4x01 Heroes of Mandalore (1)

[7.3/10] Part one of the series-opening two parter is easily the better half. It’s basically one big action set piece (or at least a few action set pieces strung together) but they’re well done and purposeful and it makes the beginning of Season 4 feel a little bit like empty calories, but good ones.

We start in medias res with Sabine and some Clan Wren commandos, aided by Ezra, Kanan, and to a lesser extent Chopper, on a mission to rescue her dad from the Empire. That consists of essentially two assaults. The first one is a pretty standard attack on an Imperial base. There’s not much to tell, but the episode gets some mileage out of Sabine darting and dashing through weapons fire to reach her target, Kanan leaping and slicing his way through the enemies, and Ezra not quite having the hang of his jetpack but improvising and making it work like the former street-rat he is.

Still all that improvising isn’t enough to win the day, so our heroes get some reinforcements from a familiar face, Bo Katan, the sister of former Mandalorian ruler Duchess Satine (both of The Clone Wars fame), voiced by Katee Sackhoff (of Battlestar Galactica fame). We get a little detail on what happened to her during the post-Clone Wars period, where she was apparently made regent but toppled when she wouldn’t go along with the Empire, and sees herself as not having been good enough to lead her people, and thus not worthy to carry the darksaber.

But she is worthy enough to help Sabine & Co. attack a convoy where Sabine’s dad is being held prisoner, so we get action set piece #2! This one is a little harder to follow, with swirling combatants and quick cuts between them as the dust rises around everyone. But it still features some damn cool sequences, including Kanan kicking some enemy butt, Sabine commandeering a speederbike and doing some damage, and Ezra leaping from falling transport to falling transport until Sabine can save his butt. Again, there’s not much to it, but they have a clear mission -- rescuing Sabine’s dad -- which gives purpose to all the mayhem.

Naturally, they’re successful, and we meet Papa Wren who, it turns out, is where Sabine got her artistic side. I like the stereotype reversal hear, where Sabine’s mom is the hardened warrior and her dad is the artsy one, even if it’s a little too simplistic in terms of offering the “ingredients” that make Sabine.

The only thing that doesn’t really work in this one is the end where an anti-Mandalorian weapon of Sabine’s own design is used against her countrymen and kills her mother and brother. We don’t know Sabine’s family that well, so the tragedy of the moment doesn’t really land, and it feels like an unearned emotional extreme after a pretty weightless half hour.

Otherwise, this was a fun way to kick off the season, with nicely put together action with a clear purpose and plenty of cool little sequences.