The Basis of Boba Fett: Part 2
by Noah Thompson
A few weeks ago, we saw the conclusion to season one of The Book of Boba Fett, a series that explores the return of the bounty hunter that fans have been wishing to see for decades. After his (now retconned) demise in Return of the Jedi, Boba, no longer just a side character, now has his own Star Wars story on Tatooine. In Part 1, I argued why streaming was the future for Star Wars if Disney were to keep the franchise fresh; now in Part 2, I will share my opinion regarding the series, including some minor spoilers.
Although it would be hard to believe that the franchise could ever fade away, with constant misfire after misfire in the box office and with audience reception, perhaps, Disney will find a way to exhaust everyone with Star Wars—that is, unless they could find the winning combination of platform and caretakers. While the sequel trilogy showed fans just how distant they were from the creators, The Book of Boba Fett has left some people feeling divided. With that said, what happened within the series to warrant such varying reactions?
Well, following the huge success of The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett was looking to be the return of the bounty hunter everyone was hoping for. For years there have been thousands of fan-made videos of Boba’s escape following the Return of the Jedi (including actor/comedian Patton Oswalt’s filibuster on Parks and Rec), but finally witnessing the return in canon was less surprising to me than I had hoped. It was still satisfying to see Boba crawl out of the sand at the beginning of the series, but since we knew Boba was already alive in The Mandalorian, it wasn’t much of a surprise, at least for me, to see how he escaped. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed watching The Book of Boba Fett, especially this scene, but most of the show felt unnatural, some even saying it was filled with fan service.
This isn’t always a bad thing, as The Book of Boba Fett had scenes that many fans have been wishing to see in Star Wars. From Boba crawling out of the Sarlacc to him taking his revenge out on the pit, there were scenes that I could only imagine ever getting to see, and these took place in the first couple of episodes! The second half of the season, though featuring little-to-no Fett, felt like The Mandalorian Season 2.5, as it spent three of the seven episodes focusing on Mando himself. Many fans weren’t too keen on this, but I thought it was refreshing. By this time in the show, I was losing excitement due to the strange biker gang and the delivery of dialogue, both of which seemed out of place for Star Wars. Combined with the slow-paced action of the aging Boba, the only thing the show had going for it was its time spent with the Tuskens.
Although the first two episodes were a great start to the series—showing the kind of person Boba has become in the desert—it was much more exciting to see Mando wielding the dark saber in battle, or to witness Luke and Ahsoka meet. Overall, this show has some of the most anticipated moments to come to Star Wars canon, including Boba’s duel with Cad Bane and even riding a rancor through the streets of Tatooine. Despite its flaws, the show delivered great scenes that were worth sitting through many of its more boring parts. Should there have been an entire series for a side character with less than 10 minutes of screen time through six movies? Probably not, but it doesn’t matter; through the streaming platform, it’s delivered in a format that’s hard to take too seriously.