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| MND "The Siege" |
The episode begins with a comedy bit of Din exasperatedly trying to get the Child to follow technical instructions. Comparisons with Rocket desperately trying to get Baby Groot to press the correct button in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are unavoidable. Afterward, the show features its most 2020 moment yet: Din lifting his helmet slightly to drink something.
On Nevarro, Cara is a Marshal in her own right (after this season's titular "Marshal", Cobb Vanth) and Greef is a Magistrate. The former hive of scum and villainy now hosts a school, with a protocol droid giving out the kind of geographical exposition you usually only find in tie-in reference books. And from the very first episode, Mythrol is back, admittedly a character I struggled with back then. His contemporary quality was something I had to get over when acclimating to the show.
Once our heroes have infiltrated the Imperial base, things take a turn for the stranger. This is Dr. Pershing's lab, home to misshapen genetically engineered bodies not unlike the infamous vat of Snokes on Exegol in The Rise of Skywalker. A recording of Pershing makes clear that he was trying to inject blood into these vessels with a high "M count", namely the Child's blood. Almost certainly, that M stands for midi-chlorians.
A comforting and exciting array of classic Star Wars action ensues. The stormtroopers even say, "Blast 'em", like they're in Mos Eisley's Docking Bay 94. There's the corridor blasting like we got last week, but also a chase through a canyon featuring speeder bikes and TIE Fighters. This type of action, filled with derring-do followed by whoops and cheers, feels different for this show, more in line with the saga films. There are multiple "theme park ride" moments - even the Child raises its hands during a roller coaster-like dogfight.
Actors have done good work directing this show, notably Bryce Dallas Howard. With "The Siege", Carl Weathers gets in on the act, and interestingly, in directing himself he seems to have tamped down his own grandly theatrical impulses that made Greef such a huge personality in Season 1. This is a Greef of more authority and less showmanship. But as an episode, "The Siege" isn't lacking in showmanship: a solid action chapter with weirder touches on the fringes. 7/10.
Stray observations:
- Last week, the show once again joked about stormtroopers being lousy shots. This week, it's the lack of guard rails in Imperial architecture.
- The protocol droid teacher mentions the Akkadese Maelstrom outside Kessel, where Han made the Kessel Run in Solo. Also the current New Republic capitol on Mon Mothma's home planet Chandrila - but since the capitol is designed to periodically cycle through different homes, it's on Hosnian Prime when the First Order's Starkiller Base destroys the seat of government in The Force Awakens.
- The untrustworthy engineer employed by Greef is Mimbanese. This species was introduced in Solo on the planet Mimban; recall Han's sergeant calling them "the hostiles" and Han retorting, "it's their planet, we're the hostiles". Recently one of the New Republic pilots in the Squadrons video game was Mimbanese.
- The reveal of Moff Gideon's mid-size cruiser is, of course, reminiscent of the Star Destroyer in the first shot of A New Hope. In that cruiser, he's got rows and rows of... they don't seem to be Death Troopers, they're not TIE pilots, it's not Vader armor. They look like something new.
- In last week's review, I perversely did not bring up the fan-galvanizing mention of Ahsoka Tano, who will likely appear later this season (!); if the structure of Season 1 is any guide, three closely connected episodes are followed by three that relatively stand alone, leading into a big two-part finale. Perhaps Ahsoka will appear in the final two episodes of this season.
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