TV Review: THE MANDALORIAN: Season 2, Episode 4: The Siege [Disney+]

The Mandalorian The Siege Review

Disney+‘s The Mandalorian: Season 2, Episode 4: The Siege TV Show Review. Although taking place in a galaxy far, far away with hundreds of thousands of potential species, planets, and stories to explore, one of the most common criticisms of the Star Wars franchise is how seemingly small and familiar everything is. From the revelations in the prequel trilogy that C-3PO was actually built by Anakin Skywalker as a child and that fan favorite Boba Fett was a clone of his father Jango, to the disappointing reveal in the sequel trilogy that Rey had so much Force potential because she was Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter in The Rise of Skywalker (as opposed to the much more interesting idea that she came from nothing in The Last Jedi) there’s a sense that everyone in Star Wars is connected in some way, be it family, friends, or enemies. Its a reliance on familiar concepts:The Force, Tatooine, lightsabers, The Empire, etc.   Therefore, its a bit of a disappointment that “The Siege” relies on familiar tropes and scenarios already established in the Mandalorian, playing it safe by not only going back to Nevarro, the previous home planet of Din Djarin (and seen in multiple episodes of the first season), but the titular siege itself being the usual attack on an Imperial base. The episode provides good action, but it still feels like it is treading water in terms of narrative.

That being said, the cold open in this episode further develops both the relationship between Mando and The Child, as well as Cara Dune’s new status quo. Cutting from the establishing shot of the Razorcrest, Mando asks the child if he can help plug certain wires for repairs, warning him not to mess up, otherwise he would electrocute himself. As expected, The Child screws up and electrifies himself, and after sighing, Mando realizes that he needs to get down to Nevarro for repairs. Its a nice bonding moment, showing his concern for his ward, and having the two of them sit down is a nice touch. After the classic Lucas wipe, it shows what’s happening on Nevarro, namely a band of Aqualish thieves splitting stolen goods, and about to chow down on a terrified cute squirrel-like creature (Ponda Boba was the Aqualish whose arm was notably hacked off by Obi-Wan in the original film). But of course, Cara Dune (Gina Carano), sneaks in and takes them down, using both blaster and body, humorously knocking out the last guy as he struggles to stand up. Its a strong reintroduction to the character, and it allows Carano (who was previously an MMA fighter) a chance to show off her skills. It also signifies that there’s been a change in the status quo, as its revealed via subtitles that she is now the Grand Marshal of the planet, much like Cobb Vanth on Tatooine.

That’s not the only positive change that’s occurred on Nevarro, as Mando soon finds out: Greef Karga (Carl Weathers, who also directed the episode) has gone from being the criminal leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild to becoming a magistrate, unexpectedly unfroze the unnamed blue Mythrol alien (Horatio Sanz), the very first target seen in the series, into serving as his accountant, while Kara has largely cleaned up the planet. When Mando is surprised to see the former seedy cantina where he previously received his missions (which was severely damaged in the previous season finale). “still standing”, Kara replies “Wait till you see what’s inside”, opening her arms with a smile. Its a pretty remarkable transformation, as the dirty, unkempt, site of violence and death has  now become a classroom full of wide-eyed children, star map, and female protocol droid teacher. Its also convenient, as Greef decides to leave the little guy there, as despite Mando’s protests that “Wherever I go, he goes”, Greef warns “Where we’re going, you don’t want to take a child, trust me.” Before cutting to said meeting, there is a funny moment where The Child, frustrated that the student next to him refuses to give him blue macaroons, uses the Force to move the package, looking wide-eyed when the student glares at him.

The objective of the meeting seems relatively simple according to Greef and Kara: there’s an Imperial base made up of a skeleton crew, but besides not being abandoned, it’s full of weaponry that would be extremely valuable on the black market. Thus, if Mando chipped in, they could eliminate the base, ensuring that the planet would be completely safe, and after a brief moment of consideration, he replies “What are we looking at?” After a transition wipe, both Cara and Greef explain that what they need to do is to overload the reactor that powers the base, then get out quickly.

Interestingly, as they approach the base via landspeeder,  is that the cowardly Mythrol from the series pilot, is offered a mini-redemption arc in this episode, as Greef barks for him to help them out in exchange for reducing his prison sentence. Surprisingly, after Mando takes care of the front guards, he actually proves his worth, shooting  stormtroopers down, and overcoming both his fears of lava and heights by overloading the reactor, without guardrails to boot (guess some Imperial construction plans never change). But as the group flees the scene, despite the sparse number of Imperial officers, they see an intriguing set of bacta tanks containing mysterious beings, revealing the complex to actually be a lab. The Mythrol additionally uncovers a message left by Imperial scientist Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi) revealing that the child has a high count of midichlorians, resulting in the experiment’s failure, but promising Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) that he will not fail. Mando is incredulous at the notion, especially when the Mythrol mentions that the recording is three days old, but before anything can happen, the stormtroopers arrive.

The escape from the imminently exploding base is the highlight of the episode, as after Mando shoots down and memorably topples a stormtrooper into the lava, he jets off to retrieve the child, leaving the rest of the crew members to fend for themselves. Noticing a stormtrooper transport that was seen earlier in the episode, Cara mans it, and with the doorway blocked, she has no choice but to go over the ledge with it (humorously crushing the landspeeder when it impacts onto the ground). Scout troopers hitch onto their speeder bikes, and there’s a great shot of two of their number careening off of one another, causing them to crash in a fiery explosion. Heading to the back, Karga uses the mounted turrets to eliminate the speeder bikes using a targeting system, and though it temporarily looks like they’re safe, the familiar whine of TIE fighter rise over the lava breached base, in hot pursuit. Soon enough, despite landing a hit, the debris from the downed fighter destroys the turrets, and it appears that all is lost.

However, the Razorcrest swoops in just in time, and while a little tiresome, its nonetheless thrilling to see Mando dispose of the ships, The Child by his side calmly eating his macarons, but waving when the blasters hit. Destroying the last of them by expertly maneuvering the ship, Mando speeds off towards the forest planet Corvus, while down below, Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), one of the pilots seen in the second episode, offers New Republic protection, and a job for Cara Dune. However, Mando is far from safe, as the closing shot of the episode reveals that one of the engineers is a spy for Moff Gideon, and has planted a tracker on Mando.

Overall, while The Siege offers a decent action set-piece, and the start of something sinister brewing, it still feels like a bit of a letdown in terms of actual substance.

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