Din and Bo-Katan put their detective skills to work in today’s vibrant, and fun, episode of The Mandalorian. Let’s break it all down!
Bryce Dallas Howard returns to the galaxy far, far away on today’s episode of The Mandalorian (titled Guns for Hire) and shows her visual storytelling prowess even with a script that’s…well, it’s there. With some vibrant set pieces, plenty of action, and a mystery to uncover, there’s tons of fun to be had in today’s episode, so let’s chat!
As always, I’ll be knee deep in spoilers. So make sure you’ve watched the episode before coming back to this. In the meantime, get caught up with my previous recaps here: Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21.
Mystery of the Week
Picking up from the events of last week’s episode, Guns for Hire takes Bo-Katan, along with Din and Grogu, out in the galaxy to bring more Mandalorians back into the fold (at the behest of the Armorer). The episode starts off by showing fans what the other Nite Owl Mandos have been up to since abandoning Bo-Katan. It’s a fun sequence, and pretty classic “Star Wars” way of introducing things.
Personally, I loved getting to see an all new ship (something about those Quarren/Mon Cal designs are just so damn neat), and the interplay between the captains makes for some solid introductions. It’s a clever way of expanding the galaxy, offering hints about things going on in the wider galaxy, while also serving as a way to reintroduce characters and showing what they’ve been up to.
In many ways, it’s indicative of how the whole episode feels. That is to say, it’s probably the most George Lucas episode of the show we’ve gotten in a while. And I say this with all the love and goodwill intended.
Which is good, as the episode largely follows Din and Bo-Katan around the planet Plazir-15 to try and solve a mystery. Some of the moments are pulled straight out of classic procedural crime shows, including a trip to the bar for a shake-down, a visit to the (droid) morgue, and more. It was just kinda fun to see how it played out, and how it managed to incorporate those elements while still retaining a distinctly Star Wars feel to them.
After uncovering the plot and putting the perpetrator into custody (Great Scott!!), Din, Bo, and Grogu are allowed the chance to visit the Nite Owls the planetary government has hired to protect them. Thus we find Axe Woves and Koska Reeves, who seem none to pleased to once again see Bo-Katan.
In true Mando fashion, they settle the problem via combat, once again showing why Bo-Katan was such a high-profile Mandalorian leader for so many years (spanning all the way to the Clone Wars). In one more twist, however, Din uses a good old-fashioned loophole to get the Darksaber back into Bo-Katan’s hands (think about the Elder Wand explanation from Harry Potter), offering a touch of “lawyer show” to cap it all off.
The end result is Bo-Katan once again claiming the Darksaber and being able to use it/claim leadership of the Mandalorians. As someone on a quest to unite other clans, this will certainly be helpful.
Writing Woes
Overall, I greatly enjoyed today’s episode. It has a certain visual flair (I’ll talk about more shortly) and fun factor that can’t be ignored. BDH directed the shit out of this episode…but she did so in spite of the script given.
As I mentioned in my recap from last week, too much of this season has been about telling the audience what’s going on, rather than actually showing it. It’s been a bit frustrating, and while each director has managed to make the individual episodes engaging in different ways, it’s made the overall cohesion of the season feel paper thin.
Even some fun performances (Jack-fucking-Black is in Star Wars now!), wasn’t able to mask some the stilted dialog and head-scratching moments. I get that Din still largely doesn’t like certain droids (especially the battle droids who ended up killing his family), but we’ve seen over the past couple seasons how his attitude towards them has changed in general. He’s more trusting and willing to see them as individuals…but suddenly he’s back to being super aggressive with ALL of them in today’s episode.
Even a small thing, like Din mentioning how the “Lost Fleet” would be helpful in retaking Mandalore. WHY? We were on Mandalore earlier this season and seen what it’s like. Din went there in a single starfighter and accomplished his goal. What need is there for a Fleet when you can literally just land and say it’s yours? It’s a small thing, yeah, but another instance where it feels like the writing just does what it wants in each episode regardless of what came before.
It was nice that we finally got some sort of acknowledgement of the Darksaber. Again, it’s weird that such an important item hasn’t been addressed until the sixth episode of the season; but what’s worse is how it was resolved. I completely get the logic behind how Bo-Katan ends up with the sword (through her rescue of Din and defeating the robot-crab thing in combat), but the timing is just strange.
I mean, you’re telling me Din could have done this at literally ANY point since the second episode of the season? He’s been spending pretty much the whole time with Bo-Katan at the Covert. You’d think the time to hand it over would be at the beginning of their quest, as he knows its importance and clearly understands how it would help them out.
I get that it needed to be something more public, otherwise people might not believe she properly reclaimed it, but still…It’s just oddly framed and seems like something that would/should have been addressed well before this point. Like a few things this season, I can’t necessarily complain with how certain plot elements are shaping up, but getting there has been hit and miss.
Visuals and Characters
Guns for Hire is an absolutely gorgeous episode. Once again, Bryce Dallas Howard, manages to bring a sense of scale and “life” to every scene. Granted, I’m a sucker for these kind of Sci-Fi/urban/city settings. It’s a fun reminder that galaxy can be big and encompass a number of different aspects. Even on the Outer Rim it’s not all small settlements and wild-west style living.
All the different sequences, from the hyper-tunnel to the droid chase through the streets, the episode does a great job of making it feel like you’re in a living/breathing location. It’s something BDH has always brought to the table with her stories. There’s the village on Sorgan, the water world/bustling dock town of Trask, and even the ring station from her Book of Boba Fett episode. In a short amount of time, she’s able to convey a sense of scale and life to these places (again, very Lucas-esque).
Another factor that helps, are the characters and how they interact. Even minor characters are given a sense of history and uniqueness. It also helps when you have actors on the set willing to have fun and go wild with it. While Christopher Lloyd’s Helgait was a small part of the episode, it was memorable and you could feel the history behind his actions. Same for the episode’s opening with the star-crossed lovers. Even this short sequence meant largely to re-introduce the other Mandalorians, you were given the sense of a bigger, untold, story.
The result, all around, is a greater sense of imersion in the world. Even better when it’s accompanied by some awesome visual flairs. By and large, so much of Plazir-15 feels like something pulled out of the Fifth Element. It was gorgeous, vibrant, and all around sleek. A man could get used to such things…
What’s Next?
After today’s Guns For Hire we are now staring down the final two episodes of this season. There’s the looming threat of Imperials, whatever happened with Moff Gideon, and retaking Mandalore to possibly deal with. Oh, and hopefully we get some sort of resolution as to what happened to Pershing (was he killed or just had his brain fried). Feels like a lot of ground to cover, but there are some fun ways to pull it all together.
Perhaps in returning to Nevarro with the Darksaber and a gaggle of new Mandalorians to go with it, they all decide to head to Mandalore and begin resettling. Maybe when they show up, however, and discover they’re not the only Mandalorians trying to reclaim it (maybe the same Mandos who rescued Gideon).
Or, as I theorized before, Gideon with more Imperial forces and Mandalorians loyal to the Empire show up to fight back against Din, Bo-Katan, and their “Lost Fleet.” I imagine they would still be outgunned, which might result in Din calling to Carson Teva and the New Republic for assistance. The result of which could unveil a large Imperial threat that’s been alluded to.
It could be a fun way to bring the threads together, though I’m still not sure how the IG-11 plot thread factors into it all. Oh and I guess Grogu is a KNIGHT now, as Lizzo knights him under the Ancient Order of Independent Regencies. It’s a moment that feels specific enough to have some sort of importance down the road.
Easter Eggs
Guns for Hire was packed with cameos, Easter eggs, and references. Here are some of the main ones I noticed:
Lizzo and Jack Black – More musicians join the galaxy far, far away as Jack Black portrays former Imperial, Captain Bombardier, and none other than Lizzo played the part of his wife, the Dutchess. It’s just neat!
Harry Holland – Speaking of actors, Tom Holland (Spider-Man)’s brother played the role of the lovestruck Mon Calamari at the beginning.
Viceroy’s Son – Along these same lines, there’s a connection here I’m not 100% sure of…but I’m going to mention it anyway. In the first season of The Mandalorian, one of the bounties Greef Karga offers to Din is for returning a nobleman’s son who had “skipped bail.” The hologram clearly shows the subject is a Mon Calamari.
I mean, there’s no mention of “skipping bail” in today’s episode, so it could be unrelated, but it feels like a connection. After all, if a nobleman wanted to get his son back from running off with his Quarren lover, he may mask the bounty as “bail jumping” in order to avoid embarrassment. Who knows, perhaps I’m reaching too far with this one, but could be cool!
Frog Lady – I have no doubt this isn’t the same creature we saw from BDH’s Mandalorian season two episode, but the same species of frog creature shows up in banquet scene were we meet Bombardier.
Familiar Creatures – In that same scene there are a number of familiar Star Wars aliens including: Sullustans, Bith, and Ithorians. Then of course we got to see more Ugnaught’s later on.
Techno Union and Count Dooku – Two big Prequel name drops happened in today’s episode as we got a reference to the old Techno Union as well as a call-out to Separatist leader, Count Dooku!
RX Droids – The Droid bar is a treasure trove of familiar robots. I won’t name them all, but it’s always neat to see the RX-series pilot droids that originated as part of the Star Tours theme-park ride (before later showing up in Rebels).
Taken on it’s own, Guns for Hire is an absolute hoot. Bryce Dallas Howard shines despite Favreau’s (increasingly) flimsy script work. In many ways, today’s episode of The Mandalorian felt like something from the Lucas era of Star Wars storytelling, and there’s a heart/sense of life that makes it easy to sit back and enjoy.
Between the visuals of the new city/planet and the genuine chemistry you can feel between the characters I found myself getting lost in the adventure, even when strange story bits cropped up. In short, it’s definitely time for BDH to get her own Star Wars show or movie, preferably with a tighter script.
