Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Passenger Review

MND "The Passenger"

"The Passenger" is the most overtly comedic episode of the show so far, which is unsurprising given that Peyton Reed (Bring it on, Ant-Man) is in the director's chair this week. While leavened with horror and adventure elements, the episode also approaches the feel of a hangout episode at times, from Din Djarin's awkward interactions with his passenger (a character the subtitles literally refer to as "Frog Lady") to the Child's insatiable appetite for incubating life-forms. We even get a quiet moment that reveals Din and his Child's nighttime routine and sleeping arrangements on the Razor Crest.

If last week's chapter was a sequel to Season 1's "The Gunslinger", this week's episode is a sequel to "The Prisoner". Din's entanglement with the New Republic prison facility from that episode has consequences. Richard Ayoade briefly returns as the voice of the dismantled droid Q9-0. And most notoriously of all, series co-creator Dave Filoni returns as X-Wing pilot Trapper Wolf - but this time, he leaves most of the talking to his wingman Carson Teva, played by actual actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.

In a way, "The Passenger" is like Din's very bad day. He falls into a trap and crashes his speeder bike, which puts the Child in imminent danger. He's a little uncomfortable ferrying Frog Lady, but things take a turn for the worse when he crashes the Razor Crest to avoid New Republic X-Wings... only to find a nest of ice spiders that exist somewhere between George R.R. Martin's wight spiders and Peter Jackson's repulsive worms from King Kong. He's saved by Wolf and Teva, who basically say they watched "The Prisoner" and saw that Din isn't such a bad guy. The episode plays into the subjectivity we're used to from the show; Reed fades to black whenever Din loses consciousness. And in a nice touch, when Din looks to his New Republic saviors, the X-Wings' blinding headlights feel like those of cop cars.

The ice spider portion of the episode is quite well done. The problem is, we're in monster movie territory again, so soon after the krayt dragon last week. While each episode's take on it is effective, it feels slightly redundant to go back to that well so soon.

The last two episodes have been sequels to specific Season 1 installments, and from my perspective, the two weakest episodes of the debut season at that. Connecting back to them gives the series' tapestry a richer sheen. The episode's humorous slant is also good for some amusing moments. But playing the monster card two weeks in a row dilutes the impact a bit. 6/10.