Chapter 5: The Gunslinger" is probably as close are The Mandalorian will get to having a bottle episode this season. With such a limited number of episodes, that's pretty disappointing.
For those wondering, a bottle episode is typically when an episode is largely confined to a single, limited location or space with minimal use of regular actors, and often with a contained story that does little to move the larger plot along. "Chapter 5" isn't entirely confined to a single space, but it does largely concentrate on one location for close to half the run time, Mando is the only recurring character — Baby Yoda isn't a character (don't @ me) — and there's zero progression of the larger plot.
I'll not mince words: This wasn't an outright bad episode, but it definitely wasn't good, either.
Now fully on the run from half the bounty hunters in the quadrant, Mando is forced to make an emergency landing after a hunter badly damages his ship in a starbound dogfight. And wouldn't you know it, the nearest safe haven just so happens to be the planet that was once described (in error, apparently!) as farthest from the bright center of the universe. That's right — Tattooine. And where does a bounty hunter on the run from other bounty hunters but forced to make an emergency landing end up at? That's right, Mos Eisley! Because despite the massive size of this planet, this once wretched hive of scum and villainy just happened to be closest. Oh, but wait! Spaceports are pretty big places, right? Surely Mando would manage to wander into some place other than the EXACT SAME CANTINA where Luke and Obi-Wan first met Han and Chewie, right? Right?
I cannot possibly sigh hard enough.
Long story short, Mando needs a quick job to fund the repairs needed for his ship, gets roped into helping a wannabe bounty hunter go after an elite assassin so he can gain entry to the guild and they spend a lot of their time playing a waiting game in the far end of the Dune Sea before the newbie gunslinger turns heel because he thinks it'll boost his rep by bagging Mando.
It's mostly just boring. (Spoilers!) Nearly every character introduced here dies. And the plot is advanced nary an inch. Unless major connections next episode are revealed to what went on here, you could almost certainly skip or otherwise miss this episode and nothing of value would be lost. I've praised the show in the past for taking a minimalist approach, but this just feels sparse, bordering on anemic. It's not helped by the fact that it all but completely wastes the otherwise wonderful Ming-Na Wen, and Jake Cannavale, the son of Jon Favreau's Chef co-star, Bobby (you can see where I'm going with this …), delivers what is hands-down the worst performance yet seen in the show.
I'll say this much in the Dave Filoni-directed episode's favor: I admire his attempts to at least use familiar spaces and landmarks as an economical method of further establishing life in the galaxy post-Imperial rule. Mos Eisley in particular, once a bustling hive of scum and villainy, is now practically a ghost town, a handful of Stormtrooper helmets silently impaled on pikes near the entrance. Chalmun's Cantina was once a hot spot, propelled by hip music and overflowing with pilots, smugglers and all manner of unsavory alien types. It was infamously hostile toward droids. Now its tables are sparsely populated and a droid tends bar. Those are some nice, thoughtful touches that do a fair job of communicating visually just where things are in a place the audience is very familiar with.
It should also be said that this is by far the most "cowboy western-y" outing for the show yet. Last week the debate over whether The Mandalorian pulls more from samurai films or cowboy westerns kicked into overdrive. Ignoring the fact that it's basically a "chicken or the egg" situation given how much the two genres fed off each other even during their heyday, "The Gunslinger" clearly pulls more from the visual tropes and story types found in cowboy westerns.
More than anything this episode is just disappointing. Even when the show has previously been light on story or character, there have always been moments that stand out or otherwise help provide some kind of illumination for our hero. None such can really be found here. I have little doubt that things will pick up in the remaining four episodes, but it's still a let down to have such an otherwise forgettable diversion here.
Some random episode thoughts …
— I really loved the bit with the Tusken Raiders. It was nice to finally see them portrayed with some nuance and not just as angry savages.
— Speculation is rampant that the shadowy figure who shows up right at the end is Boba Fett given the fact that there's a boot spurs jingle heard as he walks, one that's identical to the sound heard when Fett himself would walk. Personally, I think this is just a bit of clever misdirection by Filoni, who's more than savvy enough to know hardcore fans would spot such a detail. Giancarlo Esposito's character has yet to be introduced, and if you'll notice his appearance in the trailers, he's wearing what may well be some kind of Mandalorian-style armor as well as a cape (the only other identifying detail seen on the figure at the end). My guess is it's him.
— I also thought having the gunslinger kid sitting at Han Solo's table (completed with feet propped up, Han-style) was a nice bit of shorthand. By this point, the stories about Solo and his companions had likely well-circulated. So why wouldn't a cocky, would-be hotshot who's already essentially playing pretend also sit in the same spot as one of the most famous hotshots in the galaxy?
— Speeder bikes remain super cool and I've always loved the sound design on them. More speeder bikes as often as possible, please.
