This week’s ‘Mandalorian’ side-quest gets cold and creepy
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**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD THROUGH SEASON 2, EPISODE 2 OF ‘THE MANDALORIAN’**
I’m just gonna come out and say it: does anyone else think the “ice spiders” in this episode were a little jab at HBO’s “Game of Thrones”?
Longtime “Thrones” fans had a lot of high hopes dashed during the show’s final season, not the least of which was fan anticipation for a battle with the White Walkers that would feature the “giant ice spiders, big as hounds,” that Old Nan alludes to in the show’s first season.
I couldn’t help but think that “The Mandalorian” was getting in a good-natured dig with the climax of its second episode, “The Passenger.”
By now, the “chased by aggressive spiders” scene is practically a Hollywood trope, from Harry Potter to “Arachnophobia” and “Eight Legged Freaks.”
In fact, if it wasn’t so consistently entertaining, I’d say the show took a couple steps back with this episode. For one thing, it needs to make a decision about how serious a show it actually is. Is it cute and hilarious (and kind of creepy) to watch Baby Yoda constantly sneaking snacks in the form of precious eggs being carried by “The Passenger,” a cute little froggy creature? Yes.
But these eggs are supposedly the last of this race of creatures. And their mom isn’t upset about this little brat constantly eating them? There weren’t that many eggs in there; she surely would have noticed at some point. And as she showed later in the episode, she’s no slouch with a blaster.
In a full-on dramatic series, that would create conflict aboard this relatively small ship, and maybe even put Baby Yoda in danger. Here it’s played for laughs the entire time. And it’s funny, no doubt, but that tone doesn’t seem to fit with the overall vibe that show runner Jon Favreau is aiming for: mainly, that this is a Serious Star Wars Show.
It was definitely cool seeing a couple X-wing pilots show up. I don’t usually long for exposition scenes, anytime, but it would be interesting to hear someone talk about what exactly is going on throughout the galaxy in a big-picture sense — what the New Republic is doing, and why they have fighters patrolling various sectors of the galaxy looking for “Imperial remnants.”
I suppose part of the show’s appeal is in not knowing. We’ve spent so much “Star Wars” time with the big movers and shakers of this universe, that we forget most people/aliens/creatures probably don’t know and don’t care what either the Empire OR the New Republic are doing.
For whatever reason, the Rebel X-wing pilots (one of whom is executive producer Dave Filoni) chase Mando, Baby Yoda and Mrs. Frog onto an ice planet. Normally, I’d make a joke about how it has to be Hoth, but after looking at a map of the Star Wars fictional galaxy, I’d like to correct my previous review: there are a whole lot more planets than I thought… which makes it even more bizarre that we somehow keep returning to Tattooine in nearly every single Star Wars property.
The scene with the ice spiders is… alright. If you hate spiders, I’m sure it’s creepy. I kind of liked the “Alien” homage when the spider eggs opened, and the show’s humor was used very appropriately when Baby Yoda triggered the spider attack by popping one into his mouth. That kid will eat anything.
But I never thought anyone except maybe Mrs. Frog was in real danger. Now this unlikely trio (unless you count the eggs) is on their way to a moon called Trask, where Mrs. Frog says that Mr. Frog has definitely seen Mandalorians.
The introduction of X-wings makes me wonder if there will be more elements we recognize from the Star Wars universe making their way into the show. Up to now it’s been mainly little callbacks, like a bartender whose species we’ve seen in Jabba the Hutt’s palace.
It’ll be interesting to see if “The Mandalorian” starts connecting in a stronger way with other stories we already know. And I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to it, or concerned about it.
But am I going to watch the next episode?
This is the way.