Disney’s The Mandalorian Episode 4: Review by a Star Wars Wife
Episode 4 “Sanctuary”: It was AWESOME!
This show gets better every week!
They pack a lot into this 40 minute episode, but it just flies by.
I am so glad Disney is releasing this series one episode at a time on Fridays. My family (especially my 10 year old son) really looks forward to it. Fridays were always the best day of the week, but now it’s one more fun thing to look forward to.
Spoiler alert
Mando as Dad __________________
Mando is just so likable. I like him more and more each week, and I have never even seen his face! How can he be so great without ever removing his helmet?
He is also becoming a great guardian for Baby Yoda.
The episode starts with Mando flying his Razor Crest gunship with baby Yoda as co-pilot. 😂
Baby Yoda had such a big part this week!
In the Razor Crest, Baby Yoda keeps flipping various switches off and on against Mando’s commands, is just too funny. (I am sure there is a meme for this.)
I just love this kid. I have 4 kids, whoever is manipulating Baby Yoda knows a lot about children. They are doing a great job at making him such a lifelike child.
The bond between Mando and baby Yoda appears to be growing ever stronger as we see the cute little baby Yoda playing with the controls of the Razor Crest and Mando, who has slipped into the father role, picks him up and puts him on his knee away from the controls, while baby Yoda makes adorable baby noises. I love this!
Sorgan Cantina __________________
The Mandalorian finds a planet (Sorgan) that does not appear to have any major cities, so he decides its a safe place where he can hide out with baby Yoda for a while.
I had previously said in another review, (Episode 3 review) that I would like Mando to take baby Yoda to a nice idyllic country location to live happily ever after. This episode followed my idea! But that would be boring….. so being Star Wars, they threw in some AT-STs, bad guys and really great battle scenes into the beautiful country location.
The Razor Crest lands on Sorgan, where Mando repeatedly commands baby Yoda to say still and not leave the ship. But poor baby Yoda doesn’t appear to understand a thing Mando says. Instead, he shows up next to Mando at the door of the ship.
Mando gives up and takes Yoda with him, and you see the cute little guy toddle along next to Mando as they walk to the required Star Wars cantina that appears to be on every planet in the Star Wars galaxy.
In the cantina, Mando orders bone broth for baby Yoda and then he notices ex-mercenary Cara Dune sitting alone at a table. Dune is a former Rebel Alliance shock trooper (whatever that is, but I’m sure we will find out through interesting backstories in later episodes.)
Mando has a cool helmet with thermal imaging that lets Mando track Cara when she leaves. As he tracks her, Cara launches a surprise attack on him. The two practically beat each other senseless, until finally, they’re both on the ground, exhausted and pointing blasters at each other, when baby Yoda shows up holding his cup of soup. Yes!
Baby Yoda ______________
Photo Credit: The Insider Screenshot. (Thank You Insider – my favorite picture!) https://www.insider.com/baby-yoda-gif-sips-tea-the-mandalorian-drinking-soup-2019-11
How cute and funny is Baby Yoda drinking bone broth while watching Mando and Cara fight? He essentially breaks up the fight between Mando and Cara Dune. BTW, she is a great fighter and a tough lady, and Mando and her are well matched.
Save our Village! ________________
Two guys show up and beg Mando to save their farming village from the bad guys (Klatooinian raiders) who keep stealing their food. Mando says no until they say the settlement is in the “middle of nowhere”, which is exactly what he is looking for to hide baby Yoda. So he agrees to help and persuades Dune to join him.
Home? _____________________
They arrive at the tranquil village with ponds, pointy wooden huts, and lots of children.
Baby Yoda now has a crib and quickly makes friends with everyone. The children love him.
Here we see him with a bunch of the farmer children cooing over him.
Having kids feed and play with Baby Yoda is a great touch.
It’s so funny how 2 people in the episode refer to baby Yoda as Mando’s son (there is no resemblance at all 😂).
Baby Yoda continues to be the most adorable thing that’s ever been on TV. The puppetry or CGI (computer generated imagery) used to bring Yoda to life is amazing. Every little noise he makes is so cute.
Mando, his helmet, and Omera ______________
It appears that Mandalorians can remove their helmets, just not in front of other people. This makes eating difficult. Luckily a villager named Omera (Julia Jones) notices and leaves food for Mando, so he can take off his helmet and eat when no one is watching.
The Mandalorian and Omera seem to like each other…
“How long has it been since you took that [helmet] off..?” she asks.
“Yesterday,” the Mandalorian replies, which is something of a surprise and nice to actually hear. We were beginning to wonder if he actually ate at all.
“I mean, in front of people,” Omera clarifies.
The Mandalorian explains that he wasn’t much older than the children playing outside. “I was happy when they took me in,” he says. “My parents were killed and the Mandalorians took care of me.”
Omera (Julia Jones), is one of two great female characters introduced into a show that’s been mostly men. She is different from the rest of the villagers. Of her entire village, she’s the only one who raises her hand when Mando asks if anyone knows how to shoot a blaster. Where did she come by this skill?
Defending Sorgan Village _______________
Mando and Cara are the new camp defenders. They determine that there is an Empire AT-ST on the planet by seeing some broken branches and a footprint impression in the ground.
Even though they want to leave, they decide to train the town to defend itself.
They equip half of the villagers with blasters and the other half with sharp sticks. 😂 They build wooden barricades and dig a deeper pond as a trap for the AT-ST.
They devise a plan to infiltrate the Klatooinian marauder camp.
What follows are some great action scenes.
Cara and Mando take out a few guards at the Klatoonian camp, sneak into a tent of glowing kegs?, plant a detonator and battle their way out of the tent just before it blows up.
Photo Credit: MELINDA SUE GORDON/LUCASFILM LTD, entertainment.com
They then lure the AT-ST and the rest of the marauders back to the Sorgan village.
The village battle is awesome. They have a hard time luring the AT-ST into the pond, but eventually succeed. The villagers with blasters and sticks both do well.
The Villagers win!
Time to go _______________
Mando had hoped he could stay on Sorgan with Baby Yoda, but a bounty hunter almost kills Baby Yoda (who is saved by Cara).
A tracking fob is found on the dead bounty hunter and Mando realizes that Sorgan is no longer safe. So he and baby Yoda have to leave before more hunters show up.
They head out, saying farewell to Omera and Cara Dune, though I am hoping we will see both characters again.
Characters I love ______________
I just love The Mandalorian. Pedro Pascal is great in the role, capturing so much emotion, violence and tenderness, all without a single facial expression.
And of course, baby Yoda is just wonderful. In this episode more than any other, he’s just far too cute. There’s a scene a couple episodes back where he eats a frog whole, and he starts to in this episode but all the kids he’s with react with such dismay that he spits it back out. Too funny.
The two new female characters, Cara Dune and Omera, are great as well. Cara Dune is tough but she has a fun personality. I really like her and hope she returns soon.
Omera is mysterious and kind. She has a history I want to know more about (why has she shot weapons before and so well!), and while she doesn’t have the physical strength of Cara Dune, she seems every bit as strong and determined in a different way.
Conclusion ____________
Each episode has been great so far. The show’s creators deserve huge credit for creating such a well-balanced show. It makes the true Star Wars fans in my family happy as well as me, the wife and mother of Star Wars fans
Like the rest of the episodes, it was written by the show’s creator, Jon Favreau, who is doing a great job.
I haven’t enjoyed a show this much since Stranger Things, which was my favorite streaming show prior to this.
Honestly, I can’t wait for the next episode.
This is the way.
I have spoken!
Love it!
