‘The Mandalorian’ Recap – ‘Chapter 15: The Believer’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Chapter 15 of ‘The Mandalorian’.
​
Clichés are something that tend to be frowned upon when it comes to storytelling and understandably so. For they are indeed tried and true boring plot devices, the kind that speak to a writer taking the easy way out when it comes to a problem they encountered with the story in question. Which in turn tends to bore an audience when they see them arrive in television or in film, since this is familiar stuff, they’ve all seen before. But while it is understandable as to why we tend to lament clichés through and through, they’re not all bad. In fact, some of them we crave because they manage to offer up epic or uplifting moments and really, all of this is relevant to our discussion today, simply because this week’s episode of The Mandalorian, offered up a cliché that audiences simply love.
​
For ‘Chapter 15: The Believer’, focused heavily on the age-old notion of how far a parent or a loved one is willing to go for their child or someone that they adore, since Din was ready to find Moff Gideon and take the fight to that Imperial rat for stealing Grogu and well, what makes this concept so cliché; is the sheer fact that we already know a good person will do whatever it takes to keep their loved one safe. But the reason we love it, especially in action stories such as this one, relates to the experience that such a cliché will provide the audience with, such as say… a ton of explosions and outright butt kicking in order to save the day and well, that’s precisely what we got in this particular tale. For shortly after they sprung Mayfeld from a New Republic, hard labor prison, it was off to an Imperial refinery to download the location of Moff Gideon’s vessel. 

Which in turn, led to a lot of explosions and hardcore action. Because in order to get inside the facility, Din and Mayfeld had to disguise themselves as Imperial truckers and bring in a load of volatile ore to blend in properly and well, the pirates on their route forced the action in question and while that was a true delight to watch and a fine reminder of just how far Din is willing to go to protect his foundling, that’s really where the clichés came to an end in this tale. For once this dynamic duo arrived at said refinery, some fine surprises dropped into our laps. Such as the fact that Din apparently has an Imperial past of some kind. Since he was forced to remove his helmet and have his face scanned by Imperial gear in order to find the location in question, and the problem at hand, is that the Empire’s database accepted Din’s scan no problem. Which brings forth all kinds of questions as to why Din is in their staff database. 

But while that is a fascinating plot point, one that we will all spend hours pondering upon, what was more important about this part of the plan, is how it allowed for Mayfeld to redeem himself in just about every way imaginable. Because being inside an Imperial base, brought back a lot of sour memories of his time with the Empire, and well… that motivated him to bring forth a little payback for the way they treated him and so many other innocents in the galaxy. And after getting a chance to tell off his former commanding officer, he took the opportunity to put him down and everyone at the base as well, since he was also quick to destroy the dangerous ore in question to ensure that the Empire couldn’t weaponize it against innocent and well… it was just delightful to see Mayfeld finally come around to the right side and for his efforts, he got a full ‘pardon’ from Marshal Dune. 

In the end however, this really was quite the satisfying tale when all is said and done. Because it really did offer up something for everyone. For it featured the right kind of cliché by having Din play the desperate ‘dad’ that goes the extra mile to save his kid, plus it had action and adventure and a wonderful redemption story. But most important of all, it set the stage for what should be a powerhouse season two finale. Because those closing moments, wherein Din told Moff Gideon that he’s coming for Gorgu, sent chills down this reviewer’s spine. Because our beloved Mandalorian means business, and he will do whatever it takes to keep little Grogu safe, and that’s bad news for Moff Gideon. Because if Din Djarin and a few of his friends can take down an entire refinery, then they’re going to make minced Bantha meat out of a Star Destroyer and an arrogant Moff. Until next time.       

---