Chris Connor reviews the fourth episode of Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett…
One of the most surprising things about The Book of Boba Fett to date has been its heavy reliance on filling in the five-year gap between Return of The Jedi and the events of The Mandalorian. This has earned some mixed feedback from the fanbase and arguably detracted from what is the core narrative of the show. ‘The Gathering Storm’ continues in this vein with the episodes opening half hour largely recounting how Fett first came into contact with Fennec Shand, as teased in ‘The Gunslinger’ episode of The Mandalorian’s first season.
The one positive of the episode focusing on Boba’s relationship with Fennec is an expanded role for Ming-Na Wen who has very much felt like a side character in the series to date; here, seeing her at an earlier point in their pairing, shows how the two have grown to work together and the addition of an extra character makes Boba’s flashback’s less meandering. Once again the chemistry between Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen is fun and it’s interesting to see how they play the different aspects of the characters and how their interactions differ.
This episode revels heavily in fan service showing Boba reclaiming his ship and beginning the search for his armour. It is frustrating that so much of the flashbacks seem to have served little more purpose than filling in gaps that we didn’t necessarily need answers to; this makes the overall tone unbalanced and takes away from what should be crux of the show. Given the tease of a conflict with the Pikes in last weeks’ episode, that aspect of the story is afforded little more than ten minutes of screen-time here which seems a puzzling narrative decision.
This isn’t to say that the flashback sequences haven’t been entirely without merit. The sequence breaking into Jabba’s Palace to steal Boba’s ship is escapist fun, as is the sequence involving the Sarlacc but these dragged on for too much of the episode’s runtime and it is encouraging that the final three episodes seem like they will devote their attention to the present day predicament.
The pace of the episode considerably picks up when we leave the flashbacks and the main story gains some momentum. A sequence involving Black Krrsantan tearing apart the Mos Espa cantina is one of the show’s strongest to date and shows the character’s ruthlessness. With him now on Boba’s side it seems he will be a considerable asset in the coming conflict. Likewise Boba trying to win over the various factions who control Tatooine feels much more in keeping with the underworld tone the show should have strived to keep throughout its run, and it is a shame the backstory moments have considerably stifled this.
The present day storyline which has been pushed to the background now takes centre stage as the pieces come together for what promises to be an action-filled final three episodes. The tease at the episode’s end of a link to The Mandalorian will likely prove welcoming for fans whose interest in the show may have been beginning to wane and could inject some life into a show that has not quite delivered on its promise to date. One can only hope that the strands that have been slowly coming together begin to take hold and for the show to have a clearer sense of direction for the remainder of its run.
Chris Connor
