The following episode contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett.
The Book of Boba Fett only has two episodes left with the series so leaving much to be desired out of the bounty hunter’s unlikely survival story, however, this week brought in Disney Plus’ MVP, The Mandalorian, in a tactical move that only serves to highlight the massive sand desert that separates the two.
In 2019, The Mandalorian singled-handedly made Disney Plus a must-have service for Star Wars fans as each episode of Jon Favreau’s westernized series saw Din Djarin carry out jobs or tasks across the galaxy. Although its two seasons oversaw the development of Mando’s bond with Grogu, few episodes tie directly into one another which is an element that largely helped the show carve its own identity within Star Wars’ universe, and also what makes it the polar opposite of what the Book of Boba Fett spinoff wants to be.
Why Is There Even A Whole Book On Boba Fett?
Pedro Pascal owes the existence of his very successful role in The Mandalorian to Boba Fett, hence it’s quite ironic how the tables have turned 40 years later. The Book of Boba Fett starts off by explaining how is that the bounty hunter even survived his Sarlacc fate in The Empire Strikes Back, however, that itself is a problem considering how much time has to be spent in flashbacks to even push the idea that this series deserved to exist in the first place.
Despite it not quite reaching the same level as The Witcher’s first season, watching Boba Fett nap inside a bacta tank and reminisce over his past is not exactly prime quality entertainment. This particular plot device makes it difficult for the series story to pick up and keep any sort of momentum as its first four episodes have actually depicted very few events taking place in the “present”, besides Boba Fett and Fennec Shand running rounds as they prepare for an all-out turf war that at times resembles The Godfather.
So, regardless of Temuera Morrison still making Boba Fett look like a charismatic character, shooting a seven-episode series on how the bounty hunter took Jabba the Hutt’s place in Tatooine seems like a bit of a stretch for him. It’s basically the equivalent of a band or comedian signing up as someone else’s opening act and then being told they have to run a 2-hour set, after they only prepared 20 minutes of material.
The Book of Boba Fett could have easily taken the episodic approach of The Mandalorian, offering a more isolated take on several missions carried out by Boba Fett and Fennec (and also deeper into their partnership), but instead, its entire setting comes across as a single mission that Din Djarin could have scratched off his list in a single episode.
Having Mando come back in for what is practically an entire episode is perhaps the biggest reminder of all of this, solo Boba Fett is running thin on mission objectives so much so the series can afford to have its protagonist go AWOL in its second-longest episode.
Mando Saves The Day
The aptly named “Return of The Mandalorian” might as well be part of the show’s third season, because its style, camera work, and pace match that of the titular character's show but this further extends to fill out tiny plot holes in Mando’s solo story, whereas its does very little to advance The Book of Boba Fett. Even though addressing what Mando had been up to this whole time is necessary, so far this seems like the only reason Mandalorian viewers would have to tune in for Boba Fett's spinoff.
The Book of Boba Fett, has a clear storytelling problem, nevertheless, as of now, this looks more like lack of substance rather than style. After all, this is still a show that features Favreau’s work, as well as many other creative talent from Mando's series like directors Robert Rodriguez and Bryce Dallas Howard.
While there’s nothing wrong in Book of Boba Fett focusing on a single large event instead of opting for The Mandalorian’s approach, that actually matters very little if in the end there is no story to tell. With only two episodes remaining, it’s hard to imagine the show's new star player not staying on board for Boba Fett's finale, meaning he’ll have to share the spotlight with the audience’s true favorite.
There can be such a thing as too much Star Wars, and the way things are going, The Book of Boba Fett might just be a manifestation of that. Just because one can bring a beloved character back from the dead doesn’t mean one should, especially when there’s so little for him to do besides staring at the past and playing second fiddle to another cool guy in a helmet.
Ahsoka Tano is up next on the list, and her entire character arc in other Star Wars content suggests she’s also set for the type of serialized story that Favreau is taking out for a test ride with Boba Fett. In that case, writers should start looking for tons of things she can do, or otherwise they might have to call in for some Mandolarian back up again in the future.
