Summary: Mando does a bounty to get information on the remaining Mandalorians. He is reunited with the Armourer and Paz Viszla. He learns he needs to learn to wield the darksaber. He reveals that he took of his helmet and is exiled. Mando returns to Tatooine and finds Peli, who he helps finish rebuilding an N-1 Starfighter which Mando uses. Fennec arrives at Peli's and offers Mando a job, Mando agrees to it but he will visit Grogu first.
The Good: This episode was packed with fun "Star Wars" moments and references. Of course we get to see Mando return in his full glory, and it is nice to get a full episode with him. Currently, Mando is a far better character than Boba, so I had much more fun watching his story than I have had watching any of Boba's. We get many more references littered about from the N-1 starfighter flying through the same canyon from "The Phantom Menace", to the return of the two New Republic officers from "The Mandalorian" and to a passing mention of fathiers and Mando's use of the term "wizard". This episode does well to appease many "Star Wars" fans by reminding us that this is all a connected universe. It was also nice to see Peli once more, and the ship-building storyline was decent fun. I enjoyed the opening sequence. It was very reminiscent of the first episode of "The Mandalorian" by putting Mando into the bounty hunting business, although this time he is doing it for a greater purpose. Still, it was a strong way to reintroduce the character, and set up the idea that he is not used to the darksaber and that it is weighing him down. Mando being exiled was a big moment which seemingly sets up his next story: redemption for taking off his helmet. I would love to see the show take this story in a different direction, but if this is all that's in Mando's future, at least it was set up well. I enjoyed the scenes with The Watch for what they were: tons of exposition and set up for "The Mandalorian" season 3. I enjoyed little world-building things like the existence of a commercial flight system in this universe. And I chuckled at Mando trying to get weapons on board the flight for religious reasons. The Bad: This episode does nothing to fix my problem with this show. I do not care about Boba's story right now, and spending an entire episode with Mando only furthers the issue. Evidently, even the writers don't think that Boba's story is compelling enough because they had to bring back Mando for a whole episode to pad out more time in what has so far been a bland, shallow, and poorly outlined plot. While the quality of this episode is solid, it does not fit in the overall Boba Fett story and is jarring. I was very annoyed with season 2 of "The Mandalorian" dedicating far too much time to setting up other TV shows, and I have that same criticism here. Instead of fleshing out Boba's story further, this episode exists almost solely to set up for "The Mandalorian" season 3, which should not happen in a series that should be all about Boba Fett. By doing this, the show is actively admitting to us that Boba's story is not important and is almost filler when compared to Mando's far more interesting story. I wish there was more focus on how Mando feels without Grogu. What we got was good (see: Best Moment), but it needed to be a more central aspect of the episode. As for the specifics of the episode itself, I had a few problems. Mando collected a bounty for information on the Mandalorians, but I have to wonder how that one guy even knew where they were anyways. Furthermore, it would have been nice to get some more context on what the plan is for The Watch now that most of them are dead. I struggled to connect with the plight of the Armourer when all of her dialogue felt so robotic and packed with exposition rather than substance. I also did not like the fight between Mando and Paz. Sure, it fits with the Mandalorian roots, but I could not connect at all with the emotions behind either character. I was left unsure with why Paz would want to kill Mando for the darksaber, and why Mando would accept his challenge. Plus, why did they take off their jetpacks? That suggested to me that this was going to be a fight to the death (if they fall, there's no saving them!), but then they just stop the fight prematurely. There was too much emphasis on the spectacle, and some of the details that were needed for emotional engagement were glossed over. From a technical standpoint, I was impressed by the oner in this episode when Mando went to collect the bounty, but I have to ask what the purpose of it was. This oner didn't add to the scene at all and it feels entirely unnecessary. The scene would have landed better with closer shots of the characters so we could have a better feel of the tension and emotion. With such wide shots to accommodate the oner, the scenes fell flat. The oner feels like it was only there for the sake of being there because of the spectacle. In that regard, it perfectly sums up the biggest problem of these "Star Wars" TV shows so far: they are all spectacle. There emphasis is always on the flashiness and cool stuff like Easter Eggs and visual effects, but we aren't getting enough substance to justify the spectacle, in fact the spectacle often gets in the way of the substance. It's a major problem that needs to be corrected. The Unknown: Will we be following Mando more this season? Or will we follow Boba and only see him after he visits Grogu. I really do not have much to say about this episode. Its place in the overall series feels weird and there isn't a whole lot to discuss. Best Moment: Mando seeing the young kid seated in front of him and thinking about Grogu. The show did a great job of making us feel how much mando misses him despite us not being able to see his face. The outline of Grogu's head subtly appearing in the wrapping of Mando's gift for him was a fantastic touch. Character of the Episode: Mando. Conclusion: This was flawed but decent entertainment and it would feel right at home as the season 3 premiere of "The Mandalorian". But seeing that this is "The Book of Boba Fett", this felt out of place and did not fit in with the rest of the story being told. It's an alright episode, but it has to be brought down because of its questionable placement in this show. Score: 56
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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