Recap: ‘The Mandalorian’ Chapter 10: The Passenger

LAST: “The Mandalorian Chapter 9: The Marshal” Recap

In all the craziness that is the U.S. presidential election, it’s easy to forget a new episode of “The Mandalorian” hit Disney+ Friday morning, but we’re here to remind you and break down everything you need to know about “Chapter 10: The Passenger.”

From the deserts of Tatooine to the ice caves of a mysterious frozen planet, Chapter 10 saw Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda travel across the galaxy, but ultimately, the episode felt underwhelming compared to last week’s premiere. There were individual thrills and exciting moments within the episode, but after last week’s big reveal of Boba Fett (Temeura Morrison), the somewhat standalone story felt disconnected while evoking feelings of Season 1’s serial style. It wasn’t a bad episode by any means – and plenty of adorable Baby Yoda moments helped it out – but in the end it felt like 37 minutes of filler.

Let’s break it down.

Sneak Attack

Following Mando’s defeat of the krayt dragon in Chapter 9, the new episode begins with the bounty hunter and Baby Yo speeding across the dunes with Boba Fett’s armor in tow as they return to their ship. The two aren’t alone in the desert, though. A group of bandits are laying a trap by burying a good old fashioned rope in the sand to trip up the speeder bike.

As the duo whizzes through a canyon, the crew springs its trap and Mando and Baby Yoda go tumbling across the rocky surface. Let’s get one thing straight: if anyone ever yeets Baby Yo like that again, there will be hell to pay. Not only that, but after Mando takes out two of the robbers in hand-to-hand combat, a third pulls a knife on the Child and hold’s it to his throat.

Luckily, Mando is able to bargain with the creature by trading his jetpack in exchange for the Child. But no Mandalorian would give up their jetpack that easily… As the bandit flees with his new prize, Mando uses the control panel on his wrist to launch the jetpack into the sky before slamming its new occupant on the ground and returning to its rightful owner. When Baby Yo is at stake, there are no rules.

Before Mando was able to pull a fast one, it seemed like all hope was lost, and knowing that Boba Fett lurks in these very dunes, it seemed like the perfect moment for a bit of Boba ex machina. Unfortunately, we’ll have to keep waiting for that, though.

With the would-be bandits dealt with, Mando and the Child are forced to rough it back to Mos Eisley on foot, considering their speeder blew up in the crash.

On the Road Again

When the two arrive, they find their old pal Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) in the midst of an intense card game with one Dr. Mandible, an alien who looks to be a human-sized ant. As intimidating as he may look, Mandible proves extremely helpful, offering to set Mando up with a contact who knows where he can find more Mandalorians, now that Cobb Vanth turned out to be a dead end. All the while, though, the only thought on my mind is what could he possible be a doctor of?

Back at the Razor Crest, Peli Motto introduces Mando and the Child to their new passenger. The amphibian-looking alien played by Misty Rosas doesn’t really have a name, but for simplicity’s sake we’ll just call her Frog Lady. Anyway, Frog Lady requires passage to a neighboring system in order to reunite with her husband and fertilize her final batch of eggs – or else her entire family line will die out. Conveniently, according to Frog Lady’s husband, this planet is also home to a number of Mandalorians, so it sounds like a real win-win.

Mando agrees only to then find out there’s one condition: no hyperdrive. Due to the sensitive nature of Frog Lady’s eggs – which look like little orbs floating in a jar she carries around – they can’t jump to lightspeed or else the offspring will be destroyed. This means not only will the journey be longer, but it’ll also prove more dangerous, since non-lightspeed travel will expose the Razor Crest to all sorts of planets, conditions and unwanted visitors.

Alas, the duo becomes a trio and the three set off slow and steady towards their new destination. But every road trip needs plenty of snacks to help get you from Point A to Point B, and Baby Yo agrees. While Mando is piloting the ship, the Child sneaks his way into Frog Lady’s floating spawn and pops a few of the delicious embryos into his mouth. It’s a classic, cute Baby Yo moment, until you remember he’s essentially committing genocide. Tough look for Baby Yo.

Welcome to the New Republic

Everyone on board dozes off for a bit, but it’s not long until they’re awakened by chatter on the radio. Without a beacon to properly identify themselves as a non-Imperial ship, the Razor Crest has drawn the attention of the New Republic. As two X-Wing starfighters flank Mando’s ship, we get a look at the “good guys” in this in-between stage during the post-Rebel Alliance, pre-Resistance era.

The pilots of these two ships are the best easter eggs in the episode, as one is flown by actor and “Star Wars” super fan Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, playing Captain Carson Teva, and the other is the creative genius behind much of “Star Wars,” Dave Filoni as Trapper Wolf. The pilots warn Mando that he must turn on this beacon to identify himself, but with an outstanding warrant that’s not something he plans to do. So, Mando punches the thruster and begins evasive maneuvers trying to escape.

As he speeds down to an icy planet below, Mando is able to lose the X-Wings, but at a cost. The Razor Crest crashes through the ice and plummets into a crevice where it once again lands in disrepair. No offense to the Razor Crest, I’m sure Mando has an emotional connection to it, but come on man. Let’s invest in a more durable ship. If you’re going to be bounty hunting and transporting precious cargo like this, we can’t keep having to spend an entire episode repairing the vehicle.

Another Happy Landing

Trapped on the icy planet, the chances of reuniting Frog Lady with her husband in time to reproduce look slim. In reality, Mando is simply focused on surviving the intense cold and living to see another day. But Frog Lady will not stand for this resignation.

Using the spare parts from Zero The Droid (Richard Ayoade), the robot from Season 1 who betrayed Mando, Frog Lady is able to finally communicate her dire position with Mando. After reinforcing that this is her last chance to preserve her family, and a little bit of guilt tripping, Mando agrees to get to work repairing the ship.

While doing so, Baby Yo notices that Frog Lady has seemingly abandoned the ship. The two track her snowy footprints into a cave where they find her soaking in a hot spring along with her spawn. With night quickly approaching, Mando insists she return to the ship where they can better protect themselves, but Baby Yoda has other plans.

The Child wanders deeper into the cave where he finds a chamber filled with some sort of “Aliens”-esque eggs sprouting from the ground and walls. It turns out Frog Lady’s spawn wasn’t enough to satiate Baby Yo’s appetite, so he cracks open one of these eggs and digs in once again. These prove to be more sinister, though, and by disturbing one egg, a chain reaction begins in which they all hatch and produce terrifying arachnoid monsters.

Creepy Crawlies

The three bolt back to the Razor Crest, dodging, shooting and flamethrowering all sorts of spiders along the way, but a busted ship can’t provide much sanctuary from the monsters. With doors and flaps hanging open, the only option is to seal themselves in the cockpit and hope for the best.

Waiting it out might work for the smaller spiders, but when an enormous monster the size of their ship shows up, it’s only a matter of time until the critters break their way through the Razor Crest’s last line of defense. That is… until a mysterious form of backup arrives. Lasers blast through the air and the spiders fall silent, and when Mando hesitantly emerges from the ship. Once again, this seemed like a perfect opportunity for Boba Fett to arrive, perhaps angrily looking for his missing armor, but instead, the savior came in the form of X-Wings.

The pilots explain how they were able to gather data on Mando’s ship – including the warrant – but they also discovered the good he has done, like saving the life of New Republic Lieutenant Davan and apprehending three criminals back in the Season 1 episode “Chapter 6: The Prisoner.” As a thank you, the two let the warrant slide and go on their way after the rescue, leaving Mando to repair his ship and continue on his journey with Frog Lady and Baby Yoda.

As “The Mandalorian” seemed primed to continue building on its larger, connected narrative, a standalone episode like “Chapter 10” felt like a step backward. Filled with the core elements of the “Star Wars” universe – new planets, new creatures, exciting action – it was still an entertaining half hour, but hopefully next week will move this thing forward.

Episode Score:

Come back next week for our recap of “The Mandalorian Chapter 11.”