#The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 4 Review: The Siege

Cara Dune is back. mofos, and we are psyched! But no sign of Ahsoka, as showrunners continue to incessantly mess with our heads in that regard. 

We get yet another digression from an overarching arc with The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 4 — another adventure-of-the-week template that has become a bit rote, honestly. 

And the resolution is, again, pretty frickin’ easily resolved. 

Too easily resolved, mayhaps? Yeah, probably. But to be fair, if these sorts of templates were to run on and on in length, we’d get bored, no matter the brilliance of the action.

And the action is still a thrill to watch, but it is getting pretty ridiculous that there never seem to be casualties or even any injuries to our heroes.

Din: I had a run-in with the New Republic.

Greef: They should leave the Outer RIm alone. If the Empire couldn’t settle it, what makes them think they can?

I can’t be the only one annoyed by the incredible indestructibility.

But a debut directorial effort from The Mandalorian’s Greef Karga himself — Carl Weathers — is a solid one, with multiple nods to classic Star Wars themes and atmosphere.

The rather long awaited return of Cara tickles us, regardless of what proponants of contemporary cancel culture angrily tout within the soapbox-riddled galaxies built amidst their own whine-peppered social media postings.

Some of actress Gina Carano’s personal posts have been deemed “controversial” and have attracted the ire of  … well, who the hell knows who these people are?

But they seem to be calling for the firing of Carano, and I’m pleasantly surprised and pleased by Disney’s brushing off the trolls from the bridges under which they reside.

Carano and Dune kick ass. Cancel culture has had its day; it’s time for it to — well, to be canceled.

I mean, even Baby Yoda — er, The Child — was ridiculed and called to be canceled after eating a couple of Frog Lady’s eggs during The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 2: The Passenger,” FFS.

But I digress. Much like The Mandalorian showrunners like to do. (See how I circled that back?).

Mythrol: We’re trapped.

Cara: Is that so? Cover me.

Cara Dune is now a marshal who has efficiently cleaned up Nevarro and we are happy to find her and Greef doing so well on the planet when Din arrives to have his Razor Crest repaired on the way to Corvus.

A delightful easter egg drops on us a Nevarroan school where a class of youths is being taught by a protocol droid (the C-3PO kind). Definitely a standout moment.

The plot to destroy a semi-abandoned Imperial base on another side of the planet hands us action on a platter as stormtroopers are slayed, and scout troopers are deployed, and tie fighters are dispatched in pursuit of our heroes.

That gaggle of tie fighters going all ‘splody was cool but — again — way too easy.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. On the Imperial base, we are issued the reveal that the base is more of a science lab than a military operation.

It is here we learn experiments on beings with blood drawn from The Child in Season 1 have gone terribly awry.

No, this isn’t a military operation … This is a lab.
Cara

We are not privy to those experiment’s results, though, and now we are left to wonder what the hell kind of mutated Yoda-beast creature might be out there in the galaxy doing more harm than good.

Or maybe the subject just died (boring option!).

This is also where our group of four — Din, Greef, Cara, and Myrthol (from Season 1, but sans carbonite) — discover a transmission from a leading scientist reporting findings to Moff Gideon. Well, that shocks them!

They still thought the dude was dead.

So we end up with a little bit of plot revelation, but not as much as was so fascinating in the previous installment, The Mandalorian Season 2 Episode 3, “The Heiress.”

The ending was dark and climactic.

Blue: Says here you’re from Alderaan. I served during Alderaan. Did you lose anyone?

Cara: I lost everyone

After an intergalactic police officer by the name of Blue asks Cara to join in assisting his team with law enforcement — details of her hard work turning Nevarro around has made the rounds — we find ourselves on Moff’s ship.

Oh Moff, Moff, Moff. Are you really wearing Darth Vader-esque wardrobe? I can’t decide if that’s cool, cheesy, or cheap.

I mean, he isn’t half-machine, why he gotta’ dress like that, daddy? Did you all dig that, or no? Looked great, just not sure it felt great. But we can’t expect Moff Gideon to give us the touchie feelies. And uncomfortable, that was!

And who — or what — was he looking at in that closing shot? Any ideas, fanatics?

“The Siege” is a video game episode, played by a skilled competitor with record-breaking points for winning all the battles, but come on, man! Let some of the novice players have a shot.

Yes, that would result in more risk towards our heroes. But it’s time for that sort of excitement. Just don’t kill of Cara for political reasons, because that would just be stupid and wrong. 

I’m just sayin’, some of us would like to feel more of that kind of danger.

What did you all think? Were you as happy to see Cara as I was, albeit disappointed in the overall lack of progression of the journey for which we have been set?

Holler in the comments below — press the “SHOW COMMENTS” button — and let ’em rip!

And let us know if you’d like to cancel these showrunners for consistently putting off the appearance of Ahsoka — we have it in good faith next episode is the episode — and the reappearance of Boba.

Have a wonderful Life Day … er, Thanksstuffing … I mean, Thanksgiving. I will catch back up with Mando, the gang, and you all, very soon!

Kerr Lordygan is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.