When it was announced that we would get a show directly centered around Boba Fett most of Star Wars fandom, especially the boomer crowd, was excited. Finally we could find out what was behind that warning from Vader about disintegrations or maybe just get some history that would finally be canon on a major player that we still know little to nothing about. Finally we would get to see Boba Fett do what Boba Fett does best and lots of it. One of the things that was expected was that the show would fill in the gap between where we left him in Return of the Jedi and where we found him in season 2 of the Mandalorian. While that was how it started that is not necessarily where we ended up.
What better character than to use for a crime drama-rise to power in the criminal-underworld type of story. There might be lots of bounty hunters in the galaxy, but there really is only one we all want to know about. While we did get some of the criminal underworld stuff, most of it, confusingly, was pushed to the periphery. Mostly it just moved the story along and didn’t really serve any real purpose. That said, mafia crime gangs often use the term family because it symbolizes the closeness of its members. Much like the term “family” is a metaphor for Italian crime gangs, it’s here that we find the metaphor for The Book of Boba Fett. Much like Boba Fett was able to create his crime “family” to run and begin to clean up Tatooine, Tatooine’s story is one of digging itself out from the pits of hell. Like Boba and the Sarlacc, if we take things from a certain point of view. It’s the only way this show makes sense.
After we see Boba’s escape from the Sarlacc we get our first take into how the stories start to fit together. Both had been through a sort of hell and stuck in a place of despair. Pain and suffering are what happens to those in Pit of Carkoon and for generations under Jabba that was what the residents of Tatooine have gone through as well. So when we see Boba claw his way out and then collapse from exhaustion and malnutrition, it’s almost as if the same thing were happening across Tatooine. Free from the Hutts and the Empire at last. It’s fitting that along come the Jawas to strip him of his armor. It’s the thing that gives him an edge on everyone else making him, well, normal. Between losing his toys and his weariness, he is at the bottom and starting over. As we came to learn throughout the course of this series, Tatooine used to be a place full of life but is now the barren and harsh desert that it is with little to offer. Much like Boba without his armor.
Whatever it is that caused Tatooine to become the barren wasteland that it is we may never know. But Tatooine now, post Hutt and Empire, is in a new place. A place where it can be whatever it wants and that is where Boba is now. After being rescued by The Sand People he is essentially offered a fresh start, which much like Tatooine is a little chaotic at first. Both resist in their own way. Tatooine by forming gangs and suffering through lawlessness while Fett resists his Tuskan captives. But the Tuskans and Boba are both harsh and tough. They’re the type where respect is earned, not given. Boba earns the respect of his captors by saving one of their younglings while forcefully out digging for black melons and eventually becomes one of their tribe. He in return has learned to respect the harsh desert. As our story progresses we see the changes occurring in each. As Boba becomes part of his tribe and the people of Tatooine begin to come together in their communities. We see a glimpse of this in The Mandalorian where Mos Pelgo fights for its freedom against the Mining Collective. When we catch back up to them here they’ve chosen a new name: Freetown.
Its in these next few episodes that we begin to see the real theme emerge: finding your tribe. Suddenly we’re cut away to Din Djarin and it’s jarring. So jarring that I had to make sure I was watching the right show but if we stick with it though it begins to make sense. During the fight with Paz Vizsla it becomes clear that Din has removed his helmet, breaking Mandalorian code. Din Djarin is now excommunicated from his faith and the things that bind him. We see him travel back to Tatooine and to meet up with Peli Motto. We then catch up with Luke and Grogu. And it’s a similar story: all this time we assumed Grogu was meant to be a Jedi. What if he isn’t? Like Mando he thinks he belongs to a tribe because that’s what he’s been told. Given the opportunity to choose his own path he chooses Mando.
This theme of tribes has been slowly collecting throughout the series. When it was clear the Boba would be rejected as Daimyo by not just the crime lords but by some of the people as well. The Gamorreans who were loyal to Jabba and Bib Fortuna are now alone and would probably have been killed under normal circumstances simply to send a message. The Mod gang is given reprieve even though they stole and the merchant is told to lower his prices to a fair price. Krrsantan is initially sent to kill Boba by the Hutt twins but after his failed attempt and the rejection of returning him to his employer Fett eventually offers him a job. Fennec recruits Din Djarin. Boba not only found his tribe but these characters found their’s as well. Even Fennec when she agrees to stay with Boba after repaying the debit she owes him for saving her life.
The metaphor of Boba Fett and Tatooine falls into place as we continue through the final episode and see it all come together. Everyone eventually meets up at the bombed out club. Mando stands with Boba. The Freetowners arrive. Boba’s group returns even after all looks lost for them. Even Grogu and Peli show up and Grogu adds a small but effective effort at the end. As Boba and his tribe not only fight off the local crime lords, they fight off the Pyke Syndicate as well. This is the fight that Tatooine, as a planet, is engaged in as well. The people of Tatooine are fighting for their freedom just as Boba has been fighting for his through Mos Espa. The statement before the battle breaks out sets this up:
You will leave this planet and your spice trade. If you refuse these terms the arid sands of Tatooine will once again flourish with flowered fields fertilized with the bodies of your dead.
This is a statement from both Boba and the people of Tatooine. We will fight for our world.
What’s upsetting is that as the series went on it never really settled into the crime drama it wanted itself to be. We see Boba begin to cut deals with the local cartels. There are hints of drug running. We see what it wants to be but we never get there. The only time we come close is in the final episode at the Pyke office in Mos Eisly where the whole betrayal is revealed. The setup was there the entire time and yet it’s never used. We flirted with it. We played coy with it. We took it to dinner. And then we dumped it. And that’s probably the most disappointing thing about the whole affair. We never really get to see Boba Fett actually be Boba Fett with the exception of about five minutes during the final battle before he takes off to get get King Kong the rancor. We get nothing more than some taunting from Cad Bane who clearly has a relationship with Boba. Why did we not explore this relationship further? Or for that matter with Krrsantan? They clearly know each other and have some kind of past. We even could have explored the Hutt’s relationship to Tatooine.
This show should have been dark, gritty, for adults, and we all would have loved it. Even if Disney didn’t want to go whole hog into crime rings and drug smuggling they still could have done it in such a way that it at least would have been family friendly and still made sense while expanding on a much beloved character. Instead they took the safe route. The quote above is a beautiful bit of prose but is so out of place since the show itself is so soft. I just kept waiting for it to get to the point and it never really seemed to. It wasn’t until my second watch through because I was so utterly confused that I was able to pull these themes out and find enjoyment in this series. Which is a shame because I really did enjoy the production. The acting, I thought, was great.
If we remember way back to shortly after Disney bought the Star Wars franchise we were going to get a Boba Fett movie. My gut says they couldn’t make it work so they went and did this instead. It just feels like Disney trying to repeat the formula they used for Marvel on Star Wars. Except that’s not how this works. That’s now how any of this works.
> ▋