When I was a kid, He-Man and Transformers were all the rage. Like most kids at that time, we might have 2 or 3 of each, if we were lucky. Few could afford to buy everything, and so a lot of times you’d end up getting all of your toys from various franchises together to engage in battle royales. It didn’t matter that the toys weren’t canonically in the same universe – at that age, the story isn’t really important. It’s all about how AWESOME something is.
Part of the appeal of the Favroni-verse has been that Jon and Dave seem to get the appeal. Up to this point, they’ve catered to the fans by bringing out some of the lesser-known vehicles and species, with knowing nods and winks – sometimes throwing new spins on old things. Brining the Kenner Troop Transport to animation and live action, making the TIE Outlander wings fold in for a landing, giving the nod to Wilrow Hoods “camtono”; this kind of thing. They sprinkled that in with lore that respected what had gone before – like a secret handshake, it told us that they were one of us. Some have argued against so much fan-service – a little bit goes a long way. I think the reason they’ve gotten away with it for this long is because those little Easter eggs were not done at the expense of the story, ever. If you knew about them, they gave you a little charge. If you didn’t, they didn’t distract from what was going on and they often deepened the universe.
I had lots of expectations going into the finale of the Book of Boba Fett. I was very worried that they were going to do something that was going to enrage me. I was also hopeful that they would be brave and take some serious narrative risks and work to restore the universe. I was convinced they had an overall arc that would make sense of Boba Fetts journey. All I could think after watching the episode was “Huh. Well – I guess that was a choice.”
What can you say about this series? There have been moments where it felt like it were flirting with brilliance, and then moments that are so mind-crushingly awful that I wonder what anyone could have been thinking putting this out there. Those who are tired of the division will say “Nobody hates Star Wars like Star Wars fans.” I’ve never felt that’s a fair argument. I don’t hate this – I’m just utterly baffled by it. There were moments in the story that seemed to point to great things – the lizard vision quest, hinting at secrets of the past and Kaminoa, and pointing to the future.
The marketing for this show made it look like a crime drama and borrowed Frank Frazetta imagery. Everything pointed to an epic conclusion. Look – I can love an epic Rancor rampage as much as the next guy, and even chuckle at some of the King Kong references. But all I keep thinking is, “Who would follow this bozo?”
There was a way to make Boba Fetts conversion work – but this show couldn’t be bothered to give it any gravity. In almost every scene where they should have been going for drama or depth, they instead went for “comedy”, if you can call it that. Worst of all, with this series they have undone the finale of Season 2 of the Mandalorian. They could have made a brave choice here. I have no doubt eventually Grogu will reunite with Luke or someone else to learn the ways of the Force – but I don’t care anymore. Rather than do something brave or infurating, Disney punted.
Star Wars is an old love of mine. When you first fall in love, everything feels fresh and new and special. As romance blooms, and playfulness enters the picture, it can be intoxicating – but there’s a limit to how far that intoxication goes – stretch it out too long, and it comes an irritant. That’s what Disney has done to Star Wars. They’ve fallen prey to Marvel syndrome – this could have worked if they carefully crafted stories that were meant to blend together. Instead, they’ve opted to make each show a commercial for their next show.
“Wait till you see what we do next time!” For the first time, I don’t think I will. I was afraid I would leave Star Wars this week because I was going to be enraged by seeing Ben Solo on the screen. I never dreamed it would be because I’ve simply ceased to care.
