Thoughts on The Book of Boba Fett

As many of us already know, Boba Fett's goal is to take over Jabba the Hutts territory on Tatooine. He wants to be more than a bounty hunter. As the story goes along, we find out that Boba isn't such a bad person. He tries to be reasonable with people and prefers peace over a fight. They have him doing some things to gain favor with fans like helping those poor, misunderstood sand people. He also rescues Fennec Shand from death, and she becomes his assistant. Throughout the story, he went about gaining allies and some turned out to be reliable.  

In the first several episodes, the story just wasn't hooking me. The plot seemed to be weak or moving too slow. As a writer, I naturally try to figure out why. The story of Boba Fett is partially told using flashbacks. I found them to be more interesting than his current situation of sitting in Jabba's chair or sleeping in a tank of water. It's not that there isn't plenty of action, but for several episodes, Boba's goal often seems vague and why is it important? The conflict comes from other characters (that I don't know much about) trying to kill him or stop him. It wasn't clear to me why I would want Boba in charge. Maybe it would've flowed better if they had started with the flashbacks, rather than alternating from the past and present. However, that brings up issues about when he met the Mandalorian and got his armor back. If it was a straight timeline, we would have to rehash all that again.   

There are seven episodes. In episode five, Din Djarin (The Mandalorian/Mando) comes back and it's all about his issues of wanting to retain his status as a Mandalorian, and he also wants to see Grogu (Baby Yoda) again. Episode six is about Din trying to visit Grogu while he is training with Luke. At this point, I began to wonder if we'd get back to Boba Fett. It seemed like Din had taken over the series. Also, since Din and Grogu are so popular, Disney must be under pressure to get those two back on the screen. 

Toward the end of the series, things finally start coming together. It becomes clear that Boba wants to run a clean territory. This goal becomes worthy because people are going to suffer if he doesn't stop the criminals who want to take it over and run a spice trade. If only they could've got this point across much earlier. 

The last episode brought everything together in a good finale where Boba and Din join forces. We get to see Boba and Din using all their tricks and gadgets in a long battle. The bad guys also have some tricks of their own. The finale made it worthwhile to watch after all. 

Thoughts on Mandalorian

When I first started watching the Mandalorian, it didn’t seem to have much of a plot. He went around capturing people for bounty money and enjoyed upgrading his armor. Even when he found “Baby Yoda” it seemed he was going from mission to mission with no real goal. The different missions (like saving a village from an imperial walker) were entertaining, but there was no clear direction of where he was going long term. We also find out that he sometimes associated with criminals if necessary.

I also found him to be a lot like Batman (Star Wars Version) because he hides his face, has various gadgets for fighting, along with the armor. The strong, silent type, possible Mando anti-hero also reminded me of Clint Eastwood and his many lone-wolf type roles. Space Opera and Westerns do have some things in common. Also, the Mandalorian has a name (Din Djarin) but it’s not used much.

The rescue of Baby Yoda from the remnants of the Empire was the first hint of a character arc. It was also the first time the Mandalorian did something for someone other than himself. Like Clint Eastwood, people started to like Mando, even if they couldn't see his face.

At the point where he decided to take Baby Yoda to his own people (the Jedi), the plot became more engaging because this was a long term goal. As the series continues, he makes friends with good people that keep returning from previous episodes. The character arc of Mando can be summed up. He goes from being a rather cold, yet a skilled bounty hunter, to caring about someone else. This lines up with the father/son theme in many of the Star Wars movies.

I ended up (like most people) hooked on the series. The end of season two left some questions unanswered. There was a problem regarding the dark saber and who could have it.

Another observation:

Men seem to like that lone-wolf type with all those cool weapons, and women seem to love Mando for keeping that adorable Baby Yoda (Grogu) safe. This is a win/win.

Predictions:

What could season 3 be about? I would hope that Mando hasn't gone back to bounty hunting, and is doing something more meaningful, like helping his own kind. The one mission per episode format will probably continue. (Please don't be like Han Solo.) As for Grogu, he is going to be missing Mando and will be tempted to leave the Jedi. That's the usual trouble starting point in Star Wars.