Ch. 6 of The Book of Boba Fett is not what I expected.
But I love how it taps into the magic of Star Wars as one big galaxy.
The Short Take:
Excuse me while I pick up my jaw, which has been on the floor for 45 minutes. Not at all what I expected, and those complaining that this isn’t Boba Fett’s show now have a stronger case. But I’m so happy with what we got that I don’t care.
[SPOILERS. Oh my goodness, so many spoilers. I had to go with this less exciting photo at the top because it’s one of the few that wouldn’t be a spoiler.]
The Long Take:
For everyone’s sake, I’m going to skip the part where I just shout names of characters that showed up and things that happened in this episode. My exclamation point key needs a break anyway. In short, I’m still in shock that Filoni and Favreau are just going for it, not holding back or teasing anything at all.
I had assumed, for instance, that Mando saying “I gotta pay a visit to a little friend” last week meant one or more of the following a.) that he would disappear and return in the finale, b.) that his plans to visit Grogu would be interrupted by the Pykes (this was a Ringerverse theory from last week that made a lot of sense to me), or c.) that whatever excursion he went on would remain off-screen until The Mandalorian Season 3. I was so wrong. Most of this episode, in fact, takes place on the lush bamboo planet where Luke Skywalker is training Grogu in the ways of the Force. Grogu!!! Sorry, I promised I wouldn’t do that.
Many viewers reasonably criticized and/or joked that last week’s episode belonged on The Mandalorian rather than The Book of Boba Fett. This week’s episode, which features only a brief appearance by Boba Fett at the very end, does not dispel that idea at all. Indeed, it’s kind of hard to deny that the “actual” book of Boba Fett, or, more accurately, what we thought was The Book of Boba Fett, ended when Boba finished healing in the bacta tank. While all the Tatooine scenes in Episode 6 make sense as part of the anticipation for what will surely be a showdown with the Pykes next week, everything off-world seems like it’s stretching the parameters of this show because it’s not yet clear how — if at all — Grogu and Mando’s story relates to Boba’s.
I’m on record saying that the structure and pacing of this show have been strange since the beginning. But what if this show is just pushing us, trying to expand our notion of what serialized storytelling can look like? Network television has trained us to expect a season of a show to look a certain way, but does that mean it has to be that way? Disney+ shows do not have ads, so why do we still expect an episode’s run time to be a particular length when that was really just set by commercial breaks pre-streaming? In an age when someone might binge an entire series or watch it as it releases week-to-week, why do seasons of shows have to follow a set pattern? As the divide between film and television becomes more and more farcical (or at least confusing), why wouldn’t a show like this try to break the mold a little bit? Why can’t The Book of Boba Fett have a Part 1 that focuses on Boba and the Tuskens and then a Part 2 that focuses on Mando and Grogu, almost as if they were two limited series, loosely linked?
That said, I do think that a lot hangs on this finale in terms of whether or not The Book of Boba Fett will be satisfying as a cohesive body of work in the end. If we get a mind-blowing battle between Boba’s recruits (including Cobb Vanth’s Freetown folks, presumably) and the Pykes AND the show can stage a conversation between Boba and Mando so they can hash out these common ideas of family, tribe, and what it means to be a Mandalorian, then it will feel like Filoni and Favreau had a plan all along and we were foolish to question them. I’m still sticking with what I hoped for last week. Maybe, now that Grogu is on the table, we can have Grogu choose his Mandalorian identity, go with Mando, and then both will join up with Boba to try to restore Mandalore in Season 3 of The Mandalorian. In the meantime, Boba can leave Fennec in charge to rule his Tatooine empire.
If I search my feelings, do I really care if these two episodes feel like a different show? NOPE. I get what people are complaining about. I really do. I’m less understanding of why they’re actually complaining about it. Would I trade all the Grogu goodness we got in this episode for a more Mos Espa-focused episode instead? ALL THE NOPES.
I fought back tears multiple times during the Mando/Grogu/Luke scenes. I finally let the waterworks flow when I saw Luke carrying Grogu in his backpack and hopping through the forest. Something about this callback to Luke training with Yoda on Dagobah hit a nerve, as if I were feeling Luke’s grief and fondness for Yoda along with him. And I suddenly felt the passage of time. Even with all the de-aging CGI weirdness (which wasn’t perfect but looked way better than I would have expected), I still felt how far Luke had come since A New Hope, and how much he has been through by the time Grogu gets to him.
Perhaps this feeling is actually of experiencing Star Wars as a whole galaxy rather than any one individual film or episode. The time we spend on the bamboo planet is a breathtakingly beautiful convergence of all generations of the Star Wars franchise. The Mandalorian — arguably the most successful new character of the post-Disney era — lands on a planet in a Naboo Fighter — a signature ship from the prequels — and meets R2D2, one of the most iconic characters from the original trilogy. (It’s so crazy that I’m only going to mention R2D2 once. But that’s how much they’ve packed into this one episode.) In almost any behind-the-scenes documentary for Star Wars, someone at some point will talk about how Star Wars is a family tradition; that it’s so powerful as a franchise because an inter-generational community has formed around it. So the fact that one scene in this episode can encapsulate that without seeming contrived is astonishing. I had this same feeling at the end of Season 2 of The Mandalorian when Luke shows up and Mando removes his helmet. I don’t think that feeling is purely nostalgia for the original trilogy or my fan service synapses firing. I think it’s tapping into this bigger sense of the galaxy feeling of a piece.
Getting to see Ahsoka interact with Luke also gave me chills because it connects two very important dots in the galaxy, finally closing the loop between the animated series and the original trilogy. From Ahsoka saying she was a friend of the Skywalker family to Luke, almost in a child-like way, saying, “Will I see you again?,” this crossover was everything I had hoped for. (My esteemed colleague and fellow Star Wars fan P.T. McNiff reminded me that this line echoes what little Ani says to Shmi right before he leaves Tatooine in The Phantom Menace. This adds a whole other emotional layer.) We get the bittersweet reference to Ahsoka’s strong relationship with Anakin, her former master. And we get to see that even though Luke is the seasoned Jedi very much in control of his powers post-Return of the Jedi, he’s still searching for a sense of family and grieving the loss of Anakin/Darth Vader. And looking for mentorship. He’s lost Obi-Wan, Yoda, and his father. It makes perfect sense that he would want to latch onto Ahsoka. I continue to be pleased with Rosario Dawson as live action Ahsoka. She exudes wisdom, kindness, and empathy in a way that feels true to that character.
All the other feels I had during this episode were in response to the strong bond between Mando and Grogu. Yes, Grogu is cute. And yes, I want to hug him. But the emotional response is to Mando and Grogu as a family. When Ahsoka asks Mando if he wants to give him the armor for Grogu or for himself (because he misses him), the way that Pedro Pascal delivers the line “No. As a Mandalorian foundling, he should have this. It’s his right” is so loving and genuine. You can hear the aching in his voice. He hates being away from Grogu, but loves him so much that he’s willing to put his own feelings aside to do what’s best for him. I found the music cue when Mando walks away, leaving Ahsoka with the beskar armor, to be incredibly moving.
To go back to the notion of the tribe of Mandalore, there’s a grander sense of cultural identity mixed in with Mando’s emotional attachment as well. He thinks of Grogu as a Mandalorian. Will that turn out to be true? I personally hope so. We have already have seen through Ahsoka, who leaves the Jedi Order in The Clone Wars animated series, that there are ways to successfully commune with the Force without the institution of The Jedi Order and its dogma. Might Grogu become like Tarre Vizsla, the creator of The Darksaber who was part Mandalorian and part Jedi? It seems strange to have The Armorer bring up Tarre Vizsla in Episode 5 and then not have Grogu at least entertain that idea. I can’t believe I’m saying I don’t want to just watch Luke train Grogu in perpetuity, but that’s how well-written the Grogu/Mando relationship has been. That’s how much potential the larger story of The Book of Boba Fett has (if they can bring it all together next week).
While the Luke/Grogu/Mando conflict is the heart and soul of this episode, I cannot ignore all the other amazing characters and narrative threads woven around that central conflict. Ahsoka, of course, was a delightful surprise. And I love the Old West sleepy town vibes that the Cobb Vanth subplot had. Timothy Olyphant reminds us that he is a cowboy king; his drawl is the best and his line reading brought me right back to the poetry of Deadwood. I really want him and Boba to become sheriff friends; I don’t think they realize how much they have in common. His knocking over the spice crate says so much about him and his leadership in such a short amount of time. While I was not expecting to see any of them, all these cameos were not wholly shocking because they were at least characters that have appeared on The Mandalorian already.
Except for Cad Bane. CAD BANE. The second I saw the silhouette of his duster in the distance and realized that it could be him, I completely flipped out. Cad Bane is a bounty hunter that has been around in the animated series for quite some time. He most recently appeared in The Bad Batch, getting into an epic stand-off with Fennec Shand.
In a lot of ways Cad Bane is blue Clint Eastwood, but he’s always been one of my favorite bounty hunters because he has a hilarious stoicism/grumpiness to him and he is a total bad ass (there’s really no other way to say it). He’s resourceful, cunning, and highly skilled. And he does not have the heart of gold that some of our other bounty hunters might have. He’s just here to get paid, and you do NOT want to mess with him. When I realized that he was approaching Cobb for a shootout, I was immediately afraid for Cobb’s life. I mean, his deputy was definitely toast, but I was also not super sure if Cobb was going to make it out either. Then I reassured myself that they need Cobb to lead Freetown alongside Boba’s crew in the big battle. So I think he’s going to be fine.
I thought Cad Bane looked great in live action. Prior to seeing him here I would have been reluctant to add him to my live action wish list because his look is so distinct. They pulled it off, though. The obscuring of his face with his hat followed by the reveal when he tilts his head up was perfect.
I’m so ready for Cad Bane to go head-to-head with any and all the other characters, but especially for him to have a rematch with Fennec. Knowing that he’ll be in the mix in the final battle makes me even more excited for what’s to come. Have we peaked in terms of cameos? Or will even more characters show up? I’m greedily hoping for more bounty hunters. A lot of people are still hoping for Emilia Clarke/Qi’ra from Solo: A Star Wars Story because she would be the head of Darth Maul’s old crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn, at this time. I remain skeptical because I think there’s not enough time to do a bait and switch with The Pykes. But, after this episode, I’d say anything is possible.
Random Shoutout (Think of this as the post-credits scene for this review.)
The funniest moment in this episode is when Mando follows R2 and finds himself in a sea of droids building the new Jedi Academy. “Is that a bench?” is the most Dave Filoni joke I’ve heard in a while. I can hear him saying it, and it cracked me up. Mando’s anti-droid bias from Season 1 of The Mandalorian is also a fun subtext in this scene.