Belated Boba Fett Review: The Gathering Storm.

In the wake of the mod cyclist chase scene in Chapter 3:  "The Streets of Mos Espa,"  The Book of Boba Fett was the butt of much ridicule on many social media platforms, particularly Twitter.   For some hardcore fans of things Fett and Star Wars, it was a bridge too far.  Things can get ruthless among fans and detractors, but it can serve as an accurate bellwether for whether or not a series has genuine appeal.  As for Chapter 4:  The Gathering Storm, TBOBF is on the knife edge as to whether if can maintain its present fanbase and at best, win back those fans and casual viewers who peeled away.

The chapter opens with yet another shot of Boba Fett slumbering in his bacta tank.  It is an intro that even grates at my nerves at his point.  The flashback depicts Fett and his bantha scouting out the perimeter of Jabba's old palace - now dominated by Jabba's majordomo Bib Fortuna - to see if he can reclaim his signature ship Slave I*.   Anticipating that he is overmatched, Fett rides his bantha back into the Dune Sea.

As Fett and his ride share a meal of a meat from an unspecified source, they spy bright flares in the distance.  For those who are observant, this scene overlaps with the chapter of The Mandalorian titled "The Gunslinger."  By the time Fett arrives on the scene, he finds the assassin Fennec Shand dying at the base of a mesa.  Either taking pity on her, or seeing her as a potential asset, or both, Fett slings her body over his bantha and they ride to a "mod shop" on the outskirts of that notorious hive of scum and villainy, Mos Eisley.  The entrance of Fett and the mortally wounded Shand is welcomed by the sound of grating EDM that flies in the face of the mood set in Star Wars by Ludwig Göransson and John Williams.  The body modifier, taking some hard earned credits from Fett, sets to turning the unconscious Shand into a cyborg.  The transformation isn't as traumatic as Anakin Skywalker's enclosure into the cybernetic armor of Darth Vader, but the revived Shand is nonetheless shocked by the new apparatus that keeps her alive.  Her benefactor, Fett, is far from the sadistic Emperor Palpatine when he revived Vader.  As a matter of fact, he proposes a temporary alliance with Shand to reclaim Slave I at long last from Bib Fortuna's palace.

With Shand's cunning and an array of gadgets that rival Fett's Mandalorian gear, they are able to work their way into the kitchen of the palace.  What follows is what screenwriter Jon Favreau intended to be a comical chase scene between Fett and an elusive rat catcher droid.  From my perspective, the comedy fell flat and only served to make Fett look like a buffoon.

Fett and Shand work their way into the hangar bay where Slave I awaits.  In the ensuing battle, Shand dispatches their attackers while Fett struggles with the controls of his ship .  It made me ache a little inside as the whole fiasco reminded me of the Millennium Falcon chase scene in The Force Awakens.  "The guns are jammed," Fett exclaims, echoing Finn as his laser cannons hang impotently.  This leaves the woman to handle the grunt work of dealing with Bib Fortuna's stooges.  With much struggle, Fett manages to get the two of them out of the palace with Slave I.  It should feel more triumphant than that, the way the Millennium Falcon would burst free of a hangar bay and escape into deep space, but Fett pilots his ship across the Dune Sea.  "I have a few scores to settle," he tells Shand.

The next scene is far more satisfactory as Boba Fett uses Slave I to pick off the Nikto speeder bike gang that killed his Tusken brethren in the previous chapter.   Fett resolves to win back his armor from the last place he remembers having it:  Near the maw of the Sarlaac Pit.  This is puzzling because in the first chapter "A Stranger in a Strange Land," Fett was trying to wrest his armor away from Jawa scavengers.  This time, I thought he was going to pay a visit to the Sarlaac to deliver some major payback with the cannons of his ship.  Instead, he follows a cold trail to the creature that nearly killed him... and nearly gets himself and Shand killed by the still living Sarlaac.  Only some last minute cunning from Shand and a well placed seismic charge does the creature in once and for all.  "Next time, don't push my buttons," Fett says peevishly.

For the remainder of the flashback segment, Shand plays the role of the Greek chorus, warning the hero not to take a foolish risk that may get himself killed.  However, Fett, once a loner, has resolved to create a tribe of followers.

After a quick flashback of Fett killing Bib Fortuna in the after credits scene of The Mandalorian chapter, "The Rescue," Fett wakes up in his bacta tank.  As he emerges from it, an attendant droid informs him that he is fully healed and no longer needs the bacta tank.  Hopefully, this means no more long flashback segments, which is music to my ears.

The following scene threatens to be one of the notorious "meeting scenes" that plagued the Star Wars prequels.  Fett proposes an alliance with the rival gangs of Mos Espa to drive out the offworld Pyke Syndicate.  No doubt Fett considers the Pykes instrumental in the slaughter of his Tusken brothers and sisters.  When the gang leaders once again express disrespect towards Fett, asking why they should even bother allying with him.  The roar and shudder of Fett's pet rancor beneath the dining table shocks them into silence and attention.  Finally, Fett has dealt one of his most lethal playing cards.  When the gang bosses express no incentive to take on the Pykes head on, Fett takes it on himself to drive out the Pykes so long as these planetary mafiosos stay neutral.

In the last scene, as the crime bosses leave Fett's palace in their speeders, Shand suggests they find some more muscle to take on the Pykes.  No sooner does she say this than the leitmotif of The Mandalorian plays on the soundtrack.  End episode.

There are some other scenes that should be addressed before I wrap up the critique, such as how Jennifer Beals' Twi'lek character soothes the raging Wookie Black Krrsantan as he nearly tears her casino apart.  When Krrsantan stalks out, Fett calmly approaches the Wookie and offers him a job.  It is certainly advantageous for Fett to recruit someone other than a gang of flashy mods on brightly colored speed Vespas.  The very vehicles that inspired detractors of the series into making Power Rangers jokes at the expense of the series.

"The Gathering Storm" shows some promise with the setup of Fett's use of the rancor, his recruitment of Krrsantan and the foreshadowing of an alliance with Din "Mando" Djarin.  However, the fact that Djarin has to be introduced to the series can be perceived by many as a lack of confidence in Boba Fett carrying his own series.  I was both excited and disappointed at the same time to hear The Mandalorian theme.  As for the stirring rancor, Fett had expressed a desire to learn how to ride it in a previous chapter.  I anticipate a climactic rancor riding scene through the streets of Mos Espa in the final episode of The Book of Boba Fett.  It would be a lot more impressive than arriving in a litter as suggested by the denizens of Tatooine's largest city.  Of course, payoffs have been few and far between in this series.

I have been faithful to The Book of Boba Fett out of my unconditional love of the character.  Had it been any other character from any other series, I may have given up on a few episodes.  But as the title of the chapter suggests, I do anticipate a storm brewing on Tatooine, but will the tempest attract the attention of a larger audience?  I find even my own patience being strained as I follow the series.  It's coming to a head, and whatever the outcome, I hope it has made the uneven journey of TBOBF worthwhile.

-JJB

* I absolutely REFUSE to get ensnared in the bickering over whether Boba Fett's ship is to be called Slave I or a Firespray class gunship.  Life is too damn short!