IR TV Review: THE MANDALORIAN - CHAPTER 13 ("The Jedi")[Disney+-S2]

The building of story is based on the idea of using the knowledge of what came before. The issue with reviewing Chapter 13 of "The Mandalorian" entitled "The Jedi" is that everything is a spoiler. That said, it is one of the best built episodes so far simply because of who wrote and directed it: Dave Filoni. That should indicate to the viewer the deep cuts that the episode alludes to. But what it does is take a siege aspect and makes it work like a textbook exercise but with intensity and verisimilitude. One guest star that can be mentioned since he is in the publicity photo is Michael Biehn of "Aliens" and "The Terminator" fame. While his reveal starts out slow, it is in the true tradition of a balance of his wok. The path overall in terms of all the characters is not what one would think (on purpose of course but still true to character) but there are some undeniable images that transcend the TV series in showing what the films are capable of if they weren't weighed down by actual weight. This is efficient storytelling but an edge of cinematic verisimilitude. One can tell Filoni loves certain shots that he (and we) will see as iconic) but it doesn't take away from the power of what the story can suggest. It doesn't lay out exactly what happens but the allusions including one are quite something. Not everyone can do as deep a cut as Filoni but in doing so he makes a quest even more rich, while including a sense of metaphor and scope without losing the intimacy of the story. A

By Tim Wassberg