Now that the Empire is dead, the New Republic allows its citizens to live freely. Or does it?
Season 3, Episode 3: ‘The Convert’
The planet Coruscant is an ecumenopolis: a city-covered world with a trillion residents, where after thousands of years of civilization and construction, only the peak of the mountain Umate is still visible from the original lands and seas. This outcropping juts up in Coruscant’s Monument Plaza, and when the former Imperial scientist Dr. Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) strolls by it — while enjoying a glowing ice pop and watching the street performers roaming about — the former Imperial communications officer Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian) suggests he touch the mountain. After all, the Empire is dead and the New Republic allows its citizens to live freely. Right?
So Pershing reaches out toward Umate. But then a droid buzzes by and stops him. Startled, he drops his dessert. The droid picks it up and whisks it away, sternly saying, “No littering.” Meet the new boss … maybe the same as the old boss.
About three-fourths of this week’s hourlong “The Mandalorian” is about Pershing, a familiar face whom you may recall was tasked in past episodes with extracting and studying Grogu’s blood, as part of a cloning program. Pershing always seemed conflicted about his work; and indeed helped Din rescue Grogu in the Season 2 finale.
As this episode begins, Pershing has been accepted into the New Republic’s amnesty program. He has been assigned the alphanumeric identity code L52 and put to work cataloging all the Imperial spacecraft and machinery about to be destroyed by the government. He works in a nondescript cubicle in a huge office, and barely gets through one tray of electronic files before a droid plops another on his desk. He is a brilliant scientist who once did groundbreaking work, and if allowed to he knows he could help the New Republic make use of the Empire’s discarded bones. But all of the supervisors and droids assigned to his case are too busy — and too wary — to listen to him.
Pershing is “The Convert” of this chapter’s title, though this episode is mostly about his creeping doubts. Out in the Outer Rim, where various Imperial remnants still operate — including the one led by his old boss Moff Gideon — times were hard but the various factions were at least still fighting for something. On Coruscant, on the other hand, one of the first people Pershing meets is a wealthy snob who admits that the change in regime has not affected him, because he and his wife try to stay out of politics. Their only cause is staying rich.
It is no wonder then that Pershing’s head is turned by Elia, another Moff Gideon survivor who secretly supplies him with some of the biscuits they both used to enjoy from their Imperial rations. Elia knows Coruscant because she trained there when it was still under the Empire’s control. (“We thought we were doing good,” she says.) She encourages him to continue with his research regardless of what the New Republic says, noting — not incorrectly — that “following orders blindly is how we got in trouble in the first place.”
In one of this week’s big adventure set pieces, Pershing and Elia defy their allowed travel zones by sneaking onto a train — avoiding the officious droid ticket-takers — and making their way to an old Imperial ship, to steal one of the mobile lab stations that the New Republic is thoughtlessly intending to scrap. But the heist turns out to be a setup. When the authorities arrive, Elia joins with them and lets Pershing get arrested.
In custody, Pershing is subjected to the brainwashing device commonly referred to as a “mind-flayer,” although the pleasant doctor in charge of the procedure insists that his version is much less intense than its reputation. (“You’ll see some pleasant colors, hear some light buzzing.”) But when the doctor leaves, Elia stays behind and cranks the mind-flayer dials into the red, while stoically munching on one of those Imperial biscuits.
There is a real “Andor” feel to this unsentimental depiction of the Empire-versus-Republic dynamic, where everyone has their own agendas and is advancing them by exploiting whatever systems are in place. Elia’s motivations are still unclear (though they probably involve Moff Gideon). But in terms of what this week’s story is about, what matters here is that neither “the good guys” or “the bad guys” are doing right by Dr. Pershing.
Initially, this Coruscant interlude seems a bit out of line with the rest of the episode, which begins with Din and Bo-Katan shooting down TIE fighters on Kalevala (though not before the armada destroys Bo-Katan’s palatial home). The long opening action sequence is old-school “Star Wars,” full of “pew pew” sound effects, slick aerial maneuvers through narrow passages, and the comic relief of R5-D4 falling down repeatedly. It is thrilling and thematically uncomplicated.
But the writers Jon Favreau and Noah Kloor bring their pieces together at the end, by returning to Din and Bo-Katan after they escape Kalevala. Din wants to hide out for a while with the Mandalorian covert led by the Armorer; after he proves to the assembled tribe that he and Bo-Katan have bathed in the Living Waters beneath Mandalore’s mines, they are both cleared of their apostate status and accepted back into the fold.
Is this really a happy ending though for Bo-Katan, who resents these fundamentalist Mandalorians for helping to destroy her family’s reign? Unlike Pershing, she is not the sort to follow rules for their own sake. She does what she likes, whenever she likes, no matter what human, alien or droid says no. In other words: This covert is probably not welcoming in another convert.
This is the way
This week’s director is Lee Isaac Chung, making his “Mandalorian” debut. Chung received Oscar nominations for best director and best original screenplay for his 2020 movie “Minari,” a lovely and muted drama about immigrant farmers. He has a real knack for getting subtle and engaging performances from his casts, and this episode is no exception.
Dr. Pershing becomes a part of a great “Star Wars” tradition when he tries to defend his theft by shouting — to a Mon Calamari, no less — “It was a trap!” (If only he had added, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”)
After Din and Bo-Katan say “this is the way” to each other while flying away from Mandalore, Grogu makes a little mewling noise that almost sounds he is repeating the words. The little guy is getting so, so close to talking.
Note that the Mandalorian covert has what appears to be a Mythosaur skull hanging in one of its chambers — perhaps the skull of the Mythosaur that Mandalore the Great was supposed to have killed, but which Bo-Katan may have seen still alive in the Living Waters. How long until she suggests to Din that his people have been lying to him about their history?
After the Armorer accepts Din and Bo-Katan into the covert, everyone gathers around to give them hearty claps on their shoulders. This, apparently, is the way?
Source: Television - nytimes.com
