When she challenges Mando about honoring the Mandalorian Code, the look he gives The Child is telling - he knows he needs to lead by example, and think about the kind of legacy he's leaving for his own Foundling. Play Episode director Peyton Reed (already in the Disney family thanks to Ant-Man) does a nice job of subtly juxtaposing Mando and Baby Yoda's dynamic with the Frog Lady (seriously, they couldn't have given her a name when she took over Zero's vocabulator?) and her spawn's throughout the episode. Check out our theory on why "The Passenger's" side-mission could mean more than you think:
Mandalorian season 2 series#
We've known since the series premiere that Mando has empathy, so it's no surprise that he would help this woman even when it's deeply inconvenient for him, although once again, there's a transactional element to the deal - he's ultimately helping her because he wants information on the location of other Mandalorians. He - and the audience - is forced to reckon with the question of why he considers his quest any more vital, or his preferences any more important, than this nameless mother's, aside from the fact that she's not a fighter so has to rely on the kindness of strangers to secure safety for her family. Mando has spent the series thus far (rightly) prioritizing the safety of The Child above all else, but that blind devotion is complicated when he encounters another parent who is equally dedicated to securing a future for her offspring. "The Passenger" can best be summed up by its focus on parental instinct. It's probable that episode 3 will address the lack of plot development and will be a total joyride, but you can't help but think the season might've been better served by coming out of the gate hot.
But the fact that The Mandalorian is sticking to a svelte eight-episode season makes that balance between worldbuilding and narrative momentum all the more important, and right now it kind of feels like the executive producers are stalling just to torture us and build anticipation for the next Moff Gideon encounter.
In theory, there's nothing wrong with an episodic format that blends "case/monster/quest of the week" procedural elements with larger overarching mythology - The X-Files and Supernatural are two long-running examples - but the difference is that those shows had 20 or more episodes per season to balance the plot with the "filler" (which is an imperfect term anyway, because no episode is ever completely fluff, the way the word implies).
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