Posted in: Disney+, Review, Star Wars, streaming, TV | Tagged: baby yoda, bleeding cool, Bo-Katan Kryze, boba fett, cable, dave filoni, Din Djarin, disney, giancarlo esposito, Grogu, jon favreau, katee sackhoff, Koska Reeves, Mercedes Varnado, ming-na wen, moff gideon, Pedro Pascal, peyton reed, Review, sasha banks, star wars, streaming, television, Temuera Morrison, the child, The Mandalorian, tv

The Mandalorian "Chapter 16: The Rescue" Proves Epic Last Stand

The Mandalorian never seems to disappoint when it comes to bringing literal balance to not only the Force but to what makes quality television. It's a testament to the creative genius of creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, who manage to organically pace the show, allow auxiliary characters to remain in supporting roles, and actually treat the villains like the threats they are rather than some goofy caricatures. They also are careful to respect the source material in the wide sandbox they're given and as Star Wars fans, they rewarded in spades with the season two finale, "Chapter 16: The Rescue."

The episode begins with Mando/Din (Pedro Pascal) and Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) looking for additional help where they find Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and one of her associates Koska (Mercedes Varnado aka Sasha Banks). Naturally, they hit it off right away with the latter showing Boba what a tornado DDT off a table looks like. Once tensions subside and another agreement is reached, the four are joined by Cara (Gina Carano) and Fennec (Ming-Na Wen) to implement their plan to infiltrate Moff Gideon's (Giancarlo Esposito) light cruiser.

Directed by Peyton Reed (Ant-Man franchise) and written by Favreau, the action in the season finale of The Mandalorian was non-stop as the main party sans Boba who flies off in Slave 1 in a faux chase of the imperial transport shuttle everyone else is in crash lands into Gideon's cruiser. Everyone comes out of the shuttle's bay doors guns blazing in the initial strike cutting down stormtroopers in their path. As the Empire shifts to stop them, Din heads off to find Grogu. The payoffs come in bunches without much to linger as far as any allusions to a cliffhanger. When it was all said and done, it definitely tops last season every which way possible.

The fact the best of the season and of the franchise, in general, were directed by Robert Rodriguez and Reed are no fluke. Not to sound like a broken record, but it shows how much better the franchise belongs on TV than crammed in a film. I honestly think J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson should be in the directing pool for season three. Another perfect episode from the best of the franchise and it certainly didn't hurt having the all-star cast.

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