By Mac Davies-Chalmers
Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett’s finale aired on February 9th, and fans still seem to have some mixed feelings about the series. The Book of Boba Fett is a sequel to the famous Mandalorian, and is centered around the long-awaited return of bounty hunter Boba Fett. Boba has returned to the planet Tatooine to find his city, Mos Espa, in ruin. So he made it his duty to rule over the city with respect and dignity. In this review, I’ll discuss the show’s plot and dive into episodes 5 and 6. These episodes in particular are the highest rated of the series, and for a good reason.
Of course, spoiler warning for the show!
Summary
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Boba Fett, he was introduced in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, released in 1980. He was a silent bounty hunter, inspired by cowboy films. He unfortunately met his doom in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983), when he fell into the infamous sarlacc pit. His “demise” caused a rift in the fanbase, since Boba Fett had only 5 lines of dialogue in any Star Wars movie, and people wanted to see more of the legendary bounty hunter. At the time, everyone thought that he was dead.
42 years later, in 2022, Boba Fett has returned.
The first four episodes were unfortunately, very disappointing. It had lackluster action, horrid acting and a boring story. The only thing saving the show were Boba’s flashbacks of his past, revealing what happened to him after escaping the sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi (1983). Fans had been waiting for this show for 42 years, and what we got was very underwhelming. Boba’s show was poorly received by the Star Wars fanbase, and it looked like nothing could save it. Until…
The Return of the Mandalorian
Din Djarin, or more famously known as the Mandalorian, makes his appearance in the fifth episode of the Book of Boba Fett. Episode 5 didn’t even have Boba in it, since it was simply a bridge episode to show us what Din has been doing since the finale of The Mandalorian (2020). This episode was absolutely fantastic, with great callbacks to previous Star Wars movies. Old faces from the Mandalorian made appearances as well, which made this episode a blast to watch.
From the Desert Comes a Stranger
Episode 6 was easily the best episode of the season. Continuing Din’s adventures, this episode brings us to Luke Skywalker’s brand new Jedi temple, which is designed to train the next generation of Jedi. Also, yes, THAT Luke Skywalker from the old-school Star Wars films. Luke is attempting to teach Grogu (baby yoda) about the force and the balance of life.
Seeing Luke Skywalker once more brought me to the verge of tears, since he has been a large part of my life as a long-time Star Wars fan.
This entire episode was beautifully directed, with numerous nature shots and brilliantly composed music. The creators used deepfake technology to de-age Luke's actor Mark Hamill, who is now 70. This Episode had no bad points since it was exactly what Star Wars should be. It was packed with spiritual lessons, cowboys, the Jedi, and adorable aliens.
Final Review
After a very bumpy start, The Book of Boba Fett managed to turn itself around, and have an extremely satisfying final three episodes. Although, there is still something that bothers me:the show only got better when the Mandalorian showed up. If the Mandalorian didn't make an appearance, the Book of Boba Fett would've been the worst thing to come out of Star Wars since Jar Jar Binks and the sequels.
All in all, The Book of Boba Fett had a rocky start, but found it’s saviour with the return of the Mandalorian and Luke Skywalker.
4/5 stars
★★★★☆