Episode 15: #TheMandalorian does pikuach nefesh.

This show is so jewish it's honestly dizzying. #TheMandalorian

I'll probably come back to this after Shabbos/when spoilers are less of an issue, but there were a few scenes that felt positively uncanny.

Favs, five minutes of your time!!

This week's episode of #TheMandalorian gave us:

- Having your practices/beliefs mocked by a self-proclaimed rationalist
- Legitimate testing of those practices by circumstance
- Validation of those practices respected DESPITE those circumstances by the rationalist!

The first two of those things happen frequently when you walk between religious and secular worlds. Like, extremely often. The last one is usually just left up to you. (Well-meaning people are almost never apologetic about their prejudice.)

So it was an intense watch.

On top of which, @PedroPascal1's portrayal of someone violating their religious beliefs for a good reason, and hating every second of it, was... like viscerally familiar. I could feel his exposure, the wrongness of the air on his face, the violation of everyone /looking./

Especially because no one else is embarrassed. No one else feels that anything is wrong. The choice Mando makes, and its consequences, are between him and his faith, and that is a painfully intimate thing to experience at all, much less in public.

The way the helmet scene plays out is just so. agonizing. At first, no one really notices the helmet come off. Okay, maybe I can do this quickly and think about it later. Then, some attention is attracted. Well, it's one person, this will be over soon. It's okay.

And then it's everyone. Including Mayfeld, whose mockery I'm sure Din can just HEAR in his head. And then, forget it, he's not just exposed, he's *walking around exposed in public.* EVERYONE is looking at him. This has become too real to forget about.

It's so evident in @PedroPascal1's face. The fact that he can barely talk, barely comprehend what's being said to him. The stunned look of someone who is absolutely malfunctioning inside, and has no allies at all in this process.

(AHHHH)

Which is why (though I still have plenty of problems with Mayfeld) his kindness to Mando is SO important.

Because Mando doesn't want to care what this other person thinks about his religion. None of us do. But we're in the world, and in an environment that has A Lot Of Opinions.

Theologically, Mayfeld saying, "I never saw your face" probably doesn't mean very much. But interpersonally, it is essential.

He could have made fun. He could have said, "I told you so." He could have pushed for an explanation. But he just recognizes Din's agony and accepts it.

And that is actual validation. That is actual respect. That is what it looks like when you *don't make someone else's faith about you.*

I don't know how #TheMandalorian is going to deal with this going forward. I don't know if Din is going to be like, hey, the sky didn't fall and Bo Katan is cool, so I'm de-helmeting for good -- or if he'll double down on his sect's beliefs as a result of having to violate them.

But this was a relevant and honest beginning to that process, whatever it winds up becoming. I felt (ironically) transparently 'seen' by this episode in a way that I just have not before. #TheMandalorian still has plenty of issues, but I'm really moved by that.