Both critics and Star Wars fans had little hesitation in railing against Book of Boba Fett, a spin-off show of The Mandalorian. And while some of the gripes are justifiable, I think Book of Boba had plenty of redeeming qualities to offer.
Okay, let's get the bad out of way. Some of the action scenes were horribly executed. Some of those shots and stunts seemed like low-budget fan films that someone like Daniel Tosh would've have a field day with (you know, back when he was relevant). While there might be some narrative explanation - he was still not fully recovered and not back to his old self - the quality of the action in the finale, particularly with the characters' movement and the boring camerawork, did not make nearly enough of a leap to make me feel like I was watching Fett in "Super Saiyan" mode. Though there were of cool things to behold, Temuera Morrison just came off as too old for the role.
That's a shame, because the rest of Fett's story was awesome. Long-time fans always wanted to see a live-action take on Fett's escape from the Sarlacc Pit after Han Solo knocked him in during the Tatooine scene in Return of the Jedi. It needed to be an escape worthy of legends, and boy was it ever.
What I thought was cool to see was what happened after that. Fett befriending the Tusken Raiders was a great idea that made sense while shedding more light on the previously one-dimensional Raiders. Watching him train with them and go through their cultural traditions was incredibly satisfying.
While Morrison didn't exactly thrill, plenty of other action scenes did The heist episode was action done well. The rest of the finale's action was good despite the town in which they fought feeling a bit empty, thus lowering the feel of the stakes. Watching Boba ride the Rancor made it all worth it, though.
But then came the odd twist to the season. Mando quite literally steals the show for a couple of episodes, including the absolutely fascinating visit to see Luke and Ahsoka working together. That idea felt like pure fan service, but I couldn't care less. Listening to them interact and exchange stories and watching them train Grogu gave me vibes of Empire Strikes Back, which can only be a good thing.
As if that wasn't enough, we later got the live-action debut of Cad Bane, a fan-favorite character (myself included) from The Clone Wars. I highly doubt he'll stay dead after the gripping exchange between him and Fett.
While the writers absolutely trolled us with the X-Wing flying in to save the day with only Grogu aboard, the tie-in to bring Grogu and Mando back together again was a sweet moment. It'll serve as a nice transition into Season 3 of The Mandalorian this coming February.
People need to remember that Book of Boba Fett is a spin-off. It wasn't supposed to be a brand new drama series that might go on for years and years; rather, this was a nice supplemental story that answsered the question of how the heck Fett is still alive and what Luke is up to after his epic moment in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. The show definitely had some pretty visible warts, including an over-reliance on flashback scenes in the bacta tank, but it was a fun side story.