One of the Best Episodes of The Mandalorian Was Even More Special for HBO Fans

HBO has put out a truly special, classic show within just about every genre and subgenre out there. For the gangster subgenre, there was The Sopranos. For the more modern crime subgenre, The Wire. For comedy, Veep. And, for the Western genre, there was Deadwood. An expletive-laden, endearing classic of a show with a wide array of character types and some seriously impressive set design, it’s HBO’s hard R-rated version of classics like Tombstone and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. And, for fans of the series, there is one episode of The Mandalorian that has extra appeal, because it shares not just one but two cast members.

One of them is Timothy Olyphant, who played the lead role of Deadwood’s sheriff, Seth Bullock. The other is harder to tell because, in true Star Wars fashion, he’s under a few hefty layers of makeup.

What Is “The Marshal” About?

Even though he created The Mandalorian and served as its showrunner over the course of three seasons, Jon Favreau only directed one of its 24 total episodes. That would be the Deadwood-related episode in question, the Season 2 premiere, “The Marshal.” Though he is directing the upcoming movie The Mandalorian & Grogu.

In this episode, which is not only the best of the show’s three seasons’ premieres but stands as one of the entire series’ best installments in general, Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin is looking for other Mandalorians who can help get “the Child” to his people. Specifically, the Jedi.

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Djarin is given a lead to the town of Mos Pelgo, which apparently houses an individual who has been seen wearing Mandalorian armor. When Djarin arrives in Mos Pelgo (now called Freetown), he finds that a man is wearing Mandalorian armor, but he is no Mandalorian. He’s actually the town’s marshal, Cobb Vanth (Olyphant), who traded some crystals for the armor and used it to chase off a group of overbearing and violent miners.

After a standoff that nearly ends in one of the two losing their life, they come to an agreement. Djarin can take the Mandalorian armor if he helps Vanth eliminate a giant krayt dragon, a beast big and ferocious enough to devour a sarlacc. Together, they accomplish the task in one of the series’ most riveting set-pieces, but only with the help of Mos Pelgo’s residents and the local Tusken Raiders.

Who Is the Other Deadwood Cast Member in “The Marshal”?

The first time you’re watching Deadwood and meet the right-hand man of Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), Dan Dority, you’d be forgiven for thinking he looks very familiar. That’s because he’s W. Earl Brown, who first rose to prominence as the ill-fated Kenny the cameraman in Wes Craven’s seminal Scream. He also played the brother of the title character in There’s Something About Mary, though that role hasn’t aged particularly well (not Brown’s fault).

In The Mandalorian, Brown reteams with his Deadwood pal Olyphant (who coincidentally played one of the two Ghostface killers in Scream 2) as Taanti, the Weequay bartender of Freetown. His dynamic with Vanth is a nice one. They clearly get along quite well and, through a flashback, we see that Vanth rescued Taanti when the Miners stormed the latter’s bar, shooting patrons at random in a vicious slaughter.

Then there’s the genre elephant in the room. It’s not just Brown and Olyphant who link “The Marshal” to Deadwood, as the episode is without a doubt based on one of the Western genre’s main go-to plotlines. Specifically, a stranger comes into town and helps the people of that town face down a threat that, until now, had kept them in fear for their lives and subjugated.

In High Plains Drifter, Clint Eastwood’s unnamed character helps the people of Lago defend themselves against a local band of criminals. He’s great with a gun, but can’t take on all of the criminals alone, so he needs to teach the people how to fight alongside him.

This episode of The Mandalorian just takes things one step forward. For one, Cobb Vanth is essentially the unnamed drifter seen in High Plains Drifter, and the miners are the local criminals he needs to face down. But, when they have to take on a massive carnivorous sand dragon, one Clint Eastwood type isn’t going to be enough.