The Good, The Bad And The Adorable

I have deeply mixed feelings about the entire run of The Book Of Boba Fett.

I loved both episodes of the show that featured Mando and Grogu. Mando basically got his very own episode, and Baby Yoda training under Luke Skywalker is, quite simply, one of the greatest Star Wars moments of my adult life. I’m not ashamed to admit that I openly cried during that scene.

Both these episodes were absolutely fantastic, especially Episode 6, but the rest of the show left much to be desired. Episode 1 was mostly okay and Episode 2 was genuinely good, but the next two episodes (my reviews of each here and here) were dreary, boring, flat and pointless. It was a relief when the titular character disappeared and Mando came back to the fore.

All the show’s good ideas, like introducing the Hutt twins, were either cast aside or glossed over. The badass Wookiee bounty hunter, Black Krrsantan, ended up being surprisingly lame (outside of his appearance). Not much of a fighter, actually, even in the finale.

Fennec Shand has been one of the most disappointing characters of the season. As I’ve pointed out in the past, this show has a sidekick problem. Namely, Shand and Fett are both so humorless and similar—two boring badasses, but more importantly, neither provides any comic relief. They’re like, ahem, clones or something.

But anyways, yeah, I had mixed feelings. I’m not sure I’ve ever had such mixed feelings about a show before. Mostly, shows seem to go downhill. This one’s quality trajectory was . . . all over the map.-

Season Finale Blues

Chapter 7 of The Book Of Boba Fett pretty much brought everything together, both good and bad, for an overly long, action-heavy finale directed by Robert Rodriguez who, I am sad to report, has apparently forgotten how to shoot fun or interesting action scenes. Given he directed some excellent action movies in the past, this is confusing to me.

The Book Of Boba Fett’s finale was basically a straight-up Western, replete with a gunfight, a town fighting back against bandits, and lots of guns. It was like The Magnificent Seven, but not so magnificent, or The Three Amigos without a sense of humor.

Yes, it’s cool to see Boba Fett and Mando, both decked out in Beskar steel armor, fight alongside one another. It is less cool to watch the fighters of Freetown stand in a line shooting at a line of Pyke thugs. A great deal of this episode consisted of the latter.

Some of my problems are action-related. The Pyke Syndicate’s fighters may as well be Storm Troopers, they shoot so poorly. Nothing interesting happened during the majority of the fight scenes. When the crime families of Mos Espa betray Boba Fett and take down Krrsantan, the scooter kids (vomit) and the Gamorreans (RIP my dudes) it was all way too easy—and too easy for Fennec Shand to just show up and save the scooter kids.

Honestly, why didn’t the star assassin just go kill the leaders and the mayor first thing, rather than at the very end of the showdown and episode? Seems like a much more sensible plan of action to me!

Instead we get crap like this:

Cool spin, bro. I always spin before I shoot my guns, too—especially when bad guys are shooting at me.

There was good action as well. Boba Fett and Mando taking on those Droideka destroyer droids with the nearly-impenetrable forcefields was great fun and very enjoyable entertainment.

When Boba Fett shows up riding his friggin Rancor I thought to myself, “Why wasn’t this entire show just all about Boba Fett riding around on his Rancor kicking ass?” Because, c’mon, this is so cool!

I also liked every scene that Cad Bane was in right up until Boba Fett somehow, magically, is able to use his Tusken gaderffii staff to knock the killer down and then kill him, rather brutally, moments later.

Bane was so much faster than Fett on the draw he was able to knock him to the ground while fully armored in Beskar steel. But then he’s so slow that even just a couple feet away, blaster trained on Fett’s glossy pate, that he’s taken by surprise by his former pupil?

Nope. I don’t buy it. What a crazy twist it would have been for Bane to take out Boba Fett here, and just go on his merry, wicked way. I wish Star Wars had the stones to pull something like that off. (Not only will we character assassinate this character, we’ll literally assassinate him!)

Cad Bane is a character I want to see more of in future shows. Boba Fett, unfortunately, is someone I want to see much less of. I want to see less Tatooine also. I’m not thrilled that the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi show appears to be set on the same drab sands.

So much of my disappointment with The Book Of Boba Fett is due to the show’s premise. Why does Boba Fett want to become Daimyo? What is his motivation for taking over Jabba the Hutt’s crime empire? And why does the show seem to think that system-spanning empire is nothing more than Mos Espa?

The show doesn’t answer these questions, it just raises more. Why take over Jabba’s crime empire if you’re trying to stop the flow of Spice? Spice, in Star Wars and Dune, is a kind of drug. It’s like a drug and a way of life in Dune, but it’s just a drug in Star Wars (or this iteration of Star Wars, in any case). Fennec Shand notes that its trade makes up a sizable portion of Jabba’s revenue—or, well, Boba’s revenue, now.

But Boba Fett doesn’t want the Spice. He wants to rule with respect. He wants to be your kindly old grandpa figure more than a crime lord. But he still—sort of—wants to be a crime lord, maybe, also I guess?

At the end of the finale, he tells Fennec Shand that they’re too old for this business. Now that he’s finally won, he’s already throwing in the towel. Too good for bounty hunting, too old for milquetoast crime-bossing. Just useless, basically. I’m not sure if this implies he’s not going to do the Daimyo or what. Could he be passing the torch to Cobb Vanth, the still-alive Marshal? Or to some other character?

Oh I know! The Scooter Gang can take over Jabba’s empire! Gee, what a swell idea!

The point is, why? Why did Boba Fett care about Jabba’s empire? Why did Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni think:

“Oh, this is a good idea for the most notorious bounty hunter in Star Wars history, long suspected dead! Let’s not have him adventure and hunt bounties, or like start a gang in Corscant—When you’re a jetpack you’re a jetpack all the way, from your first Beskar steel to your last dying day!—let’s have him stay on Tatooine because what Star Wars really needs is more cowbell, er, Tatooine!”

Baby Yoda, Rancor Whisperer

The Book Of Boba Fett doesn’t ever bother to explain why Boba Fett is the way he is, why he does the things he does. It feels more like a vehicle for another show. The Mandalorian basically gets an early start to Season 3 this way, and everything else—the entire war for Mos Espa, the Hutt twins, the wicked Wookiee and the Tusken tribe—is window dressing.

The Mando/Grogu stuff was excellent and that remains the case in the season finale. When R2-D2 flies Grogu back to Tatooine in Luke’s X-Wing, I was pretty excited. Grogu chose Daddy Mando over Luke! (This felt good, but I have questions—read on!)

When Grogu springs from his seat on Peli Motto’s rickshaw into Mando’s arms it’s just so wholesome and heartwarming. I can’t get enough. Peli Motto is also a great reminder of the humor in The Mandalorian. She should have been Boba Fett’s sidekick! (I’m also pretty sure that she and the mayor’s Twi’lek majordomo are hooking up soon—he’s probably a step up from furry Jawas!)

But the best scenes in the entire episode were of Baby Yoda and the Rancor. The rancor goes full beast mode, helping Boba Fett and Mando in their desperate fight against the destroyer droids. Even Mando’s Darksaber is basically useless in that fight, until the Rancor does his thing.

But when Boba Fett and the Rancor part ways, the creature goes on a King Kong inspired rampage, tearing through Mos Espa and smashing anything in its way. Things are looking pretty grim for Mando until Grogu intervenes—saving his papa for the second time (first from a destroyer droid).

Baby Yoda steps out, screws up his adorable face, and channels the One Power at the Rancor. But instead of trying to destroy the creature, he just uses some Force melatonin to put it to sleep.

We get some truly awesome moments during this exchange.

Goodnight, Sweetums.

Awwwww….

The Adventures of Grogu and the Rancor is a show I would watch over The Book Of Boba Fett any day.

All told, the good didn’t really make up for the bad this episode. I enjoyed some parts immensely, but every time the Scooter Kids sauntered onto the screen I wanted to break things. The action was too drawn out and dull for the most part, at least when it didn’t involve Mando getting knocked down by massive droids and/or monsters.

Grogu is adorable as ever and I love that he’s back with Mando, but Mando and Baby Yoda shouldn’t be required to save a show that’s ostensibly about other characters entirely.

As far as Grogu’s choice, I have mixed feelings here as well. On the one hand, it was a BS choice from the get-go. Luke shouldn’t give Grogu this choice to begin with, both because it’s not fair to Grogu and because he needs to train the little guy. Otherwise, he’s sending someone potentially as powerful as Yoga out, untrained, into the galaxy. What if Mando is killed or just dies from old age and some random, powerful dark Force using alien shows up and brings Baby Yoda to the Dark Side?

I’ve said enough. The finale, like the season, was weirdly uneven. Liked some of it, annoyed by much of it. Here’s a Bad Lip Reading of The Force Awakens:

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