WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian, Chapter 5, "The Gunslinger," now streaming on Disney+.

The latest episode of The Mandalorian brought with it a new character who may seem eerily familiar to sci-fi savvy fans. Amy Sedaris' character Peli Motto works as a mechanic on Tatooine when Mando drops by in need of repairs, and at first, it's easy to miss how much the character looks like Alien's Ellen Ripley.

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Closer inspection reveals the similarities are pretty striking, as both of the characters have the exact same bunched-up, curly hair. While Star Wars is known for its hodgepodge approach to anachronistic hairstyles when taken as a whole, the style of The Mandalorian in general sticks to far more modern haircuts. When one also considers that both characters have the same blue-collar overalls on it's clear that Motto's appearance could be a deliberate shoutout.

The similarity in the characters' clothing naturally results from their similar backgrounds. In both Alien and The Mandalorian, the technology that the characters use are not the sleek and sterile designs of Star Trek and Iron Man. Instead, the technology is grungier and dirtier; looking storied and worn in. What results from that aesthetic is that the technology needs tune-ups, repairs and replacements. For such tasks, you need a mechanic, and that's where both Ripley and Motto come in.

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The background of the mechanic may put both characters in similar overalls, but it also creates a deeper parallel between the two. As mechanics and engineers, they are good with their hands and inclined to fix what is broken. The demands of the job break away from the mold of classic feminine stereotypes and propose a more modern and practical position for the characters and their personalities. In both cases, the personalities on hand are pretty powerful, too.

Motto certainly doesn't share Ripley's stoic resolve or brave determination, instead opting for a more bubbly and quirky approach to interacting with others. That doesn't mean that the similarities between the characters stop at their appearances, however. In their positions as mechanics and given their inclination to fix things both Motto and Ripley fill a similar, almost maternal approach toward those around them. For Ripley, it was her cat and crew, while for Motto, it's Baby Yoda and Mando himself.

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Ultimately, there is only so much to be gained from the parallel so perhaps the comparison is more just an entertaining thought than anything else. But, as a train of thought to go on, the larger similarities between the characters and the stories housing them get more interesting the longer one rides it. Not only do both characters' roles speak to the aesthetic of the worlds around them and their relationship to the technology they employ, but it speaks to the larger treatment of women in sci-fi and sci-fi adjacent stories in the 30-years since Alien debuted.

Great strides have been made in popular film to establish characters who were women as far more complicated than the vapid stereotypes they could so often be reduced to, and Ripley alone was a big part of those strides. Part of what made Ripley great were her maternal elements; complicating her beyond just a reaction against the stereotypes and instead embracing them and incorporating them into a fuller character.

For Motto's character to be so similar to Ripley, and yet to part ways so distinctly when it comes to personality, reveals that even more complexity and nuance has grown in space-set media, as has an appreciation for these kinds of characters over time. These are the kinds of reflections that can turn a cute tip of the hat into something much more.

While it’s ultimately just a sly nod from one iconic sci-fi series that began in the ‘70s to another, it still shows how the franchises share grimy, tactile approaches to space and the heavy machinery that makes life there possible.

Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. A new episode arrives each Friday on Disney+.

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