'The Mandalorian' Season 2, Chapter 10: Spiders, Ice, and Chases Oh My

By Mae Abdulbaki | TV | November 9, 2020 |

By Mae Abdulbaki | TV | November 9, 2020 |

My interest in The Mandalorian Season 2 is quickly waning. That is largely due to the fact that very little happened in “Chapter 10: The Passenger,” the second episode of the season thus far. Mando, who has once more hit a dead end after leaving Tatooine without any new information, tries one more time to traverse the galaxy in search of more Mandalorians and The Child’s species.

But first, he heads back to Mos Eisley, where Peli Motto says she has some new intel about where Mando can find more of his people. However, he must first drop off someone (an alien female who is only referred to as Frog Lady — how terrible of The Mandalorian not to give her a name) on a nearby planet to ensure her family’s future.

Their journey hits a major roadblock when they cross paths with New Republic pilots intent on checking Mando’s permits and crash land onto an ice planet, stranded. The biggest event from the episode comes after The Child eats the inside of a mysterious pod that is quickly revealed to be the egg of a terrifying ice spider called the Krykna.

Angry, the creature and its horde of creepy spider-like children chase Mando, The Child, and Frog Lady, but they’re ultimately saved by the very pilots who chased them earlier. Is the action sequence good? Yes, the Krykna was genuinely scary and ramped up the tension of a slow episode. The CGI was fantastic, but is that the only thing the series is good for?

At this point, The Mandalorian may have lost most of its leftover goodwill from Season 1. “The Passenger” was boring, devoid of any interesting character dynamics, and didn’t advance the plot in any meaningful way. What’s more, we didn’t learn anything more about either Mando or The Child. What’s the point of these episodes if we don’t at least get some insight into these characters? There was plenty of downtime to do so here, but the opportunity was unfortunately not seized.

It’s unclear if The Mandalorian is at all interested in its leading characters beyond using them as a device to explore the Star Wars galaxy. I usually don’t mind filler episodes, but with only six episodes left of the season, the series seems to be running on fumes and lacking in any worthwhile engagement. I’m supposed to get a bit bored halfway through the season, not in its second episode damn.

The Star Wars canon is full of potential and yet The Mandalorian refuses to branch out into different and more intriguing territory. It’s only the beginning of the season, a point in which the story’s direction is supposed to set the stage for the remaining episodes, but the show feels aimless right now and it’s slowing down the momentum completely. The buildup is nonexistent and there isn’t enough dialogue to sustain the story or its characters.

The fact that The Mandalorian’s Season 2 episodes are longer than they were in Season 1 makes it painfully clear how little is actually happening — 40 minutes of Baby Yoda trying to eat things or Mando trying to fix his craft should have led to some sort of bonding moment between them. Is Mando’s job simply to keep The Child from dying or are they going to start having some more sweet moments that grow their relationship? Am I asking for too much here? Shouldn’t all shows build on their character dynamics?

Even the inclusion of the New Republic pilots felt pointless too, only serving as an empty reminder of the show’s timeline following the downfall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi. The series can’t ride the coattails of Season 1 or fans’ fondness for the Star Wars universe forever and The Mandalorian needs to start offering a bit more in each episode or else shorten its runtimes so that it doesn’t feel like time is being wasted on nothing. Thus far, I’m not impressed.