WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Mandalorian, "Chapter 10: The Passenger," streaming now on Disney+.
The Mandalorian deftly mixes amazing action sequences with down to earth humor and humanity, and Season 2, Episode 2, is no different. For the second time in the Star Wars universe, Din Djarin and The Child have to deal with something most people with a driver's license experience at least once in their lives -- being pulled over.
After last season featured a pair of Imperial troopers trying to stay awake on the job, it's hilarious to contrast their workplace attitude to that of the two New Republic X-Wing pilots who are much more thorough. Watching them pull up alongside the Razor Crest in a manner that somehow clearly evokes the question "do you know why we're pulling you over, sir?" is an exercise in humor and tension.
It's a good expansion on a scene found in Solo: A Star Wars Story. In Solo's prologue, Han and Qi'ra have double-crossed a Corellian crime lord and are working on their high-speed getaway. As they blow through a checkpoint, an Imperial patrol trooper on a speeder bike pulls out behind them. A moment later, the officer flashes some familiar-sounding police sirens as he orders Han to pull over. Han instead nudges them close to a barrier in the road, and the Imperial patrolman is flipped off his speeder bike.
The Mandalorian's encounter with the New Republic's spacelane patrol is more naturally paced and becomes funnier the longer it goes on. The Razor Crest isn't having a problem with it's taillights, nor is its blinker failing -- its transponder beacon isn't running. On the Outer Rim, not running a transponder beacon is enough to get a starship in trouble with the fuzz. As Din Djarin tries to explain, the Crest is old hardware, the equivalent of a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado without a working AM/FM radio. He goes on to claim that he has a legal excuse to not have a beacon running on the ship.
The X-Wing pilots aren't sold on the story. They can't know for certain that the Razor Crest isn't carrying Imperial sympathizers or rogue cargo, so they ask for a ping anyway. If the beacon isn't sending the ship's ID code automatically, they'll ping it once so that they can trace an ID. Din Djarin soon refuses to do that, either. Still not willing to jump into a dogfight, the pilots ask the Crest to follow them to a nearby outpost so they can run the ship's galactic tags there.
Mando gives up on playing along the legal way and breaks for it, leading the X-Wings on a low-atmosphere chase along the cloudy surface of some unknown, icebound planet. With casual flair and only some turbulence considering what he's gone through before, Djarin bounces the Crest into a cavernous nook that should keep them from being spotted by the New Republic pilots.
It turns out to be a good thing for Din Djarin, The Child and their motherly frog passenger that the pilots don't just give up and leave. With enough information to run some sort of trace on the Razor Crest, the pilots figure out that there's an arrest warrant out for the Mandalorian bounty hunter. Someone helped bust open a New Republic Correctional Transport a while back, and Din Djarin left enough survivors behind to mark him as involved.
It's the mercy he showed during Season 1, "Episode 6: The Prisoner," that saves Djarin from not just being arrested, but also from the local arachnids The Child awakens. The New Republic pilots have enough sense to read the full report on Djarin's activity and make a reasonable judgment call after weighing the information. There's no doubt Djarin was part of the assault on that New Republic prison vessel, but he also ensured Republic lives were saved.
Unlike Solo's earlier traffic-cop gag, The Mandalorian's encounter with the law has a purpose. Although funny, it shows how working to be a better person reaps reward. Djarin's encounter with the X-Wing pilots would have been very different if he was the Mandalorian he'd been before adopting The Child. It may be lighthearted, but his encounter with two New Republic pilots on traffic patrol is more of that character growth the show loves to explore.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, with guest stars Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Directors for the new season include Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed and Robert Rodriguez.