Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Believer Review

MND "The Believer"

And so it came to pass, that "The Believer" would be the first Mandalorian episode not to feature Grogu, and there were riots in the streets... Just kidding. In Grogu's absence, Din assembles his version of the Avengers (Cara Dune, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, newly-sprung prisoner Migs Mayfeld from last season's "The Prisoner") for an arcane mission to triangulate the location of Moff Gideon's ship - in a dynamic episode alive to the political context of the galaxy at this time, through the personal lens of Mayfeld of all people.

I wasn't a big fan of Mayfeld from last season. He, like the other guest characters in "The Prisoner", had a performative toughness to them. But the characterization here is downright sympathetic. His days as a stormtrooper have haunted him, particularly as he personalizes Operation Cinder, the defeated Palpatine's devastating scorched earth campaign. He encounters an old superior officer named Valin Hess (played by Richard Brake with a real "evil Dennis Quaid" energy), and when Mayfeld can't take Hess' neofascist drivel a second longer, Mayfeld shoots first.

To hear Hess tell it, the people of the galaxy, like the exploited natives of Morak near this Imperial mining facility, will eventually welcome order with open arms. While he overestimates the citizenry's future receptiveness to the First Order, he speaks what he feels is truth from his point of view. The theme of shifting political reality in the episode is captured in its centerpiece moment, the subversive reversal where Din and Mayfeld are saved from pirates by TIE Fighter pilots swooping in like they're Han Solo. Din and Mayfeld, disguised as Imperial transport drivers, are given an excessively happy heroes' welcome at the facility, the troopers probably unused to seeing main character-worthy heroics from Imperial rank and file.

Mayfeld questions foundational aspects of Din's creed, and as events unfold, Din must remove his helmet to complete his mission. Technically he has betrayed his Creed, but that is a rigid point of view. He certainly looks uncomfortable with it, though. The man introduced with "I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold", rendered vulnerable. The episode's adherence to that classic Star Wars theme of "from a certain point of view" finds its climax at the end, when Din parrots Gideon's monologue about Grogu from Season 1 right back at him, in a righteous new context.

The action of the episode works like muscular punctuation. Things take a Mad Max-shaped turn when pirates in skiffs beset the transport. And Boba Fett gets another punch-the-air moment when he uses the sound-warping seismic charges from Attack of the Clones to take out a couple TIEs (more on this in Stray Observations).

"The Believer" is an episode of unexpected quality, or to be more specific, unexpected depth. Especially given the surprise mileage from bringing the loudmouth Mayfeld back to the show. Roll on the finale next week. 7/10.

Stray observations:

- This episode has an Office Space reference?! Mayfeld says he and Din have to fill out those TPS reports.

- We finally get to see more of the interior of Slave 1 beyond the cockpit, including the weird rotation of the body.

- Nice to see the Scarif shoretrooper design from Rogue One return on this vaguely tropical planet. The transport driver costume is a hybrid of a redesigned Jedha assault tank driver helmet from Rogue One and the Mimban mudtrooper armor from Solo.

- As aforementioned, we last saw Jango Fett deploy seismic charges against Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones. And the boy who said "Get 'im, Dad, get 'im! Fi-yah!" has now grown into a man. This is the first time we've seen Boba's Slave 1 use the charges... except for the Geonosis scenario in Disneyland's Star Tours ride!

Star Trek: Discovery - Terra Firma Part 1 Review

DIS "Terra Firma Part 1"

The first episode of Discovery, "The Vulcan Hello", began with a cold open of Shenzou First Officer Michael Burnham and Captain Philippa Georgiou, bantering as a two woman landing party on a strange new world. "Terra Firma Part 1" recreates that dynamic, even though Georgiou is represented by her Terran Mirror self, and Burnham is no longer First Officer of anything. It's a fitting callback, but is emblematic of an episode that looks back at the expense of going forward.

This third season has thrived when using the new dynamics of the show to establish a new center of gravity for the show. I have been slightly resistant to any element from the first two seasons potentially slowing that roll. So when Georgiou finds herself back in the Mirror Universe, indeed in the backstory to the events we picked up there in Season 1, it feels like going backward.

Indeed, everything in this first part of a two-parter leads up to the moment when Georgiou, with the benefit of a more "evolved" consciousness, makes a different choice and doesn't execute Mirror Burnham. That choice changes things and brings the story into uncharted territory, serving to make Part 1 something of a no-frills setup for what's to come.

The essential problem with the Mirror stuff in this episode is that it replaces plot with posturing. Yes, the aesthetics are very effective, it's great to return to Captain Killy, Landry's back, there's a play within a play, everyone's wearing too much eyeliner, and even the maintenance robots are shadowy. While the arch scenery-chewing has always been the delicacy of Mirror Universe episodes, there's not a lot to the setting as presented here beyond that. 

There are the mixed feelings Georgiou seems to feel in her homecoming. For one thing, her slightly softer edges account for her uncommon civility toward the enslaved Saru. It's almost like the Georgiou of the season so far has protested too much, that her sadism was a bit of a front, some useful branding, and that confronted with her old life, she doesn't embrace it with open arms.

The episode begins with an expository scene with Culber and David Cronenberg's Kovich, and there are few actors on this show I'd rather hear exposition from than Cronenberg. Any sinister undertone to Kovich from his last appearance appears to be a red herring at this point. Dude just knows the Mirror Universe. (And the events of 2009's Star Trek film, as he alludes to Nero's incursion in time.) Elsewhere, the Burn-relevant distress call is revealed to be Kelpien in origin.

While the plot device of the doorway and the affably enigmatic Carl just screams, "We're being SURREAL!", it's novel. (Like a workaday Guardian of Forever.) That puts it in contrast to most of the episode, which has a lot of Terran pomp and circumstance but proves slightly hollow. Now that Georgiou has splintered the timeline by sparing Burnham, hopefully Part 2 triangulates how to tell a more dynamic Mirror Universe story. 5/10.

Power Rangers Beast Morphers: Source Code Review

PRBM "Source Code"

"You've reached the final chapter in your story." - Venjix/Evox

Beast Morphers' penultimate episode, "Source Code", recontextualizes the threat of Evox, tying the storyline inextricably to RPM, one of the best seasons of Power Rangers.

As Evox interacts with a Cell Shift Morpher, it's revealed that Evox is a snake DNA-enhanced offshoot of Venjix, the evil computer virus from RPM! This makes sense, as many fans compared Evox to Venjix when he was first introduced. This is an unprecedented twist, revealing the main villain of a season as truly the main villain of a previous season in a new guise. Given that the same voice actor for Venjix, Andrew Laing, has been performing Evox all along, the pieces all fit into place. Taking a step back, all these developments mean that Beast Morphers has shown an uncommon willingness to incorporate elements from past Ranger seasons set in other dimensions, including Dino Charge.

Nate unwittingly created Evox when he was a child prodigy, leading Evox to taunt him with booming lines like, "How does it feel to be responsible for the destruction of human civilization?!" This element of backstory is reminiscent of Doctor K, who created Venjix, so naturally she arrives to give Nate a pep talk. It's good to see Olivia Tennet again, in an expanded role after her appearance earlier this season, making for a team-up of two Ranger teams' tech geniuses!

The Rangers manage to destroy Robot Blaze for good, who appears powered up the entire time so as not to leave evidence for last episode's Hairgate. After this accomplishment, Steel comes dangerously close to dabbing. Zoey's "It's good to be counted on" feels like a defining line for her. And Doctor K gets a poignant moment where she tells our heroes they have a beautiful world - we know that K's is despoiled. But the ending is hardly happy. Blaze was a diversion, and Scrozzle has delivered the world's morph-X towers to Venjix.

With its outsize developments and Earth-shattering twists, "Source Code" is an excellent lead in to a finale. At its best, Beast Morphers' attention to detail is a big part of its appeal; as in RPM, Venjix' monsters don't speak. Next week, we say goodbye to this incarnation of the show. 8/10.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Tragedy Review

MND "The Tragedy"

In "The Jedi", Ahsoka was revealed in all her glory in the very first scene, which was wonderful in its own way. In "The Tragedy", Boba Fett, having surreptitiously retrieved his armor from the Razor Crest, jetpacks into a fight after a runway of build-up, making for a truly fan-pleasing moment. I'm not a "Boba Fett bro", but that was something special, a highlight of a fantastic slice of Star Wars.

On the planet Tython, Din takes Grogu to the seeing stone of a Stonehenge-like Jedi Temple, only to encounter Boba Fett (arriving in Slave I!) and a not-dead cyborg-ized Fennec Shand looking to make a deal for the armor Din got from Cobb Vanth in "The Marshal". But Gideon's Imperial forces follow them and a pitched battle ensues.

The episode gets the show off the Volume studio stage into glorious sun-kissed location filming, setting a bright stage for a glorious extended action sequence marshaled by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn). Boba, Fennec, and Din cut swathes through waves of stormtroopers, until rocket-booted Dark Troopers (updated from Legends continuity) kidnap Grogu.

The centerpiece of the episode is Temuera Morrison's expanded role as Boba Fett, having way more to say in this episode than in, say, The Empire Strikes Back. After years of back and forth, we learn that Boba's father Jango Fett was indeed a Mandalorian foundling. And Boba, being a clone, actually goes there and quotes his father by calling himself "a simple man trying to make his way in the universe". It should be noted that in early concept art for The Mandalorian, Boba Fett was used as an illustrative placeholder cradling Grogu before Din's distinct design was in place. And now things have come full circle, and Boba is a major part of the show.

Going into the episode, a focus on "that Jedi stuff", as Din calls it, seemed top of mind given the Temple setting. Indeed, Grogu's experience on the stone seems to amplify his power, as two stormtroopers find to their cost. But where last episode tapped into the samurai genre foundation of Star Wars, this one stages a space Western skirmish. The show again brings out the E-Web blaster cannon, extrapolating the old Western trope of the gatling gun. It's pew-pew action at its finest, thrilling every step of the way. 9/10.

Stray observations:

- What is it with Nevarro's new administration and putting your feet on your desk? First Greef in "The Siege", and now Cara in this episode.

- The Imperial troop transports are clear design precursors to First Order troop transports. Boba Fett rockets the escaping transports, vaguely reminiscent of Rey destroying another escaping transport with Force lightning on Pasaana in The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Trek: Discovery - The Sanctuary Review

DIS "The Sanctuary"

"The Sanctuary" continues the Orion-Andorian Emerald Chain syndicate's animus toward Discovery, reinforcing the old science fiction maxim: If you need a villain, when in doubt, use space pirates! Just as the titular sanctuary refers to the ecosystem of Book's home planet Kwejian, threatened by harvest-eating locusts, the episode's ecosystem is also not in perfect balance.

The B and C plots (respectively Georgiou's deteriorating condition and Adira's work on the latest Burn data) are largely transitional, by design lacking a sense of closure. So it falls to the A plot to make the episode unique. But the episode struggles to give its main storyline a strong identity, beyond "this planet has wood tech!" It has high emotional stakes for Book, returning to his world and the brother he feels has sold out their principles, but I'm not sure those stakes translate to the audience. 

The Discovery side of the main plot puts some paprika on the sandwich. We see Tilly in action as First Officer, playing bad cop (then ultimately, of course, good cop) to Andorian asylum-seeker Ryn. Saru workshops a "Captain catchphrase", raising everyone's eyebrows in the process (he considers Pike's "hit it". And never forget Lorca's "...go"). And in a contrast to Star Trek's vintage space extrapolation of submarine tactics, Detmer uses Book's ship for a strafing run on Emerald Chain boss Osyraa's flagship.

Georgiou's condition makes her even spikier than usual, and then literally spikier than usual in the face area. Meanwhile, Adira makes clear their preference for "they"/"their" pronouns. To its credit, the show doesn't explicitly tie this in as 100% part and parcel of the Trill experience. For one thing, the actor Blu del Barrio uses they. But at the same time, it seems like many joined Trill might go by they, fitting with the sort of gender fluidity that has animated Trill storytelling since The Next Generation.

The episode continues mining the emotionally rich baseline of this season. But the main plot doesn't have a particularly strong identity or hook. All things are in transition. And if the next time trailer is any indication, Michelle Yeoh might be on her way off the show (no!), in time to wait for her own spinoff (oh!). 6/10.

Power Rangers Beast Morphers: Crunch Time Review

PRBM "Crunch Time"

All this season, I've wanted the human Roxy and Blaze to take on a bigger role. "Crunch Time" features Blaze creating drama within the show and contributing to the fight, but the episode pulls the rug out from under this and reveals it was the Robot Blaze pretending to be the human all along. So "Crunch Time" is an episode that cruelly and annoyingly gives me half of what I want, before revealing it was all a fake-out.

Robot Blaze (apparently having gotten his hair dye reversed by unseen interdimensional stylists) constructively critiques Devon's leadership decisions as the Red Ranger, helps out during a monster fight, and points out that the Ranger team minus Ravi have had it easy, skipping the rigorous cadet training stages. While his abrasiveness should've been toned down if this was the human Blaze, this is exactly what I would want out of that character. But then it all gets undermined, and Zoey says the line:

"No wonder Blaze was acting like such a jerk! It wasn't the real Blaze!"

...

Yes, because human Blaze has been neutered of any personality beyond bland support of the Rangers. This plotline casts a somewhat poor light on Devon too, who's so easily manipulated by an outside agent. Especially because Blaze's more hardline approach to leadership so clearly throws Cruise under the bus. Dial down Blaze's attitude a bit, and this could've been dramatic gold. If only Power Rangers didn't take the possession/imposter route like it so often does.

The climax of the episode is unique, a zord fight inside Grid Battleforce's hangar. From a storytelling standpoint it's chaotic, from a plot standpoint, dangerous. In the end, Evox's personally piloted Omega Gigadrone self-destructs, and Evox is captured in a force field. But maybe, like Loki, Raoul Silva, and so many other villains before him, Evox is exactly where he wants to be.

"Crunch Time" is frustrating because the bones of what it presents have so much potential. It's almost like the writers know that they can't do the drama with Blaze for real, so they couch it in whatever half-measure they can. At least Scrozzle gets a decent joke on the failing Railtron: "I thought trains were supposed to run on time!" 5/10.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Jedi Review

MND "The Jedi"

"The Jedi" wastes no time building up to its namesake. There is beloved Clone Wars and Rebels hero Ahsoka Tano, in live-action for the first time, playing the part of an unknowable ronin, thorn in the side of industrial-level exploiter Morgan Elsbeth. That villain's name is like a witch straight out of a fairy tale, and so is the setting. Elsbeth has despoiled the planet Corvus, rendering the outskirts of the town of Calodan a dark, twisted Tim Burton forest. The bursts of action the episode unleashes are made all the more dreamlike because they might as well take place in Sleepy Hollow.

Elsbeth's agenda feels more corporate than militaristic, making her an appropriate foil for Ahsoka, who fought the corrupt conglomerates of the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Even so, the samurai movie meets Brothers Grimm aesthetic recalls something more elemental. When Ahsoka and Elsbeth slowly take each other's measure and face off in a vaguely Japanese garden, it's so Kurosawa it hurts.

It's a dynamic that Din walks into as an outsider. After the episode gives us a brief taste of explosive Jedi vs. Mandalorian action when Ahsoka and Din clash, Din quickly gets to his true purpose in seeking her out. Reaching out with her mind, Ahsoka senses that the Child's true name is Grogu. It's humorous seeing the little one snap to attention every time someone says the name. Grogu was trained in the Jedi Temple but has a decades-long gap in its memory.

When Ahsoka mentions Yoda as another member of Grogu's species, composer Ludwig Göransson deploys Yoda's theme. And when Ahsoka shows herself at Calodan's gate, I detect a flourish of Kevin Kiner's Ahsoka theme. This is the first time The Mandalorian has quoted other Star Wars music. When Grogu used the Force to lift the Mudhorn, the Force theme didn't play. When Moff Gideon landed his TIE Fighter, the Imperial March wasn't trotted out.

Din agrees to help Ahsoka deal with the Elsbeth situation. Ahsoka and Elsbeth's fight is a highlight, with the latter using a beskar spear reminiscent of the quicksilver baton Captain Phasma dueled Finn with in The Last Jedi. Victorious, Ahsoka demands Elsbeth reveal the location of her boss, Grand Admiral Thrawn (?!) - more on that in Stray Observations. 

Ultimately, Ahsoka sees Grogu's attachment to Din as a father figure, and declines to train the child. Her experience with Anakin has only reinforced her adherence to the Jedi Order's old tenets. She does point the way to a Jedi temple, meaning that more Force mysticism is on the cards for this show.

Rosario Dawson's portrayal of Ahsoka is effective (even if her voice isn't much of a match for Ashley Eckstein's), and director Dave Filoni's use of Ahsoka action in quick bursts works excellently well. "The Jedi" is another workout for a dark color palette on this show, but the atmosphere is thick. Filoni's invocation of samurai movie tropes, just putting Ahsoka and Elsbeth opposite each other in a widescreen frame, is just as magnetic on screen as Force Projection Luke squaring off with Kylo Ren on Crait. Might as well call the episode "The Samurai". 8/10.

Stray observations:

- While appearances in some fashion by Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Ahsoka Tano could be foreseen, the Thrawn namedrop was a surprise. This raises a big timeline question. In a coda at the end of Rebels (taking place at an unspecified point after the Battle of Endor), Ahsoka and Sabine Wren went on a quest to find Ezra Bridger, who was spirited away across the galaxy along with Thrawn. So is "The Jedi" before or after that quest? Seems to me it would likely be after, meaning that Thrawn's story is far from over.

- Ahsoka says she's only known one other of Grogu's species, Yoda. I guess Jedi Council member Yaddle was before Ahsoka's time?