Going into The Book of Boba Fett I had some high expectations for the show just off of the quick 30 second post credit scene from The Mandalorian. The short shows Boba and Fennic Shand killing and taking Bib Fortuna’s throne in Jabba’s Palace. This led to many intriguing questions about the show: what is Boba planning and why. So is The Book of Boba Fett fett worth the watch?

The Book of Boba Fett takes place almost directly after the ending of Mandalorian season 2. Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) is revealed to be alive and kills Bib Fortuna to take Jabba the Hutt’s throne alongside assassin Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). Throughout the show Boba has flashbacks of his time with the Tusken Raiderswho found him after he escaped the sarlacc pit. His time with the Tuskens changes him from a ruthless bounty hunter to a humble leader. Using his new skills he takes over the Hutt’s palace to lead the city of Mos Espa with respect instead of fear like the Hutt’s before him. But that doesn’t come easy. First he must win over the people of Mos Espa and the crime lords of Tatooine while evading the assasination attempts of the Hutt family and Pyke Syndicate. Things turn south for Boba and Fennec so they form an “army” to defend Mos Espa from the growing Pyke threat.

First the cons. The cons of The Book of Boba Fett heavily outweighs the pros of the show and it shows. To Start the show is very slow with the plot not picking up until chapter 6 of 7. One of the big problems with the show is the terrible pacing, specifically at the beginning of the show. In the beginning the majority of the episodes are spent showing Boba’s time before taking over Mos Espa and his life with the Tusken Raiders. The first three episodes are spent with Boba and the Tuskens not driving the main plot forward, that being Boba riding Tatooine of crime families and syndicates. The next problem is a product of the last. The show gets no time to build up the tension with Boba and the Pyke Syndicate. We are never shown why the Pykes want to take over Mos Espa. The Pykes are just there. Disney had the obvious chose to make the Hutt family the main villains a party that has a real stake in the plot, and the funny thing is the hutts do show up but leave just as fast as they enter.

Now the pros, most of the pros have nothing to do with Boba Fett, hear me out. The parts that I personally enjoyed about the show were episodes centered around SPOILER ALERT!! 

The Mandalorian. These episodes show the true intentions of the show being The Mandalorian season 2.5 and setting up season 3. With that being said, these episodes were the highlight of the show for me because it drove the plot forward for something. It may not be the plot of the actual show but it drives something forward within Star Wars. But even the pros have cons and a huge con to The Mandalorian episodes is they make the first 2 seasons of The Mandalorian mean next to nothing. The whole premise of the first 2 seasons is for Mando to bring Grogu to the Jedi. Yet he does this, and only 3 episodes later Grogu is back with Mando after choosing to be with him instead of continuing his Jedi training. This brings up a whole other problem relating to Luke specifically from The Last Jedi, but I digress. The problem with Grogu reuniting with Mando so soon is that we should have more time with Mando. I wanted to see how he is thinking through and remorsing over losing essentially his son. Getting back on topic, another pro of the show in my opinion is the handling of Boba for the most part. 

I didn’t like how he was a perfect good guy and had flaws few and far between. It made him feel like a different person but his turn to being an anti hero was handled well. His turn to being “good” felt earned from the time he spent with the Tuscans. It felt earned because you got time to develop his relationship with the Tuscans, and how they accepted him into their society. Boba had become the hardened warrior and bounty hunter because the only person that cared about him was killed, his father Jango. So when he was given the chance to be accepted into a family he took it,  he says in episode 4 “I was ready to leave hunting behind”. All Boba wants is a family so that’s what he is doing when taking over Mos Espa. He wants to create a crime family built on loyalty and trust, but doesn’t align with his original trilogy appearance as a ruthless bounty hunter.

With all that being said it is still a very enjoyable show. It has good moments throughout the show, from learning more about the Tuscans culture, to spaghetti western style moments similar to the Mandalorian. So if you’re a Star Wars fan stick with it for some enjoyable moments if you can get past the flaws.