The Mandalorian Season 3 Premiere Brings Back The Best Part Of A Bad Star Wars Movie

This article contains spoilers for the season premiere of "The Mandalorian" season 3.

One of the best things about "Star Wars" is that there are tons of different alien species from across the galaxy to get to know and love. You've got your Wookiees, your Mon Calamari, your Rancors, and dozens more that are brought to life with puppetry and elaborate makeup. The baby Grogu on "The Mandalorian" is already one seriously adorable alien, but the series reintroduced another species of space creatures that are almost as cute: the Anzellans! While visiting Nevarro and looking to repair IG-11 in for a new mission, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) meets up with a group of Anzellans who work as droid mechanics, just like the Anzellan known as Babu Frik (voiced by Shirley Henderson) from "Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker." 

"Rise of Skywalker" was a contentious "Star Wars" sequel, trying to reconcile the events of both "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi" into a cohesive ending, and in the end many fans weren't all that happy with the results. Even a messy "Star Wars" movie has its great moments and characters, however, and "Rise of Skywalker" introduced us to the mini mechanic and his species of funny little fixer-uppers. No matter how you feel about "Rise of Skywalker," you've gotta love Babu Frik, and now we're getting to see more of his people on "The Mandalorian" season 3. This is the way. 

So who exactly is Babu Frik, anyway? The little dude lives during the New Republic Era (long after the events of "The Mandalorian") and ran a workshop among the Spice Runners of Kijimi. He's a genius with droids, able to get around just about any security programs. He can reprogram or modify almost any droid, even the eternally anxious C-3PO, and ends up playing a pretty major role in defeating the New Order and overthrowing the Emperor. That's a whole lot of adventure for a guy who could fit in my purse, but that honestly makes Frik even cooler. It has to be terrifying living as a sentient being that much smaller than everyone else, but Frik is a brave and talented person who kicks major butt regardless. 

The Anzellans are frequently mechanics because of their diminutive size, which makes sense, because they can get into all kinds of nooks and crannies, and their tiny hands are capable of manipulating the smallest parts. The ones Djarin and Grogu meet speak the same broken Basic as Babu Frik, communicating in short, excited bursts. It turns out that Djarin needs to fix the programming in IG-11, and while the Anzellans he chats with say they can do it if he finds the right part, I'm curious to see if he ends up needing the services of Frik anyway due to the complexities in IG-11's murderous programing. 

Whether we get to see Babu Frik himself or not, I hope we get to see more of the Anzellans in the rest of "The Mandalorian" season 3. I have a soft spot for the aliens of "Star Wars," especially the little scrappy ones, and the Anzellans are a fun addition to the canon that deserve more screen time. Their big eyes and little beards make then look kind of like a wizened version of Crazy Frog, but less weird. "Star Wars" has always been big on marketing its cutest creations, and I won't be shocked (or upset) if we see a whole bunch of Anzellan figurines, dolls, and plush toys. Everyone else can have the stuffed Grogus — I want a stuffed Anzellan to squeeze and then whisper "no squeeze."

We'll have to wait until next Wednesday to see if the Anzellans return for more mechanical antics on the second episode of "The Mandalorian" season 3, but one can hope.