A/V The Book of Boba Fett

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Boy that was a good episode of The Mandalorian..

As someone else said, the pacing in this show is absurd!

Also a bit of a rip off of Halo with the design of that planet/station

 

Pointed this out already in the TV forum, but

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We got the first four words of Mando'a spoken by a character in live-action. The Armourer counting off each strike during her sparring with Din.

 

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The Great Purge is post-Rebels, so after those two shows.

 

Oh, wow. That episode was so good it deserves a full review.

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While The Mandalorian seemed to riff on a different sci-fi genre each week, from the Space Western of The Marshal to the 1980s military sci-fi of The Siege, The Book of Boba Fett has constructed itself out of a less linear pattern of references encapsulated in individual scenes and sequences, matching the machete-style way that its narrative chops around.

The Tusken train-raid referencing Lawrence of Arabia is maybe the most obvious, though there are also what look like deliberate nods to Sergio Leone’s Giù La Testa in that sequence. The Mods and their chrome Nevootas are a blatant homage to Quadrophenia, the scene where Boba wipes out the Nikto swoopies had a definite Mad Max vibe. I’m sure there are a lot more that I’ve missed - I’m curious if the scene on the outskirts of Mos Eisley was a nod to this year’s Palme d’Or-winner Titane, older flicks like Cronenberg’s Crash, or something I’ve not recognised at all. Regardless, the references and the associated switchback narrative structure are a thing, and seem pretty clearly deliberate.

So, opening this week with a scene straight out of The Manalorian seemed appropriately meta.

Then to suddenly pull back to an establishing shot which showed that the opening took place aboard a full-scale homage to a Culture Orbital made me go “**** me”. Obviously, the Culture novels aren’t the only sci-fi sequence to feature ringworlds - and the multiple terminators on this one are a clear Larry Niven reference - but the Culture reference seemed to be emphasised by the hip, high-tech metropolitan vibe of the surface, and especially the trains rattling past on overhead bridges. The Culture novels haven’t been filmed yet (a recent Amazon attempt apparently fell through), and that just makes this all the more disorienting, and thus appropriate.

So I wondered what would show up the rest of this episode. But pretty quickly after that, I answered my own question with an “Oh” of understanding.

Because this wasn’t an episode that constructed itself out of non-linear cinematic references to other stories. This was a whole new episode of a completely different show.

This wasn’t an episode of The Book of Boba Fett at all. This was an episode of The Mandalorian.

And it was really, really good. Seeing Din back was an absolute delight - even Fennec smiled when she finally showed up to recruit him for next week’s Book of… finale. And being back in the other show for a week also helped to explain why Boba removing his helmet so often is so disorienting.

I don’t want to take up time by going through the plot - if you’ve seen the episode, you’ll already know what happened, if you’ve not you need to go and watch it right away, suffice to say that the payoff sequence of was a piece of pure STAR WARS fun which made me grin like an idiot - and I hope that you feel the same way.

Mando’s habit of reaching the adult viewer’s inner child, and reminding us what joy and hope feel like, was in full play here.

And then as I thought through what I was going to say, which I originally planned as a compact 280-character twitter throwaway, I realised something else - pushing the gene boundaries even further, there’s a T.S. Eliot homage hiding in the basement of that Culture ring. The bewildering-but-beautiful shift in perspective as Mando goes down the ladder, and the vista of infinite stars opens up above him, seems particularly perfect as a symbol.

To explain - the Culture novels, for all their emphasis on the adventures of a fully-realised progressive post-scarcity techtopia, have always had a quiet subtext acknowledging that even this self-confident and seemingly boundless cityscape will eventually collapse, made most explicit in the names and title-page quotes, with their references to Eliot’s poem “The Waste Land”: O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, / Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.

And that idea is called back to in this episode. There’s a dismissive remark about how little time the Empire lasted. We’re reminded that the Mandalorians themselves look on the society that they came from as having been destroyed. But in reality, the New Republic is just more of the same.

There’s no real progress in our narratives of progress.

But there’s something else here - just as Eliot’s poem looks for further meaning, the unquestionably mythic pattern of Mando’s adventures indicates that there are alternatives, ways of doing things that work by a completely different set of rules. When one of the characters in this episode makes the mistake of assuming that Bo-Katan was a casualty of Moff Gideon’s assault on Mandalore, we’re reminded that cyclical narratives of destruction and succession aren’t always true at all. They’re often just an excuse for someone who’s repeating the same mistakes.

And this counterpoint calls back to the themes that have been running unheard through The Book of Boba Fett as well. Boba seems to be setting himself up as the new boss, simply repeating the cycle that Jabba, Bib and Palpatine all enacted; but I’m not sure if that’s what he’s really doing at all. Because, unlike in a Sergio Leone western, this Mandalorian standoff isn’t a way of clearing the decks for modern civil society; there’s no sense here that all the violence will be redeemed by the arrival of a train line and all the progressive freight it brings.

Boba knows that what you really have to do is stop the train. The moral challenge for this show - for its creatives as well as its characters - is to see whether that happens next week.

And all of that is perfectly expressed in that profound, utterly bewildering subtextual nod to Eliot. When Mando goes through that hatch, everything reorients, and makes a whole new, bright sharp sense.

Now, I don’t know if that was dropped there by Jon Favreau or Carl Jung, but it really isn’t that important - it’s simply existentially there, and imbues this episode with complex and thought-provoking layers and dimensions of meaning, that we should wake up and think about.

So, this was really, really good STAR WARS. Possibly the best since Empire. And after Sanctuary and The Heiress, Bryce Dallas Howard has now directed three of the best on-screen glimpses into the Galaxy far, far away....

And at the same time, without actually being, you know, an actual [SPOILERS], this raises the stakes immeasurably for next week’s episode...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

That was Wizard. Easily best episode of this show and probably one of the best of all SW TV so far too

 

I think people are going a bit over the top with their praise. The humour was absolutely bizarre at points. Tonally it was all over the place.

 

Such a strange feeling with this one.

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It’s a great episode of television. A great episode of the Mandalorian. Literally every moment wowed me to some extent.And the crazy thing is next week could also be light on Boba and mostly be about Din visiting Luke.

But as an episode of The Book of Boba Fett...yikes. Seems like they had an idea for Boba crawling out of the Sarlaac and finding spiritual rebirth among the Tusken Raiders. Great stuff. But they didn’t have a story outside of that, or at least not enough to sustain a proper season of tv. Makes a whole lot more sense now why Rangers of the New Republic isn’t happening.

So I question why this whole Boba Fett caper wasn’t just a subplot of Mando to begin with, Game of Thrones style. Or at the very least just a Disney + movie.

Right now this whole thing is extremely odd.

 

Shoulda been "Interlude" not Chapter 5.

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Does the Armorer just ask Mandalorians whether they've taken their helmets off at random or..?

Myes, Star Wars TV doesn't seem to be able to get out of the mentality of making seasons like Clone Wars or Young Indy where episodes aren't really telling an ongoing story.

 

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Mandalore i think will be very important in future storytelling.

 

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Can't keep the cult in line if you don't keep reinforcing the cult rules

As for the show itself.

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Like were it opened...always felt The Mandalorian needed to get away from Outer Rim backwaters and show some larger, urban environments on the Outer Rim.

Even though it was a space liner and not a warship it was nice to see a new ship design.

Like the new hot rod. But as a bounty hunter I do think he needs a little more 'cargo space'. One thing I would say against it...I get the droid socket is probably a passenger seat...but I would have maybe said to make it a little more streamlined as opposed to the large dome on top fo the ship. more like the back seat of a Buck Rogers Thunderfighter.

 

That was sooo wizard! XD

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-I love that Star Wars has a ringworld now. It makes me wonder about other classic science fiction ideas we haven't seen yet in Star Wars. Are there Dyson Spheres? That'll be super cool!
-We finally saw a Womp Rat! And they are appropriately terrifying!
-The BD droid shocked me. For some reason I didn't think that would show up in live action but it's wonderful that they don't just reference the movies and shows.
-Apparently the New Republic pilot was Mark Hamill's double when Luke showed up in the Mandalorian. That's pretty neat.
-Also, looking on the wiki the large bat thing is from Legends. That's like a reference I would put in!
-Wish we saw more of Boba Fett, but I understand that this was needed build-up to an awesome last two episodes. I also appreciate that Din is helping as a favor and not for money.

Hard to not ramble about everything I loved in this episode.

 

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This was a good episode... of The Mandalorian Season 3. The narrative of BOBF continues to jump around too much for my tastes, and I do prefer if the show about Boba Fett has Boba Fett in the show.

Was this the first time we've ever seen a Ringworld in Star Wars? Certainly the first time on screen, but have we seen one before? Just recently I was thinking about the possibility of putting Ringworlds and Dyson Spheres in the Rishi Maze.

The scenes with the Armorer and Paz Viszla were great. Not sure if Din's "next quest" is to actually go bathe in the mines of Mandalore or if he's going to shirk loyalty to the Covert.

I like the souped-up N1 Starfighter, though I think it needs a bit more space/room for cargo and hard merchandise. Din is a bounty hunter, after all. We all know the Astromech socket is going to be Grogu's seat, though.

 

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This is honestly my favorite episode of the series so far. It was honestly just really nice to see Din again, especially since I didn't think we would see his story continue until the next season of The Mandalorian. But it was great to get the return of Paz Vizsla and the Armorer, to get those unexpected flashbacks to the Mandalorian Purge, to hear and see so many references to the prequel era, and to even see a BD droid in live action! I liked that Din is still getting used to the darksaber and I liked seeing more of Peli again. It is weird that my favorite episode of Book of Boba Fett is the one without Boba Fett in it, but honestly at this point I am more interested in Din as a character since he's newer.

 

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Mandalore.
KX type series.
Great TPM callbacks.
BD, Fallen Order.
Mandalorian lore, Tarre Viszla callbacks from Rebels.
I'm gonna go full review later, I'm just soo hyped.
Dark saber action..
Good day to be fan of star wars.

Also what is this the 5th or 6th beatufull planet that the Empire destroys. Genosis, Kamino, Scarriff, Jedha, Mandalore, Alderaan. All unique and beatuful planets from prequel, clone wars and Rogue One.

 

What an episode! I haven't seen Star Wars that good in over two years!

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It started incredibly with Mando silhouette through those doors. As soon as he entered the room, I was looking at his profile trying to see if he had the Darksaber. And he did! That's the way the Darksaber should be used! Dismemberment and decapitation!

We finally got to see the return of the Armorer and Paz Viszla. Some incredible Mando scenes there. This episode felt more like the Epilogue to Season Two of the Mandalorian rather than an episode of the Book of Boba Fett. Which I am completely fine with as this episode was the best I've seen in years.

I don't like to use the term "fanservice", but this episode was full of it.

• A Naboo N-1 starfighter!
• Beggar's Canyon complete with a womp-rat
• Captain Carson Teva again (Appa)!
• Hearing the history of the Darksaber and the long-awaited confirmation that Bo-Katan didn't deserve the weapon because she didn't win it through combat.
• Seeing the Night of a Thousand Tears in a flashback, complete with TIE Bombers, probe droids and K2-SO units!
• Hearing what happened to Moff Gideon
• Seeing the armorer melt down the beskar staff and create something for Grogu
• Hearing Mando say that he wants to see his foundling again and raise him as a Mando and not a Jedi
• Hearing Mando call Ahsoka a Jedi! Whether she actually is one or he just assumes she is because she didn't claim she wasn't is still up for debate. But it was nice to hear her mentioned!
• Seeing Amy Sedaris again was a real treat, as was the most shocking cameo for me. Was that really BD-1? Or just another model of the same droid? So many questions about that, especially given what was just announced yesterday.
• This is the first episode of the Book of Boba Fett where Boba did not appear. And I think the episode is stronger for it! They're clearly setting up Mandalorian Season 3 with this arc and I'm so excited for it!

This was the best episode of Star Wars I've seen since The Rescue. And it answered so many questions that I've had ever since those bridge doors closed and Luke walked away with Grogu! This series has really hit it's stride since last week and I'm really excited for the last two episodes!

This show has got me excited about Star Wars in ways I haven't been for a long time and I'm so happy! Can't wait to see what the final two episodes bring! Seriously, what an episode!

 

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A very nice episode of the Mandalorian, but almost nothing to do with Boba Fett. I was like, "cool, after ten or more minutes of this, we'll see Fett and what he's doing. The stories will merge." I waited, and waited, all the while really enjoying what I'm seeing, but no Boba. It annnoyed and confused me by the end.

I love everything about that N-1. They even made a point of stressing how they were handcrafted starfighters, which goes way back to the TPM Incredible Cross-Sections book.

Ooh, K-2 droids in action, in a scene reminiscent of Cylon Centurions picking off survivors of a bombardment.

Peli dated a Jawa? Ok....

That droid socket is now totally a Grogu socket.

I just loved that space station/ring city. Awesome, awesome setting.

A blue Ishi Tib!

 

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This epsiode might hint at how Gorgu survived the second jedi purge, with his mandalorian chainmail.

 

One of the things I wish they did in these series is to pop up a planet name and sector.

 

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While I enjoyed this episode, I'm also a little worried: After seeing all the things in the episode and hearing the promise of more Grogu, will the general audience even care about the coming gang war between Fett and the Pykes? I do, very much so. But I feel like a lot people will be screaming Grogu this, Mando that. I hope Lucasfilm haven't kinda shot themselves in the foot with this brilliant Mandalorian(not Book of Boba Fett) episode.

 

I wanna say that's definitely BD from Fallen Order given that a sequel was just announced yesterday....

 

Spoiler: Chapter 5

• I wonder how hard it is to speak with those Klatooinian teeth/prosthetics. They make me think of how a bulldog would sound if they could talk.
• The bag with the head dripping blood is a nice touch.
• The shots of the sunlight on the ringworld are lovely!
• Great shots for the Night of a Thousand Tears, too. The last shot made me think of Terminator crossed with The War of the Worlds.
• LOL when Mando stumbled off the edge of the catwalk and the camera didn't follow him I was like... is he just gonna fall into space? Is there a forcefield he's gonna hit the edge of? Is the Armorer just talking to him as he falls to his death? Of course he flew back up with his jetpack. I'm so dumb.
• "No skin off my dip-swap" ????
• Aww the BD unit dancing in place with excitement!
• Oh right, this is an episode of Boba Fett, huh? I... think I enjoyed this ep more than any of the others so far. Though the Tusken flashback scenes in Chapter 2 are up there.

 

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Mythosaurs, confirmed for mandalorian season 3.

 

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The visuals in this episode were beyond incredible. Seeing the Mandalorian Purge and the Terminator homage with the K2 droids was a highlight. Also they got in my required podracing reference so I'm happy there.

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It's pretty goofy that the gang war with the Pykes that seems to be the narrative climax has so far consisted of some guys getting off an airplane two episodes ago and Boba telling a bunch of people they don't have to fight. You can do a lot in the two episodes we have left, but it feels like we've barely even interacted with the Big Bad Guys. The diversions with the Mayor and the Hutts have taken up more time and attention, and they both ran off, so I can't help but feel that time could have been put to better use building up the actual villains of the show.

Overall the quality of this episode really hammers home that Book of Boba Fett is a B-team show to hold us over until the A-team Mando season 3. Which is fine! And like I said I've been enjoying it a lot. But it feels like there's some missed potential here. However Chapter 2 alone justifies the show's existence, what a wonderful thing that was.

Next two episodes are probably gonna be killer, though.