– Spoiler Review –
After a stellar second chapter, The Book of Boba Fett stumbles a bit in “Chapter 3 – The Streets of Mos Espa,” as while the present-day storyline provides even more glimpses at the larger story and some fun moments, the past suffers from a lazy, but expected development.
Humanizing the Tuskens has been one of The Book of Boba Fett’s greatest efforts, going even further than The Mandalorian did in that respect, and it’s resulted in an engaging and compelling storyline of redemption for Boba as he grows alongside his new family for now. In “Chapter 3 – The Streets of Mos Espa,” once again after Boba takes his bacta bath, we flashback and find Boba leaves the Tuskens to confront the Pykes in Mos Eisley, and after a few fleeting references to The Mandalorian’s time there,* he discovers the Pykes won’t deal with them until the Tuskens’ rivals are dealt with. It’s the same biker gang as the one Boba confronted in Tosche Station, they already supposedly offer protection to the Pykes, so Boba returns to the Tuskens to gather the troops and rid the Dune Seas of these nuisances. When he returns, the group of Tuskens is slaughter, like animals one could say, leaving Boba with a burning pit of revenge, effectively killing off one of the most intriguing aspects to the show in the blink of an eye. Why bother to go so far with the Tuskens, to develop them so, only to kill them off as a reason to propel Boba? He already had motivation to go after the biker gang and the Tuskens easily could’ve lived, or a portion of them, for him to gain the same anger and thrust to make the biker gang dust, but instead Jon Favreau and team took the laziest, easiest route out of the whole storyline by removing the entire Tusken tribe instead. Hopefully the show can make up for this in some way, be it Boba’s real goals are to help the Tuskens thrive in the Dune Seas and the towns not to mess with them, but even that won’t be enough to make up for the decision, as I can’t imagine how Indigenous fans feel, especially after praising or enjoying the Tusken storyline so far, now that they are written off once again like real life history always tends to do; though you can see responses from Cinelinx writer Jordan Maison or this great thread of more voices to get an idea how Indigenous fans feel. This recalls the initial decision with Fennec Shand, where they brought on Ming-Na Wen only to have some hapless white dude kill her, and while her survival and thriving has dealt with the sin, the fact she was done after that moment still hurts and is disappointing. There needs to be a diverse writers room on more of these shows going forward, as while Favreau has been credited for a ‘revival’ of sorts, it doesn’t mean there can’t be others helping out, keeping him in check.
At least in the present-day portion of “The Streets of Mos Espa,” the story doesn’t falter too much, though it has its own issues. In the beginning of the episode, we see how the city of Mos Espa works under the control of the Daimyo, first how Jabba the Hutt had total control and then how Bib Fortuna divvied it up considering his lack of presence and power, and now we see Boba coming to deal with more of the town and its citizens rather than just the Major and Garsa’s Sanctuary. A demanding, yet reserved water merchant—got to remember how scarce it is here!—claims a group young humans, who body-modify with droid parts, have stolen from him and allowing it to happen makes Boba seem weak to the city and the king-pins Fortuna installed across it. Confronting the gang on foot, once again with Fennec by his side as well as the Gameorreans, they don’t come to blows but rather words, uncovering the lack of work in the worker district has caused them to steal to get by, so Boba offers them to work with him instead. This angers the water merchant Lortha Peel, played wonderfully by Stephen Root (Office Space, King of the Hill, DodgeBall, to name a few), and while he takes what Boba offers him, it’s obvious it won’t be enough and I’ll be curious if he comes back and in what way.
Though who does come back absolutely delights: Krrsantan returns to beat the snot out of Boba Fett on behest of the Hutt Twins!! Boba was acting too nonchalant about the standing threat from the Twins last episode and he gets his comeuppance here, the formidable gladiator Wookiee besting him, tearing him from the bacta pod in his undies and practically crushing him to death. It’s a fun, brutal scene and proves his skills carried over from the comics, but then Boba’s new hires and the Gameorreans come in to beat him back, the female leader of the group stabbing the big Wookiee and the others shooting/attacking him with their various weapons, and the fight spills out of the room and down into the throne room, where Fennec comes in clutch and traps Krrsantan in the (empty) rancor pit. It’s not a clean scene and feels messy, appropriate for the throwdown knockout drag out with such an opponent. Boba giving the bacta tank first to the injured Gameorrean, whom Krrsantan bit in the neck, shows his compassion and benevolence just as much as hiring the street gang rather than punishing them, and a feast is sent to him as he recovers. Boba is restless after the attack but Fennec warns caution, which is rewarded when the Twins show up at the Palace with a gift for him: a rancor!!! Not only that, they bring him the news he should leave Tatooine while he can, as the Hutts are back off and don’t want a war considering the Mayor offered the territory Fett now lays claim to a different syndicate. Boba offers to return Krrsantan, and when they don’t want him, he lets the Wookiee go, giving him some ex-bounty hunter advice, and I was thrilled to see he’ll gladiator his way through the universe for another day.
But back to the rancor! Boba gets his very own rancor in a wonderfully delightful scene where he basically treats it like a giant, slobbering, scaly puppy, under the advice of Danny Trejo!! It was always a question of when Trejo would show up, not an if due to Robert Rodriguez’s involvement in the show and what a fun scene it was for Trejo to be in. He tells Boba about the complexities of the rancors, even mentioning the Witches of Dathomir riding them at one point, taking what we normally see as beasts and fleshing them out to be more than that. Temuera Morrison’s acting, petting it and talking to it like a puppy was a blast, though not as meme-able as his “Like a bantha” moment last episode, and his desire to learn to ride it and giddy nature about the possibility was infectious. How the rancor will play into the rest of the season, and if he truly rides it, remains to be seen, but hopefully this beast of burden won’t be treated like the Tuskens were.
A confrontation with the mayor is on horizon, as Boba and Fennec decide to investigate the Hutts’ claims despite not trusting them, and when he once again is supposedly too busy to have an audience with Fett, they go to the office. Things devolve into a chase scene, as the majordomo flees Boba and Fennec, but Boba’s new hires, led by Sophie Thatcher’s character Drash, take off in pursuit. I found the chase sequence a lot of fun, even if it felt slow (almost like 50cc on Mario Kart) and there weren’t a lot of stakes considering we don’t know any of these characters really/there was not much doubt they’d catch up to the majordomo eventually, as it was an extensive sequence, well-shot and had some genuinely cool moments from all the knocking over of objects and the way the gang’s modifications came into play; it felt like a homage to Lucas’ American Graffiti, from the colorful bikes to the way it was shot. After crashing into a cart of meilooruns (nice Star Wars Rebels reference!), Boba jetpacking in after Drash takes him out, the majordomo reveals Mok Shaiz has thrown in with the Pykes, who are arriving on Tatooine for war. It’s clearer now where the show is heading, but it still remains nebulous on Boba’s full motivations for wanting to go down this route and how/why Fennec decides to stick around with him and help. Is it related, do they share a common goal? Is the show ever really going to answer this or leave it be? Will we manage to get more time with Fennec beyond her hilarious one-liners and gruff advice? Ming-Na Wen certainly can deliver more so it would be great to take advantage of her.
Here are a few other things:
- *Boba seeing the pikes with storm trooper helmets on them outside Mos Eisley could also offer some insight to his past as a clone/his father Jango haunting him a bit, but he doesn’t seem to give them much mind beyond them being used her to reference The Mandalorian instead. There’s also a Peli Motto appearance, so that was fun.
- Jordan Bolger (Into the Badlands, The 100) plays the street gang member with the eye modification, Skad according to the credits, the only other member to speak in the group, and I hope he and the rest of the gang get a little more time/development.
- The painting crashed through during the chase? A Ralph McQuarrie original, believe it or not! Not only does he have a character named after him in Star Wars Rebels, his work is canon now as well! What a great way to honor his contributions to the Saga and its overall look/designs!
The Book of Boba Fett “Chapter 3 – The Streets of Mos Espa” falters with its lazy development in the past though has more promise in the present, which also shows some of its other faults with its format/writing so far.
+ Krrsantan attacks
+ More promise for the present
+ Rancor puppy
– Lazy decision to kill the Tuskens
– Lacking motivations/development for characters
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT REVIEWS
Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land | Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine