'The Mandalorian' tragically underusing its best characters is a crying shame
Spoiler alert for ‘The Mandalorian’ episode 5
‘The Mandalorian’ is a wonderful television experience. It has everything one could ask for in a ‘Star Wars’ TV series, with action, deep lore and worldbuilding, big-budget CGI and incredibly gorgeous sets. It has great writing, adorable companions, a stunning soundtrack, and above all, fascinating and compelling characters. Unfortunately, aside from the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) himself, we barely get to meet any of these characters before they’re tossed aside for another meme-able moment with Baby Yoda.
It’s not that the characters are badly written. It’s that the opposite is true, and that makes their limited appearances all the more frustrating. When some of the characters were first announced, like Nick Nolte’s Kuiil, Gina Carano’s Cara Dune or Taika Waititi’s IG-11, with large character posters and intriguing descriptions, it felt safe to assume that they would be series regulars, allies to the Mandalorian's dangerous journey. The only character who’s really stuck around, however, is a little green animatronic puppet, and while Baby Yoda’s adorability steals every scene he’s in, there’s not really much to him. The Mandalorian is otherwise filled with characters who feel rich with story that is left completely unexplored.
The latest victim of this is Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand. Described as one of the deadliest assassins in the Outer Rim, she single-handedly manages to give both the Mandalorian and his ally a run for their money, pushing Mando to his limits just to stay alive.
Her scene with Toro (Jake Cannavale) was electric, her dark manipulations convincing Toro to turn on the Mandalorian setting up a character whose lethality was only matched by her quiet cunning...before she’s shot through the stomach by a blaster and left for dead. There seems little chance for her return, as she’s still lying prone and unmoving hours later when the show’s mysterious figure kneels by her corpse, and it’s a crying shame.
While not all the show’s characters are killed, they’re still little more than a glimpse at deeper, more fascinating storylines. The constant promise of a new character’s unforgettable performance bringing something new to the screen is tantalizing, dangled before our eyes and snatched away before we can really bite into it. It’s the most frustrating part of what is overall a deeply enjoyable show. With the season more than half over, it seems The Mandalorian is sticking to its blasters in regards to keeping the screen time of its most interesting characters to a minimum, but hopefully it’s something that can be changed in Season 2.
In the meanwhile, look. Baby Yoda’s drinking soup. Yaay.
The next episode of ‘The Mandalorian’ airs December 13, on Disney+.