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Alright, Disney. Alright, Lucasfilm. Alright, Dave and Jon. What do you want me to do with this episode? Seriously.
Before I review this episode, there’s something that I need to cover or else people are going to just try to find it first. Let’s deal with following tweet and subsequent reporting:
Book of Boba Fett predictions! Save this tweet! Baby Yoda and Han Solo will make an appearance. š¤«š¤«š¤š¤
— Jay D3PO (@Drunk3po) December 16, 2021
So we’ve talked about that tweet here at That Park Place, and I’m sure I’ve discussed that Harrison Ford has been recorded for Han Solo. I think that’s all still true, and I’m pretty sure that Drunk3po had this right. I also think the IMDB reference to Harrison Ford was correct, and then later removed for appropriate reasons. You may have heard from other sources that they’ve been trying to recut parts of Episode 7 after the response to Episode 4. I believe that’s accurate. I talked about it in the following quote:
“When it comes to them trying to āfixā Episode 7 in time for release, a source says to me that theyāre trying to āget the zany out.ā
So what I think has occurred, is that a very short cameo appearance from a de-aged Harrison Ford was cut at the last minute. I think the ending sequence with Boba Fett talking to the Vespa Kidz is where that cameo was supposed to appear. And there is one of two reasons that I think caused this to be cut until it can be used in a later series. The first reason is, I think, the most likely. I think Disney has known for weeks that this episode is awful. If you thought this was good, you’re not going to enjoy the review (when I get to it)… just fair warning. I think John Favreau and Dave Filoni know this is bad. It’s really bad. And so, the most likely possibility in my mind, is that they pulled the Han Solo cameo to keep him out of this. The other reason is, based on what I’ve heard, Harrison Ford recorded the clip in December. Perhaps they couldn’t get the footage up to par with the Luke material in time. That’s the only two reasons I can offer you, and we will likely not know for years why the decision was made. Because only a few people were involved in the creative decisions to “fix” this episode, we’ll know nothing until they talk in a way that we can find out. There is no real good chance of a leak on this one.
How bad is this episode? Well… I wouldn’t have released this. Whatever the cost would have been in time and money, and no matter the PR, I would have redone the entire thing. This wasn’t ready for Prime Time in any sense.
I do think this episode is so bad that they would pull the cameo. Robert Rodgriguez should never direct another live action Star Wars property. I’m sure he’s a great person, and I’m not trying to malign him. But Episode 3 was the worst Star Wars thing I’ve seen since the Holiday Special. It was worse than The Last Jedi (although not as damaging). The finale is not as bad as Episode 3, but it’s downright awful.
Robert Rodriguez should never direct or touch Star Wars again š¤¦āāļø#BookofBobaFett #StarWars pic.twitter.com/1UOFBBJIUQ
— 4e RĆ©giment (@4eRegiment) February 9, 2022
Spoilers Ahead
One thing I’m trying to figure out is exactly who this is made for. I can’t decide what they’re trying to do in Episodes 1, 3, 4, and 7. I get Episode 2. I get the non-Boba Fett episodes. But the episodes of Boba Fett about Boba Fett directed by anyone other than Jon Favreau, I just do not understand. It seems to me that this is an adult’s show which is written as if it is for preschoolers. I can’t figure out why that would make sense as something to aim for.
“Hey, we’re about to be in an all-out war with crime syndicates. Go out there on rainbow-colored mopeds and scout out the situation!”
Here’s my best example: when Mando is trying to repeatedly hit the bad CGI bubble bot with the dark saber (which, by the way, what is there that is all special about this dinky sword now?), he fails multiple times. Then he literally says to Boba Fett, “I can’t get through.” I laughed out loud in a moment that is supposed to be serious (it wasn’t the only time). It’s like somebody trying to start a car three times, then they sternly turn to a buddy and say “it won’t start.” Who in the world wrote this thing? I mean, wow, that’s bad.
Also, I get that the Twi’lek guy is supposed to be a C3P0 style character. But he’s not. C3P0 is enduring because he’s a fish out of water droid with programming not suited to his environment. This liaison style character in Boba Fett just annoys the audience every single time he appears. He’s not funny in the least. The same goes for Peli Motto played by Amy Sedaris. This character is being played like a preschool comedy gag girl in a show that is supposed to be about war, slavery, and syndicated crime. Again, what am I supposed to do with that as a person in the audience? She rides in with cartoon banter on a droid sleigh carrying Grogu into a warzone, and I’m just thinking to myself as it happens “I hate everything about this.” She gives Jar Jar Binks a run for his money. It has to be directing though, because she was tolerable in Episode 5. Given to Robert Rodriguez though, she’s a cartoon clown.
Of course, the Vespa Kidz are back again, just like I said in the spoiler review. They’re toned down from what they could have been, likely due to recent edits. But they’re there, and they’re just as bad as before. We’ve also spent very little time with them, so we don’t care what happens with them. It’s even worse when they interact with characters we’ve never even heard from until this episode and the script tries to make us care about some emotional connection they have.
The writing continues to be awful in ways that are unfathomable. Mando tells the Vespa Kidz and their crew to stop shooting the rancor. Five seconds later he’s blasting it in the mouth with flames. There’s no rhyme or reason to what’s going on. We don’t even get to see Grogu make his big decision or find out how Luke reacts. He just shows up, after Luke apparently sends him and R2D2 into a warzone. “Hope you don’t die,” he must have said. There’s nobody coming to save this little guy anymore. And you’d think Mando would be frustrated that there’s now a child being delivered to him as he’s potentially about to die; nope, he’s just thrilled. Nothing like being in war and someone hands your five-year old to you in the trenches.
Are there good parts to this episode? Sure. Like anything else, you can find some good in it. But there’s not much, and it does the unenviable service of making me truly not care at all about Grogu or Mando or Boba Fett or even Luke at this point. Who cares? I could double this review’s word count going over just how bad this episode was. But what is the point? If all it is supposed to be is Transformers or Godzilla Versus Kong but with lightsabers (sometimes)… fine. Is it a show for small children? Fine. But this is not “Event TV”. This is not worth carving out time to watch.
Alright, I’ve eviscerated this episode enough. If you agree, let me know. If you disagree, let me know. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way. Comments are there for you to join in, and as always, keep checking out That Park Place for all the latest.
I wish I could be more positive, but I just have to be honest. I wouldn’t have finished this episode were I not reviewing it.
Score: 1.5 (Nearly Unwatchable)
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Update 2/10/2022, 11:06 AM EST: Resolved a typo listing an incorrect episode. Thank you for the catch, Chris Smith!
It was a solid finale for a good season. There does seem to be an element of fandom who isn’t happy unless the “fan service” hero of the week shows up at the end. Thankfully that didn’t happen here and it was never gonna happen.
Your negative review makes a lot sense in light of you being horrifically wrong with your predictions. This idea that a cameo was filmed and then cut is beyond absurd. They decided to do it after the reception of episode 4? How do people come up with this stuff? Certainly no one is dumb enough to believe this kind of nonsense? Or maybe this fits into the galaxy brain content you wrote about Pablo Hidalgo?
Just take the L. You were wrong and being so wrong probably hurt you so much you’ve decided to take it out on the episode.
So I tend to not do “predictions”. What we’ve talked about is that Harrison Ford did a scene paying a young Han Solo during his filming of Indiana Jones 5. We reported on various sources, including Drunk 3PO and IMDB, pointing towards the appearance taking place in the Boba Fett finale. That seems to be true; we just don’t know where the footage will surface. Other than that, the only error we’ve had is talking about ewoks, which came directly from Temuera Morrison in which he must have misspoke.
We’ve reached out to Pablo Hidalgo directly because we do believe that corrective action was taken at Lucasfilm, and we’re giving him the opportunity to clarify. He’s mentioned TPP directly, even though we’ve never claimed he was terminated.
I’m not sure whether your intent is to protect the show you enjoyed (and I’m glad for you if you did) or to continue posting negative and misleading comments on the site to disparage, but we try not to censor comments unless they’re way, way out of bounds. I stand by all of my articles and what I’ve said. You’ll need to read them again if you think us reporting on on-going rumors means we’re wrong when rumors don’t always pan out. That’s why they’re rumors. If you think we are baseless in our reporting, you’ll need to review what we said about the Vespa Kidz returning and Mrs. Turner’s screen time. The level of specificity we gave about that would be very difficult to know without having actual insider sources.
IMDB is a glorified Wikipedia. Drunk 3PO? These aren’t credible sources. This isn’t reporting. I give you props for letting the posts through, but a spade is a spade. It’s pretty obvious that you don’t have any idea what “reporting” is when it comes to Star Wars. I mean, I Mike Zeroh is a reporter too I guess.
Why hello, Pablo!
Hello, Zeroh!
We’re an entertainment news site, chief. We’re not doing political coverage or war stories — although, the media often get those very wrong at little penalty. When we cover rumors, we label them as such. When we cover hard news, we label it as such. You need to recognize the genre you’re reading when you click an article.
Everything after you saying it was a āsolid finaleā is irrelevant. It was not solid, it was OBJECTIVELY bad.
Anyone who calls film of any kind “objectively bad” can’t be taken seriously.
I’ve been following your content for a while and enjoying it. How can you reconcile what we just watched with your proposition that Favreau and Filoni (and Iger) were trying to save Luke? Because this episode really destroyed whatever progress was made to him in the Mandoverse.
I don’t think Iger was ever trying to “save Luke”. I don’t think Chapek is interested in that either… he’s just interested in whatever sells, and Luke sells like crazy (so does Grogu). Based on what I’m hearing, they’re not done with Luke in these series, and Filoni’s job is to reconcile the Luke Skywalker that sells with the sequel trilogy Luke that doesn’t. I don’t know that it’s possible unless they follow the road map we’ve discussed. They needed Grogu for the third season of The Mandalorian, but they also need Grogu to become a Mandalorian and a Jedi. That’s where they’re going. The Book of Boba Fett, except for Episode 6, was fully written by Favreau. So Jon is the one who decided Grogu would go back to Mando.
It’s not possible. Period. It is proven time and again that any effort at “fixing” the sequel trilogy only makes things worse and the narrative more nonsensical. All Disney will end up doing is making the Luke that sells turn into the Luke that doesn’t and make fans turn against Favreau and Filoni.
That was awful. I just don’t care anymore. Terrible writing. There is no way to reconcile Luke with the sequel trilogy travesty of his character. They build Luke up, only to make him fail – and he just packs off Grogu to goodness knows what fate? No way. On the subject of the little fella, I actually disliked Grogu in this episode because of the way they use him, and the way they rob us of important scenes that would add weight to the characters (Luke and Ahsoka meeting at last, Grogu’s decision and Luke’s reaction, the list goes on…). The disastrous decision to have them reunite in a goofy fight sequence, thus undercutting the emotional resonance of it all… How is this the same writer that wrote the final scenes of The Mandalorian series 2 so perfectly? And to render that whole season arc of Grogu returning to the Jedi pointless. I don’t think I can stomach any more of this. I’ve given Disney so much good faith to put things right after the annihilation of everything Star Wars in The Last Jedi. But they are just doubling down and trying to justify their own bad decisions. I’m sick of what they’ve turned Star Wars into. I’m not in any way excited for the future of the franchise. Not sure I can even bring myself to watch anymore. So sad. I feel something akin to heartbreak by it all.
The episode is bad. Really bad… As a finale: no words.
O come on, the rancor was fun. And seeing Boba on it reminds me of … well, a certain Christmas special. Through most of it I was wondering when Mando was going to take charge and get them out of it all. Mando seems to me like the Han Solo of the group in some ways. He wields a saber like Han would (oh I have to use this thing again?) Raylan Givens/Sheriff Bullock will be back (with Han Solo?). But all in Mando Season 3. The director does great with his own world, but not this one.
I will add, after thinking about it Was the Mando scenes really meant for Han Solo?
W. Earl Brown, the actor in the episode posted today. According to him the final episode was filmed first in December 2020. Since it was film first it’s unlikely there were any major changes made. Brown had to interact with Mando so that was planned from the beginning.
I enjoyed it a little bit, but yes.. this finale was awful. Everything you said is just right and i cant say anything against it.
I really hoped grogu would take the sword but i already knew he would take the damn armor…
The only last thing iam really hoping for, is the sequel trilogy being erased at some point. And just like OverlordDVD just said: “I just dont care anymore”. I wasted too much energy and nerves on that franchise because iam loving it so much.
I know i should have buried star wars and never dug it ever again since i left theater watched last jedi.
And this one. So much build up and hype after ep 5 and 6. And then i got this super cringe awful episode
Yes i was having so much expectations About the direction they’re going to take. Like set the TLJ into different alternatives universe. By grogu choose the saber. But nah. i don’t think that’s goin to happen
Really for me, this is like opening the old wound and deliberately keep it that way unhealing.
Final straw for me. I wont look back into star wars ever again. Already unsubscribe mouse plus.
I think this was the result of falling victim to some of the rumors that you feel jaded right now.!
Not really… as I’ve said before, we only got Han Solo and ewoks wrong, one of which we believe is recorded for another series now. The episode was reviewed based on merit, but your opinion may be different.
Typo alert. When you say “Episode 4” was the worst thing you’ve seen since the Holiday Special, you really mean Episode 3, which was directed by Rodriguez and featured the much ridiculed debut of the Mos Vespa kids.
Episodes 5 and 6 were great (Mando shows). Episode 2 was decent (brain lizard – Vision Quest). Episodes 1 and 4 were forgettable. Episode 3 was a giant turd. Finale was okay and pretty much middle of the pack for TBOBF. Don’t think it’s nearly as bad as you reviewed. There were no “flash-bacta-tanks”.
Straight line story telling even if it was moronic. We got more Cad. We saw a Rancor go full King Kong. So, it had just enough cool $hit to keep it above the true Jetsam and Flotsam some of these episodes turned out to be.
I honestly think it was a mistake to include episode 6 (and probably 5 also) in this show. Those two episodes set the bar so high, there is no way the finale was going to deliver. I watched episode 6 four times. It was the most excited I’ve been about star wars since Mando season 2 finale. But now that whole arch is essentially undone. Had they left out 5 and 6 and maybe just cut in then recruiting Mando, the finale would have been better when compared to 1-4 (which were pretty boring).
I think Jon and Dave know this sucks, and I can only hope they learn from this and don’t repeat the same mistakes in the future. I refuse to give up hope though. Luke wouldn’t.