The Book of Boba Fett (2021-22) Review

“I knew you were a killer”

https://youtu.be/rOJ1cw6mohw?is=GB49gaB-1x0cRScI

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED SERIES. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

With The Mandalorian being a thriving series on Disney+, it made sense for Lucasfilm to adapt more shows of familiar characters. Bringing back Boba Fett from the dead paved the way for his own series, The Book of Boba Fett. Was it worth it? I don’t really know.

PLOT

The pilot ‘Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land’ follows the former bounty hunter, survivor of the Sarlacc Pit, gain tributes following his decision to take control of Jabba the Hutt’s criminal empire alongside mercenary Fennec Shand as his right hand. As Tattooine’s new Daimyo, he gains tribute from locals and the service of two Gamorrean guards that past worked for the Hutts. He goes to Mos Espa personally to get tribute from ‘Sanctuary’ cantina owner Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals), but shortly after does he get attacked by assassins. He survives thanks to Fennec and the Gamorreans, but his wounds would lead to him recovering in a new bacta tank. As he does so, he would remember being respected by Tuskens after saving a Tusken child from a Rodian, shortly around the time he had escaped the Sarlac pit. 

‘Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tattooine’ would then show Boba confront Mos Espa’s mayor Mok Shaiz when an assassin claims he sent him to kill him. He does deny it and offers him tribute before revealing the Hutt twins want to claim Jabba’s throne from him. Despite trying to intimidate him with the Wookiee bounty hunter Krrsantan (Carey Jones), Boba refuses to stand down to them. When having another recovery nap at the bacta tank, he would also remember how the Tuskens taught him their survival skills via fighting with gaffi sticks and in return taught them how to ride speeder bikes, resulting in him being fully accepted to their tribe. 

‘Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa’ shows Boba being approached by water monger Lortha Peel (Stephen Root) to punish a cyborg gang stealing water. Instead, he demands Peel to reduce prices while they work for him. After another bacta tank recovery where he remembers the Tusken tribe being wiped out by a Nikto gang after trying to seek a toll from the Pykes, he wakes up when attacked by Krrsantan. Fennec and the cyborgs capture the Wookiee, resulting in the Hutts apologizing after the claim that Shaiz promised territory to another syndicate. They leave by gifting him a new rancor. As he trains the beast and releases Krrsantan does he confront Shaiz only to learn from his majordomo that he’s aligned with the Pikes. Due to the personal history with the latter, Boba prepares for war.

‘Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm’ would show Fett’s final series of flashbacks where he tried reclaiming his gunship, Firespray 31 fka Slave 1, but was heavily guarded. When he found Fennec wounded and saved her, she vowed to stay by his side out of respect to him after getting the ship back and killing the gang thought to have killed the tuskens. She killed the Sarlacc when looking for his old armor, thus looking for Din Djarin after seeing him retrieve it from Cobb Vanth. Resuming to the present, Boba has fully recovered in the bacta tank and officially recruits Krrsantan to work for him after seeing him fight off Trandoshans in Sanctuary. He does then try to recruit other crimes bosses in Mos Espa to unite against Pyke Sindicate. When they refuse, he uses the presence of his new rancor to convince them to remain neutral as he’ll now have to fight alone. With this decision, Fennec suggests looking for reinforcements.

‘Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian’ shifts the focus to Djarin himself, showing him continue making ends meet as a bounty hunter after turning over Moff Gideon to the New Republic for his past war crimes and defeating him for the darksaber. When regrouping with the Armorer (Emily Swallow), he is challenged by Pas Viszla for the ancient weapon; He successfully retains it, but is rejected by the creed when confessing to breaking the rule of removing his helmet in front of living beings. As he transports to Tattoine, Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) offers him an N-1 starfighter to replace the Razor Crest. As they repair it together, Fennec reaches out to Mando for help, but only agrees after he visits a friend.

‘Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger’ follows Djarin reach the planet Ossus to visit the foundling Grogu, who is currently being trained by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill/Graham Hamilton) the ways of the force. Besides R2-D2, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) is also present and she warns him that his presence will hinder the child’s focus. So he asks for him to give him a gift that is a chain mail tunic made of his beskar spear. Tano gives this to Skywalker who then has Grogu decide whether he wants to be a Jedi or not by picking between the tunic or the lightsaber that belonged to Master Yoda. Before a decision is shown, bounty hunter Cad Bane is sent by the Pykes to deal with Boba and he makes his presence known by shooting Marshal Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) and his deputy at Freetown fka Mos Pelgo and two Pykes bomb Sanctuary.

The finale ‘Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor’ proceeds to show R2 drop off Grogu back at Tattooine, as he wears the tunic to prove he’s chosen to go back to Mando. Outside the remains of Sanctuary does Bane and the Pykes have a standoff against Shand and the Mandalorians. As Fett gets backup from cyborgs, he is still overwhelmed by the other crime families that attack his soldiers and Scorpenek droids follow it up. Simultaneously does Peli arrive with Grogu to help Mando deal with a Scorpenek until Fett uses the rancor to overcome the rest. Bane scares off Boba’s beast until Grogu uses the force to tame it. And as that happens, Bane beats Boba in a duel but the Daimyo still fatally stabs him with his gaffi stick. As Fennec kill the remaining crime lords that results in Mos Espa officially respecting Fett does the season conclude with Mando & Grogu flying away together via N-1.

THOUGHTS

The best way to discuss this season is through Pros and Cons

Cons: To be honest, I was really onboard with this show upon announcement as it would start filling up the gaps going into the sequel trilogy of Star Wars. The seven episodes we get to see are a blast, but the grand takeaway before picking on what we got is the fact there’s no follow-up to it. This series is treated as an interlude for The Mandalorian and that’s not a good idea because there’s no plan to show onscreen how Tattooine became a wasteland as shown in The Rise of Skywalker. If you can’t give a proper conclusion, there’s no point in making it especially when you leave loose ends that aren’t gonna be tied up such as give an update on what will happen to Vanth if he’s recovering in the bacta tank as shown in the finale’s post credits scene. Everything is left to implication and that doesn’t feel right for fans who want to know everything. It's so much of an interlude that even Captain Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) shows up when he doesn’t need to be present when we’re supposed to focus between Boba and/or Mando. Having said that, there’s a lot of stuff in the story’s present that doesn't make sense either. For instance, boba is just too trustworthy towards everyone left of disposal. Back to back with the Gamorreans, the cyborgs & Krrsantan who are all wild cards in their own right compared to Fennec and it’s pure luck that they remain loyal. Its also a big miracle there was no one in the palace to block Krrsantan from sneaking in to attack him. If I was Biba, I’d be a little pissed for lack of protection. It’s even dumb for him to ask the night wind assassin of his orders when the goal was to kill Jin anyway. He should’ve asked who hired him to do so to be specific before dropping him in the Rancor pit. It was even for Fett to not even wear any goggles when riding a speeder bike in the flashback. I know his armor was missing, but it’s not like he doesn’t need them at all. I’d also call it dumber for the cyborg doctor to say he’s too old to be modded when saving Fennec. Old people can get modded if they want to. And you know what, I don’t think Bib Fortuna would’ve refused to keep Boba’s ship from him compared to Jabba, so Fett should’ve tried asking before having to steal it back. Also, why the hell would any henchman bite a guy on the thumb while still holding a blaster? One guy does it to Mando and it’s stupid because he could’ve still shot his boss. And I know Cad handles Vanth with ease, but I’m surprised that the three Pykes don’t even want to try before he gets there. Hell, I don’t even believe that the first time we hear Luke ask Grogu if he remembers his past is the only time. They had to have been away from Mando long enough for that question to come up more than once. Lastly, I don’t understand why Boba didn’t use his jetpack against Cad. The sharpshooters were dealt with, so I think he had a bit of an advantage. 

Pros: Having said all that I can gripe with, I’m still able to be entertained throughout because this is Star Wars we’re talking about. As expected, the costumes and set pieces done to give more character to Tattooine than ever is amazing. Best of all, Ludwig Goransson’s score slaps here too. The visuals definitely kick in when showing off outer space or the Hutts being intimidating figures, but it truly peaked to see a rancor on a rampage. This series may have the ongoing involvement of showrunner Dave Filoni (who voices Mok Shaiz & Dokk Strassi) & head writer Jon Favreau (who voices Pas Vislza) which explains the tie-in for The Mandalorian, but this story belongs to Robert Rodriguez, the series’ executive producer that directed more than half of the season. You just know it’s his when you got Danny Trejo cameoing as a rancor trainer. Also if I’m gonna mention any Easter eggs, I did chuckle hearing Matt Berry as the torture droid 8D8. As for VFX, they were peaking when seeing a full on rancor rampage. Apart from the technical aspects, I think this show remains interesting because in a mobster-like atmosphere instead of a western, it is teaching how respect can be the highest power. With Temeura Morrison returning as the infamous bounty hunter, which was hilariously predicted in an episode of Parks & Recreation, he’s someone who uses his experience to chart a new era on how to rule. Considering how he grew up around bounty hunters in the Clone Wars having lost his father so young, he truly understood the meaning of respect when under the wing of the Tuskens. And ever since that time that led to his second chance in life, he makes that his only way of life everywhere he goes. Ming-Na Wen is still a badass as Fennec because even though she remains cunning on the job, loyalty becomes her stronger suit. She's on the same page with Boba because she’s able to give her perspective that he hears out and returns the favor. They’re equals in that end and that is quite beneficial when it comes to wanting to be heard, which does back up why recruiting the cyborgs was possible. Sophie Thatcher is not onscreen much as the leading cyborg Drash but she left a good impression in her given time because she brought such brashness that her group looked up to as confidence, which is definitely something that reminded Boba of his younger self. I did say it was bad to have too many allies immediately when you just got started as a leader, but he still did it to a point of having a Wookiee on his side because it was his way to prove he’s not a Hutt and he doesn’t want to go back to stooping to cruelty. Sadly, the past doubled in coming back to bite him. The Pykes were an obstacle he was bound to overcome if he was gonna rule tattooine, but the chronological final appearance of Cad Bane was the show’s best surprise. Famously appearing in the animated medium of The Clone Wars like Ahsoka, he was a constant threat to the Jedi order due to being a mastermind with everything he’s tasked to do. Although Dorian Kingi is this series’ physical performer, Corey Burton remains the voice of the character that continuously makes him intimidating. He’s probably the one character that knows Boba best because he made him who he was. In his eyes, he’s always a killer and he had his point proven when Fett stabbed him. If Fett does keep trying to hold back, it’ll only bring wonder how long it’ll work out. Since I did say this as an interlude for The Mandalorian, you know we’re gonna see some familiar armor. With stunt performers Brendan Wayne & Lateef Crowder returning to the body of Djarin while Pedro Pascal remains the voice of the character, you know we’re set for a real good time with an iconic lead. Looking sure, I’m sure he’s not that surprised the Armorer would excommunicate him for breaking a sacred rule because he knew what he was doing when unmasking himself to Grogu as their goodbye. That was his motivation to reunite with him because that’s how much he missed him. Of course he couldn’t force the reunion the way he wanted to, hence taking Ahsoka’s advice to not let the child see him and only leave his gift. He knew Grogu missed him too, but likely wasn’t expecting him to decide so quickly what he wanted. So when he jumped onto him upon reuniting, it was so damn sweet and made me all the more excited for Season 3. Having said that, I still hope we have some kind of follow-up to how things fell apart for Boba for continuity’s sake.

In conclusion, The Book of Boba Fett is a television spinoff to another acclaimed series that deserved more tenure than what it was meant for out of respect to all Star Wars fans. If you got Disney+, I hope you find enough joy out of it the way I have.