The Book of Boba Fett episode 5 offers a rebuke of The Book of Boba Fett — and basic Star Wars nostalgia
The best episode of The Book of Boba Fett is barely an episode of The Book of Boba Fett. In the game of open-ended franchise-building, episode 5 of the Disney Plus series feels like the ultimate defeat, caused by creator Jon Favreau’s own success story.
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett episode 5.]
In the wake of the referential sequel movie trilogy, Favreau and Dave Filoni’s The Mandalorian charted the lives of unknown characters across unknown biomes, and gave new hope to a struggling mega-franchise. Then, somehow, plans reverted back to the obvious. Despite collective shrugs over the nostalgia-encrusted Solo and The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm followed The Mandalorian with a miniseries about Boba Fett that’s been, well, as dry as the Dune Sea. For Star Wars fans, the sandbox will always have inescapable pleasures — getting to yelp “Hey, the sarlacc pit!” is not a sign of quality, but it is a minor form of joy. Still, each week finds Favreau, the sole writer on the series, filling time rather than discovering dimension to a character.
The greatest rebuke to the existence of The Book of Boba Fett came in the form of Favreau’s own collaboration with director Bryce Dallas Howard on “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian.” A complete diversion from the main storyline, Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin, having handed off Baby “Grogu” Yoda to Luke Skywalker, steps back to the spotlight, and acts like the Boba Fett fans fell in love with in the first place. He slices through a gang of butcher aliens with his newly acquired Darksaber to collect a bounty. He forges Grogu some Beskar armor with the help of the mysterious-but-devout Armorer. He duels his fellow Mando, wins, then still finds himself kicked
Read more on polygon.com
