I was not expecting this series to be as controversial as it has been. I’ll admit that the series hasn’t been exactly what I expected it to be, but the parts of it I do like, I really like. Which is less of the overall run of this episode than maybe I would have liked.
So after this episode game out, there was a lot of criticism aimed towards the series, for one sequence in particular. Which I’ll get to in a minute. Personally though, I agree that this might the weakest of the series so far. Watching the first couple of episodes, I’ve felt much more engaged by the events of the past than those of the present.
Seeing Boba change because of his contact with the Tuskens and how that has altered his perspective on his place in the galaxy has been cool. Everything happening in the present, with the Hutts and the cyborgs and the, frankly uninteresting, day today works of a boss have really failed to grab my attention by comparison.
The events of the present in this episode feel transitional, just establishing Boba slowly building his collection of followers. Showing us the cyborg kids called Mods (I get it), him fighting the Wookiee Krrsantan and then showing him mercy ending with the Hutts gifting Boba a new Rancor and basically announcing that they were a red herring all along.
Ending with a Speeder chase through the streets of Mos Espa that reveal the real villains of the series; the Pykes. Scanning through this episode again as I gather images for it, it occurs to me. The Mods seem like a table top RPG group inserted into a live action series. Seeing as how super specific and out of place they feel compared to everything else. But I’m about to get into that in more detail now.
Now as cool as Krrsantan is, and as cool as the idea of Boba getting a Rancor is, and as cool as the idea of street racing cyborgs are, it all feels trite to me. It’s stuff we’ve seen before. For the most part, and as a result I end this episode feeling impatient and wanting to get into something new.
Ironically, the one totally new thing we get from this episode is the thing that most people online seem to have rejected wholly. The Cyborg street gang. Now, in theory, the idea of Fett requiting a bunch of street delinquents to his cause because otherwise they were just being a nuisance is a great idea.
What people don’t like the very unique and admittedly out of tone visual approach to these kids. Their mix of Overt cyberpunk and with 50s greaser makes them stuck out like a sore thumb not just on Tattooine, but in the Star Wars style in general. Let’s be real, cyborgs are nothing new in star Wars. I mean, both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were one to varying degrees.
It’s just that we’re not used to seeing them made up in such a way that evokes the Cyberpunk genre so powerfully. I’ll be honest, from a personal standpoint, these kids didn’t bother me, they’re something different in the lore, and of course there would be people in a world like this who chose to mod their own bodies.
I think the thing that rubs people the wrong way with them is that they 1) don’t fit in with the aesthetic of Tattooine, let alone the 70s esque inspired tone of the original trilogy that this series evokes in every other regard. And 2) they have brightly coloured speeder bikes that don’t look like they’d last five minutes in a gruelling twin sun of a desert planet.
Those are the main two criticisms I’ve seen. Honestly, their looks seems to feel more inspired by the look of the prequel trilogy. Plus, if the new continuity ever decides to bring back Nar Shadda back into the mainline continuity, these characters would fit in on that planet as I know it perfectly.
I think these characters in themselves aren’t the issue. Personally, I feel like the issue is that this series has felt a little directionless since it got started. While Boba Fett has his goal now, how he has gone about pursuing it has been… less than dynamic
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 