‘The Mandalorian’: 5 Burning Questions From Episode 6
By Will Thorne
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – SPOILER ALERT:
Do not read on if you have not watched the first six episodes of Disney Plus’ “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Mandalorian.””
Episode 6 of “” continued the series’ propensity for heavy references to its sister works in the “” galaxy.
Virtually the entire episode took place inside a high-security prison ship, which Mando and a motley cast of mercenaries were tasked to infiltrate and extract a prisoner from. Mando and his colleagues (soon to become nemeses) wandering through the clinically white halls, battling droids as they went, was highly reminiscent of Obi-Wan, Luke and Han running around the Death Star, or Finn and Rose’s daring race through Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship in more recent times.
Crammed with gags and references, episode 6 was light on plot advancement, but heavy on action and betrayal. Here are some burning questions following this week’s episode.
Did Pedro Pascal learn from his tussle with the Mountain in “Game of Thrones?”
Yes he did! It’s hard to forget the excruciating sight (no pun intended) of Pascal’s Prince Oberyn getting his eyes gouged out by the Mountain in arguably the most gruesome scene in “Game of Thrones” history, and that’s saying something. But this time around, Pascal’s character was up to the task when it came to fighting a giant. This episode saw Mando square off with Burg (Clancy Brown), a brutish Devaronian, in the prison control room. For a while, things looked dicey for Mando as none of his usual tricks worked. Mando tried to singe Burg with his flamethrower, but he shrugged that off like the purple Hellboy that he is. Mando tried a similar door slicing technique to episode 1, but that didn’t work because Burg was able to lift the heavy door up on his shoulders like the Greek titan Atlas holding up the heavens on his back. However, as always seems to be the case in this series, Mando was eventually able to outsmart the lout and throw him in a cell with the rest of Malk’s (Mark Boone Jr.) crew of ruffians.
Would Bill Burr bring his signature “loud guy in the bar” comedy style to the role of Billy Blastah?
The answer is in the name here, really. “I wasn’t a stormtrooper, wise ass!” is one of the first lines out of Burr’s mouth. From there, his character goes on to taunt Mando for never taking his helmet off, adopting a heightened Gungan accent that might be interpreted as offensive in the real-world comedy landscape, if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s mocking a fictional species, one that is by far the most reviled by “Star Wars” fans across the planet. Although Blastah ends up trapped in a cell at the end, Burr brought a much-needed injection of spunk and peril to the series, and there are doubtless many who would like to see more of him and his three-pronged blaster technique going forward.
Who has the better droid cameo, Taika Waititi or Richard Ayoade?
Ooh this is a tough one. I’m going to have to go with Ayoade, simply because he had so much more screen time in this episode. But both brilliantly bring their nerdy, quirky rigidity to their respective robots. They represent two perfect pieces of voice casting, and it’s a shame Mando hates droids so much that he felt the need to end their mechanical lives after only a single episode. Give me an Ayoade-Waititi droid spinoff and I’ll be beeping and whirring like a happy R2-D2.
Can Baby Yoda hide from a droid?
Yes, he can because he’s such a clever little munchkin. Who’s a clever munchkin ? You are!
Is there anyone who can stand up to Mando?
At this point in the series we have only seen one person who can realistically go toe-to-toe with Mando, and she (Gina Carano’s Cara Dune) was on his side. It’s time for the series to introduce some kind of big bad into the mix; a villain who Mando cannot dispatch with a slash of his knife or a quick blast of his flamethrower, someone who can take away everything he loves in the galaxy (aka Baby Yoda) away from him. A villain was briefly teased at the end of the last episode and for a moment Werner Herzog’s Client looked like he might be the main source of villainy, but it’s time for the show to raise the stakes and give Mando a run for his credits.
