The Mandalorian review: “Chapter 15: The Believer”

The Mandalorian goes under cover to fight the Empire in another exciting episode that explore’s the show’s mythology. Also, we see his face again!

RECAP

Mando (Pedro Pascal), Cara Dune (Gina Carano), Boba Fett (Temeura Morrison) and Fennec Shand (Ming-na Wen) arrive on a prison planet to free Migs Mayfield (Bill Burr), an ex-Imperial sharpshooter last seen in the wild season 1 episode “The Prisoner.” Now traveling in Fett’s Slave I, Mando’s Razor Crest having being destroyed by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) last week, the group plans to rescue Grogu.

Mando wants the coordinates of Moff Gideon’s cruiser, and Mayfield suggests breaking into secret Imperial mining base on the remote planet Morak where he can access an internal Imperial terminal. Arriving on Morak, Mando and Mayfield hijack an armored hauler full of volatile rhydonium and head off to infiltrate the Imperial refinery. Attacked by pirates, Mando fights them until the Imperial garrison rescues them.

Confronted by Mayfield’s old Imperial commander Valin Hess (Richard Brake, who played the original Night King on Game of Thrones) in the officer’s mess, Mayfield and the unhelmeted Mando end up having drinks with the despicable guy until Mayfield blasts him. Supported by Dune and Shand, Mando and Mayfield fight their way out of the base so Boba Fett can pick them up on the roof.

With the coordinates for Moff Gideon’s cruiser in hand, Dune and Mando release Mayfield and take off on the Slave I with Fett and Shand. Mando sends an ominous hologram to Gideon.

REVIEW

As soon as Mando hinted at looking for Bill Burr’s wisecracking Mayfield in the last episode, I knew we were in for some fun with this one. Toss in the show’s latest team-up of Mando, Cara Dune, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, and “The Believer” is fueled up for action like a Formula 1 (or Slave I?) racing car.

“The Believer” gives comedian/actor Burr space to do his thing, and he’s a lot of fun to watch; his campy interplay with the Stormtrooper-attired Mando makes me want him to become a permanent part of the crew. The truck vs. pirates action sequence is Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Mad Max all wrapped up into one — what’s not to love?  And bringing in the Imperial stormtroopers and TIE Fighters as the saviors of our heroes is a nice touch.

Mando removes his helmet again — hello, Pedro Pascal! — which is always fun, but it’s odd that Mayfield wouldn’t keep his helmet on until he got to the terminal in order to avoid detection. The idea that he didn’t like wearing the helmet is thin; it’s a contrivance designed to land Mando in the hot seat instead of Mayfield. Surely The Mandalorian writers could come up with a more clever idea than that.

It’s intriguing that the Imperial registry recognized Din Djarin — did Cara Dune hack the database or does our hero have an Imperial connection we are yet to be aware of?

Although “The Believer” is the first episode of The Mandalorian without Grogu in it, we don’t miss the little green guy overmuch; Mayfield has a lot to do with that, as does all the new stuff about the Empire we learn. As Hess glories in the memory of “Operation Cinder,” a massacre where many civilians and Stormtroopers died, we see how traumatized Mayfield is, and how much he hates the Empire; for a moment, he and Mando are simpatico in their motivations. Mando and Mayfield’s odd bonding is also reinforced by Mayfield having seen Mando’s face.

With the assembling of its A-team and lots of laser-blasting mayhem, “The Believer” shows The Mandalorian continuing to blossom. I loved learning more about Mayfield’s backstory, which helped fill out the show’s universe. We can only hope that Dune, Shand and Fett get the same treatment.

EPISODE GRADE: A

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