Boba Fett used to be the biggest baddest mofo in the Star Wars universe because, for decades, all we knew about him was that he wore green armor and didn’t say much. This was a dude who had a legend far beyond the screen and the fandom couldn’t get enough of him. Even when the prequels introduced him as a snot-nosed little punk following his daddy around like a puppy, everyone was still convinced that Boba Fett was the Boba Best.
And then, when it was time for Boba Fett to get the spotlight in his own series after an amazing return in The Mandalorian, of course it was only logical that they would turn him into a diplomat and city leader.
Ugh…
The Book of Boba Fett has not been a complete failure. It’s had its moments, though few and far between, and more of them involving people who are not Boba Fett than people who are. To be honest, the makeup of this series has been a head scratcher. It hasn’t been so much The Book of Boba Fett as it has been Boba Fett and Friends, the spotlight continually shifting away from the star of the show to more… interesting and beloved characters.
Now, we come to the end. The big battle for Mos Espa and… it’s okay. There’s not a lot to say about it. It is pretty much on track with the rest of the Boba Fett centered episodes — acceptable, but not extraordinary.
There’s not a lot in the episode story-wise, but rather it’s the culmination of a series of dangling plot threads that resolve themselves adequately. Not surprisingly or unexpectedly… just adequately. Things that were teased pay off as you would expect, characters you expect to show up do, and things happen that you expect to.
It’s all perfectly adequate.
Which is why I find it maddening. This is generic, safe Star Wars that stinks of the compromises of The Rise of Skywalker. There were no chances taken… just dull story with a nerfed cult character with fan service sprinkled in to keep us from tuning out.
I’m sorry, but this is a story that could have been much better told in The Mandalorian‘s third season and, given how much The Mandalorian hijacked The Book of Boba Fett, I’m a little surprised that it wasn’t.
Overall, though, the biggest disappointment has to be the domestication of Boba Fett. We didn’t get to see any crazy bounty hunter antics, no ingenuity to get the target, and in a series that delivered everything we expected, it seemed to go out of its way to deny us what we wanted for over thirty years.
I’m going to be honest: The Book of Boba Fett shined brightest when Boba Fett wasn’t part of the show and that is summarally unacceptable.
Temuera Morrison deserved better.
Boba Fett deserved better.
Jason Gaston 