If The Book of Boba Fett showrunners didn't have enough ideas or material to even offer up seven full episodes, it might have been better to wait to bring the series to Disney Plus until they did. Instead, what they did offer up in what was officially Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett was an attempt to fold three (maybe more like 2.5) entirely different storylines into one episode that had almost nothing to do with the rest of the season. It was the kind of television episode that can make a series jump the shark, if those behind it aren't careful. It's the kind of episode that usually signals that the writers are bored with the subject material, which is concerning considering this is only the fifth episode of the entire series.
What might be most concerning is that this episode seems to hint that the writers also don't really know what they want to do with another very popular Disney Plus series moving forward. The good news is there's still plenty of time to right that particular ship. The question that is unfortunately born from this episode is whether or not they know how. There is one upside in that audiences should find out soon enough if this is truly the direction two series are going, or if this was a one-off misstep.
Starting Off With A Bang
One area where this episode of does need to earn some respect is that it doesn't mess around with needlessly delaying the introduction of a beloved character from another series. When Mando walks into the room to kick off the story, it was almost as if there was a round of applause being heard throughout the world. His appearance had been hinted at in The Book of Boba Fett Episode 4 but it wasn't entirely clear if he was going to show up in the very next installment or whether he might be part of the Episode 7 surprises Temuera Morrison had hinted at.
It was also nice to see that the character had gone back to his roots and was much more of a grumpy bounty hunter than a reluctant dad with a heart of gold underneath all that Beskar armor. While the Grogu storyline was well-loved in The Mandalorian, it seems likely that show moving forward is going to be more successful with Mando being cold-hearted every now and then. Especially with Boba Fett leaning hard into the "touchy-feely" crime lord. Going back to Telling his quarry that he could either, "bring you in warm, or bring you in cold," was absolutely a line that would have had fans screaming and cheering if it had been filmed or screened before a live audience. Unfortunately, quite a bit of the episode went downhill shortly after.
Filling In The Lore Blanks Was An Odd Choice
To be fair, if the first half of this installment had been Episode 1 of Season 3 of The Mandalorian, it would have been quite entertaining, even if there are still some storytelling problems. However, this was of course, Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett and the rather long departure into telling the tales of Star Wars lore felt quite off. It's certainly nice to know a bit more about a universe that despite having many movies and television shows still has quite a few gaps in the lore. However, this didn't seem to be the time or the place to fill in the gaps it did. The fact that it was all done in exposition also felt a bit off-kilter. It was like the writers thought the ideas they came up with were so cool, they desperately wanted to share them, but knew the show didn't have the budget to do it in flashbacks. So instead, The Armorer just took some time to tell Mando about it.
There were other problems with what will heretofore be known as the "lore chapter" of The Book of Boba Fett, even if absolutely none of the lore had anything to do with Boba, Fennec Shand, or anyone else actually involved in the series it was inserted into. There was a very odd heel turn and then a question that seemed to come out of nowhere and was only used as a tool to explain why Mando traveled to Tatooine all by himself.
Fast And Furious 10 Meets Star Wars
The issues with this episode of The Book of Boba Fett aren't just that the story doesn't involve the storyline the rest of the season has been setting up. There's also a very weird tonal change about midway through this installment went from deeply serious and even a bit sad, to playing for laughs. The problem is that the stuff that was playing for laughs wasn't particularly funny. In fact, quite a bit of the jokes were so bad, they elicited winces and groans far more often than anything else.
It wasn't just the abrupt change in the story's tone that was off-putting either. It was the approach The Mandalorian took to things that suddenly lightened up that seemed odd as well. He had just had a massive shift in his life. He'd found and then lost people who were deeply important to him and then suddenly he was shooting off into space on what amount to a one-ship drag race. There was one particular scene where he was asked how the ship handled, and he replied "wizzzard" in a way that would have included a wink if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. It all seemed both forced and incredibly off.
For anyone looking for an episode that was entirely meant as fan service that could fill in the gaps on a ton of Star Wars lore, Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett provided that and then some (though it did it rather clunkily throughout). For those hoping to see the plot that had been set up through the first four episodes, then they need to only watch the last three minutes. This was a disappointing hard left turn in a show that seemed to be finding its feet a bit more in recent weeks. Perhaps the rather glaring mistake in a previous episode of The Book of Boba Fett wasn't simply a goof and was more indicative of a team that isn't putting their best foot forward.
Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett releases new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney Plus.