SPOILERS AHEAD...
It’s hard to believe the seventh episode of Season 2 of “The Mandalorian” is already here. It is titled “Chapter 15: The Believer.”
The penultimate episode means there is only one episode left this season.
The events of the previous episode (read my review) left fans with a lot of questions, and left Mando (Pedro Pascal) on the hunt for the kidnapped Baby Yoda.
I *think* this was the first episode of “The Mandalorian” (since it debuted in 2019) that didn’t have Grogu in it at all.
Chapter 15 doesn’t give fans any answers regarding Grogu. It was teased at the end of Chapter 14 that Mando wanted to find Migs Mayfeld (Bill Burr) — a mercenary and former Imperial sharpshooter that Mando worked a job with in Season 1.
He’s currently serving a 50-year sentence in the Karthon Chop Fields for his antics in “Chapter 6: The Prisoner” (read my review).
Per Mando’s request, Marshal Cara Dune (Gina Carano) is able to wrangle Mayfeld’s release in order to help find Moff Gideon’s Imperial cruiser (where Grogu was taken).
One interesting aspect of the prison release sequence is that Boba Fett’s (Temeura Morrison) recently reacquired armor is freshly painted:
As a result, Fett looks a lot less like a “galactic ragamuffin,” but fans have come to expect some wear and tear on the suit, so it definitely gives off a “renewed” vibe for the character.
Mayfeld tells Mando, Dune, Fett, and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) that he can find the coordinates to Moff Gideon’s ship by accessing an Imperial terminal on the planet Morak.
FYI, the “terminal” looks like the “Star Wars” equivalent of an ATM, and it is housed in a mess hall in an Imperial refinery:
It does sometimes seem like they have to travel awfully great distances — and go to a lot of trouble — to track information down in such an advanced universe. But I guess I’m willing to willfully suspend my disbelief in this instance. ;-)
Before they can access the terminal, they have to find a way into the Imperial refinery.
Mando and Mayfeld commandeer an Imperial Assault Transport (“Juggernaut 5”) carrying Rhydonium, and drive it to the facility (wearing Stormtrooper armor).
The trip to the refinery turns out to be pretty entertaining as the transport is attacked by pirates on floating skiffs. Rhydonium is unstable, and Mando has to climb on top of the vehicle and fend off the pirates (who are using thermal detonators to try and blow up the Rhydonium).
This sequence of events reminded me a bit of the “truck chase sequence” in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and is entertaining.
By the way, when Mando and Mayfeld arrive at the refinery, we see the biggest celebratory display from Imperial Stormtroopers and officers I think we’ve ever seen. Have they ever celebrated anything? More importantly, have they ever had anything *to* celebrate?
For some reason, it reminded me of this “Star Wars” t-shirt my niece Scotland had a couple years ago. The rainbow coming out of the Imperial TIE Fighter seems to be a completely off-brand for the Empire (talk about Imperial propaganda!)... But I guess they do have moments of levity, so....
Prior to the “pirate chase,” Mayfeld decides to remove his helmet (likely so he can wax philosophical about the state of human nature in a galaxy far, far away).
What was odd to me is that he failed to put it back on. I would have assumed he would have slipped on the helmet when they successfully thwarted the pirates and made it to the Imperial refinery.
Yet, he didn’t do that. I was like, “Dude, you’re a former Imperial, *someone* might recognize you.”
This sort of reminded me of the instance in Chapter 14 (read my review) when Mando took off his jetpack, and didn’t have access to it the rest of the episode (making it easier for Dark Troopers to abscond with Grogu) — an unnecessary complication in the plot.
The helmet removal is significant because Mayfeld sees his former commanding officer, Valin Hess, (Richard Brake) sitting at a table, having a drink in the officers’ mess (where the terminal resides).
Because of that, he says he can’t go and extract the information needed from the terminal, which is located on the opposite side of the room.
Mayfeld was a field officer under Hess, and it doesn’t sound like he had much in the way of interaction with Hess. But he’s not taking the risk.
If he’d just kept his helmet on, he could have walked in (unidentified), strolled to the terminal, and removed the helmet to have his face scanned.
Instead, Mando does it for him. While we all appreciated Din Djarin’s “take charge” nature, he wasn’t well versed in the procedure. He likely ended up drawing more attention than necessary.
Furthermore, I’m not exactly sure what the “face scan” part of the procedure did anyway. You would assume such a thing would be in place to check the face against a database of “approved” users. I mean, you wouldn't just want to give secret coordinates to “anybody.”
I’m pretty sure Mando wouldn’t be on the list of approved users. If Mayfeld had done it, he would have been more likely to be in the database (a good thing or a bad thing?).
I dunno... it was sort of a problem area in the plot of Chapter 15. The writer of this episode (Rick Famuyiwa) probably could have come up with a smoother way to handle it that would have avoided these sorts of questions.
As it turned out, Hess didn’t even remember Mayfeld.
I guess it was a way for fans to see Din Djarin unmasked for the first time this season. Mando doesn’t remove his mask, so it might be the only chance to see the man behind the Beskar armor this season.
One notable bit in this sequence is when Mayfeld mentions needing to go fill out “TPS reports” to try and get Hess off their collective back. The term has been around for awhile, but I wonder if that was in reference to the movie “Office Space” (which made the term “TPS report” famous).
Anyhow, Mayfeld eventually shoots Hess, a shootout ensues, and the pair have a rousing escape from the Imperial facility.
Their companions (Fett, Dune, and Shand) assist in the effort. We get to see Dune and Shand show off their sharpshooting skills:
We also get to see Fett go toe-to-toe with a pair of TIE Fighters. It was cool to see Fett deploy one of the ship's “seismic charges” to take out the pursuing fighters:
We haven’t seen that on film since “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (although, they have apparently been seen in other “Star Wars” properties).
With the coordinates in hand, Mayfeld is freed by Cara Dune (the official cover story is that he died in the Imperial refinery). I’m sure we’ll see him again on “The Mandalorian.” My prediction is that he’ll also be a regular in the recently announced Disney+ series “Rangers of the New Republic.”
At the end of the episode, Mando contacts Moff Gideon via holographic message. If you listen carefully to his words, you might notice that they echo Moff Gideon’s own words in the first season episode “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” (read my review).
In Chapter 15, Mando says, “Moff Gideon. You have something I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. Soon, he will be back with me. He means more to me than you will ever know.”
Looking back at Chapter 7, when Gideon arrives on Nevarro and addresses Mando regarding “The Child,” he says, “You have something I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. In a few moments, it will be mine. It means more to me that you will ever know."
What I like about that is the juxtaposition of the two statements coming from characters with completely different agendas.
Mando refers to Grogu as “he,” while Gideon refers to Grogu as “it.” Mando cares for Grogu in a fatherly way, caring for him like he’s a son. Gideon treats “The Child” as if he is some sort of lab animal in place to serve Gideon’s selfish needs.
“Chapter 15: The Believer” was written and directed by the aforementioned Rick Famuyiwa. He also directed Chapters 2 and 6 in the series — both episodes I really enjoyed. He’s an accomplished filmmaker in his own right, and does a solid job handling “The Mandalorian.”
I liked the fact that Chapter 15 took us to a new setting. I also liked the fact that Mayfeld had his moment of redemption — and became a more likable and relatable character as a result.
I’m really interested to see how this all plays out in the Season 2 finale. It should be an exciting episode (I’m interested in seeing which Jedi shows up in response to Yoda's “call” on Tython.)
Stay tuned for my review of “The Mandalorian”: Season 2, Episode 8!
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