The fourth chapter of the Mandalorian is called Sanctuary. Although it is not as action packed as the rest of the episodes (even though it has its moments of intense fighting during a pitched battle), I wanted to dedicate one entire post to it because I really appreciate the director, Bryce Dallas Howard. 

It is a breather episode, set on a lush green planet amidst krill (not to be confused with the aforementioned Nick Nolte-voiced Kuiil the Ugnaught) farmers, it serves well as a standalone episode. The planet being very low-tech brings it to the point of obscurity, which totally fits the aim of our hero because he’s trying to escape the attentions of other bounty hunters as well as imperialist forces trying to get their hands on the Child.

After three episodes of non-stop action and escapes by the skin of their teeth, it is nice to see the Mandalorian and the Child (or the Kid, as Mando calls him affectionately) kick back in tranquil environs. Joining them as Cara Dune is ex-MMA champion Gina Carano, who also had a significant role in Deadpool, which is part of the expansive Marvel universe.

She made her acting debut opposite Spawn himself, Mr. Michael Jai White, one of the earliest super heroes whom I had seen on cable television (Star Movies) in India. Spawn was also the last movie to feature Nicol Williamson, who was described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and by critics as "the hamlet of his generation".

Bryce Dallas Howard does a great job of breaking down the pace and establishing the Mandalorian as a gentle warrior. She reinforces the paternal instincts of the character by pairing him for this episode with a widowed mother. The tone of the episode is light even in the training montages of the villagers, as they are taught to shoot and fight against the marauders by our hero and Cara Dune. 

One notable piece of trivia about this episode is that Pedro Pascal, who plays the Mandalorian, was unavailable for this episode and hence, his role was played by stuntmen. I guess that’s another advantage of having a masked protagonist, in that even when he takes off his helmet, his face need not be shown to the audience.

Quite understandably, the Child is an instant favorite with the other children of the village, and also grosses them out with its frog-gulleting gimmick.

After the predictable victory against the marauders, our hero considers leaving the Child behind in the safe surroundings. These hopes are short lived, however, because bounty hunters are not far behind. It’s off to space for our leading characters once again.

And now for a bit on Bryce Dallas Howard. I really appreciate her embracing existentialism at an early age, and her outspoken views about her battles with postpartum depression which she overcame and treated as a learning experience.

I first saw her as the blind lead in M Night Shyamalan's The Village, and most recently behind the camera for the documentary Dads (which is out on Apple TV+ right now).

Her roles in the Spiderman, Terminator, Jurassic Park and Twilight franchises were more or less along expected lines, but that does not take anything away from the fact that she is a great actress, even in comedic roles such as her cameo on Arrested Development, which has such a long cameo list that it deserves a full post of its own (which I am sure I will write in the coming weeks). If you haven't seen the dysfunctional family in action, here's a little clip show:

The great part about having a couple of different directors coming in to direct a couple of the episodes is that they are able to give it a fresh perspective that does not completely fit in with the Star Wars action-oriented feel. 

On that note, let’s go on to the fifth episode, which gets back into the space Western groove: the Gunslinger.