This. THIS! This is the episode I’ve been waiting for since The Mandalorian premiered. Chapter Three: “The Sin” has it all–beautiful cinematography, great battles, a Tolkienian Eucatatrosphe, and our hero confirming that he does indeed have a conscience.
“The Sin”, while still not revealing anything about the origins or abilities of the child, gives us deeper insight into the Mandalorian’s perspective. What I want to highlight in this review is the juxtaposition of the Mandalorian’s personal history and his thoughts about the treatment of children.
In this episode, we see our hero turning in the child for his bounty, but not without some reservation. He asks questions–something a bounty hunter never does. Even the caution he gives the trooper in handling the child is a bit out of character for someone that has been heralded as one of the best, if not the best in the business.
Back with the Armorer, with every strike of the hammer, we get a flashback to the Mandalorian’s past–a boy whose parents were murdered, a foundling, a lost and defenseless child. This same sequence occurred in the first episode, but with this third episode, we get a longer version of that same flashback. The Mandalorian sees himself in the child. The child is a foundling, just like he was. He simply cannot leave the child to die.
In what is the best series of battle action sequences we’ve seen thus far in the series, our hero escapes the stormtroopers Yondu-style, minus “Come a Little Bit Closer”, but he’s then caught in between a rock and a hard place in his final escape. When the rest of his clan shows up, Tolkienian Eucatastrophe-style, I fully admit to getting a bit choked up. Then when he hands the ball of the lever to the child? Oh my heart!
This is leaps and bounds the best episode of the series thus far. I’m quite eager to see what comes next. Where is he going? The bounty hunter now has a bounty on his head. What did the Armorer say earlier in the episode? “When one chooses to walk the way of the Mandalore, you are both hunter and prey.”
Deborah Chow did an amazing directorial job with this episode. There was not one wasted shot or line. Every single bit of this episode was important. The Mandalorian continues to be a show that you can’t watch with your phone in your hand. Put your devices in the other room and enjoy every last bit of this visual feast. This is the way. Until next time,
I have spoken.
The fourth episode of The Mandalorian airs on November 29, 2019 on Disney+.
