The Book of Boba Fett

 

When I watched the original trilogy of Star Wars movies, I never payed much attention to Boba Fett. He was in very few scenes, and only had a couple of lines in the films, and I viewed him as a very minor side character. I have since learned that the character has a bit of a cult following, with a lot of people liking him. I kind of get it. He's got cool armor and a cool ship, plus he has a jet pack which is always a bonus. After a few appearances in The Mandalorian, Fett finally gets the spotlight in his own show. 

The Book of Boba Fett takes place after the events of Episode VI. He was presumed dead, but somehow survived the Sarlacc pit. The first few episodes are split between current time where he has become the daimyo of Tatooine (after Jabba died and Fortuna was defeated)  and the past immediately after surviving the Sarlacc pit. In the past, he recovers and befriends a group of Tusken raiders. The Tusken raiders are typically portrayed as scary and ruthless warriors. The trouble with the flashback scenes is a lot of screen time is dedicated showing Boba recovering and becoming friends with the raiders, only to have them killed. It seems like a lot of effort that in the end is wasted, although the killing is used for motivation in the final episode.

There is also trouble with the current day scenes. The biggest issue is that Boba just isn't that interesting. He tries to rule diplomatically, which seems odd considering he is a killer by trade. He has trouble gaining support among the locals. He compromises with the cities gang leaders by saying if you won't join me, just don't turn against me. How do you think that worked out? Fennec Shand is a cool character introduced in Rebels and she appeared in The Bad Batch too. She was good in The Mandalorian and I looked forward to her appearance here. Unfortunately, she spent almost the entire series as Fett's sidekick, basically a muppet on screen who never says or does much. She doesn't get much action until the very last episode, which is a shame because she is a cool character.

The first half of the series is spent with the flashbacks. Once that ends, the series does get better but not because of Boba. It becomes a Star Wars cameo showcase, with the likes of Mando, Grogu, Luke, Ashoka, and others appearing. In fact, the show doesn't really become interesting until Mando shows up. Despite also saying little to nothing of interest, he somehow is a more interesting character than Boba, especially with that awesome Darksaber. The second half of the show seems to be setting up Mando season 3 (when does that start, by the way?). Grogu has to make an important choice - become a Jedi or a Mandalorian. He appears to chose to become a Mandalorian. While this story made this show more interesting, it seems to take the wind out of the sails of Mando season 3 a bit.

It was cool to see the Pykes on screen again, and I suspect we will be seeing more of them in other series. I'm hoping Emilia Clarke returns to play Qi'ra. It was cool to see Cobb Vanth return, and hopefully that bacta tank will heal him. I also have to mention how cool it was to see Cad Bane on screen. He is such a bad ass, and I always enjoyed his story arcs in the Clone Wars. I am really hoping he didn't actually die, so that we can see him in subsequent shows.