The third episode of ‘Book of Boba Fett’ wants to break your heart
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This week’s 38-minute episode of The Book of Boba Fett was directed by showrunner Robert Rodriguez from a script by Jon Favreau. It features the return of fan-favorite Wookiee Black Krrsantan (makeup artist Carey Jones), fun appearances by Stephen Root and Danny Trejo and a colorful new gang of street punks led by Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets).
It’s a very Robert Rodriguez episode in most respects, with shades of Desperado and Alita: Battle Angel. I also believe it’ll disappoint a great many people. There are some lingering questions about which characters die and which, perhaps, manage to escape with their lives. But the flashback sequence leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Thankfully, there are still four episodes left. As good as the second episode was, we knew things would have to get worse for Boba before any kind of peaceful resolution. Maybe Favreau and Rodriguez are holding back some pleasant surprises. These are storytellers I’m quite fond of; I just think audiences are right to be frustrated by the amount of death and tragedy in the current media landscape.
Boba Fett will certainly get a hero’s ending. Am I foolish to hope for a happy one, too? Return of the Jedi was a masterclass in joyful final chapters—and its territory belongs to Boba now.
How can you watch ‘Boba Fett’?
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What happens in this episode of ‘Boba Fett’?
Chapter three opens with the droid 8D8 briefing Boba and Fennec on regional politics. As expected, Bib Fortuna never commanded the same power and respect that Jabba once had years earlier, and the resulting power vacuum was filled by three families: the Trandoshans, the Aqualish, and the Klatooinians. Each faction presides over a given district of Mos Espa, with Mayor Mok Shaiz serving as the city’s corrupt but relatively powerless center of gravity.
Lortha Peel, a water-monger played by Stephen Root, comes to Fett with a petition. A gang of youths with a flair for body modification has been stealing from his water supply. If Boba can rid him of the problem, Peel promises to double his tribute payments.
At night, Boba and his crew track down the young street gang to confront them. What he finds is a small group of young people without jobs, without purpose, who make some convincing points about Peel’s price gouging. “Go back to your palace,” says the leader, played by Sophie Thatcher. Admiring their spirit, Boba offers them all work. Peel is outraged, but Fett calls him out for overcharging; the water-monger can either cut his prices or get out of Mos Espa.
Later, asleep in his bacta pod, Boba dreams of watching his father depart from Kamino, as he has on so many nights. The reflection of his young face turns to the sleeping visage of his present-day self when a bolt of lightning cracks the sky.
In another flashback, Boba bids farewell to his new Tusken family at their camp and rides away astride a large bantha. He seeks out the Pyke Syndicate in Mos Eisley, to collect protection money on behalf of the tribe, but they refuse him; they’ve already paid their credits to the Kintan Striders, the speeder-bike gang Boba roughed up in episode two.
Empty-handed, Fett rides back to the Tusken camp to find the skies filled with dark smoke. Many of his tribe have been killed, along with their banthas, their tents and belongings scattered and burning. Somber choral music underscores the weight of the moment.
We glimpse several bodies, including that of the Tusken chief (Xavier Jimenez). But we don’t see the female Tusken warrior (Joanna Bennett) or the child (Wesley Kimmel) we’ve come to love so dearly. When Fennec Shand was left for dead in The Mandalorian season one, I simply refused to believe she was dead; I’m choosing to take that approach here. But the chief’s gone, along with many of his people.
Before we can begin to process this, Fett is woken from his nightmares by the large, furry paws of Black Krrsantan, the Wookiee bounty hunter first introduced in Marvel’s 2015 comic Darth Vader #1. Krrsantan nearly strangles Boba to death, but the young street gang Fett hired comes to his aid, and the whole crew manages to lock the Wookiee away in the throne room’s rancor pit.
Shortly afterward, the Twins arrive at the palace bearing a gift: a new rancor for their late cousin’s dungeon. They apologize for sending Krrsantan, and explain that they’re headed off-planet. The rancor’s handler is played by Danny Trejo—phenomenal casting.
With the Hutts out of the picture, Fett frees Krrsantan. A former bounty hunter himself, he understands the business. “No hard feelings,” he says.
Down in the dungeon, the rancor keeper tells Boba that rancor are “emotionally complex creatures.” The beast is depressed; after all, it’s been blindfolded since birth. They’re known to imprint on the first human they see and form powerful bonds with their “owners.” Fett is the first thing this one sees when its blinders come off. “Easy, boy,” says Boba, scratching the creature’s face. He’s eager to feed his new pet.
Boba, Fennec, and their crew head for the mayor’s office, where Shaiz’s majordomo locks the door and slips out the back, fleeing in a speeder.
In a scene right out of Back to the Future, Fett’s gang of young bikers chases the majordomo all through the streets. The mayor’s cowardly lieutenant crashes his speeder into a pile of fruit, and Fett catches up to him with a burst of his jetpack.
The mayor has sold Mos Espa to the Pykes, the Twi’lek says. War is inevitable.
Watch ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ on Disney+
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This article originally appeared on Reviewed: Book of Boba Fett episode 3 recap: ‘The Streets of Mos Espa’
