TL;DR – Alas, this week’s episode felt like spinning wheels, holding back the exciting stuff for next week.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription that viewed this show.

The Book of Boba Fett Review –

I have been on the record in these reviews that since Chapter 2, The Book of Boba Fett has been badly losing steam. The show has struggled to maintain momentum as it explores two different timeframes with less than stellar results. However, this week we see a remarkable shift back on course. The question is, can they keep it up for the rest of the season. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

So to set the scene, at the end of Chapter 4, it became clear to both Bobba (Temuera Morrison) and Fennec (Ming-Na Wen) that war with the Pyke Syndicate is the only option coming to Tatooine and the streets of Mos Espa. However, away from the planet on a Ring World, Din Djarin/ The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) is about to take a bounty only for the Dark Sabre to take a bite out of him. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

The first real improvement comes from the show blending the old with the new, giving us these moments of nostalgia while also expanding the Star Wars universe. One of the things that the post-Disney Star Wars world has done is quietly ignore all the touches from the prequel series. There have been hints here and there in Rogue One and The Mandalorian, but just that hints. Well, this week, all that gets ripped away from the moment we arrive in Peli Motto’s (Amy Sedaris) garage in Mos Eisley to discover that the replacement ship that she has for Din is a Naboo N-1 Starfighter. There was almost a shock that they would be so bold, followed by an almost childish joy when they test it through the canyons, and you get taken back to that Pod Racer scene from The Phantom Menace.

But while this show is all about that nostalgia, it is also about making the Star Wars universe feel bigger rather than shrinking it down. Here we see that with one of the best introductions the series has done in a while with the Ring Planet. It gave the universe a sense of grandeur that had been missing. It also showed the oddly mundane things like how you travel commercially, which was strangely reassuring. As well as this, it was good to see today’s director Bryce Dallas Howard had better control over the virtual sets. Also, who doesn’t like some cute droids?

However, now we have to get into the sort of awkward section of the review because we have to acknowledge something. This week’s episode is almost an interlude for the season as we leave the story of the titular Boba to get The Mandalorian season 2.5. It is frustrating that the best episode in the season so far is the one that jettisons the leading star. I don’t think the episode worked as well as it did because there was no Boba, but it showed that when the show can tell one story, it does it so much better.

In the end, do we recommend Return of The Mandalorian? Yes, yes, we would. It is a shame that it took an interlude for the show to find its feet, but I am at least glad that we finally got there.

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Book of Boba Fett
Directed by – Bryce Dallas Howard
Written by – Jon Favreau
Created by – Jon Favreau
Based on – Star Wars created by George Lucas
Production/Distribution Companies – LucasFilm & Disney +
Starring – Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen & Pedro Pascal with Emily Swallow & Amy Sedaris and Ardeshir Radpour, Helen Sadler, Arden Voyles, Leilani Shiu, Max Lloyd-Jones, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Ming Qiu, Brendan Mayne, Leteef Crowder, Tait Fletcher, Michelle Lee, Rich Cetrone, Chris Bartlett & Safiya Fredericks