Both Carl Weathers and Don Murray passed away in the past few days. To-day, Risshun, the first day of spring in Japan's old calendar, I woke up to find a surprise coating of snow outside, on top of all the cars and rooftops and on the hills and trees. I didn't see this much snow all winter long. It's beginning to look a lot like omens.
Carl Weathers' biggest roles are of course in the Rocky movies and in the original Predator. I haven't seen a Rocky movie in decades but I watched Predator pretty recently and the man gives a solid performance. He and Schwarzenegger pair well together as two muscle bound hardasses, most memorably shown in the meme-ified shot of their two burly arms locked in a friendly grip.
In more recent years, Weathers has been one of the best aspects of Disney's Star Wars projects, acting in and directing episodes of The Mandalorian.
Don Murray starred in a number of prominent films, including Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe and the Otto Preminger political intrigue Advise and Consent. But I'll always remember him best for his time on Twin Peaks as Bushnell Mullins.
I saw him in person at San Diego Comic Con. He attended a screening of season three, episode eleven with several other cast members. They were right there with us in the audience. He never seemed uptight, just genuinely happy to be there out promoting this show among people who love the series. He was well cast as the fine man Cooper said he was.
Another week, another poorly written episode of The Mandalorian. But this time, director Carl Weathers actually made a mediocre script by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni into something at times genuinely exciting.
The recap reminds us of the kid whose head's been newly imprisoned by the the Mandalorian helmet for no reason. Really, doesn't anyone ever ask, "Why?" This week, the kid's nabbed by a cool alien pterodactyl.
Bo Katan managed to follow it to its nest. She does nothing else, returning to base so everyone can convene, draw up plans, and mount a coordinated effort to rescue the kid, and for some reason no-one seems to think the kid's been killed already. They decide not to use their jetpacks at first for fear of making too much noise and upsetting the monster. "It would kill the child," the Armourer explains as though the kid's being held for ransom.
They make camp upon reaching the nest at nightfall, apparently deciding the nightvision capabilities on their helmets grant them no advantage against the apparently diurnal monster.
And they needn't have rushed because the monster coughs up the kid for his own babies and the kid's just fine.
I know, I know. Beskar armour. But no broken limbs? No saliva? For whatever reason, the monster decided not to feed its babies right away, so the kid was just sleeping in its gullet all night? Was he even in any danger from the babies? Is anyone really in any danger from anything?
The episode ends with the three monster babies being adopted by the tribe. A sure sign this section of the story was written by Dave Filoni whose depictions of animals in Rebels and Tales of the Jedi make me think he was the kind of kid who'd have climbed into the tiger enclosure at the zoo expecting to be able to pet the animals after a perfunctory round of harmless rough and tumble.
Weathers deserves a lot of credit for making the sky battle truly exciting.
Meanwhile, Grogu has a flashback of his rescue and flight from the Jedi Temple with the assistance of none other than Ahmed Best.
Best isn't bad as a badass Jedi and Weathers makes him look good. Certainly better than he looks on the show where Best originated the role of Jedi Master Kelleran Beq two years ago:
The Mandalorian is available on Disney+ and Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge is available on YouTube.
