Ricky Church reviews the season 3 premiere of The Mandalorian…
The Mandalorian has returned for its third season with further adventures of Din Djarin and his foundling Grogu. ‘The Apostate’ saw Din and Grogu on a personal mission as the exiled Mando set out to redeem himself in the eyes of his cult clan with a return to their desecrated home planet of Mandalore, running into several old friends and allies while making brand new enemies.
One big sticking point that is unavoidable to address lies in the conclusion of its second season finale ‘The Rescue‘. Cornered and outnumbered, Din Djarin, Grogu and Bo-Katan were all but done for until a timely and epic rescue by Luke Skywalker, who promptly took Grogu under his tutelage after an emotional and tearful goodbye with Din. After that finale, one would have been safe assuming it would have been a long time before Din and Grogu reunited, but fast-forward to now and ‘The Apostate’ begins with them together again, nary a mention of how they came back to each other during The Book of Boba Fett.
This not only leaves anyone who skipped Boba Fett in the wind, but cheapens the impact of ‘The Rescue’ by immediately reuniting the pair, in a different Star Wars series no less. Even with Jon Favreau stating the series he and Dave Filoni are shepherding are telling “one full story”, it is still a curious place to begin the third season after such a high.
Nevertheless, ‘The Apostate’ was a welcome return for The Mandalorian with a great start right out of the gate that didn’t let up for the rest of the premiere. From the fake-out of a young initiate into the Children of the Watch, making us think it was a flashback to Din’s own initiation ceremony, to the stand-off between Din and Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan over their beliefs, there was plenty to enjoy and hint at where the season may lead its audience.
Pedro Pascal delivered a great performance as Din and led an equally great cast. Carl Weathers was a welcome sight as Greef, bringing much more charisma to the character as Greef attained a new level of respectability as Nevaru’s magistrate (or “High Magistrate” as he corrected a few times), but still showed he was willing to get down and dirty if anybody threatened his town. Emily Swallow’s brief appearance as the Armorer again showed how devout she is to the Watch’s way as well as her cold personality, yet there was a subtle bit of hope in her voice as Din revealed maybe Mandalore isn’t as destroyed as everyone believes.
As for Sackhoff, Bo-Katan is in a very different place than when we last left her as her own Mandalorians have abandoned her, preferring to be mercenaries for hire than follow someone who didn’t have the Darksaber. Sackhoff displayed a lot of bitterness in Bo-Katan, especially when it came to the superstitions of Mandalorians whether they were from Din’s cult or her own army, a fact Din was quick to call out as she herself believed in the power of the Darksaber and the curse of Mandalore’s mines.
If there is one central theme to ‘The Apostate’, it is the power and ability of change and a fresh start. The ways in which The Mandalorian explored this were subtle, but the episode set the stage with a child literally changing his identity and life to fit within the Watch’s dogma. Din was given several opportunities to change his desires and remake himself into whatever image he wanted rather than sticking with The Way, particularly when Greef offered him the position of their town’s marshall as well as a nice plot of land for himself and Grogu for a quieter life.
Change didn’t even extend to him, but to Greef as well with how much his image and persona has changed along with Bo-Katan, whose poor life choices have finally caught up with her. It is notable how she stated cults such as the Children of the Watch and many others splintered Mandalorian society ages ago, yet neglected to mention she played a critical role in one such cult that directly led to Mandalore’s pitiful state. Din may be on a journey of redemption, but it is unlikely he’ll be the only one searching to redeem himself of his mistakes.
Directing was The Mandalorian veteran Rick Famuyiwa and he did quite a nice job. ‘The Apostate’ was well-paced, the space fight in the asteroids was solid with Din performing some Batman-like moves again as he appeared out of nowhere to take down the pirates. The few elements of humour were well balanced with the seriousness, like Din fitting in Babu Frik’s tiny workplace or the easy-to-miss detail of a couple small droids carrying Greef’s flowing cape so it wouldn’t drag on the ground.
‘The Apostate’ even gave more of a wandering adventurer vibe found in video games as Din was setting out on his quest, but first has to complete a certain amount of objectives and meet others to aid him before he finally reaches Mandalore. There are many directions Din and Grogu’s mission can go while the story still has a firm destination.
Overall ‘The Apostate’ was an enjoyable and entertaining return for The Mandalorian. The cast was great and the episode’s themes subtly explored with intriguing teases for where the story and character development could go. Famuyiwa’s direction was excellent and the action tense, leaving the premiere on a note of high potential as Mandalore will finally be revisited.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
