You can go home again, although sometimes it takes a while.
The sands of Tatooine, perpetually roasted by twin suns, were first seen in 1977’s original Star Wars and have turned up repeatedly in the prequels and animated shows, but The Mandalorian takes us back to Mos Eisley and its cantina full of desperados for the first time in many years.
Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter has a damaged ship, which sends him and Baby Yoda down to the space port for repairs from a mechanic named Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), whose space-perm and jumpsuit conjure Sigourney Weaver/Ripley energy from the original Alien. Her character is significantly more comical, but just as much as an Alpha Mom, who discovers the little green tyke after Mando wanders off and takes much better care of him than Ida Darvish’s careless waitress in the previous episode.
In Vanity Fair’s latest Still Watching podcast, Joanna Robinson and I discuss the tale of these two would-be caregivers, with an interview from Chapter 4 director Bryce Dallas Howard, who takes us inside the thought process of Baby Yoda, and explains why Darvish makes the perfect Worst Babysitter in the Galaxy.
We also interview Ming-Na Wen about her hitwoman character Fennec Shand, who becomes the target of The Mandalorian’s attention when a young wannabe bounty hunter named Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) asks for his help capturing her. This calls to mind the plot of Unforgiven, with Clint Eastwood’s burned out gunslinger William Munny taking one last job to help an inexperienced young kid the revenge he seeks.
Along the way are lots of verbal allusions to the past. When Mando says, “She’s no good to us dead,” it’s a callback to a similar line Boba Fett speaks to Darth Vader before Han Solo is frozen in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back. He also notes that Fennec “has the high ground,” which echoes what Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Anakin Skywalker in their final duel from Revenge of the Sith.
Chapter 5 director Dave Filoni, who also helmed the pilot episode, is clearly loving his time in this playground, scattering pit droids from The Phantom Menace in amongst the new characters, placing Mando and Toro’s conversation near the cantina booth where Han shot Greedo (first!), and taking us off for a jaunt in the Dune Sea, referenced in the original 1977 movie.
Fennec Shand ends up shot—perhaps dead, perhaps not. Toro double crosses Mando, and pays for it with his life. And Baby Yoda gets a nap.
Then there was the figure who walked up to the fallen form of Fennec Shand in the final shot. Whoever it was had a distinctive walk, like spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle as he goes walking not-so-merrily along.
Fans have been quick to point out who else walked with that sound — check out Boba Fett as he enters the room in this scene from The Empire Strikes Back.
It couldn’t be. Could it?