There's a lot to unpack in the latest tv entry in the Star Wars universe, some good... and some that's not so good.
For tv shows whose episodes are at least 40 minutes, it's easier to review beginning to end, then look at how the episodes all stack up together at the end, so that's how this review will be done.
Early episodes (1-3)
Though it was almost seven weeks since I've seen the opener to the series, I remember it pretty well. Legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett, clone son of the bounty hunter Jango Fett, has escaped from the Sarlacc Pit from which he was trapped and has now taken over crime lord Jabba the Hutt's territory on the planet Tatooine. This is actually the first time we see Boba Fett since Return of the Jedi (excluding prequels in animated series when Boba was a kid).
The first episode was quite good. I loved seeing iconic actor Temuera Morrison again, and I found the pacing and set design to be as great as it should be. I was, however, surprised at the amount of flashbacks there were and how long they were. In the first episode, I didn't mind any of it. It gave viewers the necessary information of just how Boba escaped from the Sarlacc Pit. But when the second episode turned out to just be more of the same, with prolonged flashbacks, I did start to question a few things. A very large amount of time dedicated to flashbacks meant less time in the present, and the scenes that took place in the present didn't altogether serve much of a direct purpose. It kept introducing new pieces and parts to the plot, but instead of seeing it play out, lots of it was simply dramatically shown for a scene, then promised to play a bigger role in future episodes. It wasn't bad by any means, but by the end of three episodes, it largely felt as if almost nothing had happened in the present, and the majority was just flashbacks leading up to the present. Fundamentally, from a writing and directing perspective, this approach worked, it served its purpose, but left some to be desired. "When does it actually get going?" Some of the potential storylines were a bit wasted. For example, when the Hutt Twins (crime lords) threaten Boba Fett, the natural response from the viewer is that these two will be villains of the series... but then when the Twins find out about another enemy faction vying for the same territory, they quickly up and leave for good, offering an apology to Boba and conveniently leaving him a gift that he uses later on. Again, technically this style works, but it left me feeling a little lost and hoping the remaining four episodes would finally dive into a real plot.
Star Wars' tusken raiders, also known as sandpeople, played a huge role in the first episodes in the flashback scenes. In movies they were seen in, they were portrayed as enemies, ruthless wastelanders who are nothing but a threat to the farmers and citizens of the planet Tatooine. However, in the Book of Boba Fett, they became more than just that. For the first time, viewers got to see their culture, and that "they're actually nice once you get to know them." I could actually connect with them quite well. Proper pacing, signature Star-Wars style set design, as well as less dialogue and more visual storytelling served these long flashbacks very well. It kept me entertained and interested despite the fact that there was more going on here than in present time.
Then, the tusken raider tribe is killed off. It happened entirely off-screen, and the last time we see them in the series is when Boba Fett burns their bodies dramatically. I mean, the tuskens served their purpose from a story perspective, but... really? The conclusions of the series' subplots were not very satisfactory, and that was a pattern.
There were a few minor details that didn't exactly fit but hardly took away from the grand scheme of things. Sure, have your biker gang of colorful cybernetic punks and kids. That was the least of the show's problems. Episodes 1-3 carried themselves and did enough, and by the end of the third, I was pleased, but wanted more. And by more, I wanted the show to get a little bit better.
Episode 4
I had thought that this would be the point where things finally would kick off. At the halfway point in the season, surely it was time to finally utilize all the buildup that the first three episodes promised, right? Wrong. More flashbacks. This time, it wasn't about Boba Fett so much as it was about his ally, Fennec Shand. How Boba saved her life, and how the two became friends. This made up the majority of the episode. Fundamentally, things were still good, but by this time, the show really needed to hurry up and stop with all the flashbacks so we could get to the real story, the fight between Boba and the Pyke syndicate. The viewers are supposed to get the impression that the storm is brewing between them, but it's now so prolonged that there's fast becoming no time left to execute a fine plot about it. The episode ends yet again with more dramatic build up.
I now started to get the sense that there wasn't really much plot at all. Half the series is all flashbacks, something that could be explained via character dialogue in ten minutes as opposed to 4 episodes. There's so much of past Boba Fett, there wasn't much of him doing anything in the present, besides threatening his enemies and "cool" dialogue about him being changed after his time in the Sarlacc Pit. I understand making a perfect plot for 7 episodes that are on average 40 minutes in length is hard, but the series does a much poorer job at handling it than its sister show, The Mandalorian, did. Speaking of him...
Episode 5-6
I didn't last but two minutes into the fifth episode before I was annoyed. And that annoyance grew and continued until about two-thirds of the way through, when I got up and walked away.
When it was teased at the end of the fourth episode that Boba Fett was going to get allies to help him fight (which he had already been doing for four episodes), I immediately thought of the Mandalorian. Not like his theme song had been playing or anything. I thought the fifth episode would kick off with Mando arriving on Tatooine, dramatically entering Boba's throne room and saying "Alright. What's the situation?" The two would then discuss how to deal with the threat of Boba's enemy, the Pykes.
It wasn't that I was dead wrong that got me annoyed. It was everything else. For some reason, the set design completely flopped. Hardly anything looked like Star Wars anymore. The alien costume design at the beginning was off. The pacing was off (Mando limping around for five minutes straight etc). Things made zero sense, such as, "Why is this episode completely about the Mandalorian and not Boba Fett at all?" Many story arcs that could've been set up in Season 3 of The Mandalorian were wasted on twenty minutes of showing what Mando has been up to since we last saw him. The episode utterly forgot Boba altogether. It was regarded by many people as the best episode, which in itself is a massive problem for the show. If the best episode is the one that does not include the namesake character, something is wrong. I still haven't seen the whole episode. I quit and never went back to it.
The first half of episode 6 wasn't much better, although it fixed the basics that were messed up in the fifth. Thankfully, Episode 5's strange set designs and pacing was an anomaly. The thing that got me with episode 6 was it included so many characters. By this time in the show, the question was who hadn't made an appearance rather than who had. Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Ahsoka... why are they here? Still no Boba Fett. He doesn't appear until a scene towards the end. The first half was all about Mando and Grogu. If people want to see Mando and Grogu so badly, then Disney should've made Season 3 of The Mandalorian, not the Book of Boba Fett. All of episode 5 and half of 6 were just a set up for Season 3, and had nothing to do with the show at hand.
The only redeeming quality of episode 6 was its climax and ending, which introduced yet another character new to live-action, but a longtime Star Wars classic and favorite. Cad Bane was absolutely superb. The character already looked great in animation, and seeing him in live-action both surprised me and blew away all the expectations I could've had for his appearance. His movements, his gestures, his signature voice and cowboy style were all perfect. I was left wondering why he hadn't made it into the show earlier. So much potential for a plot with Cad Bane, but now, with only the finale left, it was far, far too late to set up anything with substance.
The Finale
So, after about 4-5 episodes of waiting, Boba Fett finally faces off against the Pyke gang vying for his territory. And it all happens in what is essentially one giant fight scene. When I look back and combine all the episodes together, the only plot that ever existed between Boba and the Pykes was: 1. Pykes threaten to take over, and 2. Boba doesn't give in so they fight. It's about ten minutes worth of story, but the big fight lasts for about quadruple that time.
I liked episode 7 overall despite all that. Acting was very nice, the sets of Tatooine were good, the CGI did its job, and the crew certainly knew how to film, pace, and choreograph fight scenes. It was intense and pretty thrilling at times. The best episode since the first two. But it couldn't escape the pattern that the rest of the series had. A whole lotta build-up and promise, and little punch or uniqueness. It could provide cool fights, explosions, and get your heart beating a little faster, but not much else. The perfect example of it was in what happened to Cad Bane. A very cool and legendary character making a surprise appearance to face off against his old companion Boba Fett, only to just sort of get beaten and die. It's the very same pattern as the whole show, Cad Bane served his purpose, but it just didn't amount to much of anything. There was little emotion. Cad Bane speaks a few insults to Boba and then gets stabbed. "You're just like your father Jango," and "Caring for anything outside yourself is weakness." It doesn't build up Boba's character at all. Not much tension. The story had to end with Cad Bane dying, but there was no farewell sendoff to such a great character. He just... dies, and Boba wins. That's it.
Conclusion
A mysteriously unsatisfying show that did the fundamentals correctly but, in the end, lacked impact and aim. Perhaps a re-watch is necessary to enjoy it more. Star Wars seems to always be cursed with this kind of thing, some people enjoy it, some hate it. I for one can't decide if I'm being too hard on it or if I'm not being hard enough on it. I still cannot even fully put my finger on it and explain why some things felt the way they did, it just didn't sell me. For these reasons, I rate the Book of Boba Fett a 6.5 out of 10.
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