CBS&D Review: Book Of Boba Fett Episode 4

 

CBS&D Review:

Book Of Boba Fett Episode 4

IT’S THE BOOK OF CLUMSY WRITING BUT I’M STILL IN!

Disney + aired the 4th Episode of The Book of Boba Fett on January 19th. And although this is some of the clumsiest storytelling I have ever encountered; the conviction of the actors and my childlike curiosity will keep me coming back for more.

Most of the 4th Episode was done in flashback and for the first twenty-six minutes, it felt as if I was re-watching the first episode of the series or perhaps a different version of the first episode.

More than once I found myself saying out loud, “Yes, we know that already! What is the point of this Episode!”

It makes one wonder if the order of these Episodes is being changed in Post Production. 

The Events of the Episode open with Boba forming a relationship with a Banta and patiently stalking the Aliens who killed his Sand People Pals.

His interlude with his Banta is interrupted by a flare signaling distress in the desert. Boba is quick to his feet and runs for the Banta only to maraud at a snail’s pace in the direction of the flare to offer his assistance.

When he turns over Ming in the desert, I forgot we were in FlashBack and asked myself, “Wouldn’t he know she was there?”

Boba brings Ming to a Youth Center… Record Store… Drug Den? Nope, it’s a Tattoo Parlor… oh screw it! The place that you bring people when they are about to die in the desert!

Here Ming’s insides are replaced with chunky metal gears.

I was confused because there was no blood AT ALL during this injury or operation so one is left to assume Ming When was a robot to begin with.

Later we find out that is not the case. She is a living breathing human, she just has no blood or internal organs and a clean cavity where one’s guts would be housed on an average Asian woman in her 50’s.

But I digress.

Boba and Ming form a tentative partnership as Ming explains she is a free agent (very timely). I associate with Ming being a Free Agent like many Americans today.

I am every woman.

The shocking contrast between the dirty dingy ’70s of it all that is Star Wars against the bright shiny youthful gadgetry of this New Disney Star Wars they are trying to shoehorn in, pulls you out of the story so fast you are left wondering,

Who was that for?

I’m bitching I know. It’s because I love PARTS of this show.

You cannot deny the commitment of Temuera Morrison and Ming When is the perfect counterpart.

And the use of Practical Effects in this series is being criminally overlooked!

After filling Ming’s mid-section with metal, the two recapture Slave One from Jabba’s Palace.

The only real takeaway from this scene is they will not be calling Boba’s ship Salve One and…

there are only two Gamorrean’ s in the Star Wars Universe and their job history on their next application will read-only, Guard.

Once Ming and Boba have liberated Slave One, they revisit the Sarlacc Pit to recover Boba’s Armor.

And here, at 26:55 minutes, we finally start to get new information and the episode starts to move forward.

This scene is a Masterpiece!

Opening with a classic Stanley Kubrick / Ridley Scott Alien Encounter Camera Shot, where the light slowly disappears, and we are alone with the fear of the unknown.

The sound design of the struggling engines of Slave one against the roaring Sarlacc was Dolby-worthy.

The attention paid to the ship itself!

The differently shaded sheet of metal that covers the hull that gives the ship a slight sheen!

Nothing felt like it was done on a sound studio. Cranes were involved, actors were being tossed around. I NEED authenticity in my Sci-Fi and this scene delivered!

It was the one scene that had actual weight and consequence and saved the episode for me.

The Flash back ends with Boba in his healing chamber.

Now fully healed, he and Ming head into town.

Here, we are smashed in the face once again with a Disney Star Wars depiction of an Alien Casino.

The Casino looks like a bad commercial for the Galactic Star Cruiser and feels like the opening to that crap show Vegas with James Caan.

The action is always the same, the music is jarring, and the costuming looks like it was pulled from the original movie. Mouths don’t move, necks don’t turn, eyes don’t blink.

Unforgivable Costuming in the age of Professional Cosplay.

Still pissed from his encounter with Boba from the previous Episode, Krrsantan drinks too much and toss some Lizard people around.

Boba sees the opportunity to hire Krrsantan and his “tribe” seems close to being formed.

The episode concludes with Boba meeting with the heads of the neighborhood crime syndicates to show them his new Rancor in an effort to intimidate them to work in cooperation.

It works and Boba Fett seems to be on his way to actually leading rather than continually attempting to catch up.

The biggest issue I have with this series is the shocking conflict between the Dirty Low-Tech look of the original Star Wars and the Neon Gadgetry that represents Disney Star Wars contribution.

I can’t see anyone associating with these newly designed characters!

From the owner of the place that you bring people in the desert when they are about to die to the English Theater Majors from Episode 3. 

They are an amalgam of what a twenty-seven-year-old fan fiction writer would think is cool.

Hot Topic is a Planet in this Star Wars Universe now, it’s the only thing I can come up with.

At some point, Disney will have to resolve the identity crisis Star Wars has become. It may require jettisoning the legacy characters altogether and relying on Rey, Kylo, and the New Republic to guide Disney Parks into the future.

At some points watching this show feels like watching the vulture picking only the tasty parts from the corpse of Star Wars and leaving the undesirable parts for the scavengers.

The Problem is the fans have become the scavengers looking for something good in all the bloody mess.