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‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Threw the Best Part of the Show Right in the Trash

By Mike Redmond | TV | January 13, 2022 |

By Mike Redmond | TV | January 13, 2022 |


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Previously on The Book of Boba Fett: After being attacked by assassins in the streets of Mos Espa, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) attempts to get information from the sole survivor that Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) brought back to the palace because have I mentioned she’s carrying this whole operation? She’s carrying this whole operation. After tricking the assassin into thinking he’s about to get eaten by a currently non-existent Rancor, Boba and Fennec head to the Mayor’s office thinking he’s the prime suspect. Not so much, but hold that thought. The Mayor informs them that Jabba the Hutt’s twins have laid claim to his legacy that Boba Fett is now sitting on, and sure enough, they arrive in town complete with a badass Wookiee gladiator in tow. (Black Krrsantan, if you nasty.) Finally, shit is about to go down as the show sets up its main conflict. Surely, the story is about to move forward and not flash back to the Dune Sea for the remaining 40 minutes of the episode.

Flash back to the Dune Sea for the remaining 40 minutes of the episode where Boba is being further accepted into the Tusken Raiders tribe following his escape from the Sarlacc Pit. As he adapts to their ways, Boba learns that the Sandpeople are routinely shot at by what only can be described as a flying space train. F*ck all that. After hatching a plan, Boba went down to Tosche Station, and he sure as hell wasn’t there for power converters. Our boy had his eyes on some speeder bikes, which he easily acquires by plowing through the Nikto Sand Riders gang like they’re not even there. This sets the stage for Boba to teach the Tuskens how to ride speeder bikes, which they then use to completely wreck the space train in one admittedly badass action sequence. To celebrate, the Tuskens shove a lizard up Boba Fett’s nose so he’ll find a tree and carve his own Gaffi stick. ’70s-based sci-fi, amirite? The Tuskens also give him the black robe he’s seen wearing in The Mandalorian because if Star Wars is anything, it’s telling you exactly how every single character found every single item they own whether you like it or not.

Caught up you are, yes.

Now, before we get into the recap of The Book of Boba Fett Episode 3, “Space Scooter? I Barely Know Her!” let me walk you through what my plan was for this week. I was starting to feel like maybe I was being a little hard on this show after seeing some of your comments, which I appreciate, so I was going to kick things off with a more upbeat list of what I’ve been enjoying about this series. From there, my newfound appreciation for Book of Boba Fett would lead us all into a glorious age of bonding over Episode 3, which would surely continue the show’s epic vibes from Boba’s time with the Sandpeople.

Well, sonofabitch.

If Episode 1 was The Force Awakens and Episode 2 was The Last Jedi, Episode 3 is The Rise of Skywalker because talk about some terrible choices. Goddamn. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn by saying the Sandpeople flashbacks were the strongest part of Book of Boba Fett based on the overwhelming positive reactions to last week’s episode. Yes, I had some thoughts about its trading on Western tropes, but thematically, it did work with what it seemed like the series was doing. So it was quite the kick in the teeth to watch Episode 3 unceremoniously dump that whole storyline right in the trash.

I’m assuming if you’re reading this recap, you’ve watched the episode, but in case you didn’t, SPOILERS.

In what has to be the shortest flashback so far, Boba Fett is a full-on Tusken king, majestically riding a Bantha across the desert. With the train situation knocked out, he makes his way to the Pyke Syndicate to demand payment as the new protectors of the spice route. They pretty much tell him, “Yeah, no, those speeder bike dudes from the previous episode are on it,” and Boba Fett’s like, “Damn, ok, that sucks. Guess I’ll go beat their shit again.” But first, he goes back to the Sandpeople camp and finds the whole tribe dead. Just bloop, gone. Boba Fett is sad for a tick, and MOVING ON because we only have 30 minutes this time, people. Hope you weren’t attached to any of them like, say, this wicked cool badass.

But before the impact of Boba Fett’s new family getting nonchalantly murdered off-screen can sink in, don’t worry, he finds a new one in the form of the Electric Scooter Rainbow Gang. Now, I’m going to tread very carefully here because I don’t want to seem like I agree with this dude who became Twitter’s main character yesterday and made criticizing this creative choice an absolute pain in the dick. Thanks, champ!

As several hundred people noted in the replies and quote tweets, there is a metric fuckton of Star Wars in this image, and they’re completely right. George Lucas famously loved 1950s iconography (American Graffiti, anyone?) and literally everything going on here would fit seamlessly in the prequels where Lucas monkeyed around with his love of ’50s aesthetics and bright colors. That said, just because the Cherry Vespa Daddies fit aesthetically, that doesn’t mean they were the best creative addition to the series, but we’ll come back to that.

After locking down his new kid gang and pissing off Stephen Root in the process (lotta guest stars this week), Boba Fett needed a nap as dads do after most interactions. However, this one was rudely awaken by Black Krrsantan absolutely wailing on our hero’s face. Although, for the record, I should state that The Book of Boba Fett simply refers to him as “Krrsantan.” Space racism, when will it end?

This sequence is easily the highlight of the whole episode because it really starts to feel like the show is finally getting into its main conflict. Plus, it’s a downright slamming fight that plays perfectly off Krrsantan’s introduction in Episode 2. You just know when he kicks into gear, things are going to go down, and boy, does it.

Thanks to some help from the Scoot Troop, and a smooth assist from Fennec Shand, the pissed off Wookiee gets trapped in the empty Rancor pit. (Like I said last week, Boba Fett always wins.) Surely, this means that things are on with the Hutt twins. Our antagonists for the rest of the series are in place, and now we can do this thing— just kidding. They’re sorry and are f*cking off right out of the show.

If you, like most people, thought the Hutts were going to be the Big Bad of the series, nope! After showing up at Boba Fett’s door and basically saying, “Our bad, we honestly don’t give a shit about any of this,” the Hutts leave the planet after gifting Boba a new Rancor and a Danny Trejo. OK, but that still leaves Krrsantan around, right? Nope again! Boba Fett just lets him go and tells him to not work for assholes anymore. I shit you not.

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So at this point, Episode 3 has not only wiped the grand, sweeping Tusken Raiders epic off the table, but now, it’s shuffled around its whole main conflict, which was already the weakest part of the narrative and barely holding together to begin with. Boba Fett still seems horribly inept and defined as a crime lord, and what was sold as a deep dive into the Star Wars underworld has been nothing more than inter-faction squabbles in exactly one Tatooine town. Case in point, surprise, it actually was the Mayor who sent the assassins in last week’s episode because he’s in league with the Pyke Syndicate who are the real Big Bad. Probably, maybe. Who the f*ck knows?

As if throwing the whole series narrative in a blender wasn’t bad enough, Episode 3 caps off with what has to be one of the worst Star Wars action sequences I’ve ever seen. Imagine one of those motorized scooters from the supermarket chasing a space car, and that’s the thrill this episode dished out. It wasn’t the Scooter Kids colorful aesthetic that failed the show, it was this whole scene that did the trick, which brings us to another glaring problem with the Book of Boba Fett.

Why does he do nothing?! I know I complain about him always winning, but there are an increasing number of times in this show where Boba Fett literally just stands there. Doesn’t do shit. After the car chase from hell, he just casually flies down at the end with his jetpack that he could’ve used the whole time. And not to bring up more Twitter shit, but it is kind of weird how Boba Fett is constantly toting around a mammoth blaster and never once uses the f*cking thing. He might as well be standing their holding a giant hoagie. I’m half-joking, but honestly, it would make more narrative sense if after every encounter, Boba Fett just takes a huge bite of salami. “So do they pay us now? You know what? I don’t care… mrmff… damn… that’s good mustard…”

Great, now I’m hangry. Awesome. Thanks, Book of Boba Fett.

P.S. Yes, I definitely noticed that, for once, I actually did a full recap, and it was for the worst episode of the show (so far). I’m very good at my job!


The Book of Boba Fett Recaps

Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7