Chapter 16: The Rescue is an episode of The Mandalorian starring Pedro Pascal, Omid Abtahi, and Temuera Morrison. The Mandalorian and his allies attempt a daring rescue.
Welp, called that ending. Which seems appropriate for (Disney) Star Wars, which cares most about reconnecting existing pieces of its universe, and filling in backstory, than creating new standalone stories in the same universe. The Canon uber alles.
Except I had foolishly forgotten it was Star Wars and half expected Boba Fett to die and hand off his ship to the Mandalorian. But of course his limited appearance here makes sense for launching his own spinoff.
The Mandalorian linked the original trilogy with the newest, and the animated series, and provided an adorable merch option for Disney to monetize. Neatly done. Probably smart to move on from baby Yoda. Honestly there’s only so much you can do with an adorable puppet that has to be held all the time. He was already handing it off to virtual strangers so he could go off and fill an episode, which the Internet glommed onto as cute single fatherdom desperately seeking childcare while I thought it was sloppy characterization.
It’s astonishing the capabilities of CGI on the one hand with faces, and its blatant failings on the other with the awkward blob that is the Child. Anything other than simply carrying it breaks the illusion.
In terms of storytelling, I couldn’t help but think of the heroine’s journey as I watched, and how the heroine succeeds through partnership and compromise. As Gail Carriger points out in the structure, he is weakest and at most risk when alone, most successful when working with a team and letting others do what they do best.