The Mandalorian: Chapter 10: The Passenger
November 6, 2020 4:36 AM - Season 2, Episode 2 - Subscribe
The Mandalorian takes on a passenger who says she can lead him to more Mandalorians.
Another episode that felt like mid-season filler, with fucked up baby eating.
The X wing pilots shoot the alien spiders but then just leave. Why?
And again, what the fuck with the baby eating?
What the fuck, Favreau?
posted by Fleebnork at 5:57 AM on November 6, 2020 [9 favorites]
The X wing pilots shoot the alien spiders but then just leave. Why?
And again, what the fuck with the baby eating?
What the fuck, Favreau?
posted by Fleebnork at 5:57 AM on November 6, 2020 [9 favorites]
Easily the weakest episode so far.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:00 AM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:00 AM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
And again, what the fuck with the baby eating?
Who was it in the last thread that was saying Star Wars treats life as very cheap? Yeah.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:28 AM on November 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
Who was it in the last thread that was saying Star Wars treats life as very cheap? Yeah.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:28 AM on November 6, 2020 [3 favorites]
I mean put a child lock on the damn thing already.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:22 AM on November 6, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:22 AM on November 6, 2020 [9 favorites]
baby eating
Well, the eggs weren't fertilized so they weren't uh.. babies yet.
But, uh, wow. Her final eggs, if they don't reach her husband on the estuary moon of wherever it's the end of her line and the child is just snarfing them with glee.
posted by yonega at 12:29 PM on November 6, 2020 [10 favorites]
Well, the eggs weren't fertilized so they weren't uh.. babies yet.
But, uh, wow. Her final eggs, if they don't reach her husband on the estuary moon of wherever it's the end of her line and the child is just snarfing them with glee.
posted by yonega at 12:29 PM on November 6, 2020 [10 favorites]
Trivia:
- The X-Wing traffic cops were series writer and director Dave Filoni again, and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee - probably best known for his role in Kim's Convenience.
- The giant spider creatures originated in "Legends" continuity as the "knobbly white spider", a native of Dagobah based on original Ralph McQuarrie art. That version of the creature had an unusual life-cycle in that it was the immature, mobile form of a tree. This species, however, is unidentified, despite being extremely similar to the krykna encountered near the Rebel base on Atollon in Rebels.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:49 PM on November 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
- The X-Wing traffic cops were series writer and director Dave Filoni again, and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee - probably best known for his role in Kim's Convenience.
- The giant spider creatures originated in "Legends" continuity as the "knobbly white spider", a native of Dagobah based on original Ralph McQuarrie art. That version of the creature had an unusual life-cycle in that it was the immature, mobile form of a tree. This species, however, is unidentified, despite being extremely similar to the krykna encountered near the Rebel base on Atollon in Rebels.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:49 PM on November 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
It was possible for several seconds to pretend that baby yoda was eating a xenomorph, so that was cool.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:07 PM on November 6, 2020 [16 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:07 PM on November 6, 2020 [16 favorites]
Telegraphing the Child's desire to nom on those eggs was well done, but then the will it/ nil it ended too early.
Wasn't there a frog that it popped in its mouth, then let it live? Maybe its holding the egg for safekeeping? Also, the Child must have absolutely massive poops, based on the volume of stuff that it can consume.
TheWa ʿalaykumu s-salam may the Force be with you countersign felt clumsy for some reason.
posted by porpoise at 5:00 PM on November 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
Wasn't there a frog that it popped in its mouth, then let it live? Maybe its holding the egg for safekeeping? Also, the Child must have absolutely massive poops, based on the volume of stuff that it can consume.
The
posted by porpoise at 5:00 PM on November 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think the X-Wing pilots might have stayed to help if asked, but since he tried to bribe them, they just left.
posted by PussKillian at 5:06 PM on November 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by PussKillian at 5:06 PM on November 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
For a rabid Baby Yoda fangirl like me this episode was gold. So many cute reaction shots. So many shots of him being adorably tiny and doing his little waddle. When he was scared and ran to dad for cuddles. Awww.
I like episodes like this - it was very clearly a 'filler'/'monster of the week' episode rather than one that is important in the overall mythology of the universe, but I like that it gave the characters a bit of time to breathe so you could get a sense of how they were developing (would Season 1 Mando have ever given someone like Frog Lady a lift, especially when it meant he couldn't go into hyperdrive?) and gave the universe around them a little time to breathe too.
posted by unicorn chaser at 5:45 PM on November 6, 2020 [8 favorites]
I like episodes like this - it was very clearly a 'filler'/'monster of the week' episode rather than one that is important in the overall mythology of the universe, but I like that it gave the characters a bit of time to breathe so you could get a sense of how they were developing (would Season 1 Mando have ever given someone like Frog Lady a lift, especially when it meant he couldn't go into hyperdrive?) and gave the universe around them a little time to breathe too.
posted by unicorn chaser at 5:45 PM on November 6, 2020 [8 favorites]
I enjoyed it though, as noted above, it wasn't particularly strong. One thing for sure - when my partner gets 'round to watching this season (she'll wait for all the episodes to be available) she'll skip this one for sure. Masses of spidery things means it was very much my job to let her know this today, and will be to remind her when she watches.
So from that perspective I'm happy I can just recommend that she skips this one and it seems likely that her enjoyment of the season will not suffer.
On the subject of life-is-cheap though - once again there's either a massive creature or a massive mass of creatures and absolutely no reasonable way to sustain that much bio mass? I think maybe this galaxy far far away plays by entirely different thermodynamic rules.
Final analysis - doesn't matter; had button baby-yoda-nose-squished-on-aquarium.
posted by mce at 6:27 PM on November 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
So from that perspective I'm happy I can just recommend that she skips this one and it seems likely that her enjoyment of the season will not suffer.
On the subject of life-is-cheap though - once again there's either a massive creature or a massive mass of creatures and absolutely no reasonable way to sustain that much bio mass? I think maybe this galaxy far far away plays by entirely different thermodynamic rules.
Final analysis - doesn't matter; had button baby-yoda-nose-squished-on-aquarium.
posted by mce at 6:27 PM on November 6, 2020 [5 favorites]
Mando’s speeder bike flying apart the exact same way my spring-loaded RotJ speeder bike toy did back in the 80s was another strong indicator that this series was developed by people who played these scenarios out decades ago and have only just now figured out a way to get paid for it.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 6:28 PM on November 6, 2020 [36 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 6:28 PM on November 6, 2020 [36 favorites]
Well, the eggs weren't fertilized so they weren't uh.. babies yet.
But, uh, wow. Her final eggs, if they don't reach her husband on the estuary moon of wherever it's the end of her line and the child is just snarfing them with glee.
Well, yeah I guess they technically weren’t babies yet, but they made a point of having Frog Mom use the droid to tell Mando how important these eggs were. I spent most of the episode cringing and feeling bad for her, and she even hugs the container sadly, then baby yoda eats another goddamn egg at the end of the episode, as a punch line.
My ex wife and I went through three miscarriages before having our son, so maybe my empathy dial is turned up higher than average on this particular sort of thing. The “humor” seemed kind of thoughtless to me.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:57 PM on November 6, 2020 [28 favorites]
But, uh, wow. Her final eggs, if they don't reach her husband on the estuary moon of wherever it's the end of her line and the child is just snarfing them with glee.
Well, yeah I guess they technically weren’t babies yet, but they made a point of having Frog Mom use the droid to tell Mando how important these eggs were. I spent most of the episode cringing and feeling bad for her, and she even hugs the container sadly, then baby yoda eats another goddamn egg at the end of the episode, as a punch line.
My ex wife and I went through three miscarriages before having our son, so maybe my empathy dial is turned up higher than average on this particular sort of thing. The “humor” seemed kind of thoughtless to me.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:57 PM on November 6, 2020 [28 favorites]
I like that the series often just shuffles around, pace wise. It's wonderfully relaxing.
Cute baby Yoda eating eggs is a great touch. That kid is alien, so it's gonna do off the wall things.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:19 PM on November 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
Cute baby Yoda eating eggs is a great touch. That kid is alien, so it's gonna do off the wall things.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:19 PM on November 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
I have had a lot of thoughts about The Child eating the eggs. I think it was meant to be gross and weird. But we don't know how much The Child knows about life. The Child is a toddler without a sense of morality because I don't think they've ever been taught this (I feel like it's implied that The Child never knew where they came from or had any interaction with people like them). The Child sees eggs and thinks they might be tasty so The Child eats them. The Child pokes a thing, finds a spider thing and eats it because ... that's what they do. (I also wonder if that's how The Child's species acquires knowledge but who knows.)
The Child is a toddler but they're also a wild animal, more or less. I think the show will deal more with that as it goes. At least I hope.
But mostly I agree that if it was meant to be funny, it was not.
The spider stuff was really creepy for me but I enjoyed it on a monster movie/horror level. I did like Frog Lady (although they could have given her a name!). I like the world (galaxy?) building this show does without hitting the audience on the head with myth-making.
I like that this show is telling mostly smaller stories that are clearly connected to a bigger one. I like the episodic nature of it. Our Mandalorian is clearly extraordinary and has an extraordinary baby to protect, but he's also just trying to go about his life and do what he feels is right. He's not trying to save the universe. I like that.
posted by edencosmic at 7:19 PM on November 6, 2020 [8 favorites]
The Child is a toddler but they're also a wild animal, more or less. I think the show will deal more with that as it goes. At least I hope.
But mostly I agree that if it was meant to be funny, it was not.
The spider stuff was really creepy for me but I enjoyed it on a monster movie/horror level. I did like Frog Lady (although they could have given her a name!). I like the world (galaxy?) building this show does without hitting the audience on the head with myth-making.
I like that this show is telling mostly smaller stories that are clearly connected to a bigger one. I like the episodic nature of it. Our Mandalorian is clearly extraordinary and has an extraordinary baby to protect, but he's also just trying to go about his life and do what he feels is right. He's not trying to save the universe. I like that.
posted by edencosmic at 7:19 PM on November 6, 2020 [8 favorites]
The X wing pilots shoot the alien spiders but then just leave. Why?
I was enjoying the climactic spider fight and admiring how the episode kept writing them into tighter corners. I thought, "how are they going to get out of this without a big deus ex machina?" Welp.
I'm wondering if the politics of the immediately-post-Empire galaxy will develop into a bigger theme throughout the season. It would make this episode have more of a point, retroactively.
posted by HeroZero at 8:05 PM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
I was enjoying the climactic spider fight and admiring how the episode kept writing them into tighter corners. I thought, "how are they going to get out of this without a big deus ex machina?" Welp.
I'm wondering if the politics of the immediately-post-Empire galaxy will develop into a bigger theme throughout the season. It would make this episode have more of a point, retroactively.
posted by HeroZero at 8:05 PM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Well, this was great for Baby Yoda moments. Not exactly super deep on plot. I found it both funny and horrifying that Baby Yoda kept eating the eggs and I kept thinking "I hope she doesn't count 'em....I bet she would have counted them...."
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:17 PM on November 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:17 PM on November 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
I think the X-Wing pilots might have stayed to help if asked, but since he tried to bribe them, they just left.
The sense I got was that these were essentially supposed to be bored traffic cops, looking for an excuse to get out of doing paperwork. I don't think it was the bribe that made them leave, but the request that accompanied the bribe - "I won't collect those bounties and you help me weld my ship back together" - which is, y'know, hard work. They were trying to make less work for themselves, not more, so when he proposed that they were like, "nah, how about you just fix that broken tail light, buddy" and bailed.
I like that Baby Yoda is a gross frog-and-egg eating weirdo. It feels like there's a throughline to how Yoda behaved when Luke first arrived on Dagobah, before he knew Yoda was Yoda - this weird little gross muppet who keeps going through all his stuff and being a nuisance. I have no difficulty picturing that species (whatever it is) being these weird little carnivorous swamp-world goblins that naturally prey on frogs and frog eggs.
posted by mstokes650 at 8:24 PM on November 6, 2020 [20 favorites]
The sense I got was that these were essentially supposed to be bored traffic cops, looking for an excuse to get out of doing paperwork. I don't think it was the bribe that made them leave, but the request that accompanied the bribe - "I won't collect those bounties and you help me weld my ship back together" - which is, y'know, hard work. They were trying to make less work for themselves, not more, so when he proposed that they were like, "nah, how about you just fix that broken tail light, buddy" and bailed.
I like that Baby Yoda is a gross frog-and-egg eating weirdo. It feels like there's a throughline to how Yoda behaved when Luke first arrived on Dagobah, before he knew Yoda was Yoda - this weird little gross muppet who keeps going through all his stuff and being a nuisance. I have no difficulty picturing that species (whatever it is) being these weird little carnivorous swamp-world goblins that naturally prey on frogs and frog eggs.
posted by mstokes650 at 8:24 PM on November 6, 2020 [20 favorites]
As smart as Frog Lady was, it's weird she didn't seem to notice at least three eggs had disappeared. It's not like there were so many that she wouldn't notice, and one would think she would be especially vigilant, considering the situation described.
I thought it pretty funny that Baby Yoda would eat one of the eggs. The joke wore thin as he ate more. I do like the idea that he behaves as a baby Yoda would. Thinking about it, the Star Wars universe if filled with multitudes of sentient, more or less equally functioning species. That there are so many, it's not surprising how some prey on others. Makes me wonder how many of these species view the situation as simple matter-of-fact.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:20 PM on November 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
I thought it pretty funny that Baby Yoda would eat one of the eggs. The joke wore thin as he ate more. I do like the idea that he behaves as a baby Yoda would. Thinking about it, the Star Wars universe if filled with multitudes of sentient, more or less equally functioning species. That there are so many, it's not surprising how some prey on others. Makes me wonder how many of these species view the situation as simple matter-of-fact.
posted by 2N2222 at 9:20 PM on November 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
Not gonna lie, could have used a heads-up about the spiders!!
posted by Space Kitty at 9:21 PM on November 6, 2020
posted by Space Kitty at 9:21 PM on November 6, 2020
Popping back in to say, it was nice to hear the return of Richard Ayoade briefly.
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:45 AM on November 7, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:45 AM on November 7, 2020 [11 favorites]
I liked this. I have mixed feelings about Baby Yoda eating the eggs. I think that we're supposed to have mixed feelings about that. We have established that Baby Yoda is a baby who eats whatever it feels like eating and has been eating entire live animals, which is both gross and funny. It is also pretty disturbing that it's eating the unfertilised eggs of a sentient species -- possibly the writers thought that emphasizing that they're not fertilised would stop it from crossing the line into outright horror, and I can certainly appreciate that for some people it does anyway and the humour does not land at all.
I think that this is consistent with the level of dialogue-less extra death we've seen so far (all those sand people eaten by the dragon!) and I wonder if the writers are undermining the premise of the universe a little by valuing "alien" lives less than human(oid) lives. I don't recall seeing many human villagers getting eaten last week; just lots and lots of faceless Tuskans. Is it supposed to be OK because they're just alien eggs?
I came here to note that I liked that Frog Lady knew how to hack the droid bits into an impromptu translator. Too often media depicts technology as an esoteric field of knowledge that is available only to an elite of experts, and if a character hasn't been established as a "tech expert" they can't do "tech things". But in the Star Wars universe droids are just ubiquitous tools, like phones, and everyone knows how to use, maintain and modify them.
posted by confluency at 4:49 AM on November 7, 2020 [16 favorites]
I think that this is consistent with the level of dialogue-less extra death we've seen so far (all those sand people eaten by the dragon!) and I wonder if the writers are undermining the premise of the universe a little by valuing "alien" lives less than human(oid) lives. I don't recall seeing many human villagers getting eaten last week; just lots and lots of faceless Tuskans. Is it supposed to be OK because they're just alien eggs?
I came here to note that I liked that Frog Lady knew how to hack the droid bits into an impromptu translator. Too often media depicts technology as an esoteric field of knowledge that is available only to an elite of experts, and if a character hasn't been established as a "tech expert" they can't do "tech things". But in the Star Wars universe droids are just ubiquitous tools, like phones, and everyone knows how to use, maintain and modify them.
posted by confluency at 4:49 AM on November 7, 2020 [16 favorites]
I think that we're supposed to have mixed feelings about that.
I'm with you there. A newcomer to this show, watching only this episode, might understandably conclude that it's nothing but empty violence and gruesomeness—but having watched the "making of" series on Disney+, I have a fair amount of confidence that the creators are in fact thinking this stuff through and seeding in some amount of deeper meaning.
I wonder if the writers are undermining the premise of the universe a little by valuing "alien" lives less than human(oid) lives. I don't recall seeing many human villagers getting eaten last week; just lots and lots of faceless Tuskans.
My concern is that this could have to do with pressure from Disney; watching human villagers getting eaten is…well, not very Disney. It does seem like everybody who dies in this show is either an alien or a faceless (e.g. helmeted) human. OTOH, I've only watched season 1 once, so I could be misremembering.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:39 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm with you there. A newcomer to this show, watching only this episode, might understandably conclude that it's nothing but empty violence and gruesomeness—but having watched the "making of" series on Disney+, I have a fair amount of confidence that the creators are in fact thinking this stuff through and seeding in some amount of deeper meaning.
I wonder if the writers are undermining the premise of the universe a little by valuing "alien" lives less than human(oid) lives. I don't recall seeing many human villagers getting eaten last week; just lots and lots of faceless Tuskans.
My concern is that this could have to do with pressure from Disney; watching human villagers getting eaten is…well, not very Disney. It does seem like everybody who dies in this show is either an alien or a faceless (e.g. helmeted) human. OTOH, I've only watched season 1 once, so I could be misremembering.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:39 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
It does seem like everybody who dies in this show is either an alien or a faceless (e.g. helmeted) human.
Off the top of my head, the New Republic pilot of the prison barge in The Heist, both the assassin and the rookie bounty hunter in The Gunslinger, and the taxi-speeder pilot on the ice planet in Chapter 1.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:06 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
Off the top of my head, the New Republic pilot of the prison barge in The Heist, both the assassin and the rookie bounty hunter in The Gunslinger, and the taxi-speeder pilot on the ice planet in Chapter 1.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:06 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
I thought the egg eating was gruesome.
If they gave frog lady a name, they'd have to make an action figure for her. But clearly someone over there is a big fan of Tales of Beatrix Potter
posted by Catblack at 8:11 AM on November 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
If they gave frog lady a name, they'd have to make an action figure for her. But clearly someone over there is a big fan of Tales of Beatrix Potter
posted by Catblack at 8:11 AM on November 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
The thing that got me was not the deus ex machina, it was the deus ex machina being the X-Wing pilots! There was no setup they would come back, yet we had the setup of both the 'bounty hunter' Richard Ayoade Droid, and the technical wizardry of 'Frog Lady'... it seemed to me that her previously hotwiring a 'protect the children' mode would be a much easier sell.
posted by ewan at 8:14 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by ewan at 8:14 AM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
I eggs pretty often, so I didn’t find that weird or unpleasant. I did find this to be the least satisfying episode so far.
posted by snofoam at 10:04 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by snofoam at 10:04 AM on November 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
Nobody can eat 50 eggs.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 1:02 PM on November 7, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 1:02 PM on November 7, 2020 [8 favorites]
I liked it, and like how the show is basically an anthology built around a loose plot. I hate it when people cry "filler," as if taking your time in getting to your destination was a crime. Most overarching stories are actually very simple, and being able to focus on little pieces of the Star Wars universe is a very nice thing.
And I agree about Baby Yoda eating the frog eggs being supposed to be a little disturbing, not so disturbing that we lose empathy for them, but enough to remind us that they're at an age before moral development. Remember, in the last episode of the first season they force choked someone for a few seconds when they thought they were hurting their dad! I wonder if that will have consequences down the line? Remember, the Jedi liked to recruit new members very young, before they had painful life experiences that might turn a padawan toward the Dark Side. Baby Yoda, as noted in this episode, has already seen some pretty horrible things.
posted by JHarris at 1:04 PM on November 7, 2020 [19 favorites]
And I agree about Baby Yoda eating the frog eggs being supposed to be a little disturbing, not so disturbing that we lose empathy for them, but enough to remind us that they're at an age before moral development. Remember, in the last episode of the first season they force choked someone for a few seconds when they thought they were hurting their dad! I wonder if that will have consequences down the line? Remember, the Jedi liked to recruit new members very young, before they had painful life experiences that might turn a padawan toward the Dark Side. Baby Yoda, as noted in this episode, has already seen some pretty horrible things.
posted by JHarris at 1:04 PM on November 7, 2020 [19 favorites]
As smart as Frog Lady was, it's weird she didn't seem to notice at least three eggs had disappeared.
But she does, doesn't she? She points at the little red LEDs on top of the container, [SPEAKS FROG] angrily, and Mando replies "Sorry lady I don't understand frog" even though he understands perfectly what she means.
posted by elgilito at 3:10 PM on November 7, 2020 [9 favorites]
But she does, doesn't she? She points at the little red LEDs on top of the container, [SPEAKS FROG] angrily, and Mando replies "Sorry lady I don't understand frog" even though he understands perfectly what she means.
posted by elgilito at 3:10 PM on November 7, 2020 [9 favorites]
Wow, Baby Yoda's cuteness sure wears out fast when he starts eating other people's would-be children. I was actively rooting for the spiders.
When the mother saved Baby Yoda, I thought the point was that he was learning a Valuable Lesson about respecting others' lives or whatever, and would feel remorse for eating the eggs, but nope, he fuckin' offs another one, as a little joke right before the end credits.
There were also multiple instances of at least borderline Space Racism from the protagonists, like "Sorry, lady, I don't speak frog".
It doesn't help that the mother has more relatability, empathy, and depth than either the Mandalorian or the Child has ever displayed. I'd enthusiastically watch a series about her for sure. Not so thrilled about this one I'm watching here though.
posted by Syllepsis at 3:15 PM on November 7, 2020 [13 favorites]
When the mother saved Baby Yoda, I thought the point was that he was learning a Valuable Lesson about respecting others' lives or whatever, and would feel remorse for eating the eggs, but nope, he fuckin' offs another one, as a little joke right before the end credits.
There were also multiple instances of at least borderline Space Racism from the protagonists, like "Sorry, lady, I don't speak frog".
It doesn't help that the mother has more relatability, empathy, and depth than either the Mandalorian or the Child has ever displayed. I'd enthusiastically watch a series about her for sure. Not so thrilled about this one I'm watching here though.
posted by Syllepsis at 3:15 PM on November 7, 2020 [13 favorites]
Oh sublight trips between systems. Name a more iconic duo than Star Wars and total lack of proper scale in space!
posted by jason_steakums at 3:54 PM on November 7, 2020 [16 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 3:54 PM on November 7, 2020 [16 favorites]
Is this the first time we’ve gotten an “And also with you” response to “May the Force be with you”?
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:33 PM on November 7, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:33 PM on November 7, 2020 [7 favorites]
Nobody can eat 50 eggs.
But what about Gaston? He eats five dozen eggs and is roughly the size of a barge!
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:54 PM on November 7, 2020 [17 favorites]
But what about Gaston? He eats five dozen eggs and is roughly the size of a barge!
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:54 PM on November 7, 2020 [17 favorites]
Sure, but no one eats like Gaston.
posted by Frayed Knot at 7:40 PM on November 7, 2020 [23 favorites]
posted by Frayed Knot at 7:40 PM on November 7, 2020 [23 favorites]
I liked the X-wing pilots as slacker cops. Boring patrol on the outer rim, apparently doing the bare minimum. Of course that’s what parts of the New Republic would turn into, they’re not all going to be heroic all the time.
posted by supercres at 8:16 PM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by supercres at 8:16 PM on November 7, 2020 [3 favorites]
X-wing pilots as slacker
So... soon ? after the revolution. (Former) Rebel leadership dropping the ball.
posted by porpoise at 8:37 PM on November 7, 2020
So... soon ? after the revolution. (Former) Rebel leadership dropping the ball.
posted by porpoise at 8:37 PM on November 7, 2020
When a lad was I, four dozen eggs, I ate.
Helped me get larger, they did.
Anyway, when the protagonist finds The Passenger taking a bath, we got my favorite subtitle in some time: "Frog Lady speaks frog."
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 8:42 PM on November 7, 2020 [11 favorites]
Helped me get larger, they did.
Anyway, when the protagonist finds The Passenger taking a bath, we got my favorite subtitle in some time: "Frog Lady speaks frog."
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 8:42 PM on November 7, 2020 [11 favorites]
There's a much stronger episode where Baby Yoda spends the whole episode trying and failing to get an egg. He tries and fails to get the container open. Mando repeatedly snatching eggs from his grubby little hands at the last second. This culminates until the spider chase and all hell breaks loose and you kinda forget about "he wants an egg," Then at the very end after Mando goes to sleep he whips one single egg out and eats it.
This whole series has a weird thing about not naming anyone. Frog Lady. Mando. The Child. These are not names. Stop being precious.
I feel like this episode might be less filler than you think. Season 1 didn't shy away from bringing characters back for multiple episodes, or revisiting characters. Granted, they normally had a name...
Lastly, there were a few shots in this episode that really show how far forward off your face a Mandalorian helmet sits, which seems like an open invitation for someone to stick a knife in your neck right under your chin. So now I'm retroactively mad that he apparently doesn't wear some kind of coif or at least an arming cap under that thing. Maybe a Gorget? Like so many things (let's face it, virtually everything) in Star Wars, "cool" is more important than "practical" or "realistic."
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:16 PM on November 7, 2020 [12 favorites]
This whole series has a weird thing about not naming anyone. Frog Lady. Mando. The Child. These are not names. Stop being precious.
I feel like this episode might be less filler than you think. Season 1 didn't shy away from bringing characters back for multiple episodes, or revisiting characters. Granted, they normally had a name...
Lastly, there were a few shots in this episode that really show how far forward off your face a Mandalorian helmet sits, which seems like an open invitation for someone to stick a knife in your neck right under your chin. So now I'm retroactively mad that he apparently doesn't wear some kind of coif or at least an arming cap under that thing. Maybe a Gorget? Like so many things (let's face it, virtually everything) in Star Wars, "cool" is more important than "practical" or "realistic."
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:16 PM on November 7, 2020 [12 favorites]
I need to rewatch to confirm, but it seemed like baby Yoda swallowed the eggs without chewing them. It was messy when he was munching on the spider egg things. Maybe he is holding them instead of digesting them?
posted by mefireader at 12:40 AM on November 8, 2020
posted by mefireader at 12:40 AM on November 8, 2020
I'm guessing the spider egg wasn't small enough for Baby Yoda to gulp down whole.
This whole series has a weird thing about not naming anyone. Frog Lady. Mando. The Child. These are not names. Stop being precious.
Hear, hear. Give the frog lady a name, dammit. I get that Mando's in a nameless religious cult (weird, but whatever). But if Disney doesn't like "Baby Yoda," they need to give the kid a better name than "The Child," which is literally the most generic thing you could come up with. Maybe they assume the kid has a name we don't know about, I assume they want to do a dramatic reveal later, but in the meantime, hell, you could just give him a nickname. Call him "Bob" for all I care. Sadly, Mando doesn't have enough personality to do that, so it won't happen. (He calls him "kid" in this episode.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:48 AM on November 8, 2020
This whole series has a weird thing about not naming anyone. Frog Lady. Mando. The Child. These are not names. Stop being precious.
Hear, hear. Give the frog lady a name, dammit. I get that Mando's in a nameless religious cult (weird, but whatever). But if Disney doesn't like "Baby Yoda," they need to give the kid a better name than "The Child," which is literally the most generic thing you could come up with. Maybe they assume the kid has a name we don't know about, I assume they want to do a dramatic reveal later, but in the meantime, hell, you could just give him a nickname. Call him "Bob" for all I care. Sadly, Mando doesn't have enough personality to do that, so it won't happen. (He calls him "kid" in this episode.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:48 AM on November 8, 2020
The thing about Baby Yoda and the eggs is that before he ate the first one, he went up to the jar and (I think) put his hands on it and, it was almost like he was communing with the eggs. I was assuming there would be a turnaround there, but perhaps there will be one later. Or perhaps he's just greedy.
posted by Grangousier at 1:59 AM on November 8, 2020
posted by Grangousier at 1:59 AM on November 8, 2020
His communing with the eggs seems to have been using The Force to pull closer to him through the glass, to try to get a snack....
On naming, Mando probably assumes The Child has a name already. Also, the show's episode titling convention, to put a The Something on each story, sometimes rubs off on the characters. (Anyway, to remind, Mando has a name, it's Din Djarin, which I had to look up, it's easy to forget since it's only been used once.)
On the slacker X-Wing pilots, any organization as large as a government is going to have people of all levels of commitment and drive. The folks that Mando has contact with are typically not the Most-High Muckity-Mucks, they're going to be jobbers and flunkies, guards and stiffs, Dantes and Randalls. Like the Stormtroopers from the last episode of the first season. They can either be banality of evil types, or normal folk with their own priorities trying to earn a living. Boba Fett from the movies, he was a person who could hobnob with Darth Vader, and it got him peeled out of his suit via a sarlacc changing room.
posted by JHarris at 3:08 AM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
On naming, Mando probably assumes The Child has a name already. Also, the show's episode titling convention, to put a The Something on each story, sometimes rubs off on the characters. (Anyway, to remind, Mando has a name, it's Din Djarin, which I had to look up, it's easy to forget since it's only been used once.)
On the slacker X-Wing pilots, any organization as large as a government is going to have people of all levels of commitment and drive. The folks that Mando has contact with are typically not the Most-High Muckity-Mucks, they're going to be jobbers and flunkies, guards and stiffs, Dantes and Randalls. Like the Stormtroopers from the last episode of the first season. They can either be banality of evil types, or normal folk with their own priorities trying to earn a living. Boba Fett from the movies, he was a person who could hobnob with Darth Vader, and it got him peeled out of his suit via a sarlacc changing room.
posted by JHarris at 3:08 AM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
When do we get the Amy Sedaris action figure?
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:28 AM on November 8, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 6:28 AM on November 8, 2020 [12 favorites]
The X-Wing chase through the clouds was everything my inner 7-year old could have hoped for. I also loved the “bored beat cops” vibe, especially after his crazy flying and hiding and dropping like a stone, and they just show right up on his tail again, and I could just picture them shaking their heads like “whoa check out this crazy mofo.”
Once I realized they were just going to keep amping up the peril in the cave, I was hugely entertained by the craziness of it all — that last giant spider was a nice touch!
Between the egg eating and all the other misfortune heaped on that poor newt, I felt like this was maybe trying to dispel some “cute and fuzzy” vibes — like, you may find the show heart warming, but make no mistake, you would not want to be along for this road trip.
posted by bjrubble at 8:53 AM on November 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
Once I realized they were just going to keep amping up the peril in the cave, I was hugely entertained by the craziness of it all — that last giant spider was a nice touch!
Between the egg eating and all the other misfortune heaped on that poor newt, I felt like this was maybe trying to dispel some “cute and fuzzy” vibes — like, you may find the show heart warming, but make no mistake, you would not want to be along for this road trip.
posted by bjrubble at 8:53 AM on November 8, 2020 [4 favorites]
I think Space Appa realizes there's no point taking the bribe. It's just going to lead to two scenes of escalating passive-aggressive confrontation with Space Janet over the morality of it, and in the end Space Umma is going to donate it to the church fundraiser for orphaned frog eggs.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 9:41 AM on November 8, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 9:41 AM on November 8, 2020 [12 favorites]
This show is just especially funny for anyone who lives with a toddler, I think. Mine has this amazing superpower of somehow stashing food to eat away from the table... you'll wipe her face and hands and check her all over then not ten minutes later you'll find she's somehow made off with a big hunk of banana to share with her stuffed animals. So of course when Yodicito pulled out that last egg he'd cached away we were like "IT'S BABY!!"
I agree not much really happened in this episode and it was a weird mix of pathos and comedy (when the frog lady went full frog-jumps running from the horror spiders I laughed out loud). But I am actually sort of glad this show is fully leaning into how cheap life is in the Star Wars verse. It's always made me a little uncomfortable that this IP does mass death events so often as plot points. But I think it's worth thinking about and delving deeper into, and I think I like that there's some amount of "are you uncomfortable that this adorable baby is eating these precious eggs? Why is that more or less uncomfortable than all the actual character death you've seen as a Star Wars fan over the years?" It's making me think. I'm glad of it.
posted by potrzebie at 11:13 AM on November 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
I agree not much really happened in this episode and it was a weird mix of pathos and comedy (when the frog lady went full frog-jumps running from the horror spiders I laughed out loud). But I am actually sort of glad this show is fully leaning into how cheap life is in the Star Wars verse. It's always made me a little uncomfortable that this IP does mass death events so often as plot points. But I think it's worth thinking about and delving deeper into, and I think I like that there's some amount of "are you uncomfortable that this adorable baby is eating these precious eggs? Why is that more or less uncomfortable than all the actual character death you've seen as a Star Wars fan over the years?" It's making me think. I'm glad of it.
posted by potrzebie at 11:13 AM on November 8, 2020 [10 favorites]
Space Appa!!!! And Space Shelob!!
(Also, I spent some time this week thinking about Baby Yoda in relation to young orangutans, and him getting into stuff and eating it just because he could is very juvenile orangutan of him. But I felt terrible for the Frog Lady.)
posted by ChuraChura at 11:28 AM on November 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
(Also, I spent some time this week thinking about Baby Yoda in relation to young orangutans, and him getting into stuff and eating it just because he could is very juvenile orangutan of him. But I felt terrible for the Frog Lady.)
posted by ChuraChura at 11:28 AM on November 8, 2020 [6 favorites]
What the fuck, Favreau?
Indeed. It was just dull as well, which is what the new Star Wars films were. I found myself thinking of another series that took on the old wanders through the wild frontier structure, Samurai Champloo, which does this so much better consistently. Very inconsistent show thus far overall.
posted by juiceCake at 6:06 PM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Indeed. It was just dull as well, which is what the new Star Wars films were. I found myself thinking of another series that took on the old wanders through the wild frontier structure, Samurai Champloo, which does this so much better consistently. Very inconsistent show thus far overall.
posted by juiceCake at 6:06 PM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Hey for those of us who really really do not like spiders, can we get a warning on shit like this? My BF had to watch the final third and tell me when it was safe.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:23 PM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:23 PM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]
I loved this episode. I mean I regularly eat the unfertilized ovum from other species too, so, uhm, I can't judge. And this is a baby, toddlers WILL find a way to put anything that fits into their mouths to taste... and if it doesn't taste yucky, they'll try to swallow it too. I thought it was very relatable.
It was horror and comedy and breathtaking flying action all in one episode, and it's refreshing that these episodes can just stand alone by themselves rather than being in service to some Overarching Plot.
posted by xdvesper at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2020 [9 favorites]
It was horror and comedy and breathtaking flying action all in one episode, and it's refreshing that these episodes can just stand alone by themselves rather than being in service to some Overarching Plot.
posted by xdvesper at 2:54 AM on November 9, 2020 [9 favorites]
It's also a reminder that Babies Yoda aren't born heroic. (Or, aren't born Yoda.) This baby has power, but who raises the baby -- and how they do it -- will matter. So it underlines the importance of Mando's quest.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:49 AM on November 9, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:49 AM on November 9, 2020 [4 favorites]
Ate two hardboiled eggs this morning, without thinking about it. With lemon pepper.
Hmmm.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:54 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Hmmm.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:54 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Interview with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. He was able to give the wardrobe department pointers, because he is such a huge Star Wars fan, he had already made the costume himself.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:59 AM on November 9, 2020 [14 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:59 AM on November 9, 2020 [14 favorites]
Maybe all of Yoda's species are voracious little swamp goblins and it's only extremely rarely that one of them is calm enough to train as a Jedi. Maybe all the other masters were really nervous the first time Yoda taught a class of younglings.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:00 AM on November 9, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 11:00 AM on November 9, 2020 [9 favorites]
You mean "yumlings?" :)
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:08 PM on November 9, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:08 PM on November 9, 2020 [8 favorites]
You mean "yumlings?" :)
Please, Master Yoda, we've talked about this. You can't say that.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:20 PM on November 9, 2020 [10 favorites]
Please, Master Yoda, we've talked about this. You can't say that.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:20 PM on November 9, 2020 [10 favorites]
Seen on imgur (paraphrasing) - "Now we know the reason why Yoda was on Dagobah system. It had nothing to do with the Force or anything. It was because he was the apex predator there, all food chains ended in him.
When he died, the ecosystem let out a great sigh of relief."
posted by porpoise at 7:19 PM on November 9, 2020 [14 favorites]
When he died, the ecosystem let out a great sigh of relief."
posted by porpoise at 7:19 PM on November 9, 2020 [14 favorites]
The egg eating thing is supposed to be funny -- at the end baby yoda, having learned not one lesson from mother spider's vengeful attack for eating just one egg, eats another egg. At least an attempt at humor is, perforce, an attempt at plot. The rest was plotless. But that doesn't mean it didn't have meaning: goofy foreign-speaking mothers, enraged mothers, blown-up mother/monsters (yet again). I appreciate that this show is trying to be an education in motherhood for Mando -- he carries his egg (the Yodamobile) and baby everywhere, even as he blows up the sand monster in season 1 so the jawas can eat its egg, and the sand monster in season two which seems to contain an egg-like pearl, and now eggs and more eggs. Baby yoda has not learned anything from it, but has Mando? Who knows? Maybe he's going to grow up into some sort of anti-abortion nutjob who thinks every egg is sacred. And maybe he's even learned to appreciate the police -- they may harass you, but they are also willing to help you out and break the law to let you go, as long you were a sufficiently successful vigilante in your previous life. Lots of lessons here.
posted by chortly at 8:04 PM on November 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by chortly at 8:04 PM on November 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
Last week I pointed out that the speeder and podracer had no real sound design (no speeder noise, no wind) that enabled Mando and the Marshall to have a nice quiet conversation. Well, this week the speeder makes all the noise!
As much as I'm tired of CGI spiders in media, I actually thought the scene was really well done. It was creepy and had an ominous tone. Although I am exhausted with Baby Yoda always being in danger. They should have called this show BABY IN PERIL!
posted by guiseroom at 8:06 AM on November 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
As much as I'm tired of CGI spiders in media, I actually thought the scene was really well done. It was creepy and had an ominous tone. Although I am exhausted with Baby Yoda always being in danger. They should have called this show BABY IN PERIL!
posted by guiseroom at 8:06 AM on November 10, 2020 [4 favorites]
Overall, an okay stand-alone episode. I'm at a loss to see how it added anything to the main story, but I guess we'll see eventually, one way or another. Otherwise, it was kind of filler.
• Honestly, I thought the spiders were lame and uninteresting. It was like the FX house gave Disney a special bulk rate on CG spiders.
• I'm not sure what to make of The Child's™ voraciousness. Yeah, it was comical, I guess. If you call blithely devouring a worried mother's offspring "comical."
• Boy howdy, Mando's ship sure can take a huge amount of trashing and keep ticking.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:33 AM on November 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
• Honestly, I thought the spiders were lame and uninteresting. It was like the FX house gave Disney a special bulk rate on CG spiders.
• I'm not sure what to make of The Child's™ voraciousness. Yeah, it was comical, I guess. If you call blithely devouring a worried mother's offspring "comical."
• Boy howdy, Mando's ship sure can take a huge amount of trashing and keep ticking.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:33 AM on November 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
LucasFilm Responds to Backlash Over Baby Yoda Eating Eggs in The Mandalorian (SlashFilm.com)
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 12:40 PM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 12:40 PM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Everyone in this episode ended up being uncannily accurate with a blaster vs. spiders, especially Frog Lady (and X-wing pilots, these guys are aces and good spaceship trackers, what are they doing out here?). Which fact (plus insta-hacking Zero) left me wondering what her backstory might actually be? Will it be continued in the next episode?
One thing about this show is that there are plenty of awkward details and other defects but I find every episode completely enjoyable regardless. I see the issues but they're just specific little issues, I still enjoy the diversion overall each time.
posted by thefool at 1:33 PM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
One thing about this show is that there are plenty of awkward details and other defects but I find every episode completely enjoyable regardless. I see the issues but they're just specific little issues, I still enjoy the diversion overall each time.
posted by thefool at 1:33 PM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Lots of things want to eat the The Child. The Child wants to eat lots of things. In this way he is the one prophesied to restore balance to the Force.
Also, Adventure Time has a book for you to read.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
Also, Adventure Time has a book for you to read.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:49 PM on November 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
Do Not Let Baby Yoda’s Cuteness Distract You From His Murderous Ways
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:06 PM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:06 PM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
I feel like the writers thought "The rule of threes" means anything that happens three times is funny, and insisted that Baby Yoda had to eat three eggs.
From the Slashfilm article: Then again, Kathleen Kennedy is president of Lucasfilm, and she has two children with her husband Frank Marshall. Surely if she thought there was some kind of issue there, then she would have flagged it. Again, that doesn’t make these complaints invalid, they just come from a different perspective.
This is expecting a lot from the woman who thought Rise of Skywalker was a pretty good idea.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:12 PM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
From the Slashfilm article: Then again, Kathleen Kennedy is president of Lucasfilm, and she has two children with her husband Frank Marshall. Surely if she thought there was some kind of issue there, then she would have flagged it. Again, that doesn’t make these complaints invalid, they just come from a different perspective.
This is expecting a lot from the woman who thought Rise of Skywalker was a pretty good idea.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:12 PM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
One other thing that occurred to me: is this the first time that the vacuum of space has been presented as a danger in Star Wars? I've been thinking about it for a while and I can't think of another instance where anyone was the least bit concerned about space itself being hazardous. I guess there's the sequence in Last Jedi where Leia uses the Force to save herself after the starship bridge she's on decompresses, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time anyone's straight up said out loud that ships need to be pressurized and if they lose pressure they'll die.
I guess add "not pressure tight" to the list of ways Mandalorian armor kinda sucks.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:51 PM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
I guess add "not pressure tight" to the list of ways Mandalorian armor kinda sucks.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:51 PM on November 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
It does seem to protect from Krayt Dragon innards, which involve corrosive acid.
posted by JHarris at 10:46 PM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 10:46 PM on November 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
They should have called this show BABY IN PERIL!
Exactly! I love this show but everytime Mando leaves the baby outside a bar or carries him in his bag while riding full-pelt on a speeder inside of jerry-rigging some kind of seat belt contraption or whatever it gives me the willies. Also I get that everyone is responding to the egg-eating but for me the viscerally upsetting parts of this episode were when the baby was scared and distressed, like when he fell off the speeder or when that spider tried to attack him from above. That is just not nice to see. Poor thing!
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:08 AM on November 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Exactly! I love this show but everytime Mando leaves the baby outside a bar or carries him in his bag while riding full-pelt on a speeder inside of jerry-rigging some kind of seat belt contraption or whatever it gives me the willies. Also I get that everyone is responding to the egg-eating but for me the viscerally upsetting parts of this episode were when the baby was scared and distressed, like when he fell off the speeder or when that spider tried to attack him from above. That is just not nice to see. Poor thing!
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:08 AM on November 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Those eggs looked a lot like like gulab jamun. Honestly, I was feeling a little hungry.
posted by bdc34 at 10:55 AM on November 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by bdc34 at 10:55 AM on November 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Listen, if your species can only reproduce in one location on one planet (which apparently isn't your homeworld?) that you can only get to by traveling slower than light, you should probably just accept the inevitable: your species is going extinct.
posted by The Tensor at 1:07 PM on November 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by The Tensor at 1:07 PM on November 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
Corollary: why did Frog Lady move to a desert planet anyway?
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:11 PM on November 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:11 PM on November 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
The "honoring one's word" speech she gives to the Mandalorian via the security droid suggests that Frog Husband had maybe gone ahead to homestead a suitable planet:
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:16 AM on November 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle. My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species. We fought too hard and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line. I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to.an argument in the WhadK household: was Frog Lady's all-fours hopping CGI-assisted or as I argued simply an acrobat in a frog suit?
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:16 AM on November 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also can confirm that on rewatch, Baby Yoda slurping down frog eggs isn't any less horrifying.
also, this line from the SlashFilm article is some gross sexist garbage:
also, this line from the SlashFilm article is some gross sexist garbage:
Then again, Kathleen Kennedy is president of Lucasfilm, and she has two children with her husband Frank Marshall. Surely if she thought there was some kind of issue there, then she would have flagged it.posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:23 AM on November 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Seen on imgur (paraphrasing) - "Now we know the reason why Yoda was on Dagobah system. It had nothing to do with the Force or anything. It was because he was the apex predator there, all food chains ended in him.
When he died, the ecosystem let out a great sigh of relief."
Hey Yoda, live your life in such a way that the entire planet doesn’t dance in the street when you fade away under that blanket.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:17 PM on November 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
When he died, the ecosystem let out a great sigh of relief."
Hey Yoda, live your life in such a way that the entire planet doesn’t dance in the street when you fade away under that blanket.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 8:17 PM on November 13, 2020 [4 favorites]
This is the episode everybody's going to just kind of forget on a rewatch.
the puppeteering on Baby Yoda walking in the snow is absolutely terrible. Rankin & Bass level shit. Baby Yoda has been cute mostly, but then how hard is it to make a cute baby puppet? They sure blew it once it started walking.
posted by Nelson at 10:30 PM on November 13, 2020
the puppeteering on Baby Yoda walking in the snow is absolutely terrible. Rankin & Bass level shit. Baby Yoda has been cute mostly, but then how hard is it to make a cute baby puppet? They sure blew it once it started walking.
posted by Nelson at 10:30 PM on November 13, 2020
Why are people in the Star Wars universe always flying into caves when it always goes really badly? Like you'd think lesson 1 of pilot school is "don't fly into a cave"
posted by GuyZero at 10:08 PM on November 14, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 10:08 PM on November 14, 2020 [7 favorites]
Corollary: why did Frog Lady move to a desert planet anyway?
There are a lot of weird implied subtexts in the Star Wars universe around resources being scarce and life really sucking. Presumably Frog Lady is an economic refugee like seemingly half of the sapients in the Star Wars universe.
is this the first time that the vacuum of space has been presented as a danger in Star Wars?
I feel like most of the Star Wars spaceships are more akin to cruise ships or aircraft carriers and when you're on one of these things the ocean looks very pretty and not at all threatening. Mando's ship is like a 30-foot fishing boat (with guns) in the middle of the Pacific and from that vantage point the ocean looks a lot more menacing.
To me the issue with eggs is that they're the eggs of a sentient species and the mother is RIGHT THERE. Like at least when I eat chicken eggs the chickens have a brain the size of a walnut and don't have any sense of self identity. The ethics of egg consumption are different when the egg-layer can look you in the eyes and say "don't eat my eggs."
There's a much stronger episode where Baby Yoda spends the whole episode trying and failing to get an egg.
Yeah, I agree. Making it comic seems like it would work better. The actual egg subplot is just unsettling as is. But maybe it's just the old Humans Are The Real Monsters trope but weirder.
posted by GuyZero at 11:47 PM on November 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
There are a lot of weird implied subtexts in the Star Wars universe around resources being scarce and life really sucking. Presumably Frog Lady is an economic refugee like seemingly half of the sapients in the Star Wars universe.
is this the first time that the vacuum of space has been presented as a danger in Star Wars?
I feel like most of the Star Wars spaceships are more akin to cruise ships or aircraft carriers and when you're on one of these things the ocean looks very pretty and not at all threatening. Mando's ship is like a 30-foot fishing boat (with guns) in the middle of the Pacific and from that vantage point the ocean looks a lot more menacing.
To me the issue with eggs is that they're the eggs of a sentient species and the mother is RIGHT THERE. Like at least when I eat chicken eggs the chickens have a brain the size of a walnut and don't have any sense of self identity. The ethics of egg consumption are different when the egg-layer can look you in the eyes and say "don't eat my eggs."
There's a much stronger episode where Baby Yoda spends the whole episode trying and failing to get an egg.
Yeah, I agree. Making it comic seems like it would work better. The actual egg subplot is just unsettling as is. But maybe it's just the old Humans Are The Real Monsters trope but weirder.
posted by GuyZero at 11:47 PM on November 14, 2020 [3 favorites]
I think the X-Wing pilots might have stayed to help if asked, but since he tried to bribe them, they just left.
The sense I got was that these were essentially supposed to be bored traffic cops, looking for an excuse to get out of doing paperwork. I don't think it was the bribe that made them leave, but the request that accompanied the bribe - "I won't collect those bounties and you help me weld my ship back together" - which is, y'know, hard work. They were trying to make less work for themselves, not more, so when he proposed that they were like, "nah, how about you just fix that broken tail light, buddy" and bailed.
"I won't invoice your far away government bosses for my previously completed action items in exchange for a bunch of work from you personally" isn't that great of a bribe. What I am hoping for is a fan edit of this episode where Paul Sun-Hyung Lee considers the offer and says "Ok. See you" before blasting off into space.
And maybe don't store your "precious" eggs in an unlocked pickled egg display from the deli.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:34 AM on November 15, 2020 [5 favorites]
The sense I got was that these were essentially supposed to be bored traffic cops, looking for an excuse to get out of doing paperwork. I don't think it was the bribe that made them leave, but the request that accompanied the bribe - "I won't collect those bounties and you help me weld my ship back together" - which is, y'know, hard work. They were trying to make less work for themselves, not more, so when he proposed that they were like, "nah, how about you just fix that broken tail light, buddy" and bailed.
"I won't invoice your far away government bosses for my previously completed action items in exchange for a bunch of work from you personally" isn't that great of a bribe. What I am hoping for is a fan edit of this episode where Paul Sun-Hyung Lee considers the offer and says "Ok. See you" before blasting off into space.
And maybe don't store your "precious" eggs in an unlocked pickled egg display from the deli.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:34 AM on November 15, 2020 [5 favorites]
The bribe - I'm probably completely off-base, but my initial read on that was Din has a couple of bounties that he can claim - but he's not going to claim them so... he's not going to mind/ contradict if the cops claim the bounty for themselves.
posted by porpoise at 10:39 AM on November 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by porpoise at 10:39 AM on November 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
Maybe I'm fixating too much on the "Frog" part of "Frog Lady", but I'm pretty sure that putting a blanket on a cold frog won't help make it any warmer, nor would a frog's footprints really show up in a thermal scan, what with them being ectothermic and all.
I didn't really have a problem with The Child's egg eating from a sentience standby (cf "life is cheap in the SW universe") but, like, if I order DoorDash and the driver's assistant eats half my fries before they're delivered, I'm gonna be mad.
posted by hanov3r at 7:44 AM on November 16, 2020 [4 favorites]
I didn't really have a problem with The Child's egg eating from a sentience standby (cf "life is cheap in the SW universe") but, like, if I order DoorDash and the driver's assistant eats half my fries before they're delivered, I'm gonna be mad.
posted by hanov3r at 7:44 AM on November 16, 2020 [4 favorites]
The bribe - I'm probably completely off-base, but my initial read on that was Din has a couple of bounties that he can claim - but he's not going to claim them so... he's not going to mind/ contradict if the cops claim the bounty for themselves.
Yeah, this was how I understood the bribe to work as well.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:49 AM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this was how I understood the bribe to work as well.
posted by mstokes650 at 10:49 AM on November 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
One thing I thought of during this canyon chase was a scene from an episode of Firefly, where Wash does a canyon run on a snowy planet and the chasing spaceship simply flies above the canyon. (apologies for crappy youtube link)
posted by Fleebnork at 11:44 AM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Fleebnork at 11:44 AM on November 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
The Mandalorian’s darkest moment is now available in Funko Pop form. "The Child with Egg Canister figurine is currently listed for $30."
posted by Nelson at 5:02 PM on November 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Nelson at 5:02 PM on November 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
...I can't think of another instance where anyone was the least bit concerned about space itself being hazardous...
Well the people in Rogue One knew that the vacuum of space is lethal. In a dangerous situation, Alan-Tudyk-Droid gets a laugh by saying that if the ship is depressurized all the organic life will die but he will not.
posted by seasparrow at 7:18 PM on November 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
Well the people in Rogue One knew that the vacuum of space is lethal. In a dangerous situation, Alan-Tudyk-Droid gets a laugh by saying that if the ship is depressurized all the organic life will die but he will not.
posted by seasparrow at 7:18 PM on November 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
"I won't invoice your far away government bosses for my previously completed action items in exchange for a bunch of work from you personally" isn't that great of a bribe.
I thought he was offering to give them a few of the people he has frozen in his carbonite closet to take in and get the bounty for themselves.
posted by straight at 10:19 AM on December 27, 2020
I thought he was offering to give them a few of the people he has frozen in his carbonite closet to take in and get the bounty for themselves.
posted by straight at 10:19 AM on December 27, 2020
The thing about Baby Yoda and the eggs is that before he ate the first one, he went up to the jar and (I think) put his hands on it and, it was almost like he was communing with the eggs.
I think that was a deliberate misdirection to make eating the egg more shocking / funny. I didn't get the impression we were supposed to think Baby Yoda eating the eggs wasn't horrible and that it was a deliberate plot point that we shouldn't assume this kid is innocent just because it's so cute. Things can be both horrible and funny. I thought the child eating one more egg at the end was less a silly joke and more like the hint after the credits in a horror movie that the monsters you thought defeated are still out there.
I thought the display Frog Lady was pointing to on the canister was a temperature gauge or some other sign that they needed to take action to keep the eggs viable. But I don't think there was anything to indicate she didn't realize any were missing. I think we're supposed to be moved that she saves Baby Yoda in spite of what the child has done, although maybe just as dramatic irony.
People saying "nothing much happened in this episode" have a dramatically different definition of "stuff happening" than I do. Do you people tap your feet impatiently during the trash compactor scene in Star Wars muttering, "Yeah, yeah, get on with the movie already"?
posted by straight at 10:42 AM on December 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think that was a deliberate misdirection to make eating the egg more shocking / funny. I didn't get the impression we were supposed to think Baby Yoda eating the eggs wasn't horrible and that it was a deliberate plot point that we shouldn't assume this kid is innocent just because it's so cute. Things can be both horrible and funny. I thought the child eating one more egg at the end was less a silly joke and more like the hint after the credits in a horror movie that the monsters you thought defeated are still out there.
I thought the display Frog Lady was pointing to on the canister was a temperature gauge or some other sign that they needed to take action to keep the eggs viable. But I don't think there was anything to indicate she didn't realize any were missing. I think we're supposed to be moved that she saves Baby Yoda in spite of what the child has done, although maybe just as dramatic irony.
People saying "nothing much happened in this episode" have a dramatically different definition of "stuff happening" than I do. Do you people tap your feet impatiently during the trash compactor scene in Star Wars muttering, "Yeah, yeah, get on with the movie already"?
posted by straight at 10:42 AM on December 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also, Frog Lady said the eggs were the only chance of survival for "her line" not her race or species. I took that to be more like nobody having my last name if I don't have kids than genocide.
posted by straight at 10:48 AM on December 27, 2020
posted by straight at 10:48 AM on December 27, 2020
I'm amazed that anyone could think nothing much happened. Why is it so important that each episode somehow advance the plot? This episode is just....brilliant. The speedbike scene where the scavengers trip them up and one has Grogu at knifepoint, and the Rising Phoenix joke and Grogu's disdain. The Peli card-playing scene. The frog eggs. The spider eggs. Grogu attempting to tell Din that the Frog Lady had disappeared. Frog Lady saving Grogu. The x-wing pilots saving all of them. Most of my favorite scenes are from this episode. It's so weird to see people implying it could have been cut and nothing would have been lost. I'll look back on this episode fondly and as "peak Mandalorian". To paraphrase Maximus Decimus Meridius, "Were you not entertained"?
posted by the webmistress at 11:33 AM on April 2, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by the webmistress at 11:33 AM on April 2, 2021 [5 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:39 AM on November 6, 2020 [9 favorites]