The Mandalorian - Chapter 6: The Prisoner Review

"The Mandalorian"’s first season is rapidly approaching its end, and even though this week brought yet another adventure of the week instead of progress on any larger story, “The Prisoner” was an absolute blast from start to finish.

Old “Friends”

Mando and Baby Yoda end up on a space station, ever in search of credits. Some old friends of Mando’s need his help, or rather the help of the Razor Crest, on an incredibly dangerous rescue mission. The job, rescue a member of this straggly gang of mercs being held on a New Republic prison ship. No pressure. Mando is greeted by Ranzar Malk, they reminisce about their history and then get straight down to business. Rather than just being with one other character in this episode, Mando is part of a whole gang of outlaws, and they all have a past. They might appear to work well together at first, we quickly learn why they all went their separate ways as their individually strong personalities clash. Mayfeld, Burg, Xi’an, and Zero all pile into the Razor Crest for what is easily the most dangerous job yet. The plan has to go perfectly, or the New Republic will be on their heels almost immediately.

I enjoyed the back and forth banter between the crew quite a bit. Xi’an and Mando’s history, Mayfeld’s feisty attitude (played wonderfully by comedian Bill Burr), Burg the muscle’s stubbornness and the dry wit of Zero the droid was an almost instantly entertaining mix. And to top it all off, there is nothing more frustrating to Mando than a droid flying his ship. The mission is so dangerous, that a human pilot simply isn’t good enough to pull it off. Having so many different personalities jumping off each other makes this episode easily one of the best so far. When they find Baby Yoda, things very quickly almost fall apart as they taunt and mock Mando’s “pet.” They brawl, but before things can go any further they arrive at their destination.

Xi'an, Burg, Mayfeld, and Zero.

The Prison Ship

The group slips onto the prison ship, and quickly run into some security droids. Mando expertly takes them down in one of the best fight scenes in the series, basically while the rest of the crew watches. The ship was only supposed to have droids on board, but that quickly changes when they discover a lone human pilot on the bridge. The pilot threatens to call the New Republic fleet in, and a standoff ensues. Ideals clash as the crew struggles to decide the pilot’s fate, played by Matt Lanter who voices Anakin Skywalker in "The Clone Wars". Xi’an mercilessly takes him down, impatient of everyone else’s arguing and what little bit of teamwork was there begins to unravel. Mando tried to handle it peacefully. Despite the tough exterior, he does have a conscience. Regretfully, they find their target. Xi’an’s brother. And to no one’s surprise, they betray Mando leaving him in the cell. Thanks to a wandering security droid, Mando is able to capture and use its arm to escape.

Mando and the Mercs vs New Republic security droids.

Manhunt

Mando isn’t about to be betrayed and let the others get away with it. He makes it to the bridge where can mess with the security controls, trapping the mercs within the ship’s hallways. One by one he takes them down, with Burg definitely putting up the biggest fight. These sequences reminded us once again why Mando is a top dog bounty hunter. You simply cannot break his will. Some of the shots frame Mando like a horror movie villain, only showing flashes of him in between flickers of light and it was awesome to watch. Baby Yoda even contends with Zero aboard the Razor Crest, slipping away from the devious droid’s gaze. He eventually makes it to the prisoner, who attempts to cut him a deal. He is obviously scheming something, but Mando decides to play along. He has something else up his sleeve. The droid, Zero is also made short work off as Mando blasts him in front of Baby Yoda, who was attempting to use the Force to escape.

This group does not mix.

He Always Gets His Man

Mando, with the rest of the crew locked up on board the prison ship, brings the Twi’lek prisoner back to the space station. He turns him in and gets his credits. Again, to no one’s surprise, the captain orders the Prisoner to open fire on the Razor Crest as he flies away. But then, Mando’s trump card is revealed. He stashed the New Republic homing beacon on the Prisoner, and three X-Wing fighters jump out of hyperspace. Fun fact, the three X-Wing pilots are played by three directors of "The Mandalorian". Dave Filoni (who was also the head creator on The Clone Wars), Deborah Chow from Episode 3, and Rick Famuyiwa the director of this episode. The X-Wings make short work of the space station, and I’m sure Mando can rest much easier knowing he won’t be seeing them again. And he got their credits.

All Wings report in!

Final Thoughts

This episode may just be my favorite of the season so far. It is a self-contained story but every minute was thrilling in a new way. From seeing the gang of outlaws interacting, to the tension of the mission and Mando’s superb fighting skills, every moment was a nearly perfect blast of Star Warsaction and drama. The cast all did wonderfully, and Mando’s skills were the star of the show. We also got an all-time great Baby Yoda scene when he tried to defend himself from Zero with the force, silently exclaiming “did I just do that?” but no, it was just his dad Mando. But, now, I gotta wonder when the Mandalorian is going back to an extended story. There are still several characters we haven’t seen yet, and with only two episodes left we are running out of time. We’ll soon find out since the next chapter airs this Wednesday on 12/18/2019.  

The Twi'lek siblings.

"The Mandalorian" - Chapter 6: The Prisoner Rating:

Share Your Thoughts

What did you think of the episode? Who was your favorite new character? Let us know below!

By: Noah Friscopp