'Book of Boba Fett' S1, Ep. 2: I have a good feeling about this

When watching the second episode of Book of Boba Fett, I felt something. A presence I've not felt since...well, in a long time.

Oh how sweet that feeling was.

Boba stood toe to...tail?...with Hutts. He proved himself among Tusken Raiders. And he kicked some major rears in an incredibly intense, well-shot train takeover scene. Capping the story with a bizarre, celebratory right-of-passage moment (involving a lizard) cemented a superb episode that overwhelmed me with nostalgia and the giddy, excited spirit I've had for peak Star Wars content all my life.

Seriously, I haven't felt this entranced and pumped for Star Wars probably since Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Sure, I've loved all the content (give or take TLJ), and even The Mandalorian has scratched that itch in spurts many times. But from start to finish, "Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine" enthralled me and firmly entrenched Boba as the awesome bounty hunter/crime lord that he is.

To start the episode, we find Boba and Fennec Shand trying to get information from a prisoner, an assassin from the Order of the Night Wind. Fennec chimes in with one of the funniest Star Wars jokes in any Disney+ show with her "You're paying for the name" comment. After he refuses to talk, they dump him through the same trap Jabba had for Luke in Return of the Jedi to face the rancor! But of course, we all knew the rancor died, but hey, the assassin didn't know that. He blurts out that the Mayor sent him right before finding out Boba tricked him. Such fortuitous timing.

When Boba visits the Mayor, he isn't on the guest list. But he doesn't care. He whips past the assistant's desk and barges into the Mayor's chamber like he owns the joint (again, Fett is trying to establish himself as the top dog in these parts and even takes payment for the tribute he never received in the first episode). The Mayor claims he didn't hire this assassin and proves it by shooting him dead right on his floor. After all, the Order of the Night Winds aren't allowed on Tatooine. Why? We don't know. Is it a plot point we need answered? Absolutely not. The audience is informed of all we need to know right now to understand the severity of the moment and how people operate in these parts.

That execution is what makes this episode spark. We sense a bigger scope of this universe, even in a place as familiar as Tatooine. We feel that's it big, that we don't know everything going on. Who are these different Tuscan Raider tribes? Where have these other Hutts been, and how do they plan to regain control of the territory their family once ruled?

What we do know is these twin Hutts know how to make an entrance. The pageantry and music, the scary dark Wookie gladiator, the minions carrying them like royalty; it all made quite the spectacle. Fett trash talks the Hutts and demands they return to Nal Hutta (a planet name that's been around in Star Wars lore for a long time). The Hutts threaten their return; the Wookie even gives the snarling growl that is so cheesy and funny, yet fits to perfection.

The worst part of the episode is the transition from that scene to the next flashback we get during Fett's recovery time with the Tusken Raiders. Once again, he goes into the bacta tank. I'm guessing it's more than just a healing chamber at this point. Maybe he's getting infused with something else? After all, Boba is an unaltered clone. Maybe he's degenerating (he is pretty old, after all)? Still, the fact that he has to get into this tank before we can see flashbacks is a little clunky. Hopefully there's more purpose to the bacta tank than we realize.

We continue Boba's road to recovery while with the Tuskens. At one point, a speeding train rides by, and shots are fired upon the Tuskens. It appears this has happened before, because the Raiders knew what was coming and took shelter immediately. After the train passes, Boba promises to help them. He does so by following some passersby, who turn out to be part of the Pike Syndicate, on speeders to a small train station some miles away from the Tusken camp.

And this is where the legend of Fett begins to grow. Thugs are bullying a innocent couple in this small tavern (more on them and this tavern later). Then, we get a shot of the doors opening up, with the shadow of Fett and his two weapons sashed to his back looming on the wall. The thugs' attention immediately turns to the new perpetrator. What a triumphant moment for Fett. This is his Darth Vader (and Luke Skywalker) hallway scene. We just know stuff is about to go down. And not simply because we're fans who want to see Fett be awesome, but because Fett is awesome, and it's time others started knowing it. Now, as the season continues, we, the audience, will be giddy the next time someone threatens Boba, maybe even saying something to ourselves like "Uh no, now you pissed him off." What a way to elevate Fett. The reason this works is because we've seen the context regarding his recovery journey to this point. Sure, when Fett showed up in The Mandalorian, it was awesome watching him in combat. But here, there's a whole new meaning and weight behind his every action.

And I haven't even talked about how awesome his train heist was. With shades of the train scene in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Boba teaches the Raiders how to use the speeders, and eventually (after a Rocky-like training montage) they are ready to take down the train in what turned out to be an epic battle in the dunes. The directing of this whole scene was outstanding and engaging during every moment: the moment when the Raiders first start sniping from a distance (akin to their days of shooting down podracers in Episode I), Boba's takeover of the engine room (including the scared droid, which was hilarious).

After their victory, the Raiders ceremoniously reward Boba for his leadership in what is another great example of what makes Star Wars so great; these Tusken Raiders have their own way of life, and we get privy to a small, but significant slice of it. I mean, the lizard trick was weird, but Star Wars is at its best when it's weird. After the show's first episode, I was convinced Boba would reunite with the Raiders before the season ended (in his present day), but he's already insinuating that. He wears the robes they made for him, and he carries his specially made staff weapon from a mysterious tree (the same weapon Fett slung on his back when he made his first appearance in The Mandalorian). Clearly he's making a bond with these Tuskens that should not be taken lightly.

My attention was glued to the TV the entire episode, and I can't wait to see more of this show now. I'm curious if other major characters will appear and threaten his new-found ownership of Jabba's territories. Will other gangsters come fight him? Maybe some of the bounty hunters from Boba's past (such as Dengar or Cad Bane), perhaps? We shall see!

Note:

The couple in the tavern seemed like a random couple, but they are not. Even the small tavern is not just a random station. This is the famed Tosche Station, the same Tosche Station where Luke wanted to pick up some power convertors. It's so great to see this nod to the original Star Wars movie, A New Hope. If you ever watch the deleted scenes from ANH, you may recognize the couple. The two innocent people in the tavern are the same two people who were in the Tosche Station all those years ago when ANH first released. In fact, those people actually were friends with Luke at the time of ANH. What a cool, unexpected nod to Star Wars lore.