[TV] Talk about the last TV you watched, the catchall thread
- Thread starter Frank
- Start date
The bacta tank flashback sequences were a very odd narrative element and it got old fast. We're told the flashbacks are dreams so he's conveniently dreaming a catch up narrative for us in chronological sequence?
His whole backstory up to the events of killing Bib Fortuna could have been easily condensed into a single episode, where at the end he wakes up from the tank fully healed and then we progress into the war for Mos Espa. Removing the bacta tank for the rest of the story would have changed very little. It was never important except as a contrived way to explain how he got to this point.
Boba Fett, Episode 5
Hands down the BEST episode of Boba Fett by a long shot. It's not even a contest.
Unfortunately...
(strap in, kids, I got ranty on this one)
Hands down the BEST episode of Boba Fett by a long shot. It's not even a contest.
Unfortunately...
(strap in, kids, I got ranty on this one)
The reason it's the best is because it's not really an episode Boba Fett. It's an episode of The Mandalorian in all but name. This could have easily been Season 3, Episode 1. And what bothers me about that is a problem I often have with comics: this included some MAJOR developments for Mando and yet it wasn't within his own series. So if someone didn't bother watching Boba Fett at all and jumped into Season 3 of Mandalorian, they'd miss out on Mando being kicked out of his guild, losing his spear, and getting a new ship. And I hate crossover shit like that. Especially in the event that we ever see a DVD or Blu-ray collection of The Mandalorian series. They would HAVE to include this episode with the set.
Anyway, my other beef is that as good as this episode was, it only further highlights the problems with Boba Fett's series. I was immediately invested in Mandalorian's story because he has clear motivations for what he's doing. A lot of it was resolving or continuing plot points from his own series, like the dark saber. But I was invested in him getting a new ship because he had reasons to: to see Grogu. He has clear, understandable motivations and Boba Fett has SORELY lacked that. This episode only made me want to see more Mandalorian. I still don't give a flying fuck about Fett wanting to be the Kingpin of Tatooine or whatever because they haven't given me a reason to care. Not to mention they've barely established the enemy army he's supposed to fight, so there's no reason to care about them, either.
It's funny that they have two characters with similar looks and yet Mandalorian continues to be the far more interesting, engaging character. Even when it's not even his show.
Anyway, my other beef is that as good as this episode was, it only further highlights the problems with Boba Fett's series. I was immediately invested in Mandalorian's story because he has clear motivations for what he's doing. A lot of it was resolving or continuing plot points from his own series, like the dark saber. But I was invested in him getting a new ship because he had reasons to: to see Grogu. He has clear, understandable motivations and Boba Fett has SORELY lacked that. This episode only made me want to see more Mandalorian. I still don't give a flying fuck about Fett wanting to be the Kingpin of Tatooine or whatever because they haven't given me a reason to care. Not to mention they've barely established the enemy army he's supposed to fight, so there's no reason to care about them, either.
It's funny that they have two characters with similar looks and yet Mandalorian continues to be the far more interesting, engaging character. Even when it's not even his show.
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I'm not watching this show yet - waiting for a few more episodes to be out before I start binging, and besides, it isn't available in my region yet. But this doesn't surprise me in the least.
I've never understood the fascination of part of the fan base with Boba. The whole clone Jango/Boba being all clone troopers etc was done that way because of fan desires apparently, since it wasn't how Lucas first intended the clone troopers to be.
The Mandalorian is a character with motivation, an arc, clear goals, etc etc. He's a bit of an anti-hero outlaw style character which is always quite popular in Western media. Boba at the same time has far too much backstory to tell interesting stories or to develop, and not enough actual character to be interesting. Unlike Han, who was a lovable rogue, Boba was portrayed as an at-best amoral but honestly just evil bounty hunter who isn't even especially good at it. They'd have been better served with a new character or a re-used character with less backstory to show the criminal underworld in the SW universe.
The Mandalorian is a character with motivation, an arc, clear goals, etc etc. He's a bit of an anti-hero outlaw style character which is always quite popular in Western media. Boba at the same time has far too much backstory to tell interesting stories or to develop, and not enough actual character to be interesting. Unlike Han, who was a lovable rogue, Boba was portrayed as an at-best amoral but honestly just evil bounty hunter who isn't even especially good at it. They'd have been better served with a new character or a re-used character with less backstory to show the criminal underworld in the SW universe.
I agree 100%
GasBandit
Staff member
Yeah. I had the same gripe about the MCU. As I said in the appropriate thread, I hadn't seen Black Widow yet and so the big cameo at the end of Hawkeye was lost on me.
Matter of fact, if this had been episode 1 of the book of boba fett and we'd skipped everything up to this point, and it was just presented to me as "Boba Fett's now crime boss of tattooine and he has a rancor but he doesn't have enough muscle to keep order" I would have just accepted it at face value and not needed to see the actual story. My brain would have basically filled in the blanks in more or less exactly the way the show had done, without the need to actually watch 4 hours of it. Well, 2 I guess, since half of the previous episodes were Tusken flashbacks.
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The Tuskan Raider stuff? I dug the hell out of that. The rest? Ehh...
I can kind of understand, but at least with Yelena, they do a good enough job of introducing her to new fans in the show. She's a new Black Widow and Natasha's sister. Every other blank can be filled in fine. In this case, this was a FULL LENGTH EPISODE featuring another character who hasn't been seen in the series yet getting basically the next episode of his own series.
I saw someone - I think on Twitter - suggest they should have dumped the flashback framing entirely, do one or two episodes with him escaping the Sarlaac pit and hanging with Tuskens, yadda yadda yadda, THEN start the criminal empire stuff. And have him use the bacta tank thing once, at best.
I don't know if it would've necessarily helped things because the criminal empire stuff is still dull and slow paced more often than not. But at least we might have gotten character motivations out of the way sooner.
It was good and highlights what’s wrong with the Boba Fett series as a whole.
Though Amy Sedaris still acts like someone who is not Star Wars trying too hard to be Star Wars.
figmentPez
Staff member
I've been watching Daybreak on Netflix.
The general vibe is Ferris Bueller meets the zombie apocalypse. Matthew Broderick even plays the school principal. It's mostly a comedy, with light horror elements and gore. I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention, because I'm enjoying it a lot.
Oddly, it's almost the same plot as The Last Kids on Earth, which is also a Netflix show. Adults have been turned into zombies, other monsters are running around, the protagonist was a nobody before the apocalypse and now is trying to rescue his crush. Last Kids is animated, aimed at kids, with the giant monsters playing a much larger role in the plot, and the zombie plague is supernatural from another dimension. Daybreak is live action, aimed at teens/adults, with a lot more survivors and conflict between them, with almost nothing done with the mutated animals, and the zombie plague is the result of biological warfare.
I'd recommend Daybreak, but I think we all know at this point my tastes are not the same as most.
The general vibe is Ferris Bueller meets the zombie apocalypse. Matthew Broderick even plays the school principal. It's mostly a comedy, with light horror elements and gore. I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention, because I'm enjoying it a lot.
Oddly, it's almost the same plot as The Last Kids on Earth, which is also a Netflix show. Adults have been turned into zombies, other monsters are running around, the protagonist was a nobody before the apocalypse and now is trying to rescue his crush. Last Kids is animated, aimed at kids, with the giant monsters playing a much larger role in the plot, and the zombie plague is supernatural from another dimension. Daybreak is live action, aimed at teens/adults, with a lot more survivors and conflict between them, with almost nothing done with the mutated animals, and the zombie plague is the result of biological warfare.
I'd recommend Daybreak, but I think we all know at this point my tastes are not the same as most.
Dave
Staff member
I thought it looked interesting, but like "Cobra Kai" I just can't do the high school drama crap any more. I powered through it on CK but don't know if I could take it in a show that doesn't give me a hit of nostalgia.
Yellowjackets
...ok, yeah, so that was bonkers. It was like if Lord of the Flies were written by Stephen King, except without the usual Marty Stu insert because it's all girls this time. Or Lost mixed with Heathers and The Craft. It was...a lot. And I'll probably watch Season 2, most likely through my fingers. It was nice to see some familiar faces with the adults, though.
...ok, yeah, so that was bonkers. It was like if Lord of the Flies were written by Stephen King, except without the usual Marty Stu insert because it's all girls this time. Or Lost mixed with Heathers and The Craft. It was...a lot. And I'll probably watch Season 2, most likely through my fingers. It was nice to see some familiar faces with the adults, though.
Wrong thread?
GasBandit
Staff member
FACK. On it
Maybe Mando and Boba really AREN'T the best at what they do?
(I mean, a life-time of the male protagonist in... any media, just picking something up for the first time and being OMGthebestEVAH, I'm ok with watching them suck at things. Maybe you're not good at everything. It's okay, it leaves room for improvement/character evolution.)
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...very furry.
My counter: Sabine Wren was trained by a Jedi (Kanaan Jarrus) to use it and had all kinds of trouble before that.
The Mando in white is Bo Katan. She was given the saber and some training in it by Sabine Wren, but ended up losing the saber during the Great Purge. Not even lose it in a duel, she just LOST IT.
Moff Gideon likely received training with the saber from an Imperial Inquistor... even if he hadn't, it's been at least a decade since the fall of the empire. He's had time to learn.
There's also another, more important reason... but I think that might fall into future spoilers.
The Mando in white is Bo Katan. She was given the saber and some training in it by Sabine Wren, but ended up losing the saber during the Great Purge. Not even lose it in a duel, she just LOST IT.
Moff Gideon likely received training with the saber from an Imperial Inquistor... even if he hadn't, it's been at least a decade since the fall of the empire. He's had time to learn.
There's also another, more important reason... but I think that might fall into future spoilers.
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Definitely makes her a decent candidate for being the armorer. She seemed to feel pretty comfortable wielding the blade in that episode.
Is this the first time you've seen it? It's been around forever.
And since it's been quoted twice now I have to be that guy, there's two e's in wookiee
I had the same thought, since the Armorer knew so much about the Darksaber, but it doesn't fit the time frame: this is only about five years after RotJ, and it's been established in the Rebels epilogue that
Sabine (who narrated the epilogue) remained active in the Rebellion during the Original Trilogy and then went looking for Ezra with Ahsoka after Endor. The sense is that the Armorer has been involved with this cult for a while (maybe back to when Death Watch took in Din during the Clone Wars?). And Sabine probably wouldn't be involved in an extremist splinter of Death Watch anyway. While they were initially allied with House Vizsla and Death Watch, Clan Wren supported Bo-Katan Kryze as Mand'alor.
And Sabine has apparently been cast for Ashoka's series (which will probably pick up from Rebels with searching for Ezra).
And Sabine has apparently been cast for Ashoka's series (which will probably pick up from Rebels with searching for Ezra).
Armorer also has the spikes on her helmet signifying she was part of the group that aligned with Maul when he took over leadership of the Mandalorians.
I seriously doubt Sabine is the Armorer.
I also have many thoughts on The Book of Boba Fett, most of which have been mentioned already.
They really needed to start with him escaping the Sarlacc and then continuing with the Sand People. THEN jumped forward to after the events of The Mandalorian. Episode 5 needs to be condensed to a prologue portion of the next Mandalorian season and not shoehorned in here. Seriously could have covered that with Boba & Din talking. "I see you got a new ship." "Yeah, it's an N-1, but I got some special modifications on it." "Where is the little one?" "With his own kind, I hope to visit him sometime." *END SCENE*
As it is, Boba just seems timid. He wants to be the new Daimyo but seems afraid of actually breaking any laws. Mayor's Majordomo being a snarky ass to you? Kill him! Or at least shoot him in the shoulder or something so he drops the sass. He keeps getting the runaround from everyone he deals with and just accepts it. Those Hutts being a pain in your ass? Shoot a couple of their litter bearers so the worms tumble into the sand. Then speak from a position of power.
At least Black Krrsantan is cool.
As it is, Boba just seems timid. He wants to be the new Daimyo but seems afraid of actually breaking any laws. Mayor's Majordomo being a snarky ass to you? Kill him! Or at least shoot him in the shoulder or something so he drops the sass. He keeps getting the runaround from everyone he deals with and just accepts it. Those Hutts being a pain in your ass? Shoot a couple of their litter bearers so the worms tumble into the sand. Then speak from a position of power.
At least Black Krrsantan is cool.
I know the timeline doesn’t line up great, but she just seems a bit too knowledgeable about the blade and how to use it. Do we know what happened to her family? I suppose it could be Ursa too. Or someone completely different. Fun to try to guess though.
Whoever it is, I’m looking forward to Mando s3 and Ahsoka a whole lot more than the next episode of Bobba.
So, I was just sitting here ruminating about Boba Fett, and that ridiculous first-episode fight scene where I made the decision to cut it off and not look back.
It led me down a rabbit hole of thinking about how popular Fett was in the 70's/80's even though he wasn't even a major player in the original trilogy. And I sez to myself how sad it is that this bad ass character was reduced to a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fight scene, and how I suppose kids wouldn't mind it so much, since they seem to love Power Rangers. Then I recalled that this stuff is owned by Disney now, and that's when the light bulb went off. So many things fell into place: The crime lord with a heart of gold, fett being taken advantage of on all sides, the terrible fighting. It's fits Disney to a T. Adults might want a gritty show about a bad ass bounty hunter anti-hero, much like they like the Sopranos or Breaking Bad...but Disney ain't about that. They're about the children.
This shit ain't made for me, and I don't have to feel bad about not liking it.
It led me down a rabbit hole of thinking about how popular Fett was in the 70's/80's even though he wasn't even a major player in the original trilogy. And I sez to myself how sad it is that this bad ass character was reduced to a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fight scene, and how I suppose kids wouldn't mind it so much, since they seem to love Power Rangers. Then I recalled that this stuff is owned by Disney now, and that's when the light bulb went off. So many things fell into place: The crime lord with a heart of gold, fett being taken advantage of on all sides, the terrible fighting. It's fits Disney to a T. Adults might want a gritty show about a bad ass bounty hunter anti-hero, much like they like the Sopranos or Breaking Bad...but Disney ain't about that. They're about the children.
This shit ain't made for me, and I don't have to feel bad about not liking it.
GasBandit
Staff member
The main thing that we liked about Boba Fett back in the day was he was a stone cold ruthless, efficient, effective, mysterious, not-at-all-nice guy who did dirty work.
Every single aspect of that has literally been undone.
He's at best slightly above average in hand to hand combat (compared to other protagonist grade characters).
They've tried to give him a heart of gold.
He goes about things in a very inefficient manner.
We now know his entire backstory, but his current motivations do not seem to mesh with his character development - he's no longer mysterious, just confusing.
He repeatedly opts to not use violence when it would clearly be VERY effective and violence is supposed to be his thing. Din Djarin never hesitates if violence would do the job.
And he doesn't do the dirty work any more - he's da boss (or is trying to be).
Basically Boba Fett is no longer the Boba Fett we all were enamored with 40 years ago.
Din Djarin is.
Every single aspect of that has literally been undone.
He's at best slightly above average in hand to hand combat (compared to other protagonist grade characters).
They've tried to give him a heart of gold.
He goes about things in a very inefficient manner.
We now know his entire backstory, but his current motivations do not seem to mesh with his character development - he's no longer mysterious, just confusing.
He repeatedly opts to not use violence when it would clearly be VERY effective and violence is supposed to be his thing. Din Djarin never hesitates if violence would do the job.
And he doesn't do the dirty work any more - he's da boss (or is trying to be).
Basically Boba Fett is no longer the Boba Fett we all were enamored with 40 years ago.
Din Djarin is.
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...except that he wasn't? Not in the "canon" universe, in any case.
I think a lot of people forget the Boba Fett that most people fan over is a creation almost entirely from the EU. My best friend was a total Boba fangirl back in the 90's and my question was always, "...why?". I doubled checked this; but if we're going from original trilogy alone, he had less that 4 minutes of screen time across the entire 3 movies (and that's only if you include the Jabba/Solo interaction that was filmed for "A New Hope" but wasn't originally released with it), and 4 spoken lines: "As you wish." "He's no good to me dead." "What if we doesn't survive?" and "Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold.". (I will grant this doesn't include his cameo from the maligned Christmas special.) He used Vader and the Empire to capture Han. Then he "died" from Han Solo blindly swinging a rod, without even knowing he was there, knocking him into a wall and then into the Sarlacc pitt. Not really a great end for someone who's supposed to be a legendary bounty hunter.
So once Disney jettisoned all the EU lore, this, and the minor stuff from the prequels, is all we have to work with when it comes to Boba Fett. Yes, he has cool armor, but then what? Shows like Rebels, The Clone Wars, and The Mandolorian, have padded the history and the lore of Mandolorians, but not really a whole lot for Boba. And I think that The Book of Boba Fett has been unfortunately highlighting a problem with getting rid of all the EU: without it, Boba Fett is sort of a lame, non-character. He has no distinctive personality traits. He's a blank slate, and even the best in the Star Wars business right now (Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, etc.) have NO IDEA what to do with this guy. I feel I'm not alone when I was hoping for great things after seeing what these guys did for The Mandolorian, and have been fairly disappointed that they haven't been able to engage emotionally with Boba Fett on any level close to that.
As for the Sabine/Armorer thing, wouldn't the whole "don't ever take the helmet off" mean it couldn't be her? I think it was Mando that established if you were in a certain sect of Mandolorian, this was non-negotiable, and I don't think you can change that? I could be wrong, but that was why it never occurred to me they could be one-in-the-same.