By Clay Thompson | Intern
I waited for as long as I could to watch “The Book of Boba Fett,” if I’m being honest. While the weekly episode format is still considered valued by some, with my busy schedule, I can only afford to binge shows once they are fully released. However, I was finally able to sit down and binge this season of the show, and I can honestly say I thought it was a mixed bag.
Don’t get me wrong, Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen are great actors and their strange chemistry as partners in a criminal syndicate struggling to survive a hostile industry was entertaining to watch, but there was one main aspect about the show that kept bothering me.
First and foremost, the focus of the show felt off at points, especially around the later half of the season. Episodes five and six barely gave the main characters any screen time at all, instead granting audiences what can only be described as the premiere episodes of “The Mandalorian” season three. While it was good to see these characters again, it really stole from Boba’s spotlight and storyline.
Those episodes could have been spent furthering his backstory with a detailed look at how he took the throne of Daimyo of Mos Espa from Bib Fortuna, or perhaps even focused on his strategies and planning for the turf war with the pikes. Instead, audiences are given Mando and Grogu nostalgia while Boba is left suffering under Tatooine’s twin suns. Even the final moments of the last episode before the credits aren’t Boba’s to claim to set up a possible season two.
Aside from the often terrible use of nostalgia, “The Book of Boba Fett” felt like a mostly solid show. With insight into his past after the Sarlac pit to give audiences Fett’s current motivations and an engaging — if a little fast-paced — story that was rudely interrupted by another show, it was a fun time to binge the episodes. The final two episodes were especially fun to watch, as a fan-favorite character makes a return to spice up the plot.
Overall, I would recommend “Star Wars” fans give the show a watch, which they likely already have. While its freshman outing was not its strongest due to banking on nostalgia and popularity to see the season through to the end, “The Book of Boba Fett” will hopefully be able to stand on its own two feet in the future as a strong “Star Wars” feature in its own right.
