The Book of Boba Fett Chapter Five. A Review.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

 

In this episode, Boba Fett steps aside to reintroduce a familiar face.  Or rather, a familiar helmet.  One Din Djarin, the star of The Mandalorian. 

The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 5: “The Return of the Mandalorian” is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, and was written by Jon Favreau.

The chapter begins with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), who is down on his luck.  He’s still collecting bounties, and he’s nursing a blaster wound that cut through the fabric of his jumpsuit rather than being nullified by his beskar armor.  He enters a secret Mandalorian cell led by the welcome presence of The Armorer (Emily Swallow) and a rival Mandalorian of the Visla clan.  Djarin reveals that he is in the possession of the legendary Darksaber - the symbol of absolute leadership among the Mandalorians.  The Visla scion challenges Djarin to combat so he can win the heirloom and become Mandalore.   Djarin barely wins the battle.  

Then the Armorer poses a difficult question to Djarin:  Has he ever removed his helmet so another can see his face?  After a long, tense pause, Djarin admits he removed his helmet for another.  The Armorer banishes Djarin from the Mandalorian people. 

Djarin is completely unmoored.  He is without a clan, and more importantly without a family.  Those who have seen the last episode of The Mandalorian, “The Rescue,” know that Djarin surrendered his foundling Grogu to the care of the Jedi.  With nowhere else to go, Din Djarin arrives on Tatooine - the unofficial hub for nearly all the major events in Star Wars.

Once again, he meets the mechanic Pelli Motto (Amy Sedaris), who he paid to find a replacement ship for his destroyed Razor Crest.  Pelli presents a rare and ancient model:  The N-1 Naboo Starfighter  (last seen in The Phantom Menace).   After a lot of hard work getting the N-1 ship shape, Djarin takes the antique fighter for a barnstorming test spin through many of the legendary sites on Tatooine:  The Boonta Eve racetrack and Beggars Canyon, for example.  Finally, Djarin boosts the N-1 into orbital space where he runs into two patrolling New Republic X-Wings.  It’s a comical “What’s the problem officer?” scene that many speed demons have had to suffer in the days of hot rodding and highway patrols.  Djarin resolves the situation as any honorable ex-Mandalorian would:  He kicks the N-1 to maximum sub-light speed, leaving the X-Wings in the space dust.

Upon returning to Pelli’s shop, he is greeted by none other than Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen).  Shand offers him a job with Boba Fett (in absentia) for his showdown against the Pyke Syndicate.  Djarin takes the job “on the house,” remembering how Fett and Shand helped him to recover Grogu from the hands of Moff Gideon.

There is a lot of nostalgia in this episode.  In addition, there are a lot of elements that “The Return of the Mandalorian” borrowed from so-called hard science fiction.  The “ring world” where the Mandalorian enclave is hidden draws its influence from Larry Niven’s Ringworld series.  I highly recommend that series of books for the curious and those who want to move beyond the realm of the space opera.

There is also a poignant moment where Djarin examines a small package of beskar made for Grogu.  The small cloth container makes out the silhouette of the baby foundling to whom Din Djarin had built a loving attachment.

I anticipated an overshadowing of TBOBF’s title character by the star of its parent series.  In the final two episodes we’ll see if Fett and Djarin compete for the limelight or if each character knows his place in the pecking order.

This was clearly the most exciting chapter of the series so far.  It begins with a gun and sword fight in a gangster’s lair.  The pacing is deftly handled by director Bryce Dallas Howard.  I wish her influence had come sooner for TBOBF.  It would have solved the ponderous pacing of the previous four episodes (Though “The Gathering Storm” showed glimmers of the high adventure associated with all things Star Wars).

It is my hope that chapters six and seven increase the action and put The Book of Boba Fett into full throttle - much in the way Djarin handled the N-1 Starfighter in this episode.

- JJB