The Mandalorian The Passenger Review

Disney+‘s The Mandalorian: Season 2, Episode 2: The Passenger TV Show Review. As stated in the previous review, at its core, The Mandalorian is a space Western, a show about a lone warrior traversing the Old West, aka The Outer Rim, along with his small companion (numerous publications have also compared the show to the Japanese samurai  franchise Lone Wolf and Cub). At the same time, because it literally has a whole galaxy to explore, it can be flexible, able to adapt and change genre if need be, and  this episode opts to go for one of the most tricky for a show meant for all ages show: the monster movie genre.

But before it shows off that influence, the show  needs to get off Tatooine. After a cold open in which bandits wreck his speeder and attempt to  kidnap The Child (ending comedically when he exchanges the child for his jetpack, then presses a button remotely that sends the would-be kidnapper rocketing into the air then plummeting to the ground) Mando reunites once again with Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris). Playing cards with a “Dr. Mandible” (a humanoid ant creature, no doubt a nod to Ant-Man franchise director Peyton Reed, who also helmed this episode), she tells him that his people have been spotted on the estuary moon of Trask, but in exchange,  he must transport the titular passenger,  nicknamed Frog Lady (portrayed in costume by Misty Rosas) whose husband will provide him with further information. Time is of the essence though, as she needs her eggs to be fertilized by him, as the batch she has hatched is the last of her line, so ironically, they have to travel at sub-lightspeed levels due to the fragility, much to Mando’s chagrin.

Meanwhile, while all this negotiation is going on, the Child looks up, sees her eggs, and its ears prick up, evidently interested. The motif Ludwig Göransson uses in this moment is whimsical and light, with bells and light synths dominating, evoking a holiday spirit of innocence and wonder.

This moment foreshadows what happens next, as after a classic iris wipe as the Razorcrest hurtles out of Tatooine, Mando suggests that the Frog Lady get some sleep, followed by a cut to the Child in closeup, approaching the vat of eggs, carefully looking behind to make sure no one is following. Sure enough, when Mando comes across the Child, it is swallowing an egg, and he rushes over to stop it from consuming more. This moment is controversial, as some have seen it as the Child, whether consciously or not, as committing a war crime, as the eggs are the last batch Frog Lady has left, with both sequel trilogy star Daisy Ridley  and Lucasfilm creative arts manager Phil Szostak both coming to defend the Child’s actions. While the levity is a tad inappropriate (and the final shot of the episode is the Child consuming an egg, meant to be a cute joke) this moment shows that like a human toddler, the Child is flawed. Up to this point in the series, it has been a Force-wielding, wide-eyed, adorable mascot of purity, innocent of any wrongdoing, but if humans can cook up chicken eggs because they feel hungry without feeling guilty,  the Child should be allowed to indulge its hunger too (not to mention that the Frog Lady is quite neglectful  as she should’ve continued to have the eggs strapped to her back). Besides, the Child’s ovophilia eventually puts it into danger.

But first, a space chase. After being alerted by a ping, Mando gets in communication with two New Republic X-wing patrols, who ask for him to light a beacon. Initially, all seems well, until they tell him he needs to submit a ping, as they are searching for Imperial holdouts. When he complies, they further ask if he “was in the vicinity of prison transport ship Bothan-5” (the prison ship from last season’s The Prisoner), The Razorcrest flees, with the X-wings in hot pursuit. Its a thrilling sequence, with POV shots, the camera shaking like the ship, dodges and weaves,  and a descent into an ice canyon, much like the metal one portrayed in the original film. It all ends with the ship plunging straight into an ice cave, wrecked and in need of repair.

Though Mando has crashed into an ice planet, it is not the Hoth of The Empire Strikes Back, filled with the savage wampas, one of whose number almost killed Luke. Unfortunately, Maldo Kreis has hidden terrors of its own, as after Frog Lady uses the head of Q9-0 (voiced by Richard Ayoade, also in The Prisoner) to remind Mando of his promise to get her to safety (despite his protests that the deal is off) she goes to cool down in a hot spring, along with her eggs, while he stays behind to repair the ship. Reed’s cinematography provides a moody, chilling look to the ice cave, with the soft piano sonically illustrating the loneliness of Mando fixing the ship, as the Child wanders off instead of helping him. Eventually, Mando finds Frog Lady, and warns her to get out of the spring along with her eggs, and as the Child continues to explore, it finds another set of eggs, as the jaunty motif plays again. However, these eggs, resembling the ova from Ridley Scott’s Alien, signify danger, and when the Child eats the egg’s six-legged inhabitants, there is a rack focus shot of the myriad of eggs shaking, as terrifying white ice spiders emerge from the shells. As Mando snatches the child, the mass of spiders expands to get bigger and bigger, until from the shadows, a giant ice spider steps out, complete with a Sarlacc-like mouth full of sharp teeth.

Star Wars has had its share of giant monsters, from the squid monster in the original film, the aforementioned Wampa, the rancor in Jabba’s palace, and the CGI monsters in the prequel trilogy. But this time, Reed leans into the inescapable terror of the giant monster genre, as despite fleeing and shooting down as many ice spiders with his blaster (Frog Lady also assisting), the monsters are relentless in their pursuit, as not even fire can stop them. Eventually, they overrun the Razorcrest, and all seems lost, as the giant spider opens its mouth, ready to devour.

That’s the cue for the pilots-ex-machina to return, as they save the day, repelling the creatures with their X-Wing blaster fire. Though the pilots, played by longtime Star Wars collaborator Dave Filoni and Paul Sun Hyung-Lee (Kim’s Convenience), have a warrant out for Mando’s arrest for freeing a prisoner, they also note that not only did he capture three other prisoners, but also helped defend a New Republic guard, so this time they’ll overlook it. The Razorcrest flies out, both Mando and Frog Lady fall asleep, and The Child sneaks in one more egg.

Though it could be argued that this episode might be filler, The Passenger is another effective installment of the show, successfully creating a monster movie episode, showing the Child as a flawed individual, and providing continuity and callback to a previous episode in the first season. Overall, its a strong showing.

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