An Intergalactic Taxi Ride Runs Into Trouble

The Mandalorian goes from sand to snow in a wildly entertaining detour. Chapter Ten, “The Passenger”, has Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda making a special delivery. They pick up a side job on Tatooine after an ambush by bounty hunters. What starts as essentially an intergalactic Uber ride becomes much more complicated. Our heroes dodge New Republic X-wings, crash land spectacularly, and fend off monstrous spiders. The Razor Crest takes a beating, but continues to be a resilient ship.

“The Passenger” opens with Mando and Baby Yoda speeding across the Dune Sea. A group of bounty hunters rig a rope across a narrow passage. Mando’s speeder hits it and they tumble unto the sand. Mando fights them off. The last creep standing puts a knife to Baby Yoda’s throat. Mando warns him, “Put one mark on the child and there will be nowhere in the galaxy you can hide.” The bounty hunter agrees to accept Mando’s jetpack as payment. He grabs it and scurries away, but Mando activates the jetpack from his wrist panel. The bounty hunter shoots into the air before plummeting to his death.

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Mando collects his gear, the child, and starts to trudge across the burning desert. He walks through the night to the Mos Eisley Cantina. Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) gambles with an ant-like alien. It agrees to share information about other Mandalorians if Mando stakes his bet. Peli Motto wins the hand, but the ant is true to his word.

Back at the hangar, the droids roast the Krayt Dragon meat. Peli Motto orders them not to overcook it. She tells Mando the contact knows of a Mandalorian covert in the sector. All she wants is a ride to her destination, but it has to be at sublight speed. Motto introduces the Frog Lady (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). She has her eggs in a water filled container. If they use hyperspace, her “spawn” will die. The Frog Lady and Peli Motto croak to communicate. She wants to go to the estuary moon of Trask. Motto vouches for the Frog Lady, even though she met her “ten minutes ago.”

The Razor Crest soars through space at sublight speed. The Frog Lady sits in the cockpit with Mando. She croaks, but Mando has no idea what she’s saying. Downstairs in the hold, Baby Yoda eyes her eggs hungrily. Mando decides to get some rest. He snatches Baby Yoda before he gobbles up more eggs. “This is not food,” he explains before getting in the sleeping apartment. It’s “nap time” for them both.

Mando wakes up to an alarm blaring. The Razor Crest has been intercepted by two New Republic X-wings. They ask him to turn on his beacon to identify his ship. He stalls, but “they can wait.” Mando watches as their wings lock into attack position. They’ve identified the Razor Crest as a ship that attacked a New Republic prison transport.

“We got a runner,” Trapper Wolf (Dave Filoni) exclaims as the Razor Crest races to a nearby ice planet. The X-wings chase Mando through the clouds. They warn him to stand down or “they will fire.” Mando cuts his engines. The Razor Crest tumbles down. The Frog Lady screams and flails. Mando takes the Razor Crest into a canyon, then hides under an ice sheet. The X-wings fly overhead. But the Razor Crest breaks through the ice below. It lands with a thud in an ice cave.

Mando gets up groggily. The hull has been breached. The ship is filled with snow and ice. He brings blankets to the shivering Frog Lady. The damage is extensive. There’s a hole in the side of the ship. He finds Baby Yoda munching on more of her eggs. He burps with a guilty look on his little green face. The Frog Lady croaks hysterically. Mando tells her they need to get some rest and figure out their next move.

Mando awakens to the voice of Q9-0 (Richard Ayoade). The Frog Lady has rigged the broken droid’s voice box to communicate. She begs Mando to keep his word. Her children are the last of her line. Mando goes outside and starts to repair the ship. Hours later, Baby Yoda gets his attention. The Frog Lady has walked off into the ice cave.

Mando picks up the child, and turns on his heat sensor. He follows her footprints in the snow. The Frog Lady is bathing in a thermal pool. Her eggs float beside her. Mando warns it’s not safe outside the ship. He gathers her eggs back into the container. Baby Yoda tries to take one, but is stopped. He turns his attention to other egg-like sacks in the cave. He tears one open and munches on the spider-like critter. Suddenly, the other egg sacks start to wiggle ominously.

Baby Yoda runs back into Mando’s arms. Ice spiders start swarming the pool, followed by their gigantic mother. Mando and the Frog Lady run back to the ship. She starts to gallop on all fours. Mando shoots the spiders, but they are everywhere. He throws three thermal grenades to collapse the cave behind them. They reach the ship, but it’s too late. The spiders are pouring in. Their beastly mother jumps unto the ship.

Mando puts everyone in the cockpit. He struggles to close the door under the spider onslaught. The Frog Lady saves Baby Yoda from an attack. Mando uses his flamethrower to clear the door. He starts the engines. The Razor Crest rises, but smashes into the side of the cave. The big spider pulls it back down. It’s hideous circle of teeth chews at the glass.

Laser fire starts hitting the spiders on the ship. They are taken out by the barrage. Mando cautiously walks outside. The X-wing pilots have eliminated the spider threat. Mando asks if he’s under arrest. Trapper Wolf informs him that he has an arrest warrant for “Prisoner X6911.” However, Mando left three higher value criminals behind. The security records also show that he protected a guard on the ship. Mando confirms this is true.

Mando offers to forego the bounty on the three criminals in exchange for help “fusing” his hull. The pilots have done enough. They remind him to fix his transponder, before “they vaporize that antique the next time.” They fly off with that warning. Mando repairs the cockpit. It’s the only part of the ship he can “pressurize.” He tells the Frog Lady to use the bathroom now. The Razor Crest gingerly lifts off the ice. He leans back to nap with Baby Yoda in his lap. The child looks longingly at the Frog Lady’s eggs. She wraps her hands protectively around her spawn. The Razor Crest limps through space towards Trask, with sparks and a gaping hole in the side.

“The Passenger” had the perfect mix of adventure, humor, and action. The scenes with the Frog Lady were hilarious. Baby Yoda continues to be a ravenous little guy. He can’t help but scarf down any critter in his path. The production value of the show continues to be amazing. The escape from the X-wings looked incredible. It was great to see co-showrunner Dave Filoni get some screen time as Trapper Wolf. We’ll see if that character turns up again. The Razor Crest will need a complete overhaul after the Frog Lady. The Mandalorian returns next Friday on Disney+.

Topics: The Mandalorian, Disney Plus, Streaming

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