It’s time to as soon as once more go to a very long time in the past in a galaxy far, far-off with the brand new episode of The Mandalorian. “Chapter 21: The Pirate” is the fifth episode of season 3, and this episode sees Nevarro getting attacked by pirates with the Mandalorians wanted for assist.
Sadly, season 3 has been the weakest of the present to this point, with many episodes feeling disjointed. “Chapter 21” sees lots of the unfastened threads of the primary 4 episodes tied collectively for an installment that’s a step in the suitable route however not the place it must be.
The episode begins with the pirates from “Chapter 17” returning to take over Nevarro, as Shard destroys many buildings and sends folks fleeing for his or her lives. We’re then reintroduced to a couple acquainted faces. First, Captain Carson Teva (Paul Solar-Hyung Lee) returns as he sees Greef Targa’s (Carl Weathers) message pleading for assist. He then speaks to Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (Steve Blum), a personality acquainted to followers of the animated TV sequence Star Wars Rebels (like me). Seeing yet one more fan-favorite character be remodeled into live-action was a wonderful expertise, and it’s nice to see Zeb years after the conclusion of Rebels.
Teva goes to the Mandalorians for assist, and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) agrees to do Teva this favor. Djarin tells the Mandalorians they need to unite to avoid wasting Nevarro. Paz Viszla (Tait Fletcher) agrees to assist Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) as they rescue his son within the earlier episode. This chapter does a greater job of creating the primary 4 episodes appear substantial, even with together with Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian). Though the street is tough, it’s getting smoother because the season progresses.
The Mandalorians come to the rescue and save the day in an ideal motion set piece. However, sadly, that is the place the present falters. Whereas the motion onscreen appears to be like rattling cool with Mandalorians flying round with jet packs, getting invested within the characters isn’t straightforward. The villains are one-dimensional drunk pirates. The heroes are cool, however you don’t get connected to this clan of people that blindly comply with a code. Djarin was boring, however the writers made him fascinating by humanizing him along with his relationship with Grogu. Sadly, lots of the Mandalorians should not humanized, so that you don’t really feel the emotional stakes, worrying about whether or not they are going to make it. Rising connected to those characters is much more difficult while you can’t see their faces.
The ultimate scenes of the episode tease a couple of new plot threads. After Karga provides the Mandalorians a house on Nevarro, the Armorer permits Bo-Katan to take her helmet off in order that she will unite the Mandalorians and retake Mandalore. Teva discovers that Moff Gideon’s physique is lacking, which means he by no means went to trial.
After discovering Beskar, the pilots suspect the Mandalorians took Gideon. This can be a fascinating idea that may hopefully be explored extra. Nevertheless, a problem nonetheless arises as Djarin takes a backseat on this episode. His character has been the least thrilling facet of the season to this point, and it generally feels just like the writers ran out of issues to do with him. General, this episode is a light enchancment over the predecessor however will want extra steam to get to the place it must be.
SCORE: 5.5/10
As ComingSoon’s overview coverage explains, a rating of 5.5 equates to “Mediocre.” The positives and negatives wind up negating one another, making it a wash.