Posted in: Disney+, Review, Star Wars, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, Grogu, ming-na wen, Pedro Pascal, Review, robert rodriguez, star wars, streaming, television, Temuera Morrison, The Mandalorian, tv
The Mandalorian Chpt. 14 The Tragedy: An Action Masterpiece (SPOILERS)
Just when you think The Mandalorian couldn't top itself, each week it sets the bar even higher. "The Tragedy" features the return of another fan favorite and another shocking return. Another gem written by series creator Jon Favreau, this time he brings one of the best action film directors of our generation in Robert Rodriguez to helm the episode. Spoiler warnings for this major episode apply.
After Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) tells Din/Mando (Pedro Pascal) where to go next, he flies Razorcrest, Grogu, and all to the point of interest on a planet where there are stone obelisks pointing to a singular direction upward to the sky toward the center. Din places Grogu at the center where some ritual involving the Force takes place with The Child shielded from all physical contact. The activity starts to pick up when Slave I arrives at the scene with a scarred Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and Fennec (Ming-Na Wen), who was last shot and left for dead.
Naturally suspicious, Din checks them out. Before more pleasantries are exchanged, Imperial forces come in waves, and of all the action sequences throughout its history, Rodriguez probably created the series' best. That's not an honor taken lightly considering previous episodes. The bulk of the 32 minutes of "The Tragedy" showed more about Boba Fett than the less than 5 minutes of actual screen time the character got combined of all Star Wars canon. The story structure works for this episode and the galaxy of The Mandalorian because elements were kept in their place and allowed to thrive. Pascal, Morrison, and Wen thrived in their showdown while the main villain in Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) stayed in his ship not having to personally deal with the conflict below.
"The Tragedy" suggests a much more morose and depressing arc, but was probably the most exciting half-hours of television I seen all year. I hope Rodriguez directs more episodes in the future.