The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Passenger
Kerr Lordygan
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The only real saving grace for The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2, "The Passenger," is the inclusion of a new character, the Frog Lady, -- hopping, and running, and intercepting droid vocabulators.
But it's just not enough to make a mark on the galactical mapping board.
I'm just whatever about the episode, a transitional one hopefully leading into a more exciting conclusion in Season 2 Episode 10.
It seems like Amy Sedaris' Peli Motto has become a recurring semi-regular character, having now been in the first two Season 2 episodes.
While her performance in this episode suddenly feels significantly more grounded from her The Mandalorian Season 1 appearance, it's still far too sketch actor-y to match the mood of this series.
But she did finally get a laugh out of me a couple of times during "The Passenger."
Peli Motto: You finally found a Mandalorian and you killed him?
Din: He wasn't Mandalorian. I bought this armor off of him, though.
Peli Motto: What'd that set you back?
Din: Killed the krayt dragon for him.
Peli Motto: Is that all?
And her winning a card game with an "idiot's array" has me wondering what the hell that hand looks like!
Her scene translating for the Frog Lady was cute.
That scene also introduced the new nameless character whom, I presume, is the same species as the fishy froggy nun Caretakers from The Last Jedi (my favorites in that film as well).
The plot here, though, is frail, doncha think?
Frog Lady's husband has reportedly seen other Mandalorians on the estuary moon of Trask and will show Din where, so long as he brings Frog Lady and her viable eggs with them as precious cargo, to be fertilized before the equinox.
Otherwise their froggy species goes extinct.
And what was Dr. Mandible's role in this? Remember, Peli introduces him to Din at the cantina as someone who can help introduce him to a contact knowledgeable of the whereabouts of other Mandalorians.
But Peli later makes it seem like she already knew Frog Lady. If so, the assistance of Dr. Mandible wasn't required. Why did they even bring Mandible up? What am I missing?
Regardless, there was a bunch of non-essential-ness happening here.
Back to Peli introducing Frog Lady to Din. The Mandalorian can't understand Frog Lady's language and Peli is translating the arrangement deal and assures Din she trusts her, though she just met her (easily bought).
At one point, Din asks Frog Lady if she speaks "Huttese," but she doesn't seem to understand when he speaks to her shoddily in the language of Jabba -- the most infamous Hutt.
In this episode of The Mandalorian, we are acknowledging the differences in language amongst species in the Star Wars Universe.
Why is it, then, that we never hear the word "English," at least not in the films (I am not fully versed in the extended universe stuff)?
One of my pet peeves in Star Wars is the peculiarity of the contrasting accents and dialects within the English language.
Why are humans and other beings in the SW Universe speaking variations of the English language that we currently speak on Earth here and now?
Why are some British and some American?
There has never been any acknowledgment of Earth or Earthlings in this universe.
Please correct me if any exists in the extended universe, but I don't really count the EU as canon (even though we all read the rumors of some EU subjects hitting Mandalorian plots this season).
This is serious stuff, folks! When will Earthly influence finally reveal itself as a catalyst for Star Wars within its own universe?? And I don't mean George Lucas creating the Star Wars Universe -- I mean George Lucas creating a creator of the Star Wars Universe.
Too philosophical (and dumb)? Yeah, it's late, forgive me. But the damned Season 2 episodes of The Mandalorian drop at midnight on Thursday nights and my current state is delirium and confusion.
Perfect time to hyper-thrust and crash-land onto a snowy planet infested with spider-like creatures that grow out of pods from the ground, not to mention their gigantic mama spider!
Wake me up if someone shoots at us or that door gets sucked off its rails. I'm kidding. If that happened we'd all be dead. Sweet dreams.
Din
Egads, that's freaky when it happens here in "The Passenger!"
Freaky, yes, but overall, not important to the story arc -- forgettable in the long run.
The Yoda Child sure enjoys eating those damned froggy species eggs. Oops! The showrunners make him so cute, but he does evil things like that. If it were anyone else, we'd lose any empathy for the character.
But The Child is still adorbs. And I have to say, his performance -- even more so than Sedaris' -- is growing more natural this season.
He must have been working on mastering his craft during Covid lockdowns by enrolling in some on-camera acting courses.
Imagine how unbearable that cute kid's stage mother must be!
I thought honoring one's word was a part of the Mandalorian code. I guess those are just stories for children.
Frog Lady
So it's on this snowy planet -- is it supposed to be Hoth? I have no idea, and I guess I shouldn't assume every snowy planet is Hoth -- that X-wing pilots Carson and Wolf explain to Din that there is a warrant out for his arrest.
The arrest warrant is for abducting prisoner X69-11 (heh-heh, they said "69").
Carson: We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X69-11.
However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your life in harm's way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps. Is this true?
Din: Am I under arrest?
Carson: Technically you should be.
They let Din go, though, due to onboard security footage they report to have seen in which Din helps save Lieutenant Davan, putting his own life in danger.
Then, once the spider creatures have been fended off and Big Mama Spider Creature does more major damage to the Razor Crest before losing the battle herself, Din, Frog Lady, and The Child take off again.
And that's the end of the episode.
Yawn.
I really just enjoy Frog Lady in this episode, especially when she alternates between hopping like a froggy and running like a human when escaping Big Mama Spider Creature.
Made me laugh because it didn't seem the hopping/leaping was any quicker than the running. Why alternate? One method must be speedier, but no!
If you need to use the privy, do it now; it's gonna be a long ride.
Din
And her using the droid on the Crest to intercept its security protocols and access its vocabulator was a nice touch. Made her sound like a scary robot dude.
But as an episode, "The Passenger" was just whatever. I have a feeling the next one will get tubular again. And let's hope for more of Timothy Olyphant's new character as introduced on The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 1: "The Marshal."
We know the Boba Fett appearance at the end of that last episode is setting us up for something miraculous. How the hell did he survive that sarlac pit in Return of the Jedi?
Don't forget to watch The Mandalorian online every week on DIsney+. Tell us how much this review annoys you in the comments below (just click on "show comments").
And may the Frog be with you.
