The Mandalorian Season 3: Chapter 17 - The Good, The Bad and the U.G.L.Y

 2023, Disney+

Chapter 17: The Apostate
directed by Rick Famuyiwa

Another season with our old friend Din Djarin, Mando, The Mandalorian.  It's hard to believe that Chapter 16 was ...three years ago... unless you count The Book of Boba Fett as Season 2.5 of The Mandalorian...which I do. (They really should have titled it The Mandalorian: The Book of Boba Fett...it would have been much clearer why it played out the way it did). Even still, that series ended over two years ago. So yeah, we've been without our Mandalorian pals now.

The first episode back is, well, all over the place, quite literally. At least three different planets and one totally wizard space battle. It's a lot to pack into just under an hour. Let's get into it:

The Good

Din Djarin, still an outcast from his sect for having removed his helmet, visits Navarro, where Greef Karga offers him a respite from his religious indiscretions, a job as sheriff in his new bustling hub of trade and prosperity. But Mando is on a new quest, one of redemption, which involves bathing in the mines of Mandalor, or something banal.  But Mandalor may be impassable terrain for a humanoid, so Mando wants a droid he can trust, and asks Greef for IG-11's remains, hoping to resurrect him. It doesn't go well. Greef has the droid's remains taken to his local crew of techsperts, a bunch of Anzellans.  They're the 9-inch tall species of which Babu Frik (the best part of The Rise of Skywalker) is one.  Shirley Henderson returns to voice the various Anzellans, and they are just too adorable. Yes, so adorable that even Grogu cannot resist just grabbing one for a cuddle. It's only a day later and I'm guessing it's already a meme.

As Mando and Grogu leave Navarro, they are flanked by pirate fighter ships. Mando's new Naboobian Starfighter is a lot faster and more manoeuvrable than the pirate fighters and it's a pretty crazy dash through an asteroid belt, as well as a bit of exciting cat and mouse.  It's pretty great and easily top 3 of live action Star Wars asteroid belt navigating sequences.

The Bad

Much of this episode was retreading ground covered in prior episodes, reiterating that Mandalor is destroyed, that Mando is in exile from his caste, that the Darksaber Din wields has importance, and other bits and bobs we already know. Props to both Favreau and Famuyiwa for injecting as much action, fan service and cuteness as they could to help this rather expository episode click briskly forward.

One of my pet peeves about the Star Wars live action TV shows is the insistence on showing starships landing on the ground, and it never looks good...it always looks awkard and animated and takes me out of the moment.  A cut from the ship approaching for landing to the crew disembarking would suffice without the awkward landing sequence.

Unreal problems

I have to wonder how IG-11's upper torso survived. Wasn't the thermal detonator in his chest? If anything wouldn't his arms and legs have survived and little else (oh right, his legs burned up in lava floes)? Shenanigans.

Galaxy building

When Mando and Grogu are in hyperspace early on, Grogu espies the shadows of some creatures seemingly travelling in league with them. The shape of these are clearly the purrgil, a tentacled space whale with a natural ability to travel hyperspace. We last met the purrgil in Season 4 of Star Wars: Rebels and last saw them dragging Grand Admiral Thrawn's starship (and Ezra along with it) into hyperspace, destination unknown.

Also, so nice that they brought the Anzellans back. I want a whole series of shorts about these guys. They (babu) frikin' adorable. They remind me of the Doozers on Fraggle Rock.

Oh, and Mando asks about Cara Dune, and where she went off to. Greef notes that she was effectively recruited into a special missions force. It's a shame about Gina Carano's toxic wing-ed-nuttiness, I really liked Cara Dune. Credit to the show for not just ignoring her altogether though. Also a quick update on the fate of Moff Gideon (he's off to stand trial for war crimes).

Looking forward

I love the dichotomy of Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze. Din doesn't hold any reverence for the mythology around the Darksaber and thinks it silly that Bo-Katan's followers all effed off after she failed to get the saber for herself. Likewise Bo-Katan does not think highly of Din's weird sect of zealots and their oddball helmet traditions. I would really love it if the show followed both of these characters equally this season on their journey of self discovery and letting go of traditions or beliefs that are more harmful than helpful, not just to themselves, but their society at large.

Yes, toys of that please

Word has it Mando's Naboobian starfighter is coming soon, which is good because my pitiful attempt to make on out of the classic Phantom Menace version resulted in, basically, a pile of garbage sitting in a box.