Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3 episode 6.
This week’s episode of The Mandalorian, “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire,” is another classic case of cramming all the crucial storytelling into the prologue and epilogue while an inconsequential adventure-of-the-week side quest takes up the bulk of the episode. Bo-Katan kicks off the mission that the Armorer bestowed upon her last week by bringing Mando to the only democratic planet in the Outer Rim, where they’re tasked with solving a malfunctioning droid problem as an act of diplomacy.
“Guns for Hire” is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who once again proves herself to be one of the most reliable Mandalorian directors. Howard has been a fan-favorite since helming the Seven Samurai episode “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” back in season 1. She’s the director who saved The Book of Boba Fett by turning it into The Mandalorian season 2.5 with “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian.” She first introduced the live-action Bo-Katan in season 2’s “Chapter 11: The Heiress,” so it makes sense to bring her back for this integral juncture in Bo-Katan’s arc.
Howard becomes a more confident director with each Mandalorian episode she tackles. With plenty of experience under her belt, Howard knows exactly who these characters are, exactly where to put the camera, and exactly how long to linger on each scene to get the message across without hurting the pacing of the story. She does a great job of spearheading action sequences like a high-stakes knife fight and a neon-lit foot chase through a crowded street. But, at the same time, she doesn’t let the action overshadow the character development. Howard keeps the focus on Mando’s evolving friendship with Bo-Katan and puts the spotlight squarely on Pedro Pascal (and his body doubles) and Katee Sackhoff as they continue to round out that relationship, which has been central to The Mandalorian’s third season.
The fun “buddy cop” dynamic that Mando and Bo-Katan have been developing throughout the season takes center stage in “Guns for Hire.” They have the same goals, but they each have different ways of pursuing them. In between action scenes – and sometimes during them – they bicker about whether droids can be trusted without missing a beat. Howard was the perfect choice to helm this episode. As an actor herself, one of her greatest strengths as a director is her ability to direct actors, respect their process, and get great performances out of them.
From Jack Black to Lizzo to Christopher Lloyd, “Guns for Hire” features some of the most prolific guest stars of the season so far. It doesn’t use its A-list cameos as a gimmick; each of the famous faces in the episode plays a key part in the story and knocks their role out of the park. Black seizes the chance to ham it up with flamboyant line readings and tongue-in-cheek humor. Lizzo gets to live every Mandalorian fan’s dream as she spends the whole episode hanging out with Grogu, but also ably handles the exposition she’s required to deliver. In the role of the droids’ eccentric, morally gray handler, Lloyd is much more Uncle Fester than Doc Brown.
While “Guns for Hire” is an entertaining standalone episode, The Mandalorian is getting dangerously close to the end of the season without introducing the endgame. This episode has no follow-up on the Moff Gideon tease from the end of last week’s installment and there are just two more episodes to go. If season 3 is setting the stage for a new Mandalorian civil war between the tribes galvanized by Bo-Katan and the crooked warriors led by an escaped Gideon, it’s quickly running out of time to pay off all the build-up.
If Gideon isn’t going to show up until the very end, it’ll limit Giancarlo Esposito’s ability to cast a menacing shadow over the story. So far, The Mandalorian season 3 has felt like the first part of a two-part season like Stranger Things season 4 or the final season of Ozark. It’s making the same mistake that most Marvel shows have made on the same streaming service: the whole season has been spent building up to an action-packed climax that will undoubtedly feel rushed and unearned when it’s all jammed into the finale episode.
One of the main tenets of Star Wars is introducing audiences to strange new worlds. The sequel trilogy was a disappointment on this front with the introduction of store-brand Tatooine (Jakku), store-brand Hoth (Crait), and store-brand Coruscant (Hosnian Prime). The Mandalorian season 3 itself has fallen short in this department with familiar environments like Tatooine, Coruscant, and Nevarro. But “Guns for Hire” introduces a beautiful new planet with stunning, immersive visual effects. This isn’t the usual underwhelming small-screen VFX with wide shots and close-ups and nothing in between; Howard’s razor-sharp direction provides a clear perspective of the scope and scale of this democratic paradise.
Overall, “Guns for Hire” is an exciting enough standalone installment of The Mandalorian. There’s plenty of action, Black and Lloyd are a perfect fit for the Star Wars universe, and the focus on Bo-Katan’s journey is continuing to pay off. But it’s getting too late in the season for standalone episodes. After everything that season 3 has set up, it seems unlikely that Jon Favreau and co. Can pull it all together in just two episodes.