The Mandalorian: The Apostate

“The Apostate” is a perfect episode. It’s fun and light and sets up a season that could possibly be the best yet.

Mando is back! After a more than 2 year hiatus, we finally get to meet back up with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu and believe me, when I saw it’s never felt better.

“The Apostate” is a perfect way to start the third season of “The Mandalorian.” Instead of an episode filled with action to satisfy hungry fans that have been waiting for 803 days (yes, I have a countdown on my phone), series creator Jon Favreau and director Rick Famuyiwa give us an even better episode. It’s slow, but you don’t care because you’re reuniting with old friends you haven’t seen in a long time.

We meet up with Mando as he and Grogu swoop in to save The Children of the Watch from a giant reptilian water beast. He’s a man on a quest for redemption and his first stop is a visit with The Armorer (Emily Swallow). He’s informed that his only chance, albeit a small one, at redemption is bathing in the Living Waters beneath the mines of Mandalore.

His next stop is the planet Nevarro and a quick meet-up with Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), but Mando is a man on a mission and needs something from Greef. He needs a partner to help him on his quest on Mandalore and that partner is IG-11. The only problem is what remains of IG-11 stands as a statue in the town square and after a quick visit with some Anzellans, Mando discovers the droid needs a new memory chip to be functional once more.

Initiate side quest mode!

Mando’s final house call of the episode is to Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff), who he finds kicking it solo in a castle on Kalevala. He learns that Bo-Katan’s forces have left her and her plans to reclaim Mandalore along with them. She attempts to dissuade him from going to the planet, but to no avail, with Mando leaving her sitting alone as he marches off on his quest.

I was surprised how much this episode had me smiling and laughing a time or two. Favreau and team crafted an episode with scenes of action and tension but went heavy on being playful and fun, and I loved it. You can tell they are comfortable with just telling the story that needs to be told and not the one they think should be told.

Grogu is an amazing character that you can’t help being captivated by. It just that simple. What I think what makes him so loveable is Grogu is all of us when we were younger. Curious, full of wonder and sometimes bored as hell. When Mando and Greef are having a meeting, Grogu uses the force to spin in a chair to keep from being bored and when Mando stops him, he swifts focus and uses his force abilities to snatch some candy from Greefs desk. Then we see him try to snuggle little Babu Frik wannabees as the Anzellans try to fix IG-11. The scenes are cute and don’t come off corny at all.

But the thing I was most excited to see in this episode only lasted a few seconds but got me so jazzed. We got to see freaking Purrgils in a live-action Star Wars series. What are Purrgils, you ask? Only hyperspace traveling whale-type creatures! If that sounds badass, it’s because it is.

The creatures feature prominently in the final episodes of “Star Wars Rebels,” and I recommend any fan that hasn’t watched “Rebels” to do so now. Does this mean much for “The Mandalorian?” Probably not, but it is a nice setup for the upcoming Ahsoka series. Why, you ask? GO WATCH REBELS TO FIND OUT!

“The Apostate” is a perfect episode of “The Mandalorian.” It’s fun and light and sets up a season that could possibly be the best yet.