I mentioned this earlier, but The Book of Boba Fett hasn't exactly thrilled me too much yet. The plot has been lackluster when it wasn't actively nonsensical, and the character of Boba Fett himself has been completely unrecognizable and leaves much to be desired. Shadows of the Empire writer Steve Perry has even weighed in mocking it on its technical merits (technical writing, that is; nobody is denying that the look of the show leaves anything to be desired) and calling it Blabba Fett.
Episodes 5 and 6 have been better, though. Of course... they've largely been better because Boba Fett barely appeared in either of them. Episode 5 was a lost episode of The Mandalorian, and Episode 6 was a freaking kitchen sink stew of every cameo that they could think of, most of them gratuitous. Even Darth Vader gets name-dropped. Not that it doesn't have some cool moments, but if this is one of the high points for the show, then the show isn't really all that good, is it?
Not sure what is behind the complete mangling of Fett's characterization. The show would have been considerably better were it a different character doing his Man Called Horse routine. The kinder, gentler crime lord stuff doesn't make any sense to me at all. Supporting characters, like that always grim-faced bar owner gal add very little. Fennec Shan gives good advice which Boba Fett always ignores. The mayor's obsequious lackey is at least occasionally entertaining, and is a somewhat believable character, although the acting is a little try-hard for my taste. Literally nobody else matters at all, until we get characters that we already know in the last two episodes.
I'm OK with the idea of transitioning Boba Fett from a villain to an anti-hero. Still; there's gotta have been a more seamless way to do it then him suddenly becoming a soft-headed retard who bears no resemblance to the character we've already known. And it's fair to say that we don't really know Boba Fett, because he had so little screen time or dialogue in the movies, and anything outside of the movies is suspect. But we knew enough to know that this Boba Fett is an imposter. And not even a very bright one at that.
Filoni's penchant for throwing in characters for nostalgic and gratuitous fan service is briefly exciting, but doesn't say anything good about the show's long term prospects. The fact that Din Djarin, or however he spells his name, is already a more interesting character in Boba Fett's show (as opposed to his own) is not a good sign either. Maybe part of it is the bait and switch, too—the Boba Fett teaser at the end of Mando's season 2 finale suggested a Space Godfather or Space Scarface. What we've got instead doesn't even rise to the level of a forgettable generic Western from the 50s. Again; not that forgettable generic Westerns are necessarily bad, but by definition, they aren't really very good either, or they wouldn't be forgettable and generic. And it's a totally different tone and vibe than what we were teased, which is arguably a much bigger problem than any discussion of their qualities.
Sigh. Star Wars, I'm really trying to make it work here, baby. I'm not giving up on you. I feel like you're giving up on us fans, though. I do admit that this Filoni and Favreau stuff is at least evidence of trying, but I wonder if it really is good enough.
UPDATE: I stayed up too late watching reaction videos to Cad Bane's appearance in the latest episode. While the fangirl squeeing from grown men should be kind of embarrassing, I have to admit that I found it kind of charming to watch after a while. (After all, it's not like I did that.) Anyway, the net effect of this is that I'm more happily inclined towards the latest episode right now after watching how people reacted to it, even though that's probably a sentiment that will wear off over time. There really is at least some element of social priming in terms of entertainment. This is similar to how big blockbuster movies are often more fun to watch with big crowd on opening night. It was charming to go see the newest Spider-man on opening night and have the crowd of fangirls screaming when Andrew Garfield and Toby MacGuire came on screen.
Of course, the real question is this: these are kind of tricks that play on your emotions for a short-term gain for the show or movie that does them. How exciting will it be to see Andrew Garfield and Toby MacGuire show up when you're watching the newest Spider-man a year or two from now on blu-ray that you bought, or some streaming service, long after the novelty of it has worn off? And what does that mean long term? Will these moments that are exciting now be seen as completely forgettable in the coming months, or will these movies and this episode still be fondly remembered after all?
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