I can't understand people who describe the starter episode as "too slow". I don't know what the mainstream audience expects nowadays but I've always enjoyed series that focus on actual story-telling. I really liked the style with the flashbacks and my only point of criticism would be that the episode could have rather been a full hour long. I'd love even a full episode only showing how Boba lives with the Tusken and learns about their culture, how to communicate with them and so on!
Totally agree! The whole point of showing him in the bacta tank is to give a back story on how he got from where he was left off in ROTJ (in the Sarlac pit) to where he reentered the stage in Mandalorian.
I loved the dreams/flashbacks, those were quite cool, but I agree that in the fight scene both Boba and Fennec seemed pretty, well, helpless. When the camera was focused on Boba during some of the shots, I would look at Fennec in the background just kinda rag-dolling after being stabbed over and over.
All in all, I like the way Boba is trying to create his image, that he by himself is a dangerous yet honest man, unlike Jabba whose power and influence were dangerous, but not literally Jabba himself. Excited to see where it goes (with hopefully better fights at least from Fennec)
He sleeps in bacta tank at the very beginning, and interrupted by fennec to see some locals, so I assume he's not fully fit at the time.
Not bad. Not that good. It lacks a pilot episode that has to sell the series for the final funding (and no, Mando eps don't count as a pilot).
I like how it shows that present Boba still is disconnected from social structures and interactions. He wasn't really aware of them as a BH and isn't as a crime lord. He tries to be like a fresh, new lord making an impressions and doing things his own, unique way. Oblivious of "how it works". I'm curious how they are going to develop his arc.
It has that Hunter and Omega feel to it, which I hope they don't milk too much in this series.
It misses that sw universe feel to it, except for the Jango - Boba connect and the trandoshan paying tribute, which were cool moments. More of those to come, I hope.
I miss the old tusken raiders, who just wanted to use podracers for shooting practice, walk in a single file and ambush any blue eyed teenager they could find, rather than having them be some kind of honorable nomads who are simply misunderstood.
This episode was for people not paying attention to other SW content. Most of it wasn't needed, and while it makes some sense that there would be little dialog while escaping the Sarlacc pit or when the Jawas looted him or when he's tied to a rock ... dialog is the quickest and most effective way to catch people up to the realities of the world you are building and the characterization of the people involved.
It was only "slow" in the sense that there wasn't enough dialog, not that there wasn't enough action, but unfortunately Boba has been written as a pretty laconic character from the first, and so I see it as unfortunately unlikely for this lack-of-dialog flaw to be fixed.
With poor fight scenes and little dialog, the show could be a huge disappointment. On the other hand, if the flashbacks were something that they finished up in Ep1 (and not recurring nightmares we'll have to watch every time Boba takes a Bacta break) it might get substantially better.
I acknowledge that not everyone watches all the SW shows, and that they might feel the need for an "intro" episode for the folks who aren't already up to speed. That said, I'm expecting things to change rapidly: this is only a 6-episode series. If things haven't improved by ep3, I doubt I will watch the end.
Him escaping sarlaac, getting his armor robbed, all those things is fine
Watching him be a tusken prisoner for 20 minutes is just boring, especially since his escape ended him back to the tuskens, it just felt like he made zero progress and went from point A to point A again
He tried escaping at night, failed, had a chance to escape in the morning but chose to go back
It just feels like they are just padding the flashbacks because they aren't sure what to do
I'm sure the finale of the flashback will have a big payoff and they are probably saving that for the last episode, but the middle parts they haven't figured out yet and are winging it along
The lack of dialog isn't an issue for me
I don't mind show and not tell approach
I think you misunderstand what "show don't tell" actually means. It's about avoiding exposition, not avoiding dialog. If you open a show with two people walking down the street and one yells, "You cheating floozy!" at the other, then the other yells back at the first, "You insufferable know it all!" then you've established quite a lot about those characters immediately without needing any exposition at all. Smart dialog does that.
Just by showing Boba chained up we know he's going to want to escape, but why should he try? Does he have friends in the area? GPS built into his suit shows that there's a city near by? Is this a particularly nasty group of Tuskens who are likely to eat him if he stays there too long?
We need answers to these kinds of things because running into the desert alone is a great way to die of exposure (if you don't get killed by the wildlife). Why does Boba think that he has a better chance running around the desert with no water reserves than by sticking with people who know how to live in the desert?
Dialog could have established all this quite quickly, but we get nothing. Sure they're "show"ing us something about Boba, but what? Are his escape attempts wise? Foolish? Are we supposed to learn that he still has some working gadgets on his person because he wouldn't be doing this otherwise?
We can see what Boba is doing, but we don't learn anything about Boba's character because we don't know enough about the context and motivations. Maybe his brains are addled from the Sarlacc pit, and if he just waited a few days he'd be sold into slavery as a gladiator, where he could easily get hold of weapons and either earn or fight for his freedom.
They aren't actually showing us anything about Boba's character, because without more information everything is open to far too much interpretation. Wise or foolish, sick or healthy, resourceful or impatient, we just don't know what this episode showed us.
Some of this could have been answered by yet other things besides dialog (maybe a shot of a cybernetic implant protruding through the skin, Boba fiddling with it, the a shot of an enhanced reality view of what's around him, with translucent text popping up), but I'm saying that adding dialog fixes it without adding scenes or run time. The dialog, even if it's just Boba talking to himself, can happen simultaneously with what's already on the screen. Those other things would have to be additional shots.
Avoiding exposition is fine, but we have to have some way of figuring out evaluating the character, of getting to know the character. We don't have that yet, and that's largely the fault of lack of dialog.
Some people can't hear any criticism of their hobby. Running into the desert unprepared and with no water is deeply, deeply unintelligent (since the more obvious word is banned). If I "just accepted" what I was shown, then right now the show is telling me that Boba is two scoops short of a double scoop of intelligence.
The show runners at SW have a history of turning out good things, so I'm giving it a couple more episodes, but the idea that if you don't like something that means you have to watch it until the end is weird and wrong. Life is short. If you don't enjoy something, spend your time on something you do enjoy instead.
When I saw that Robert Rodriguez was directing the show, I expected a gritty, explosive filled action show. What I got was 10 minutes of The Office parkour episode and action on the level of Harrison Ford in Crystal Skull. Some serious flaws in the show as well.
1.The Gam guards were literally 3 feet behind Boba when the parkour pals attacked, and yet disappeared for several minutes.
2. Bob has a jet pack on and an arsenal of weapons, but can’t get out of a ring of shields and stun sticks.
3. FENEC GOES TO TOWN WITH ZERO WEAPONS! Like, ****? When have we ever seen her without a gun? It’s literally her thing.
4. Apparently the only way to kill large creatures on Tattoine is by strangling with a chain
I was expecting something cool. This wasn’t it. Hopefully it gets better, because right now I’m way more impressed with the show about the Avenger whose name no one can remember. Straight Arrow.. or something.
Some people can't hear any criticism of their hobby. Running into the desert unprepared and with no water is deeply, deeply unintelligent (since the more obvious word is banned). If I "just accepted" what I was shown, then right now the show is telling me that Boba is two scoops short of a double scoop of intelligence.
The show runners at SW have a history of turning out good things, so I'm giving it a couple more episodes, but the idea that if you don't like something that means you have to watch it until the end is weird and wrong. Life is short. If you don't enjoy something, spend your time on something you do enjoy instead.
So you would rather Boba just accept he is a prisoner and accept his fate? Sounds like a good show.
His escape sets up his dual with the Tusken Warrior. He gets beat and he goes back to being a prisoner. Later he is going to try and escape to anywhere else besides where he is and he kills the monster and saves the chiefs son. He goes back to the camp and is now respected as a warrior.
See how it works? It is building something. That is the great thing about shows, you have episodes that build on each other until the finale.
People were criticizing The Mandalorian season 1 because it seemed all over the place but it all came together for the season finale. Just let this show cook for a bit and then we can all tear it apart if it makes zero sense.
Why wasn't Cobb Vanth shards a reward for the Krayt Dragon raid? Why wasn't Endor Gear Luke shards a reward for the Speeder Bike raid?
When did Boba Fett stop being a bad guy? He was villian throughout the entire history of Star Wars. He helped hunt down all the jedi, books, magazines and cartoons have always depicted him this way. But of course the mouse has decided to change it up.
Also, how come he didn't need a bacta tank in Mando?
When did Boba Fett stop being a bad guy? He was villian throughout the entire history of Star Wars. He helped hunt down all the jedi, books, magazines and cartoons have always depicted him this way. But of course the mouse has decided to change it up.
Also, how come he didn't need a bacta tank in Mando?
Boba is such a pushover lmao
Imagine wanting to rule with respect and people show up on your front door asking you to pay tribute to them and your response is "ty for asking but not today"
When did Boba Fett stop being a bad guy? He was villian throughout the entire history of Star Wars. He helped hunt down all the jedi, books, magazines and cartoons have always depicted him this way. But of course the mouse has decided to change it up.
Also, how come he didn't need a bacta tank in Mando?
Boba is such a pushover lmao
Imagine wanting to rule with respect and people show up on your front door asking you to pay tribute to them and your response is "ty for asking but not today"
Dude has zero respect
Yeah, not a great first episode at all. Looking for more Jon Favreau. Maybe episode 2.
Minuses: bad cgi. Less is more if you can’t make it look great. Lol parkour fight chase scene. I wanted more to show why the piggies were loyal to him other than a quick “you get to live” scene.
Pluses: basically everything else
Tuskans having a code is great. Man’s got to have a code.
Some people can't hear any criticism of their hobby. Running into the desert unprepared and with no water is deeply, deeply unintelligent (since the more obvious word is banned). If I "just accepted" what I was shown, then right now the show is telling me that Boba is two scoops short of a double scoop of intelligence.
The show runners at SW have a history of turning out good things, so I'm giving it a couple more episodes, but the idea that if you don't like something that means you have to watch it until the end is weird and wrong. Life is short. If you don't enjoy something, spend your time on something you do enjoy instead.
So you would rather Boba just accept he is a prisoner and accept his fate? Sounds like a good show.
His escape sets up his dual with the Tusken Warrior. He gets beat and he goes back to being a prisoner. Later he is going to try and escape to anywhere else besides where he is and he kills the monster and saves the chiefs son. He goes back to the camp and is now respected as a warrior.
See how it works? It is building something. That is the great thing about shows, you have episodes that build on each other until the finale.
People were criticizing The Mandalorian season 1 because it seemed all over the place but it all came together for the season finale. Just let this show cook for a bit and then we can all tear it apart if it makes zero sense.
I really don't recall the last para. I do think Mando may have stolen Boba's sandwiches though...he was the cool dude in the Mando armour from the get go and may have supplanted Boba in that role to an extent. This episode presented Boba as a bit of a pillock so that hasn't helped there. First impressions are important and there have been plenty of missteps and important characters besmirched on the way (grumpy, green-milk-drinking Luke) and so I really hope this isn't another example.
Replies
Totally agree! The whole point of showing him in the bacta tank is to give a back story on how he got from where he was left off in ROTJ (in the Sarlac pit) to where he reentered the stage in Mandalorian.
He sleeps in bacta tank at the very beginning, and interrupted by fennec to see some locals, so I assume he's not fully fit at the time.
I like how it shows that present Boba still is disconnected from social structures and interactions. He wasn't really aware of them as a BH and isn't as a crime lord. He tries to be like a fresh, new lord making an impressions and doing things his own, unique way. Oblivious of "how it works". I'm curious how they are going to develop his arc.
It has that Hunter and Omega feel to it, which I hope they don't milk too much in this series.
It misses that sw universe feel to it, except for the Jango - Boba connect and the trandoshan paying tribute, which were cool moments. More of those to come, I hope.
i didn't get that impression at all
It was only "slow" in the sense that there wasn't enough dialog, not that there wasn't enough action, but unfortunately Boba has been written as a pretty laconic character from the first, and so I see it as unfortunately unlikely for this lack-of-dialog flaw to be fixed.
With poor fight scenes and little dialog, the show could be a huge disappointment. On the other hand, if the flashbacks were something that they finished up in Ep1 (and not recurring nightmares we'll have to watch every time Boba takes a Bacta break) it might get substantially better.
I acknowledge that not everyone watches all the SW shows, and that they might feel the need for an "intro" episode for the folks who aren't already up to speed. That said, I'm expecting things to change rapidly: this is only a 6-episode series. If things haven't improved by ep3, I doubt I will watch the end.
I don't mind show and not tell approach
Him escaping sarlaac, getting his armor robbed, all those things is fine
Watching him be a tusken prisoner for 20 minutes is just boring, especially since his escape ended him back to the tuskens, it just felt like he made zero progress and went from point A to point A again
He tried escaping at night, failed, had a chance to escape in the morning but chose to go back
It just feels like they are just padding the flashbacks because they aren't sure what to do
I'm sure the finale of the flashback will have a big payoff and they are probably saving that for the last episode, but the middle parts they haven't figured out yet and are winging it along
At least that's how episode 1's flashback felt
I think you misunderstand what "show don't tell" actually means. It's about avoiding exposition, not avoiding dialog. If you open a show with two people walking down the street and one yells, "You cheating floozy!" at the other, then the other yells back at the first, "You insufferable know it all!" then you've established quite a lot about those characters immediately without needing any exposition at all. Smart dialog does that.
Just by showing Boba chained up we know he's going to want to escape, but why should he try? Does he have friends in the area? GPS built into his suit shows that there's a city near by? Is this a particularly nasty group of Tuskens who are likely to eat him if he stays there too long?
We need answers to these kinds of things because running into the desert alone is a great way to die of exposure (if you don't get killed by the wildlife). Why does Boba think that he has a better chance running around the desert with no water reserves than by sticking with people who know how to live in the desert?
Dialog could have established all this quite quickly, but we get nothing. Sure they're "show"ing us something about Boba, but what? Are his escape attempts wise? Foolish? Are we supposed to learn that he still has some working gadgets on his person because he wouldn't be doing this otherwise?
We can see what Boba is doing, but we don't learn anything about Boba's character because we don't know enough about the context and motivations. Maybe his brains are addled from the Sarlacc pit, and if he just waited a few days he'd be sold into slavery as a gladiator, where he could easily get hold of weapons and either earn or fight for his freedom.
They aren't actually showing us anything about Boba's character, because without more information everything is open to far too much interpretation. Wise or foolish, sick or healthy, resourceful or impatient, we just don't know what this episode showed us.
Some of this could have been answered by yet other things besides dialog (maybe a shot of a cybernetic implant protruding through the skin, Boba fiddling with it, the a shot of an enhanced reality view of what's around him, with translucent text popping up), but I'm saying that adding dialog fixes it without adding scenes or run time. The dialog, even if it's just Boba talking to himself, can happen simultaneously with what's already on the screen. Those other things would have to be additional shots.
Avoiding exposition is fine, but we have to have some way of figuring out evaluating the character, of getting to know the character. We don't have that yet, and that's largely the fault of lack of dialog.
Some people can't hear any criticism of their hobby. Running into the desert unprepared and with no water is deeply, deeply unintelligent (since the more obvious word is banned). If I "just accepted" what I was shown, then right now the show is telling me that Boba is two scoops short of a double scoop of intelligence.
The show runners at SW have a history of turning out good things, so I'm giving it a couple more episodes, but the idea that if you don't like something that means you have to watch it until the end is weird and wrong. Life is short. If you don't enjoy something, spend your time on something you do enjoy instead.
1.The Gam guards were literally 3 feet behind Boba when the parkour pals attacked, and yet disappeared for several minutes.
2. Bob has a jet pack on and an arsenal of weapons, but can’t get out of a ring of shields and stun sticks.
3. FENEC GOES TO TOWN WITH ZERO WEAPONS! Like, ****? When have we ever seen her without a gun? It’s literally her thing.
4. Apparently the only way to kill large creatures on Tattoine is by strangling with a chain
I was expecting something cool. This wasn’t it. Hopefully it gets better, because right now I’m way more impressed with the show about the Avenger whose name no one can remember. Straight Arrow.. or something.
So you would rather Boba just accept he is a prisoner and accept his fate? Sounds like a good show.
His escape sets up his dual with the Tusken Warrior. He gets beat and he goes back to being a prisoner. Later he is going to try and escape to anywhere else besides where he is and he kills the monster and saves the chiefs son. He goes back to the camp and is now respected as a warrior.
See how it works? It is building something. That is the great thing about shows, you have episodes that build on each other until the finale.
People were criticizing The Mandalorian season 1 because it seemed all over the place but it all came together for the season finale. Just let this show cook for a bit and then we can all tear it apart if it makes zero sense.
Also, how come he didn't need a bacta tank in Mando?
Imagine wanting to rule with respect and people show up on your front door asking you to pay tribute to them and your response is "ty for asking but not today"
Dude has zero respect
Yeah, not a great first episode at all. Looking for more Jon Favreau. Maybe episode 2.
Pluses: basically everything else
Tuskans having a code is great. Man’s got to have a code.
I really don't recall the last para. I do think Mando may have stolen Boba's sandwiches though...he was the cool dude in the Mando armour from the get go and may have supplanted Boba in that role to an extent. This episode presented Boba as a bit of a pillock so that hasn't helped there. First impressions are important and there have been plenty of missteps and important characters besmirched on the way (grumpy, green-milk-drinking Luke) and so I really hope this isn't another example.