Max Nocerino 
The tenth chapter of The Mandalorian has great creativity but suffers from anticlimactic action and poor plot details.
With Peyton Reed making his Star Wars directorial debut, The Mandalorian Chapter 10 begins right where chapter nine ended. Mando is speeding back to Mos Eisley on his bike with Boba Fett nowhere to be found. Hmmm. Goooood. Anyway, Favreau briefly reminds us for the umpteenth time how much of a badass Mando is and how protective he is of The Child. One of my favorite parts was seeing how Mando has assumed the role of parent to him as he worries about his safety constantly and scolds him when he wanders off or does things he should not.
ADORABLE BABY YODA!
Baby Yoda’s adorability level is off the charts as well. One of my favorite things about this episode is the creativity of Favreau with the aliens he introduces us to. Amy Sedaris’ card-playing “buddy” is an awesome-looking giant ant creature and the person Mando has to ferry is a strange frog-salamander thing with a tank full of her eggs. Extra points for creativity. However, the plot of this episode is a little confusing. It starts strong but then deviates to a survival story. Mando has to transport the salamander to a world that Sedaris speaks about so briefly I don’t remember its name.
MALFUNCTION
However, due to the safety of the eggs; Mando cannot travel with his hyperdrive and has to go at sublight speeds. WHAAAAT? Sublight?! It takes 4 years to travel from our Star to the nearest star at Lightspeed and Mando is expected to make it there within a story cycle? Very bad science and hard to accept. Mando does admit it will take a long time but it is implied to just be a few weeks. I have my theory on how the ship can make it at sublight but that will remain in my headcanon for now. As of this review, it is a huge plot hole.
The Razor Crest crash lands on an ice world as he tries to avoid two annoying New Republic X-Wing pilots (Dave Filoni returns!) who give him the business for being in that sector. Mando says “Forget this” and heads for the world but unfortunately crashes and is stuck with the child and his passenger on the ice world. We see a familiar species from Rebels attack Mando and his friends and let’s just say I am happy my arachnophobia did not prevent me from watching the chase scenes.
CRASHED CREST
The Mandalorian Chapter 10 was a lot of fun and super creative but the New Republic soldiers confused me heavily as there really was no reason for them to bother Mando and I expected there to be more resolution at the end. Also, the fact that the Razor Crest was able to fly in space while it was “open” contradicts basic science. I know Star Wars doesn’t care about science but this is basic stuff. Thinking back the New Republic guys mentioned something about bounties but I had trouble keeping up with their dialogue.
VERDICT
This episode gets an A for creativity but it gets a B- for anticlimactic action and poor plot details.
The Mandalorian is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus NOW!
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
