If an episode is titled "The Gathering Storm," there's little hope that we get anything other than more setup. A vast majority of the episode, which had the longest runtime of any episode yet, was spent wrapping up the flashback storyline (thankfully). While there was plenty of good stuff, including good action scenes (never a guarantee with Book of Boba Fett) and some in-depth character moments, the actual plot of the present-day story didn't move forward much, if at all. I'm really not trying to complain too much; I don't like when shows give the audience the exact information they need at the exact moment they need it in short bursts of flashbacks. But the pacing of Book of Boba Fett goes too much in the other direction. I wish they more cleverly interlaced Boba's journey after the Sarlacc Pit with his time on Jabba's throne. The current story isn't really getting served from some of this backstory; rather, some of the cool moments in the flashback scenes mostly plays on nostalgia or, dare I say, crossover hype.
Let's face it. We all knew Boba Fett and Mando (from The Mandalorian, in case you don't remember) likely would cross paths in this show, right? No, we didn't see Din Djarin yet, but he's clearly coming (the musical cue was obvious enough). And hey, at least he'll be serving a decent purpose. It seems Mando is partially the reason Boba has had so much confidence in his style of leadership in assuming Jabba's mantle. Once Mando fights alongside Boba, Fennec, and Boba's recently hired street gang, the Pykes and other foes will surely think twice before ever stepping foot in their town again. And thus, the people of Mos Espa will be in debt to Boba.
Or, who knows, maybe the final three episodes will surprise me.
While still in flashback mode, this week's episode gave us quite a bit of insight to Fennec Shand, specifically around the circumstances in which her path crossed Boba's. Though Fennec had mostly been a one-note character to this point (given the fact she's an assassin, it fits), seeing the tender moments with her and Boba as they sat around a fire pit was quite gratifying. Their relationship gains some organic texture when thinking back to them fighting together in those last few episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2. Their discussion about whether the people in their line of work really have a choice in life was good food for thought. Now we see why Fennec has been so loyal to Boba, and I'm here for every bit of that. Ming-Na Wen got to exhibit other facets to her character that, for the first time this season, reminded me of other parts of her Agent May character in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that the audience couldn't get enough of.
When we first saw Fennec in Season 1 of The Mandalorian, she was apparently left for dead. Now, we see what happened as Boba saved her life. He took her to a Modifier, who gave Fennec the Darth Vader treatment by implanting machinery to help her live. Watching him do that in a well-shot montage with that off-brand techno-metal rock blend playing in the background was really fun and was a good reminder that, yes, Star Wars is its own universe that can get away with crazy stuff like that (and still be cool at the same time).
Fennec later helps Boba take back his ship with some nicely executed stealth moments, a welcome change of pace to all the gun-slinging or trash-talking moments. I enjoyed watching Boba actually struggle a bit as his ship crashed through the rock walls before they got the gate open.
Perhaps the scene with the best cinematography was after Boba and Fennec escape in his Slave I (I'm aware that Disney is calling the ship something else now for political-correctness purposes, but I'm sticking with its original name). Wanting to track down his armor he left in the Sarlacc Pit, Boba gently flies his ship inside the pit. The moment when they were scoping out the insides of the creature only for the creature to attack and latch onto the ship was actually a decent scare. This, of course, isn't the first time something has latched onto a ship: the aqua monster in Episode I that grabbed Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's Bungo, and the Summa-Verminoth (I had to look up that name) that clutched Solo's ship while in the Maelstrom in Solo: A Star Wars Story are two other examples. Boba's encounter had its own drama, capped by the destruction of the pit once and for all thanks to the seismic charge. Watching the Sarlacc Pit die was actually a bittersweet moment for me, though. Boba telling Fennec not to touch any of his buttons again was such a perfectly timed joke to offset that.
Now that the flashbacks seemingly are all caught up to present times, I'm hopeful that the last three episodes will pack quite a punch. Boba's dinner plans with local leaders didn't produce the results he wanted. They don't want to join his fight, but they did agree to stay neutral. This could make Boba's attempt to assume full power (and respect, the importance of which we're being tirelessly reminded) in these lands a bit easier since he's the only one who proved willing to stand up to the Pykes. I suspect Boba will try to track down the killer of the Tusken Raiders, who may end up being someone other than the Pykes (are the Crimson Dawn just around corner?). And as previously mentioned, Din Djarin's time to appear is fast approaching. Hopefully we're getting to the really good and exciting stuff!
Notes:
-I appreciated not seeing just Tatooine desert all episode, but I didn't like how dark many scenes felt, either.