The Mandalorian is at its best when it’s weird and full of cameos

By James On Apr 5, 2023

The Mandalorian is a show that is better off without a story than with one. That’s exactly why the sixth episode of the third season was the best and most fun so far. Rather than trying to pass on the show’s larger overall plot, Episode 6 sticks with the best Mandalorian formula: Din Djarin goes to a weird little planet, has an adventure and hangs out with some amazing guest stars.

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for season 3 episode 6 of The Mandalorian.]

In the third episode, Mando and Bo-Katan travel to the world of Plazir-15, where they encounter a planet ruled and governed by the best lineup of guest stars the series has ever enjoyed. The royal, but democratically elected couple who work to make this world a utopia are played by Lizzo and Jack Black.

Image: Lucasfilm

The pairing works well not because the two have particularly outstanding performances or great characters, but because it’s designed to trade off their fame and likability. The characters don’t have to be overly complicated as they don’t really matter in the grand scheme of the series, and cameos themselves tell you everything you really need to know. In other words, they are two characters that cannot be played by just a few actors; it had to be Lizzo and Jack Black having fun with Baby Yoda. And that’s a welcome relief in a show that has recently forgotten how to have fun.

This is even more true of the episode’s villain, Commissioner Helgait, played by Christopher Lloyd. Perhaps sci-fi’s most recognized “good-natured mad scientist,” thanks to his role as Doc Brown in Back to the future, Lloyd is the perfect surprise villain for this episode. He’s both completely believable and a covert political radical with a droid army plot he’s been brewing for years, even though most people’s first instinct is that he’s just a kind and eccentric old man. In fact, he perfectly adheres to the “crime series guest star” rule that the culprit is always the person who has been famous the longest.

Christopher Lloyd in The Mandalorian wears a Plazir-15 security uniform and hunched over a console with buttons

With all these guest stars and a plot and structure that would feel right at home in a Law and order episode, The Mandalorian‘s final episode may be the surest sign yet that the show’s main plot isn’t making it interesting. What makes it interesting is the ability to deftly flip from one part of the Star Wars universe to another, showing off all the strange worlds, characters, and creatures it contains. Unfortunately, for the remaining few episodes of Season 3, we’re almost certainly stuck with even more Mandalorians than usual as they try to take back their planet, so this was probably the last bit of no-consequence fun we get this time around.