The Mandalorian Episode 6 Review

Director: Rick Famuyiwa
Starring: Mark Boone Junior, Bill Burr, Natalia Tena, Clancy Brown, Richard Ayoade and Ismael Cruz Cordova

WARNING: Potential SPOILERS for The Mandalorian Episode 6, called The Prisoner, in this review.

Now, this is what I wanted from The Mandalorian series on Disney Plus! It’s taken the show a while to get to this point, but this sort of episode is why I’ve been so excited to see the live-action Star Wars TV show.

This episode, which is called Chapter 6: The Prisoner, is easily the best episode of the show since the pilot, which I still think was pretty darn good.

The episode sees Rick Famuyiwa return as director, but he also helped write the episode’s script with Christopher Yost who’s a pretty well-known comic book writer.

One of the reasons why The Mandalorian Episode 6 kind of stands above the rest is because it’s a confined story, but confined in a good way.

Most of the episode takes place in one location, a spaceship prison, and it shows The Mandalorian at his very best.

The Mandalorian Is Back On Track

The Mandalorian and the Devaronian strongman Burg in Episode 6 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: How Can You Watch The Mandalorian On Disney Plus In The UK?

Here you see why he’s such a legend in this universe. You see him having to use his smarts, his weapons and his fighting ability.

You also see his morals in this episode, which has been evident throughout the show, but I really do like this ‘honour among thieves’ vibe Mando has going on in The Mandalorian Episode 6.

There’s also a very amusing subplot involving Richard Ayoade’s droid, Zero, and Baby Yoda which I just loved.

I also love the fact that they cast comedian Bill Bur as an ex-Imperial sharpshooter (yes, I love the irony there) called Mayfeld, and he’s brilliant in this episode.

One of the things this show has done very well is bringing in some of the stranger and odd-looking aliens in the Star Wars universe, and they’ve got some real oddities in this episode.

This rag-tag bunch of thieves banded together to go and rescue someone of the spaceship prison includes, as well as The Mandalorian, Mayfeld, a Devaronian strongman Burg (I love the design of this guy. He basically looks like a demon), the droid pilot Zero, and the knife-wielding Twi’lek woman Xi’an.

It’s great seeing the likes of a Devaronian and a Twi’lek in live-action again and they look great in this episode. This is where fan-service actually works because it’s also world-building, and not just throwing in nods and winks to things to please the Star Wars fans.

You’ve got to love seeing Bill Bur in a Star Wars TV show

Bill Burr in The Mandalorian Episode 6 (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Read more: The Huge Storytelling Potential of Disney Plus’ New Star Wars Show The Mandalorian

The fact that this whole episode is almost entirely set on the prison spaceship really helps to bring focus and it’s also a great and genuinely Star Wars location.

We’re not going back to a planet like Tatooine just to have The Mandalorian repair his ship and look for work. This episode expands the Star Wars universe by showing us something we haven’t seen before, but have it evidently be in a location we can recognise as being part of this galaxy far far away.

I had been losing hope with The Mandalorian before watching this episode, but The Prisoner has brought me back on board, and I’m now looking forward to seeing what’s coming up next.

Interestingly enough, this is also the only episode of the show which wasn’t written by Jon Favreau, which might explain why it feels so different to the other ones.

This actually has been slightly worried that The Mandalorian’s final two episodes will just revert back to the over-reliance on fan-service we’ve come to expect from this Disney Plus Star Wars show.

What did you make of The Mandalorian Episode 6? Let us know in the comments below.

What do you make of this review? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook or Instagram pages!

And if you enjoy listening to film podcasts, why not check out Small Screen Radio wherever you get your podcasts!