The Book of Boba Fett (SPOILERS possible)

[Matt_Fury]

Without going into it too much, I liked it.  Although the whole everything in the previews was in the first half of the first episode was a lie.

[Diddly]

It was… an episode of a TV show, that’s for sure.

At least the leaked spoilers I read didn’t come to fruition, at least not yet.

[Dave]

That was a little weird. Not what I expected and I’m not sure I liked it.

[GrandMoffNick]

That was a little weird. Not what I expected and I’m not sure I liked it.

I'm with Dave. I'm not sure how I feel about that episode.

[Dave]

I'll just say that there was way too much Tusken backstory for my liking.  Maybe it'll matter later, but that was a fairly short episode and well over half was Tusken flashbacks.

I'm much more interested in what is happening today with his mob leadership.

[GrandMoffNick]

That's my big question. Will every episode be some flashback some current or was that just for episode 1?

Again I agree. That was too much flashback Tusken stuff for a 38 minute episode of a seven episode show

[P-Siddy]

That's my big question. Will every episode be some flashback some current or was that just for episode 1?

I'm going to put my font low since I'm sure not everyone has seen it and wants to discuss it.
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I'm going to guess every episode is going to feature the flashbacks (whether there's a theme to the dreams in regard to the plot in the episode?) since Boba said the dreams have returned.  Plus it answers how he got from the Sarlacc to meeting Din Djarin. 

[Nicklab]

I enjoyed the flashbacks.  And I'll explain why.

In chronological order (not counting the PT or Clone Wars), the last time we saw Boba Fett was at the Battle of Carkoon in 1983.  And then he turned up on The Mandalorian in something looking like the garb of the Tusken Raiders, along with a gaffi stick.  I want to know how we got from the one point in ROTJ to the guy we saw on The Mandalorian.  There's a big story there.

The fight scene where he escaped from the camp was telling.  He had the kid's stick and thought that he could hold his own.  But he got easily defeated by a female Tusken Raider.  Contrast that with Boba Fett fighting the Imperials using the gaffi stick on Tython, and he beat the living hell out of them!  The fact that we Robert Rodriguez and Jon Favreau can tell a story through fight scenes with zero dialogue is a testament to their talents.

The final scene of the episode?  That was actually really cool, and a complete love-letter to Ray Harryhausen.

[Dave]

In chronological order (not counting the PT or Clone Wars), the last time we saw Boba Fett was at the Battle of Carkoon in 1983.  And then he turned up on The Mandalorian in something looking like the garb of the Tusken Raiders, along with a gaffi stick.  I want to know how we got from the one point in ROTJ to the guy we saw on The Mandalorian.  There's a big story there.

I'm not sure I feel I need to know all the details of how he got to be a good hand to hand fighter and everything that went in to the five years between being swallowed by the Sarlacc and showing up in The Mandalorian.  Sure there is a story there, but I'm willing to leave many of the details out to move the rest of the current story along.

To me its the difference between the OT and PT.  In the OT we skipped over large parts of the backstory, how midichlorians worked, etc. and it was totally awesome.  Then we got three episodes of PT and lots of Clone Wars episodes that filled in the details of midichlorians and that Anakin wasn't really a pilot on a spice freighter.  None of that made the OT any better.

With The Mandalorian we know very little about Din Djarin's orphaned upbringing or much of anything about Grogu, but we know just barely enough to understand what makes them tick and make the current story relevant.

At times I feel like some Star Wars stories get way too far in the weeds explaining everything when they just need to tell a great story in the current time frame. 

TBOBF is Star Wars and is still fun, but I'm hoping they focus a lot more on the current story and a lot less on flashbacks of digging for water gourds.

[Nicklab]

Fair observations, definitely.  Minutiae can bog down the flow.

I'm also curious about this - why would someone who had been seemingly content to be a hired gun all of his adult life want to change his destiny?  What made him want to take control of a criminal empire?

He had also previously seemed cold blooded and ruthless.  But in The Mandalorian he was somewhat more complex and honorable.  That shift seems worth exploring, too.

And the fact that these things seem to be potentially at odds with one another?  It could give the character a lot more complexity than we’ve seen from him before.

[Jeff]

I'm also curious about this - why would someone who had been seemingly content to be a hired gun all of his adult life want to change his destiny?  What made him want to take control of a criminal empire?

He had also previously seemed cold blooded and ruthless.  But in The Mandalorian he was somewhat more complex and honorable.  That shift seems worth exploring, too.

And the fact that these things seem to be potentially at odds with one another?  It could give the character a lot more complexity than we’ve seen from him before.

I think the Flashbacks are going to be dual purpose - I think they are going to both fill in the gaps as to what happened to Fett in the time from ROTJ to The Mando AND give us insight into WHY he wants Jabba's empire.  I think the stuff with the moisture farmer is our first glimpse into that.

[JediJman]

*SPOILERS*

I liked it.  I didn't love it, but I liked it.  I don't mind the flashbacks to the Tuskens, though I'd personally rather see it as a whole or in a few chunks versus constant back and forth.  I liked seeing how he escaped (though curious why there was a Stormtrooper rotting in there).  I liked seeing Fett in the palace, some of the older SW imagery, comparisons to Jabba, etc.  I am on the fence about two things though:

#1 - in the OT Fett is known as one of the best bounty hunters, but so far he seems a bit inept.  He can't fight off a few Tuskens (I know he was weak from the pit) and he needs a few Gammy's to save him from assassins with shields? He has a flamethrower and a jetpack and is supposedly a badass fighter.  I would have liked to see him kick more ass.

#2 - not sure how I feel about him as a good guy.  He was kind of a dick as a kid and doesn't Vader have to reign him in a bit with his "no disintegrations" line?  He even seemed more badass in Mandalorian, but this Fett seems pretty weak, unskilled, and a bit too generous with all his pleasantries and saving the Gamorreans. 

Pretty early in the series yet, so we'll see where it goes, but I'd like to see him a bit more ruthless/tough in future episodes.

[Muftak]

I tried it. It was okay. It just veers too far from my own personal take on the (admittedly carte-blanche) character for me to have gotten swept away by it.

The costumes and creature make-ups seem to be getting spread a little too thin. 8D8 looked great, but some of the other stuff was off-model to my eye.

And my eye must be adjusted to the Volume and it's tricks now too, because there were a few times out in the high desert that things looked like a stage.

It very much feels like the Mandalorian's first season's middle episodes in its directionlessness, except they at least had self-contained arcs. This had no arc whatsoever.

***SPOILERS FROM HERE***
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The flashbacks were something I was fully expecting after Tem Morrison mentioned the backstory being prominent. I just wish they were doing it a bit more like what was done in "Lost" where the flashbacks tied to the current timeline's story in some way to illuminate it. As someone mentioned, we know he gets in with the Tuskens before he tracks down his armor, none of that has any real stakes. But if he had been hopelessly outnumbered by the shield gang in town, and the Gammies got cut down, then it would have been neat to see a band of Tuskens show up to save his hide, maybe give him some sort of tribute or something after the battle, or him give them a bunch of gourds...then it would have at least tied together thematically.

Beyond that, there didn't seem to be much story present at all. I guess that's the difference between writing a pilot in the hopes of getting interest in a show and writing the first episode in a series that is presumed to be a goldmine.

[Jeff]

And my eye must be adjusted to the Volume and it's tricks now too, because there were a few times out in the high desert that things looked like a stage.

Agreed.  There were a couple points during where you could almost see the line between where the stage sand ended and where the projection screen started.  Don't know if it was lighting or color matching issues or what but it was much more noticeable to me too during parts of the show.

[Matt_Fury]

I'm also curious about this - why would someone who had been seemingly content to be a hired gun all of his adult life want to change his destiny?  What made him want to take control of a criminal empire?

He had also previously seemed cold blooded and ruthless.  But in The Mandalorian he was somewhat more complex and honorable.  That shift seems worth exploring, too.

And the fact that these things seem to be potentially at odds with one another?  It could give the character a lot more complexity than we’ve seen from him before.

I think the Flashbacks are going to be dual purpose - I think they are going to both fill in the gaps as to what happened to Fett in the time from ROTJ to The Mando AND give us insight into WHY he wants Jabba's empire.  I think the stuff with the moisture farmer is our first glimpse into that.

If the rumors are true and the Disney+ shows are going to tell a version of the Heir tot the Empire series from Timothy Zahn, they could be setting up Boba Fett to be the Talon Karrde roll.