‘The Mandalorian’ ‘Chapter 10’ Gives a Lot of Thrill but Not Much Plot Building — REVIEW
The Mandalorian’s first episode back in Season 2 started off a bit slow but gave fans a really solid foundation for the rest of this season. Now, Episode 2 goes even further, giving fans a really fun and action-packed episode. However, it doesn’t do a ton to move the overall story forward. [Spoiler alert: Spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 2 ahead].
Mando picks up a passenger in great need
After defeating the Krayt dragon last week on everyone’s favorite barren planet, Tatooine, Mando and The Child head back to Peli Motto. She tells him about a Frog Lady — who doesn’t have a defined race or name in the episode — who needs help safely traveling to her husband. She’s carrying eggs, the last of their kind, that need to make it to her husband so he can help fertilize them, saving their race.
They can’t go through hyperspace or her eggs will die, which means that Din Djarin and his ship are put at risk for all types of space-goons and other horrors that befall them.
Why does Mando agree to this deviation from his quest to find The Child’s people? Because he’s convinced that he needs to find other Mandalorians who will help him on said mission. And Frog Lady claims her husband has seen others like Mando on his planet. So, this really leaves him with no choice but to help her out. Since he has no other leads.
While on the way to this planet, Mando’s ship is stopped by New Republic “officers” patrolling space in X-wing fighters. Of course, it’s great to see these pilots in their orange suits and Rebel helmets, but it also hits on the fact that the New Republic is the new governing body in this galaxy. Even though the Galactic Empire was defeated, this just shows that in trying to implement a new order, the New Republic might have fallen into a similar position.
But again, it was cool to hear them say, “May the Force be with you,” which viewers don’t hear a ton on this show.
Alright, someone give Baby Yoda a timeout
Of course, Mando doesn’t want to abide by their rules because he knows his track record isn’t clean in the slightest. So he’s off, even if that strands him on a cold planet.
This brings us to Baby Yoda. Doesn’t it always? But this time, The Child was a massive troublemaker.
We see Baby Yoda running earlier in this episode and it really just makes you realize how much you’re invested in that little baby’s wellbeing. However, this episode also reminds you that this is a child. A baby. One who is 50 years old but acts like a toddler. And he is in dire need of a timeout or something.
If viewers can remember, Baby Yoda loves to eat frogs and small creatures. And what are Frog Lady’s eggs? Baby frogs pre-insemination. So it’s no surprise that The Child is enamored by them. Audience members can easily see where this is going, and before Mando can stop him, he’s eating her eggs. Yikes, control yourself, Baby Yoda.
Even though Din Djarin could do a better job of keeping an eye on him, he is also in charge of keeping the ship from crashing or being attacked, and both of those scenarios happen in this episode. So, he has a lot to handle.
Basically, The Child is going through his Terrible Two. His greedy little eyes, as cute as they are, are always on those floating orbs. And it doesn’t help that his appetite also makes him go after the other eggs in a frozen cave later on. This awakens a massive spider and her thousands of babies, known as Krykna.
The action and heart in this one made for a memorable episode
This is the point where everyone watching yells, “Not spiders!” at their screens. A very Indiana Jones’ “Why does it always have to be snakes” moment. Regardless, those Krykna are gross, they are fast, and they are coming for Mando and his child who just ate one of the Krykna’s offspring, birthing the rest.
Through this all, though, the Frog Lady is really helpful. It’s unclear if she knows The Child ate a few of her eggs, but she probably has her suspicions. Yet she saves his butt anyway.
Moving on, there’s so much suspense and the action is so good. Those spider aliens almost win, with the big mama nearly crushing Mando’s ship. But those New Republic officers from before were biding their time and finally stepped in to help out. They kill the main Krykna and tell Mando that they ran his information. They do realize that he was complicit in the killing of Lieutenant Davan (“Chapter 6”) as well as other transgressions. However, they realize it’s probably best to let him go, but they don’t help him out. It’s a, “Here’s our gift for not arresting you” gesture.
The frog woman most likely is just going to be a one-off, or her journey ends next episode. However, the storyline made you feel for this alien and also made audiences worried for her and her eggs. Especially considering she wasn’t human and couldn’t speak anything outside of what only sounds like noise, that’s some damn good storytelling to evoke feelings like that from an audience.
It was a solid episode but there was no forward progression in the overall point of this season. But we did get one last shot of Baby Yoda being naughty, eating one last egg. So, it was worth it in the end.
