If I didn’t know going in that “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” the sixth episode of The Book of Boba Fett was the series’ penultimate installment, there’s no way you could convince me of that fact simply from watching the episode. Now, if you told me it was the second episode of The Mandalorian, season three, well, I would be much more inclined to believe you. Your enjoyment of this episode likely hinged on whether you wanted The Book of Boba Fett to be the story of its titular character or if you were simply watching the series as a stepping stone in the greater Mandalorian Star Wars journey. If it was the latter, I’m betting it checked a number of boxes for you. If it was the former, well, I suspect you’re feeling a bit like I am at this point in the game – confused as to why we had to spend so much time dealing with following Mando on his latest quest to let go of little Grogu (not to mention watching Grogu’s own training with creepy CGI de-aged Luke Skywalker) when we could have been watching Fett and Company prepare for war.
And that is the crux of the issue with The Book of Boba Fett: it’s a series that promised us one thing and then turned out to be something completely different. Yes, we got to spend time filling in Fett’s backstory and getting a basic understanding of the political structure on Tatooine, but the series has worked best when it was telling the tale of Fett’s time with the Tuskens or when it was simply giving us The Mandalorian season three*. The present-day elements that saw Fett and Fennec Shand attempting to consolidate their power and become benevolent overlords in Mos Espa lacked the focus necessary to make us care about whether or not they are successful in their fight with the Pyke Syndicate. I suppose Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau recognized this narrative deficiency and rather than beefing up their story with the Mods or other denizens of the area, they simply opted to shift focus to characters we already had a deep understanding and respect for: Mando and Cobb Vanth. But that doesn’t explain our Grogu detour.
*During press for the series, Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand) commented that Book of Boba Fett was “The Mandalorian, season 2.5.” Which is a great sound bite but appears to be far more accurate than anyone suspected it would be.
So, Grogu. As many assumed, Mando’s comment about needing to visit a little friend did, in fact, mean that we were getting an interlude to visit Luke, Grogu, and (for an unknown reason but almost certainly as a reminder she exists in this universe ahead of her own spin-off, Ahsoka Tano). No, Mando and Grogu didn’t get to actually meet up – I’m firmly with Ahsoka, if Grogu saw Mando, he would be hopping on that ship ASAP – we were allowed a chance to coo and smile at the cutest darn Star Wars character’s cute and adorable antics (always with those frogs. . .). And we were given the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers, when Luke offered Grogu Yoda’s lightsaber or Mando’s tiny chainmail shirt – the choice would determine where he ends up.* But, what does this have to do with Boba Fett and his attempt to stop the Pyke Syndicate from taking over Tatooine? Nothing. It has absolutely nothing to do with it. Which is incredibly frustrating for those of us who tuned in expecting that to be the main attraction here.
*Anyone who things Grogu is about to stick around and become a Jedi under Luke’s tutelage lacks the merchandising understanding necessary to watch these series. Set aside the fact that if he sticks around, he likely doesn’t make it out of the Kylo Ren massacre (which is just depressing to think about), but Disney is not about to lose its cash cow due to a story point. Is it possible we get a Grogu Jedi training spin-off? Sure, but again, having uncanny valley Luke Skywalker around all the time would be a bridge too far for many, and a hard CGI sell, even for the Star Wars team.
On the flip side, the return of Cobb Vanth (the always great Timothy Olyphant) made sense in the world of Boba Fett. After all, why wouldn’t the Pyke Syndicate think they can push around the newly named Freetown? And why wouldn’t Vanth push back? Mando trying to recruit him for the big fight also worked – he (and his people) would be a huge help to Fett’s forces. The introduction of Cad Bane into the world of live action Star Wars also worked alright – although, if you haven’t watched any of the Star Wars animated series, you likely didn’t know who you were dealing with and had to resort to a Google search.
I can’t see it being at all possible for the series to wrap-up its arc in any satisfying manner in the series finale next week – and to be frank, the series hasn’t done a good enough job laying the groundwork for it to do so. Our sole scene at Fett headquarters consisted of Fennec telling us just what has been done to prepare for battle (while our titular character didn’t have a single line, for the second episode in a row). A hallmark of good storytelling is showing, not telling, the audience what is happening. A short speech by Fennec telling us all that we missed seeing because we were watching Grogu levitate a frog is just bad writing. So, whatever happens next week will happen. I suspect it will carry over into the actual third season of The Mandalorian – you know, the show about Mando and not about Boba Fett – but who knows? I guess it’s worth tuning in to see just what we get in the finale.
Final Thoughts:
— Just to clarify: If this and The Mandalorian (and maybe Ahsoka’s upcoming series) were linked under a connecting header of some sort (Star Wars Adventures in the New Republic?), I wouldn’t be complaining so much about having two Mando-focused installments of The Book of Boba Fett. But they aren’t. They were pitched as unique stories with room for crossover appeal. Instead, these last two weeks have been Mandalorian episodes, full stop. That’s not what we signed up for when we started watching. I love The Mandalorian, so I’m ok with seeing his story continue (although the Grogu training section was a bit much in my opinion), but I would prefer more time with Fett, Fennec, and their respective stories.
— Guess who has a long and complicated relationship with Boba Fett that the series won’t have time to explore as well as it should? That’s right: Cad Bane! Another reason the series should have just given us Fett’s story and saved Mando’s for his own series.
-
Acting
-
Writing
-
Direction
