Back at (previously) Jabba’s Palace, Fennec is walking with her prisoner (Paul Darnell) on the trail to the palace. The main gate opens and then Boba Fett questions the assassin about his employer. He is silent before Boba. An order is given to take his head and a Gamorrean guard has his blade to the prisoner’s neck. He gives an insult in Huttese. Boba asks what is known about the assassin. 8D8 says he is from the “Order of the Night Wind.” He continues that he will never talk. Fennec activates the switch to send the assassin down to the rancor. Like Luke in Return of the Jedi, he falls to the sandy floor, and the gate rises. The assassin screams out that he was sent by the mayor! There is no rancor. Fennec says they should visit the mayor. The city of Mos Espa, the prisoner is led by Fennec in the streets with Boba, flanked by the guards.
Trandoshans watch them pass. The door opens to the mayor’s chambers. A clerk says they don’t have an appointment and the smarmy major domo cuts in. I have no idea why this guy doesn’t at least get a fist to the face. He also tries to block them and Boba and crew just move past him. The Mayor, Mok Shaiz, is an Ithorian, he speaks the burbling language, but has a translator box on his back that goes to his mouth flaps (Robert Rodriguez). This episode has strange casting, the clerk is a weak actor and the wizened Ithorian, has a young voice, it’s kinda cartoony and little self-indulgent, yes, Rodriguez is executive producer, but a character in every episode? He has the assassin shot and the group is ready with their weapons. The reaction is weak, both Fennec and Boba could outdraw the Mayor’s guards. Mok Shaiz gives some advice to Boba before he leaves, go to Garsa’s Sanctuary. The show is kinda flat with hollow threats.
They enter the cantina of Garsa Fwip, I noticed the Chadra-Fan as one of the patrons, the mouse alien from the other cantina. He is dealt cards by a RX-series droid, the same as Star Tours. Garsa meets with Boba, who again takes off his helmet, of course Boba doesn’t follow Mandalorian ways, but the mystery is gone with his helmet off. She mentions that the Twins have claimed their late cousin, Jabba, Boba thinks the Twins are on Nal Hutta. Distant drums cut all music and conversation. They walk outside and Boba murmurs to Fennec to watch his back. The two Hutts are carried on a litter by several porters, absolutely impossible for people to lift two Hutts!, usually Hutts are transported by some kind of grav platform. The male twin says Jabba’s property belongs to them. Then, we get the Wookie bounty hunter, Black Krrsantan, from the comics. First appearing in Darth Vader #1 (2015). I’m fast losing interest in this series. He is a Wookie with black hair, white brows and beard, spiked shoulder armor, and a blaster rifle, yawn.
Fennec is ready for action, but this show only moves in bits and pieces. Boba says that Bib Fortuna took Jabba’s place and he killed Fortuna. Yup, the female twin says something, and the male twin says they don’t want bloodshed. Back at the healing pod, it’s time for a flashback! There is a greenish tint as we get to Sand People territory with a passing bantha. Boba is training with gaderffii sticks with the warrior in black. The warrior disarms Boba’s wooden gaderffii. Their practice is interrupted by some small, sand beast that tries to scurry away. A Tusken Raider blasts it with a rifle. They hear a roar in the distance. The Sand People scramble for rifles as they set themselves on a sand dune ready for the attack. It is a hover train where blaster fire takes down the bantha and several Tusken Raiders. Yes, the analogy of Native American tribes with the Sand People is clear, but this is hitting the nail on the head. Boba watches the train leave in the distance.
At night, the Tusken Raiders mourn their dead with fires. Boba sees several speeder bikes hover through the desert. It must be the same gang he saw with the Tusken youngling. He signs to the leader that he is going to take down the train with a rifle and gaderffii. Boba heads over to a building where Niktos, they are bad guys, rough up a place that also has Camie (Mandy Kowalski) and Fixer (Skyler Bible), from the Tosche Station cut scene of Star Wars. They seem to have grown younger since at Return of the Jedi, Luke has matured, but I guess it is the sand. “It’s course, and rough…”, but also keeps you looking youthful. Original Fixer actor, Anthony Forrest would be about 25 in Star Wars and 31 by the time of Jedi. Black Krrsantan, Fixer and Camie, this all feels like the accusation leveled at The Mandalorian, fan service, but that show had interesting takes on them. Camie and Fixer are never properly identified so really throwaway cameos.
A Nikto takes some coins from them and Fixer defies them. He is shocked by a stun baton, these are bad guys!, but the door opens and the shadow of Boba Fett falls on them. Uh oh, there’s a new sheriff in town! Boba shows them his Tusken training and throws in a new move, ouch! He looks at the speeder bikes. The next morning, he rides one with all of the speeder bikes in tow. Yes, he brings tech to the Tuskens and with their help, they can turn on the hover train and stop it! We finally get Boba taken into the Tusken tribe, it feels a little Avatar-ish, this may be the alliance he can call on to take his empire. This may be an end to the Tusken flashbacks and maybe they play a part in the main story. Not much development with Fennec Shand's character. At least give the names of the Gamorreans. There is an appearance of a Clone Wars alien, also in the Solo movie which is nice, but it's uniform looks like Star Trek: The Next Generation operations officer. The second episode of The Book of Boba Fett is predictable, but picks up a little with the extended Tusken scene. Hopefully, the show picks up a stronger story instead of sliding in story points, throwaway characters, and ramps up the action! Too much talking, more blaster fire!
Three Thrones of Boba Fett out of Five!
#TheBookOfBobaFett, #TheTribesOfTatooine, #PaulDarnell, #MandyKowalski, #SklyerBible
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