*Spoiler warning for “The Book of Boba Fett” Season 1*

Watching Disney+’s newest “Star Wars” show, “The Book of Boba Fett” tends to be an overwhelmingly up-and-down experience. While on this emotional roller coaster, the climactic fractions were worthwhile, and I found many other scenes to be brilliant and exhilarating. Despite the positive aspects, some scenes were below par to me. So let’s trek through the desert and examine these cinematic moments.

“The Book Of Boba Fett” starts off its season on a quiet note with multiple flashbacks to fill out the backstory for the show. While I appreciate the attempt to explain the events between “Return of the Jedi” and this new show, the flashbacks, especially, in the first few episodes are lackluster; they are long uninspiring and in terms of color unappealing. Even the few action scenes within seem spontaneous and undeserved.

Eventually, the flashbacks cease and the actual plot of the series moves along with some flashes of greatness such as Boba Fett reclaiming the Slave 1 and slaying the Sarlacc he was once entombed in. Additionally, some of the new characters are introduced such as the mayor’s Majordomo and the Mod Gang. These characters are good inclusions, with the majordomo mostly being played for comedic effect without coming off as super annoying and the mods being a unified support team with an interesting aesthetic.

Unfortunately, my biggest gripe with “The Book of Boba Fett ” can also be its biggest strength: Boba Fett.

  The titular character has 2 episodes where his role is insignificant or even nonexistent. However, the episodes where Boba Fett is not present are also debatably the best in the series. This is thanks to the inclusion of The Mandalorian and his mission to reunite with Grogu and get a new ship after the Razorcrest was destroyed. The Mandalorians’ story arc oozes with color and life compared to the brown drab of Tatooine and seeing Ahsoka Tano, Luke Skywalker and Grogu again certainly were a delight to see. 

Regrettably, these episodes do come at the cost of the main character and plot being diluted seemingly just to set up “The Mandalorian”s’ third season and the upcoming Ahsoka show.

Disney has also departed from how Boba Fett from how he has typically been depicted in other Star Wars media. I still love Temura Morrison’s performance but the explanation of Fett being changed so dramatically from a cold, mysterious character to pretty much a softer, more compassionate human is unrewarded and seems like an unnatural amount of growth in such a short time.

An unexpected, but welcome, surprise was the role bounty hunter, Cad Bane, would play in the series. While I have heard some criticize the look of the character as a departure from how he looked in “The Clone Wars” television show, I think his live action incarnation looks stunning. Further, his presence even at his old age was still menacing and definitely to be feared. For example, his duel with Cobb Vanth in episode 6, the sheer intimidation of Cad Bane’s first appearance combined with the silence and anticipation of the duel not only shows the series’ space western roots, but also shows how deadly the character can be.

Conclusively, “The Book Of Boba Fett ” is imperfect. At times it shows sparks of greatness with its Mandalorian-focused episodes and interesting new characters. However, the mundane atmosphere of Tatooine is starting to get old across these “Star Wars” Disney+ shows, and the lack of Boba Fett in his show was certainly disappointing.