Seeing as how “The Mandalorian ” was a huge hit with both fans and audiences, it makes sense for Star Wars to base its next show on one of its most popular characters, Boba Fett. This came as a surprise to people, as Boba Fett was always seen as that character with a cool design in the background. He hardly had any screen time and said very few lines in the original films, but people latched onto him because there was a lot they could read into him. While the character’s past has been expanded upon in the movie “Attack of the Clones” and even “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” series, there hasn’t been a show or film that featured him as the main lead. Thankfully, with Mandalorian season two bringing back veteran Star Wars actor Temuera Morrison and teaming him up with Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand, this series showed promise.

The series picks up right after Boba Fett and Fennec Shand takedown Bib Fortuna and claim Jabba the Hutt’s territory on Tatooine. While the present story is going on, we see through a series of flashbacks of how Boba escaped from the Sarlaac in ‘Return of the Jedi”, and survived the harsh environments of Tatooine by learning the ways of the Tusken Raiders (Sand People), and coming in conflict with the Pyke syndicate that intends to control Tatooine’s spice trade. Now that he’s Daimyo, Fett intends to make a name for himself in the galaxy’s underworld while also bringing in new and old characters who may or may not steal the spotlight from the titular character. 

Like many of you, I was excited to see this series, as when I was younger I read about how Boba Fett survived the events of “Return of the Jedi” and would continue to play a part in the Star Wars lore. Now that those stories are declared non-canon in “Legends”, this series was an opportunity for the creators to tell their own stories. The show starts strong as the first scene shows us Boba escaping the Sarlacc, losing his armor, and if things weren’t bad enough, he’s taken prisoner by the Sand People. What I like about this side plot is that it shows the character at his lowest point. He’s revered as one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy, and now he’s trapped against his will in a universe that believes him to be dead. 

This leads to some interesting character development, as after a series of well-placed events, Boba earns the trust of the tribe and is even welcomed as one of its members. The scenes revolving around the Tuskens stood out to me as a lot of them didn’t revolve around much dialogue, but were conveyed through very strong physical performances. Temuera Morrison carries these scenes so well as you see him develop through scenes that are simple but take their time in letting you read into the situation. I will also admit it is cool to see a story revolve around the Tusken’s. When you see them in the movies, they’re mostly seen as loud savages that appear out of nowhere and negatively affect the characters. But here, not only do you see aspects of their culture, but you also see how they work as a people. As far as plotlines go, this one was fairly interesting.

But then we come back to the present story. I’m not saying this to be degrading or negative, but the series considerably slows down when it comes back to the main story. When you look at the setup of Boba as Daimyo in Jabba’s territory, you can’t help but feel intrigued by the premise. You think of how Boba is going to act as a crime boss or the different types of rogues who plan to challenge him in his new position of power. However, they make the choice to have Boba go straight and “rule through respect rather than fear”. I can understand this choice, especially after seeing his time with the Tusken’s. But I’m not sure that’s what people want to see in a Boba Fett story. On top of that, the antagonists they bring in aren’t that interesting. There are characters who you think are going to be major players only to have them be sidelined or leave early on. You also have the obvious corrupt mayor, and the big bad syndicate out to take advantage of everyone. It’s all tropes you’ve seen done numerous times and aren’t something you’d want to see in a Boba Fett story. 

If you think that feels off, you also have Boba and Fennec hiring this group of cyborg bikers as their enforcers. I understand what they were aiming for with this, but it’s distracting in the sense that it doesn’t match up with the desert environment or universe at all. It’s like the diner scene on Coruscant in “Attack of the Clones”, or the casino on Canto Bight from “The Last Jedi”. It’s something that you can find in everyday life and doesn’t necessarily feel otherworldly. I feel bad because I’m certain these actors were excited to be in a live-action Star Wars series acting alongside these characters. But in the end, this aspect didn’t fit at all. I don’t know about you guys, but seeing hardcore characters like Boba Fett and Fennec Shand being followed by Power Ranger cyborgs riding speeders straight out of “American Graffiti” feels so strange to me.

I know it may sound like I don’t like this series, but that’s not the case. In fact, after episode four, I still considered it an above-average show. While it did feel slow and even predictable at times, I was still on board to see what this series had to offer. What the remaining episodes had to offer was great, but not for the reasons I originally thought. In fact, for a brief time, it practically turned into a different series.

Episode five completely ignores the main plot and brings us back to the Mandalorian on his adventures. This was surprising to a lot of people, especially since this is supposed to be a Boba Fett series and he doesn’t even appear in this episode. But not that many people complained because they love seeing this character go out into the galaxy and do his own thing. We see the Mandalorian (Din Djarin) as he comes to grips with the absence of Grogu (Baby Yoda). We see him go to different locations, collect bounties, and even continue to hone his skills with the Darksaber he won from Moff Gideon. I don’t mean to put down the previous episodes, but something about this one turned the series on for a lot of people. Ironically, I feel this is closer to what people would expect from a Boba Fett series. A Mandalorian bounty hunter with a complex history who takes on multiple high-risk jobs, while coming across multiple allies and enemies in the process. When it’s all said and done, a lot more was built up and established with this plot than the main one that this series is centered on.

Episode six goes even further with the Mandalorian subplot as we see him go to meet Ahsoka Tano who tells him that Grogu is currently training with Luke Skywalker. This setup alone is what people have been expecting from Star Wars for a while. We get to see a post- “Return of the Jedi” Luke conveyed wonderfully through masterful visual effects. While the effects they used to portray him in the Mandalorian season two weren’t perfect, here you can tell they made some serious upgrades. I was impressed with how they achieved this effect by having stand-in actor Graham Hamilton on set, with Mark Hamill himself voicing his iconic role. For the longest time, I wasn’t seeing an effect, I was literally watching a young Mark Hamill jump around on set with Grogu and all these characters. The scenes between him and Grogu training are how I envisioned Luke would be a Jedi Master. I will admit the scenes with Luke doing parkour through the woods with Grogu feels similar to how he trained with Yoda in “The Empire Strikes Back”. While it is fanservice, it’s done in a way that keeps you engaged as it is one of your childhood heroes in a story you want to see more of.

As much as I enjoyed these episodes, it feels odd to say the best parts of the Boba Fett series don’t always revolve around him. In fact, he appears briefly towards the end of the episode and only says a few lines. I will admit there is a funny irony to how in episodes five through six, Boba is relegated to the side role/cameo he had in the films in his own series. 

This in no way should detract from people’s enjoyment of the show. But with how the story jumps from one plot thread to the next, it does feel like a different show at times. It’s not like Mandalorian season two where it involved a lot of classic characters but still worked them into the main plot. Here a good portion of the characters they bring back don’t factor into the Boba Fett storyline that much, if not at all. I get the feeling that the people behind this show wanted to set up the premise for Mandalorian season three in this series. Which I understand as the grand plan is to have a lot of these shows intersect with familiar characters popping in every now and then. Similar to what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) shows are doing. But it also has me asking, if you want to do Mandalorian season three, then why not go right to it?  

It isn’t until towards the end of episode six that Boba Fett’s story gets back on track. We not only see Cobb Vanth come back, but we also get to see bounty hunter Cad Bane from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” make his live-action debut. The character’s introduction as well as his visual effects are perfect in my opinion. Similar to what they did with Luke’s character, they had stand-in actor Dorian Kingi on set with voice actor Corey Burton conveying that menacing voice. His appearance here was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. It also gave Boba an actual adversary to go up against and not just a bunch of syndicate goons.

The season finale practically went how I thought it would with a final battle on Tatooine. There were some fun action scenes involving the Mandalorian with the darksaber. You get Boba Fett riding a rancor which was something I’ve been dying to see. You get the Mandalorian reuniting with Grogu who chose to stay with him and have Boba’s final showdown with Cad Bane. Overall, the final episode was okay and ended on a satisfying note. It wasn’t big by any means, but it didn’t deter my interest to see the story continue. Whether it will be in another season or a different series is up in the air, but in Star Wars anything is possible.

That about sums up my thoughts on “The Book of Boba Fett”. Was it the story I wanted to see this character in? Not always. Did it feel less like a Boba Fett series and more like a “Book of Cameos”? At times yes. But I still had a good time with this series as it gave us good performances, big surprises, and pushed the story forward to where you want to see more in the future. In the end, it gave more than it promised, and that’s more than enough for me.

Spinnaker rates this series 3.5 out of 5 Spinnaker Sails.

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