The Book of Boba Fett is the latest installment of the Disney+ series of Star Wars shows. The show’s story takes place partially right after the second season of the critically acclaimed show The Mandalorian, whereas the other part takes place in between Star Wars Episode VI: Return of The Jedi, and the first season of The Mandalorian. 

   The show follows the titular character of Boba Fett, who has been a fan favorite from the movies for years. Temuera Morrison, the actor who played Jango Fett, who is Boba’s father, and the clones in the first three Star Wars movies, return to play Boba. The reason Boba Fett is played by the same actor who played his father is that Boba Fett is technically a clone of his father. The story follows Boba who takes over the criminal empire of Jabba the Hutt, an evil gangster who he used to work for, and tries to rule the city of Mos Espa with respect instead of fear.

   The plot is very simple, and in many cases, the show suffers because of it. The first two episodes do a great job at developing Boba’s character, which hasn’t been done for the character before. It shows how he never really had a home or a culture. He felt left out of the culture of the Mandalorians because he is a clone. He never truly fit in with other bounty hunters, as shown in The Clone Wars animated show, and after Return of the Jedi, in which he was consumed by the Sarlacc Pit, he truly was alone. Boba gets captured by the Tusken Raiders, the indigenous people of Tatooine, and over time becomes a member of their tribe. Boba finding this new family and culture allows him to see the error in his ways before. He sees that being a cold-blooded bounty hunter, and only caring about getting paid, wasn’t a good way of living life. Boba’s character arc concludes in episode three of the show when a speeder bike gang kills his tribe. That’s right, only episode three. This is a fantastic arc for the character, but it ends so quickly into the show, that it leaves the rest of it quite structureless. The rest of the show has to do with Boba and his partner Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) fighting to keep the colonist group, the Pyke Syndicate, off the planet Tatooine because they are trying to exploit the planet for its resource spice.

   Episode four of the show is the low point of the series, with a very lackluster story, but it sets up for a fantastic next episode. Episode five stars Din Djarin, the main character of The Mandalorian. He doesn’t appear as a cameo, or as a side character, he is the main character of episodes five and six. Boba Fett doesn’t even appear in episode five, and barely appears in episode six. While the episodes are fantastic and both progress Din’s story from the previous season of The Mandalorian, the plot of these episodes has absolutely nothing to do with the actual show. They feel like the start of a new season of The Mandalorian, not the latter half of The Book of Boba Fett. This sudden and very strange change of pace completely messes with the plot and themes of the show.

   The themes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are total opposites. The Book of Boba Fett is all about how finding a solidified foster family, culture, or religion can cause someone alone and in distress to be able to find new meaning. The Mandalorian has the opposite message. The story focuses on Din’s journey of self-realization: he comes to realize that the restrictive nature of his religion is causing him to have difficulty getting what he wants. This leads to him being completely kicked out of his group of Mandalorians. This vital character moment–that is so important to the themes of his show–happens in The Book of Boba Fett. A show that has the opposite theme. And this happens not only to Din but to Grogu as well. He ends up rejecting teaching from Luke Skywalker to return to Din, once again reinforcing the theme of The Mandalorian, in the wrong show. This odd choice to try and put important plot moments between Din Djarin and Grogu into a show that isn’t their own, completely messes up the themes of both shows, causing the viewing experience of both to suffer.

   All in all, The Book of Boba Fett is a mixed bag. It has fantastic action, good character progression, interesting themes, and an intriguing plot, but it’s all put together messily. The show is still worth a watch for any Star Wars fan, especially since it is necessary viewing to understand what will happen next in The Mandalorian. All episodes of The Book of Boba Fett are now streaming on Disney+.