Boba Fett's Flashbacks Are Over - Now It Can Finally Get Good
Warning: SPOILERS for The Book of Boba Fett episode 4.
The Book of Boba Fett episode 4 ends the show's flashbacks, and that's good news for fans of the ex-bounty hunter. Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) returned to Star Wars through several appearances in The Mandalorian. During season 2, the former bounty hunter took his armor back from Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and even helped the Mandalorian rescue Baby Yoda/Grogu from danger. Boba Fett then took over Jabba the Hutt's throne in a Mandalorian post-credits scene. In the scene, Boba Fett kills Bib Fortuna (Matthew Wood) and takes his seat at Tatooine's new Daimyo. Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) then sits by his side, helping secure the new kingdom.
The ex-bounty hunter's journey continues in Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett. With Boba Fett rising to fame through a minor role in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back and exiting the franchise through an embarrassing death in a Sarlacc pit in 1983's Return of the Jedi, several questions were lingering about the character. The ex-bounty hunter's series answers those questions in both the past and the present, showing Boba Fett escaping from the Sarlacc pit and joining a group of Tusken Raiders in flashbacks. Meanwhile, the present-day story reveals the Daimyo dealing with an impending war with the Pykes and struggling to win over the residents of Tatooine.
In its fourth episode, The Book of Boba Fett finally concludes its extensive flashbacks. The revelation is good news for Star Wars fans. After all, viewers regularly criticized the flashback scenes for slowing the story down and featuring a helmet-less version of the bounty hunter. Now, the series can focus more on Boba Fett's journey to become the new crime lord on Tatooine. The series still has issues, but the upcoming episodes appear to be a course correction.
In episode 4, the Book of Boba Fett's flashbacks end. After multiple episodes regularly featured Boba Fett getting into a bacta tank to heal and dream about his past with the Tusken Raiders, the series finally catches up to where the Mandalorian post-credits scene left off. In a final flashback, Boba Fett relives the time he killed Bib Fortuna and took his place on Jabba the Hutt's throne. He then leaves the bacta tank, and a droid tells him that he's completely healed. The moment seems to end the bacta tank dreams, finally allowing the show to focus on Boba Fett's present-day journey.
Boba Fett's flashbacks explained unanswered questions about the former gun-for-hire, but they often slowed down the show. Heading into the series, one of the biggest questions about Boba Fett was how the character escaped the Sarlacc pit, but The Book of Boba Fett answers that in the first few minutes. The series then spends a long time focusing on events fans weren't necessarily anticipating. Though the trailers featured scenes of Boba Fett supposedly continuing his quest to take Jabba the Hutt's place, the early episodes focused instead on the ex-bounty hunter's relationship with the Tusken Raiders. Episode 2 even ended with a long sequence of Boba Fett carving a Tusken Raider weapon and performing a ritual with them. The scenes were often sans-dialogue and left viewers wondering when the real action would finally begin. Though the series devotes significant time to developing Boba Fett's relationship with the Tusken Raiders, it didn't devote as much to explaining why Boba Fett fans should care.
Beyond focusing on the wrong things, the Book of Boba Fett features a weaker, flawed Boba Fett, which is a much different version of the bounty hunter than fans wanted. The character rose to fame in the '80s because of his attitude, mystery, and cool helmet. The Book of Boba Fett takes all that away. While humanizing the character helps him form a relationship with the audience, Morrison's portrayal of Boba Fett in the first episodes of the series doesn't resemble the classic character. The series shows Boba Fett looking unexpectedly weak and even losing a one-on-one battle against a Tusken Raider. In the flashbacks, he hasn't recovered his helmet or armor, so the iconic Boba Fett look is completely gone. Furthermore, the series continually shows the bounty hunter wasn't as cool as fans thought. He constantly makes bad decisions to the point where it's odd that Ming-Na Wen's Fennec Shand follows him so loyally. After all, the only reason they recover Boba Fett's ship and later survive a Sarlacc attack is because of Fennec's quick thinking.
The series is much better off without its flashbacks. The problem with demystifying fan-favorite characters is that the audience might not like what they see. And that's the issue with The Book of Boba Fett. The flashbacks were supposed to tear down the character to build him back up; however, they just show a heroic version of Boba Fett that doesn't resemble the character from the past. Part of Boba Fett's coolness came from his mystery, and the flashbacks took that away. If anything, the flashback scenes showed why Boba Fett wasn't as cool as people initially thought. Unfortunately, the scenes make his embarrassing fall into the Sarlacc pit much more believable.
Though the flashbacks are over, The Book of Boba Fett still has improvements to make. In the flashbacks, Boba Fett doesn't wear his armor because Jawas took it away from him, but the present-day scenes also often feature a helmet-less version of the bounty hunter. Not only does the show strip the character of his iconic look, but it also strips him down in general. For example, episode 3 featured Black Krrsantan, a Wookiee bounty hunter, catching Boba Fett in his underwear and throwing him around. It's not an image Boba Fett fans expected to see.
However, the series shows promise of a turnaround. In episode 4, the Disney+ show finally recognizes that Boba Fett needs his helmet and armor. In a flashback scene, Boba Fett says, "Without my armor, I'm less persuasive." Later, after he's healed in the bacta tank, Boba Fett insists on putting on his armor. And with an impending war with the Pykes coming up, the episode also ends with a musical tease of Mandalorian characters appearing to join the fight. At the very least, Boba Fett will go into that battle wearing more than his underpants.
The Book of Boba Fett streams Wednesdays on Disney+.