My review of return of the Mandalorian in S.3 ep.1 the Apostate
SPOILERS AHEAD
‘New season, new structure’ seemed to be the order of the day in the Apostate. Indeed, it often felt like the structure of a season of the show compressed down to an episode. Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) has an overriding quest. In this case, to earn absolution for having removed his helmet, by bathing in the waters of Mandalore. Small issue Mandalore has been destroyed. So, along the way he has to complete sub-quests to get things he needs. And like in an episode of the previous seasons, these questlettes, often present an opportunity to meet up again with recurring characters. Hence, in this episode we got whistle stop reintroductions not only to Din and Grogu but also Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), IG-11 (Taika Waititi), Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff). That and telling us where Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) is now and, naturally, giving an in-universe explanation for why the character played by an actor who likened being an anti-vaxxer to being Jewish during the Holocaust won’t be back.
The effect of this was that the Apostate also felt rather like a recap video. A reminder to audience members who in the gap of two and a half years since Season 2 aired that, for example, Din has the Darksabre, or who skipped Book of Boba Fett altogether, and, therefore, might need bringing up to speed on why Din and Grogu are reunited.
In all honesty, I found what this amounted to underwhelming. It didn’t break new ground. Perhaps intentionally. There was a feeling of doubling-down on the familiar. There were not only a lot of returning characters but also scenes which evoke past scenes and even by the standards of the Mandalorian “this is the way” gets said a lot! Plot-wise we didn’t seem further forward than we were at the end of Book of Boba Fett. This was all set-up and no pay-off.
That said, I’m not really disappointed either and certainly not ready to conclude that showrunners Favreau and Filoni have run out of ideas. Though the recap element felt superfluous to me, it may well be appreciated by viewers who are not as obsessive in their fandom as I am. Though the action in this episode felt a bit rote to me, Grogu being a little scamp was as adorable as ever. Similarly, though this was probably not the most elegant way to do what needs to be done in a first episode, it is hardly surprising that the start of a new season would mostly be about laying the foundations for the rest of the season. Indeed, it was only a few months ago that reviewers were lauding Andor for taking its time.* In between, the greatest hits reel, there was some interesting character work being done. The scenes between Mando and Karga evidenced a low-key sadness with the bounty hunter still not quite able to reciprocate the warmth he is shown by his friend. This often looks like him meeting Karga’s expressions of concern and signs of respect with a cold focus on his mission. I suspect this is setting up a tension between what Din wants, to return to good standing within the fundamentalist religious community that raised him, and what he actually needs: to find a home for Grogu and himself, where he is valued for more than his compliance or competence.
Side note:
The first week of March 2023 feels like something of a vortex moment for nerd, franchise pop-culture. As many, many people have pointed out two of the biggest TV shows on at the moment, the Mandalorian and the Last of Us, both feature Pedro Pascal playing a stoic warrior type who must go on a quest to take a young person with special abilities to safety. Similarly, Creed III comes to cinemas just as the Mandalorian foregrounds the character played by the original Apollo Creed. Oh and Jonathan Majors is playing the villain in Creed III *and* Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which are likely to be the #1 and #2 films at the global box office by the end of the weekend. It’s a small world apparently.
*Though in fairness, the first three episodes of Andor were released at once. Giving us a second episode so we could see things moving along might not have been a bad bet on Disney’s part.
Matter Of Facts 