Disney/Lucasfilm
The Mandalorian started out in good-stead with a strong pilot; though, like most shows it suffered in its sophomore episode as it wrestled with figuring out where to go next. Thankfully, ‘Chapter 3: The Sin’ picks that slump back up for the best episode of the series thus far and some of the best Star Wars content in years.
We last saw Mando (Pedro Pascal) finally leaving Arvala-7, on his way to deliver the Child to the Client (Werner Herzog) and collect his reward. He’s not too hesitant about handing his bounty over in exchange for his wealth of Beskar, though he’s warned not to pry when he asks what will become of the Child. The deed clearly leaves our trusty outlaw in conflict; his return to his kind isn’t a triumphant one. His Beskar is smelted into a new coat of armour and he’s equipped with new weaponry but he starts to question the morality with which his reward has come.
Trying to take his mind off things, Mando seeks out Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) for more bounties. But the distraction doesn’t ease his conscience so he quickly sets out to rescue the Child thereafter. As he does so, he is forced to confront the fact he is breaking the Guild’s code. Just enquiring about what will become of a bounty is a breach of the bounty hunter rules, we’re advised this on several cases when Mando asks about the Child, so surely going back for one means a fate much worse for our protagonist. Saving the Child re-activates the tracking fob, which was issued to almost every outlaw before Mando finally managed to get the job done, and our titular gunslinger soon finds himself on the run from his peers and heading off into uncertainty.
Chapter 3 drastically improves on Chapter 2’s shortcomings; where the last episode struggled with a lack of narrative or character clarity, ‘The Sin’ pushes them both forward at a breakneck pace. In the short 37 minute runtime, we find out more about our character’s tragic backstory than we did in both episodes prior. We also get to see more of the Mandalorian’s conclave and their code and dynamic amongst one another; Mando is seen as the outcast, for working alongside the Empire and doing their dirty-bidding for them via bounties. By the end of the episode, writer Jon Favreau and director Deborah Chow have completely flipped The Mandalorian on its head and set us up for an unpredictable mid-season arc. We’re starting to learn more about our taciturn hero; his selfish act turned selfless act adds a great backbone to his arc and we begin to see that there’s a heart beneath all the shiny armour and guns.
As far as the volatile, quick-triggered Mando goes, we also see plenty of him too. The second half of the episode is very action-driven and the sequences are utterly thrilling; seeing all of the bounty hunters pursue the fob and confront Mando feels very John Wick-esque in nature and that’s not at all a bad thing. Chow helms the action superbly; there is a grit and maturity to it that makes it all the more nail-biting to watch. The best thing about those sequences, however, is that they never feel repetitive. To stay on the John Wick comparisons, Chow makes sure every set-piece is different from the rest. Part of what makes John Wick such a solid action franchise is that the choreography is always different. Whether it’s fighting with pencils or books or horses, it’s never the same and ‘The Sin’ offers action that echoes that idea as he utilises what’s around him in a variety of imaginative ways. We get a much better idea of Mando’s fighting capability too; up until this point, we’ve heard of his reputation but never had many opportunities to really see him in action. ‘The Sin’ offers him plenty of chances to truly flex those muscles and we finally get to see the ‘legendary’ bounty hunter in action. And it makes for some of the most thrilling action in the Star Wars franchise to date.
This is what The Mandalorian fans hoped for; after a second episode lull, it seems as though the show has finally hit its stride. Propelling the characters and story into uncharted territory (quite literally as it ends with Mando and the Child escaping into space going god knows where), it’ll be interesting to see just what the rest of the season has in store. Chow nails the blend of action, Western and sci-fi for the best episode of the series yet and some of the purest, most exciting Star Wars content in a while too. Whether Favreau can maintain this quality remains to be seen but one thing is certain: “this is the way”.
The Mandalorian is now streaming.
