'The Book of Boba Fett' Episode 2: "The Tribes of Tattooine" Recap & Review
The second chapter contains everything the previous chapter lacked and serves to truly kick off this new series with a bang
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
This feels like the episode that the legions of Fett-heads had been waiting for. The reception for the last episode was mixed to say the least with headlines describing Boba Fett as “back and better than ever” to “slow and unremarkable.” The reception for Episode 2 is poised to be a far more universal in its appeal. The stakes were raised with the introduction of some new foes as well as the Live-Action introduction of a very dangerous fan-favorite bounty hunter from the extended Star Wars universe and the episode was capped off with an exciting assault that would make the Lone Ranger jealous. The trope of showing past and present narratives simultaneously was also used far more effectively this time around as the two narratives feel more balanced in terms of providing a cohesive single episode arc. Mainly because the bulk of the episode focused on the events of the past. With Disney+ releasing episodes 1 and 2 of certain series together its curious as to why The Book of Boba Fett was not one of these series as episode 1 would have benefitted from this release schedule far more in the end.
The Episode begins with Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) leading the captured would-be assassin to the feet of Mos Espa’s new Daimyo Boba Fett (Temura Morrison). After a few failed interrogation tactics, they drop the assassin into the Rancor pit and out of terror he claims that it was the Mayor of Mos Espa who sent him. Without a second’s hesitation, the group set out to confront the Mayor. They barge into his chambers against the wishes of his emissary (David Pasquesi). The Mayor of Mos Espa, Mok Shaiz (Robert Rodriguez) denies his involvement in the assassination plot and points Boba in the direction of Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals) and her cantina for answers. Upon arrival, it is obvious that Garsa is nervous and then she explains why. The Hutt twins are staking claim to their late cousin Jabba’s territory, as if by command, the Twins are carried into the city, and are flanked by Black Krrsantan, the most notorious Wookie bounty hunter in the galaxy. Tensions ride high but ultimately, the Twins decide to finish the fight at a later date. After the tense stand-off, Boba retires to the Bacta tank where once again he is haunted by dreams of the past. After saving the young Tusken, he is accepted by the Raiders and is being trained in their fighting techniques. The lesson is interrupted by an impending threat in the distance. The Raiders scramble to take defensive positions. Boba watches as a speeder train gets closer and closer, until it opens fire on the Tusken Raiders. They fire back but their weapons are useless against it. After surveying the devastation and honoring those killed in the attack, Boba Fett spies a group of speeder bikes headed to a nearby Cantina. Boba tells the chief that he personally will take down the train and heads out into the night. With fierce intensity, Boba dispatches with the speeder gang and steals the speeders for his own. He takes them back to the tribe and presents them as the key to taking down the speeder Train. They prepare and learn how to drive the speeders so that the next time the train comes through, they will be ready. The time has come, the group of raiders led by Boba speed off. The assault is fierce and dangerous, with several Raiders losing their life in the process, but eventually Boba boards the train and makes his way to the lead car. Boba blows the engine and the train skids to a halt. Afterwards, Boba shows mercy to the train’s crew and lets them go as the Raiders claim all the treasures aboard. Upon returning, the Tuskens prepare a ceremony to truly welcome Boba to the clan. In a ritual, a hallucinogenic lizard crawls up Boba’s nose and causes him to see images of the past that haunts him. Boba sees his father Jango and the Sarlacc Pit and his struggle to break free from his past manifests as a tree engulfing him. After the visions, Boba wonders in from the desert a changed man and the lizard crawls back out of his nose. Boba has brought with him a branch from the tree he struggled with, and the chief decides that it is time to make him one of them. They ceremoniously wrap him in the traditional black Tusken robes, and he is taken into the desert to create his own Tusken Staff. Under the watchful eyes of the raiders, Boba methodically shaves, shapes, and smooths the branch until it is his own. After completing his staff, Boba and the group dance around the fire in ritualistic fashion, completing Boba’s assimilation into the tribe.
A train heist, threating Hutts, a dangerous Wookie, a hallucinogenic nose lizard… this episode had it all! After the slow burn of episode 1, the latest entry jumps straight into the danger by introducing the antagonists of the series, the Hutt Twins. We do meet Mayor Mok Shaiz briefly and he has his own sinister vibe to him, but the real threat came in the form of Jaba’s cousins. Like Jabba, the Twins are big and gross and an ominous threat to Boba’s claim to the city. They immediately flex their slug like muscles with the reveal of Black Krrsantan. This Wookie has a long and storied history in the Star Wars universe beginning in the pages of the 2015 comic series Darth Vader published by Marvel. Boba himself is no stranger to the lethality of the Wookie, having previously met him in the Bounty Hunters comic series. Now that the antagonists have been revealed it seems Boba will have his hands full in the very near future. The main focus of this episode was to answer a question lingering from Boba’s re-appearance in The Mandalorian; just exactly how did he come into possession of his Tusken raider gear? The answer: he earned it. Boba’s relationship with the Raider has become the more interesting of the two narratives with Boba showing a more human side to his new friends. The train sequence is exciting, and action packed, exactly what the audience has become accustomed to, but the deep dive into the rituals of the Raiders feels like a fresh and new take on the group. Long are they passed image of the savage aggressors they were introduced as in the early movies. Boba’s vision quest in the desert provided a nice look into what motivates and haunts Boba. He sees his own actions and past as a way to connect to and please his father whom he lost at such a young age. In fact, we see more range of emotion from Temura Morrison than we have previously which serves to finally humanize the infamous bounty hunter.
“The Tribes of Tattooine” is far and away an improvement on episode 1. Here we not only see the massive threat to Boba’s claim on the desert planet, but we are also able truly see what makes Boba tick. The episode is well balanced between action and character development which hopefully continues deep into the series. Boba Fett already has a legion of followers stemmed from four lines and about six and a half minutes of screen time in the original trilogy. Giving him an entire series could cement him as one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars universe as well as earn him a new legion of ravenous fans.