Twin Suns Outpost is pleased to bring you a weekly write-up covering each episode of The Mandalorian Season 2. Each week three members of the TSO team will prepare a short reaction to the most recent episode of the award-winning series.
THE BELIEVER - Directed by Rick Famuyiwa - Aired December 11, 2020 on Disney+
*SPOILER WARNING*
KYLE SCULLY: Blog Writer, Comic Reviewer
In a season filled with great episodes, “Chapter 15: The Believer” might be my favorite episode yet. Written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa (“Chapter 2: The Child” and “Chapter 6: The Prisoner”) this episode does a great job challenging the Mandalorian’s core beliefs and forces him into some difficult situations as he confronts both his code and a tide of Imperial troopers.
The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) recruits Migs Mayfeld (Bill Burr) to help him track down Moff Gideon’s ship. They visit a refinery on Morak along with Cara Dune (Gina Carano), Boba Fett (Temura Morrison), and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen).
The Mandalorian accompanies Mayfeld into the refinery after everyone else is ruled out for a myriad of reasons. Mayfeld tries making small talk with him dissecting the Mandalorian culture and truths about the affects of war on the less fortunate. It’s honest and real and works perfectly with Burr’s strong suit of playing the everyman.
At the refinery, the Mandalorian is forced to remove his helmet in order to secure the location of Gideon’s ship. Famuyiwa plays it without a lot of hoopla. There isn’t a second thought. It just happens. After a discussion of Operation Cinder an Imperial officer (Richard Brake) sets Mayfeld off, all hell breaks loose, and the two run for their lives.
The morality of Star Wars is center stage in this episode and is played with to great effect. Mayfeld doesn’t pull punches with the Mandalorian or the Imperial officer. He has a perspective of someone on the outside looking in. He doesn’t see himself as part of a group and therefore is the perfect person to analyze everything. The action is big and expertly crafted. All the characters get their time to shine and the ending is a great tease for what is bound to be an epic finale.
A few notes on this episode. Boba Fett gets the best joke of the Star Wars franchise. There’s also nice nod to Attack of the Clones. I’m a little confused why Mayfeld elects to stay on Morak. There’s nowhere else he’d want to go? What kind of life will he have there? They couldn’t drop him off somewhere a little more advanced? Live your life Migs but I have to ask.
CHRISTIAN CORAH: TSO Book Reviewer and Podcast Host
I have mixed feelings over this episode of The Mandalorian. If it came earlier in the season, I probably would have loved it. It had a tremendous redemption arc, great action, we were oddly cheering for Stormtroopers, and Din showed his face! But it still felt oddly anticlimactic for an episode leading up to the finale. Last seasons finale felt like a two parter, but not this time around. I was most excited for Moff Gideon this season, and it seems that he’ll only be featured in one episode. They really underused his character this season. That being said, the end of this episode did create some hype for the finale. Mando and his gang are coming to free Grogu and it’s going to be some action filled fun, with a few surprises coming!