't make his sinister turn shooting a captive come totally out of the blue. The kid is inexperienced and overly apt to use irrevocable violence.

 

Definitely Hosnian Prime and the other planets in the system being destroyed

 

The rookie broke the magic tracking fob because he didn't want the Mando to just take it and dispose of him. The fact that he had memorised the fob's info doesn't make sense either as we have only seen it be used as a compass like device that points you in the right direction. So if the bounty moved, he was screwed. We have to assume she just camped there all the time?

I just don't know how anyone could give this chapter a 10/10. It's pure filler and fan service, with added plot conveniences.
the Mando was attacked in space with no explanation. Tatooine just happens to appear, that's lucky , was Mando planning to go there before the damage? Why? If not then where was he going and why? Mando just left Asset on the Razorcrest? With the ramp down? For anyone to walk in?
He didn't use his infrared vison at night (which was far too dark btw), and he left his rifle that can snipe on the ship.
I liked how the rookie just shot the bounty, but surely he could have strapped her body to his bike somehow, brought her in cold (a saying which has now been made cringe worthy thanks to this episode). Another thing I really disliked was how Mando shot Rookie while we assume he was still holding Asset. Who would do that??? How did Asset get to where he was behind those boxes anyway?

I hated all the "remember this line" dialogue. The mechanic woman felt like she belonged in Sesame street. I gave his ep a 5, mainly for the pit droids and speeder bikes that actually looked good.

 

I get all that. The issue is more that he basically had to beg Mando to help him because he didn’t think the job was a good idea in the first place, and there was every chance that smashing the fob just leads to him saying “I’m out”. I’m just trying to figure out if there’s some good reason he feels like he can risk it. If not I’ll just chalk it up to a questionable choice by a inexperienced character, that happens to work out for him because Mando is more desperate for the money than he wants to admit. Again, not a big deal.

 

What about the pilot at the start...? That's 3!

 

3 is still less then two

 

Wait more! I meant more