Stanko's Stance

It says something that I was not in a rush to watch the latest episode of The Book Of Boba Fett. I was really put off by Chapter Three, it just was not very good TV. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. I also saw that this run time for 48 minutes, which I thought was far too long. Again, not good that I am thinking this way heading into the episode. Can episode four prove me wrong? I hope so, but I am not entirely optimistic.

Below are my thoughts on the third episode, which is entitled, The Gathering Storm.

• Black Krrsantan is in the preview of this episode so he is going to come back at some point in time.
• We are beginning this episode in a flashback, where the better parts of this story have taken place. 100%.
• After seeing his Tusken tribe massacred, Boba is returning to Jabba’s Palace near Mos Espa. It is under the rules of Bib Fortuna, and he has a lot of guards. Boba Fett will not be infiltrating at this time.
  • At this time, we did not know why Fett is trying to get into the palace.
• While eating dinner and sharing it with his Bantha, Boba sees flashes across the sky which immediately gets his curiousity.
  • If you read the description of the episode then you knew immediately that this was going to be the cross over moment with the Mandalorian when Boba came to the rescue of Fennec.
    • This is The Gunslinger episode in season one.
• Thank god they included the spurs sound in this episode because that is what I remember most vividly about when we first saw Boba’s boot in the teaser of his eventual appearance. OH WAIT. I DIDN’T REALLY HEAR IT!
• We kind of know why The Book Of Boba Fett has the humanoid modified people. It created the way for Fennec to survive and build it into the story.
  • Boba is bringing Fennec to a Mod Parlor and we see more of the young kids with the technical enhancements. At first I wondered if they were the same kids we met in The Streets Of Mos Espa, but that was not the case.
    • One of the guys had like bionic eyes, which made me think that he was observing Boba and was going to either notice something or give new knowledge. But it was just a lingering shot.
    • This Mod Parlor is meant to be like a tattoo parlor. This is really emphasized when the mechanic who saves Fennec says that he is not going to cover up his artwork. That is what anyone who has a tattoo or has given a tattoo would say.
      • My biggest problem with the Mod Parlor scene is the really bad soundtrack while the surgery is being fixed. Why the hell did it turn techie on such a pivot? It was way to cyber punk. it does not fit in with the main musical score of the movie when they are going through the deserts of Tatooine.
    • Also can we ask why all these teenage motor bikes are so clean? This is a desert. It is windy and sandy and just a place for brutal conditions. Why do these bikes look like they just got out of the carwash..
• Was it a shock for Fennec for her to wake up part robot? Honestly, she grew accustomed to it…really easily. Probably too quickly.
• Bobba knows Fennec and Fennec knows Boba. Fennec doesn’t believe that Boba is alive, says that he died long ago.
• Boba feels a lot of guilt, blaming himself for the death of his tribe. Not sure that is entirely true but I guess we can live with that.
• Boba is going to use Fennec to get into Jabba’s (or now I guess technically Fortuna’s palace) and it is to steal Slave I back.
  • Fennec asks a good question as to why not just ask? Boba says that in case he doesn’t like the answer…and he acknowledges that he is not as impressive, or foreboding, without his armor.
• So Boba and Fennec think that there are too many guards after Fennec’s robot GPS 3d-graphing gizmo gives them the layout. It has turned into a stealth mission.
  • Guess what. It is not very stealthy at all.
  • So Fennec and Boba come up in the kitchen…and here we have a callback that I actually like.
    • The old gruff robot who says that it might have been rats who made the noise is the same robot who was a dick to C-3P0 and R2D2 in Return Of The Jedi (1983).
    • Then we get the far to obvious reference to General Grievous and his wielding arms talents with the sous chef robot. This was not necessary. Was not needed. Took me out of the moment.
    • Next thing that took me out of the moment was Boba Fett chasing around a small robot for what reason? No reason? I just do not understand why that is. This entire sequence was like Boba Fett trying to catch a chicken…and then once he does…the boasts that “I AM BOBA FETT” to this robots face…to which the robot just shuts down. What was the entire point of this?
      • We do see this little robot again in the ending scene around the dinner table during present time, but all of it is unnecessary and forcefully playful and bad.
  • So Fennec and Boba Fett arrive at the hanger and with their arrival is gun shots. Fennec is sniping people left and right and Boba is trying to get Slave I outside the hanger.
    • Again, much to my dismay, I did not love the action this portrayed. It got a bit of a pick me up when Fennec went onto the ship and was doing some hand-to-hand combat and then shot the counter weight.
• So after Slave I is rescued, Boba goes on a revenge mission against the speed bikers who took down his Tusken Tribe
  • So the shot that director Kevin Tancharoen lines up with Slave I coming up behind the speeders is very cool, but doesn’t this throttling of the gang seem awfully heartless for loss that felt so personal? It is just shooting lasers down and popping them off one by one.
    • Sure we get the cool reemergence of the
• We learn through dialogue that Boba has been missing for years.
  • Does it feel like years have passed since Boba’s first kidnapping by the Tusken Raiders? It felt like weeks or maybe i can give you months, but years? That is a problem with pacing…which has been a major road bump in this entire series.
• He and Fennec return to the Sarlacc pit because he thinks that he armor is with the Sarlacc. That uhhh, is not true. The Jawas took it. So I am confused. WTF is going on here? Boba just forget because he was too dazed and confused.
  • This just seems like a major goof. A major plot deficiency. How can this be allowed to happen with no explanation?
  • This all seemed like a very coinvent excuse to bring the Sarlacc back and also the Siesmic Charge (and the sound really, let’s be real.)
  • I really liked the shot from the viewpoint of the Sarlacc hole. Slave I casting a shadow over the hole was a cool look.
    • Here is the thing. We got this siesmic charge in season two of The Mandalorian, and it was awesome. This use of the audience crutch is not nearly as effective. Not even close. It is majorly hampered by the sheer stupidity.
    • Also it was just so rushed and hap hazard. Like in The Tragedy episode of The Mandalorian, there was a suspenseful build up to it with the reemergence of Boba Fett the character, and then his armor, and then Slave I and it is like everyone knew it was coming and was eagerly awaiting it. This was just like of spur of the moment type thing. Again it seemed like a throw in.
      • Also the line “fire in the hole” did not land.
• There was one line of dialogue that I actually liked: “there is advantage to people thinking you are dead.”
  • This applies to both Fennec and Boba.
• The flashback sequence started out okay…but then dwindled down into bad dribble with poor screen writing. Literal plot holes and undeserved moments.
• How the hell did Fennec just agree to go for the ride with Boba after a few adventures? Was the allegiance earned? Sure she feels loyalty for him saving his life, but is it enough for a once lonely mercenary to break her entire life ethos as a killer for hire? Just seems again like a pushing of the character timeline.
• So now we get to the present, and for some reason now Boba is fully healed after being in the healing tank?
• Boba says that he needs to show strength so he goes into Mos Espa to try and show face. He arrives at the casino of safe haven…but it isn’t so safe.
  • Black Krrsantan is still a thing, and as I said at the start, he is here to play a part. For some reason he decides that he wants to beat up on some people who are winning money and a one-sided brawl breaks out.
    • Krrsantan breaks a bar residents arm off, which will evoke thoughts for Obi-Wan chopping off a thugs are in A New Hope (1977).
    • Garsa Fwip attempts to talk things down with Krrsantan, but her easy talking doesn’t exactly do the trick.
    • This entire scene seems like an add on, and one that doesn’t exactly deliver the goods.
      • Feels like the Canto Bight scene in The Last Jedi (2017).
  • So Boba Fett lets Black Krrsantan got in chapter three, but he brings him back in chapter four…and hires him…after telling Black Krrsantan to not work for anyone but himself…
    • It all just so hypocritical. Again, bad writing.
• Boba Fett brings it all back to the present by having all the families that were dangerously linked under Bib Fortuna under his roof.
  • This little parlay is a proposition from Boba to them for a mutually beneficial relationship filled with profits.
  • Boba is trying to reiterate to them that the Pykes are coming, and they need to band together.
  • So the other families are all asking why they should trust Boba and not just kill him…and then the Rancor’s claws rise up from underneath the dining table and scare the shit out of everyone.
    • In the end, they agree to a final Boba plea: they will not ally themselves with the Pykes if they come to them asking for allegiance. They will agree to neutrality. Can that be trusted, probably, not.
  • During this scene, we get to see Black Krrsantan acting as body guard over this presiding.
  • Also Fennec had a hype man speech…she was trying to be like Geoffrey Chaucer from A Knight’s Tale (2001) with an epic hype-speech but man oh man it was kinda cringe.
  • There is one bit of truth here that Boba does illuminate. Everyone of these families is vested in their own self interest, and while he can’t trust them, Boba can trust that they will be magnetic to their own selfishness.
• The pan up for Boba and Fennec in the balcony is a different viewpoint of this residence. That was a unique way to end it. I will admit to the visual appeal of it.
• Boba said in his flashback that “you can only get so far without a tribe.” – he is bringing this mindset to the present, but struggling to keep everyone in the same residence.
• Some of the visuals in The Gathering Storm I enjoyed, but the story itself took another major step back with it contradicting things, speeding up the pace of the story and then adding in pot holes where obvious character stupidity or amnesia filled.

CHAPTER ONE REACTION
CHAPTER TWO REACTION
CHAPTER THREE REACTION

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