Every time an episode of The Book of Boba Fett lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on the third episode – Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Eric Onkenhout
The one with the B’omarr monk. I didn’t think the B’omarr looked choppy. Some were saying the one from the trailer looked choppy. Not sure if this is the same one, but I didn’t believe either looked choppy. I mean, it’s a droid with eight legs walking on rocky terrain, give it a break!
I like the exposition at the beginning that explains the state of Tatooine since Jabba’s death. There’s been a lot of speculation about what happened, but now we finally have some facts. And the speculation mainly was correct in addition to Bib Fortuna knowing he didn’t have Jabba’s influence. So he forged an alliance with the Trandoshans, Aqualish, and Klatoonians, who each took a different section of Mos Espa. Sort of like how Berlin was divided up between the British, Americans, and Soviets after WWII. And it sounds like Bib was working for the mayor. This is interesting since Fett said the mayor is in office as long as Fett says so, but Fett knows the mayor is a puppet for the Hutts.
In comes Lortha Peel, a water-monger from the Worker’s District. The name sounded familiar. I thought maybe he came from the 1980s Star Wars Marvel comics, but that turned out to be not the case, this is his first appearance. He complains about a gang of street urchins stealing his water, so Boba agrees to look into it. So we learn that Tatooine was covered entirely by water, and now obviously, it’s all desert. Sounds a lot like Mars, only much hotter. When Peel mentioned the gangs were half-human/half-machine, I thought Valance? But nope.
So Fett patrols the streets of Mos Espa at night with Fennec and his two Gamorreans when they come upon the street gang in question. Now we know Sophie Thatcher is playing Drash, one of the bikers. They know who Fett is, but they don’t seem to care. The gang looked like something out of Back to the Future II. The gang tells Fett that Peel is price gouging the water, so they have to steal it because they can’t afford the cost. This is the kind of stuff that happens when there’s no one around like Jabba to clamp. Jabba would just take his cut of the price anyway, so Fett ends up giving the gang a job.
During one of Fett’s dreams, he visits the Pyke leader, who tells Fett they are already paying the Niktos protection money and cannot pay the Tuskens. Fett heads back to the Tusken camp only to discover that it’s been attacked without any survivors. The tents are all burned. Everything is gone. The music in this scene was so sad. I really felt terrible for Boba in this scene. Tem really sold it. I never knew I could feel bad for the Tuskens, but that’s what The Book of Boba Fett is so good at, taking the little we knew and totally giving us a new perspective.
In the midst of one of Fett’s dreams, he’s pulled from his bacta tank by Black Krrsantan. How Black Krrsantan gained entry to the palace is unknown, but that is something Fett will have to look into to prevent another assassination attempt. Krrsantan is tossing Fett around, the two Gamorreans try to contain the Wookiee to no avail. I’ve always wanted to see a Gamorrean and a Wookiee fight, so that was cool. Eventually, Fennec traps Krrsantan in the rancor pit. Shortly after, the Hutt twins arrive and admit to sending Krrsantan after Fett. They gift a rancor pup to Fett. So cool seeing Danny Trejo as the rancor keeper.
The Hutts decide to leave Tatooine and return to Nal Hutta, leaving everything to Mok Shaiz and the Pykes. So why send Krrsantan to kill Fett? Seems like they had a change of heart. Very inconsistent events. Something doesn’t add up. Krrsantan is set free, and Fett takes in the rancor and has a connection with his new pet. Seeing a rancor act docile was also very cool. They’re not all bloodthirsty killers. Fett mentioned he wanted to ride one like the Witches of Dathomir, which made me think of the 1994 novel Courtship of Princess Leia.
Later, those witches became the nightsisters of Dathomir. Fett pays another visit to the mayor, but the mayor’s majordomo escapes on a landspeeder. Not sure where the mayor went. The new biker gang chases after the mayor through the streets of Mos Espa. This scene has been getting some flack on social media for its slowness. Yes, it looked a little off to me, too, but I owe that to the fact that the chase happens on a busy street with pedestrians everywhere. I also believe this is the first ground-level chase scene in live-action Star Wars (not including the speeder bike chase in Return of the Jedi because crashing into a tree is an entirely different scenario), and I’m sure it had to be filmed a certain way. Chase scenes in Attack of the Clones happened in the air so crashing into another speeder is preferable to running down pedestrians. And ground-level chases in Rebels or The Clone Wars are much more forgiving. Anyway, the major domo is caught and reveals that Mok Shaiz is working with the Pykes. Then we see a crowd of Pykes exiting a ship in a spaceport. Fin.
The question I had coming away from this episode was, why does Fett want to be a crime lord? And why does he care about Tatooine or Mos Espa specifically? Yes, he spent some time on Tatooine in the past, but none were good memories. Hopefully, we’ll find out.
The Streets of Mos Espa was a decent episode with lots of cool stuff, but that chase scene could’ve been better. Three episodes down with four to go. I still get the feeling something really relevant is to come. There’s something still not right with the mayor, the Pykes, and the Hutts all sort of passing the buck. Something to look forward to in the coming episodes.
Clair Henry
The Book Of Boba Fett keeps delivering to me what I want in a Star Wars show; Highs, lows, action and giggles.
The story arc via flashbacks is giving us an insight into Boba’s direction of leadership and what turned him from a cold calculating assassin to a leader trying to gain mutual respect from many parties.
The massacre of the Tuskens was not what I was expecting, but it was done so well. The youths on their retro speaker bikes added a splash of colour and a nod to George Lucas and his first hit film American Graffiti.
The relationship between Boba and Fennec is great. She’s more ruthless than he is, which is great and I think their chemistry works well and is believable.
I am thoroughly enjoying The Book of Boba Fett and I am making sure to log in early in the day to watch it. I think that’s a good sign of a great show, one that I want to see more of and am sad when it’s over. Bring on next Wednesday!
Richard Hutchinson
I enjoyed this episode, not as a stand alone but as the positioning of characters in the overall arc. It was right to be a shorter show and although some of it, such as the shiny brand spanking new Vespas which I’d have preferred to see those beaten up like the rest of Tatooine, didn’t feel like Star Wars there were lots of elements all moving together to take the story onward.
A solid episode although it doesn’t hold a candle to Chapter 2, The Tribes of Tatooine.
Johanna Nybelius
As tragic as it was to see the Tusken tribe murdered, and the scene with Boba and the funeral pyre was really beautiful, I am happy to leave the Tuskens behind and go forward instead of dwelling too much on backstory.
It’s obvious that Boba Fett have problems in navigating between the syndicates and other parties, and it will be interesting to see him find his way. The episode was also filled with a lot of nice, cute and funny fluff like droids from the prequels, space vespas and especially the rancor calf.
Overall a well-rounded episode and I am looking forward to see how the situation on Tatooine develops.
Mark Newbold
It would be very easy – all too easy, to steal a quote from a famous Sith lord – to simply copy exactly the style and template of The Mandalorian. That has brought new viewers to Disney Plus, activating a whole new era of storytelling for Lucasfilm and Star Wars with its sure-footed and confident no-nonsense delivery of story, music, action and character. To copy that would be an obvious tactic, but The Book of Boba Fett is clearly aiming in a different direction, remaining on one planet for its three episodes so far, dipping in and out of the past far more than The Mandalorian with its minimal flashbacks and laying down an entirely different story, all while maintaining that quality of visual its older sibling has delivered with three very different episodes.
That said, no one ever said it was going to be easy, and after a slow opening episode and a second that was universally well recieved, The Streets of Mos Espa gives us something different that appears to have split the fandom right down the middle, specifically regarding a swoop gang who almost accidentally find their way into the employ of the daimyo of Tatooine.
Aesthetics aside, they certainly do belong in the Star Wars galaxy. If these were seen riding high over the streets of Coruscant no one would bat an eyelid, but here on the dusty, sandy streets of Mos Espa their shiny chrome bikes look decidedly out of place, especially for a group of youngsters who can’t afford to buy water but who have mechanical enhancements and swish clothes. Indeed, I’d even be slightly annoyed…if I didn’t believe their presense and place in the story was going to be explained. Of course it is, and I look forward to learning more about them in future episodes.
Don't know why folks are grumbling, I really enjoyed The Streets Of Mos Vespa #TheBookOfBobaFett
— Mark Newbold (@Prefect_Timing) January 13, 2022
As for the main man, his situation doesn’t get any easier. He clearly is being shown zero respect by the locals or the Hutts (quite forcefully thanks to the thumping fists of Black Krrsantan) and Fennec continues to suggest harsher measures, and while we see more of his past with the death of the Tusken tribe and the duplicity of the Pykes, the story feels like it needs to take a big step up to something more substantial. This is Boba Fett we’re dealing with. At times it feels like the writers have bowed to the modern view of the character being one who did little to earn his stripes rather than the long-held view that he’s a legendary bounty hunter who earns respect just by being in the room. Right now it feels like he’s mopping up a spill on aisle four when a tsunami is on its way, and he’s ill-prepared for it.
All that being said, this is episode 3 of a 7 episode season, so we have a good three hours of content yet to come. Fett has survived far worse than this, and as he regains his mojo (which is what the guts of this series feels like it’s about) it will be interesting to see just how the season develops. A less satisfying episode than last week, but one with plenty to chew over and enjoy (especially if you’re a fan of the Back to the Future films).
Ross Hollebon
Everyone on Tatooine wants Boba Fett to go at a different pace and with ramped-up urgency on seemingly all accounts. He is constantly prodded by enemies, close advisors, and even merchants of Mos Espa, to send a message from the throne of the new Daimyo. Boba is doing it his way to set a true foundation instead of taking empty, showman steps to appease others. He soaks in and learns from each exchange, playing naive in many instances, but I don’t believe him to be out of his league. It’s best to lull opponents into a false sense of comfort and then strike. There will soon be a time where Boba addresses 8D8’s assertion that “everyone is waiting to see what kind of leader you are.”
In this episode, he reveals more about who he is as a leader. He shows toughness and maturity in taking a walloping from Black Krrsantan and not holding it against the gladiator-turned-bounty hunter. He shows attentiveness with Lortha Peel, the crooked water-monger. He shows understanding and nurturance with the shiny speeder “Vespa” gang (hello “Quadrophenia” mods!). And he shows he not only has more of a history with the Pykes on Tatooine, but also how to move on and pay respects to his fallen Tusken family. The only moment he appears to let down his guard is in a very light moment with his new rancor. Here’s hoping Danny Trejo’s rancor keeper is above board and not setting up the head of the house for a hard fall.
It was a fun episode packed full of easter eggs and a continued look into Boba’s soul. Yes, it had the slowest high-speed chase ever but doesn’t that get a pass because it ended with bushels of meilooruns trapping Mayor Mok Shaiz’s majordomo in his getaway speeder? I’m choosing to keep positive knowing this episode can quickly springboard into a sandy, dusty, hot space opera at any moment.
Matt Bell
Boba Fett has always been one of my favourite characters and after enjoying the first two episodes so much I have to admit I’ve been left with mixed feeling about episode 3. I’ve been finding the ‘flashback’ segments, set just after Return of the Jedi more intriguing than the story following on from the events of The Mandalorian, so I was disappointed to see these ‘flashback’ segments were minimal in this episode.
It was nice to get a bit more exposition at the beginning of the episode explaining the ‘balance of power’ situation in Mos Espa, with Bib Fortuna assuming Jabba’s mantel (presumably still running the operation for the Hutts?) with the districts of the town being divided among the crime families of the Trandoshans, Aqualish and Klatooinian. But then a line later on threw me off “If you don’t like it then move to Mos Eisley”. Surely Mos Eisley and all of Tatooine is now Boba’s territory, as it was Jabba’s, or was the power vacuum following Jabba’s death greater than we thought?
The “No one respects you” line from the water merchant also threw me. This is Boba Fett! Surely he’s been believed dead for the past 5 years but before that he was notoriously the best and most feared bounty hunter in all the galaxy and would have especially been known in Jabba’s territory. Now he’s seemingly back from the dead I would have thought he would be more feared than ever!
It was great to see Krrsantan in action. He has a great design and is definitely one of the better characters to come out of the modern Marvel Star Wars comics. Though I have to admit as an old school Expanded Universe fan I would have popped even more if they had used Snoova for this role instead. But the EU fan in me was extremely happy to hear the ‘Witches of Dathomir riding Rancor’s’ line that referenced ‘The Courtship of Princess Leia’ novel by the recently departed Dave Wolverton.
With Boba freeing Krrsantan when The Twins said to sell him back to the gladiators, it makes me wonder if we’ll see Krrsantan return to side with Boba, perhaps even a life debit which would make an interesting parallel to Han and Chewbacca.
It was also great to see more of the Pikes, who I’m very pleased to see looking more like Pikes then the ones we got in Solo.
My biggest criticism of this episode though was the youth street gang. They just didn’t look or feel like they belonged on Tatooine and nor did I buy them as being credible ‘muscle’ employed by Boba Fett. Their obvious design influence of the British Mods of the 1960’s was way too on the nose. Particularly with the bright clean colours and excessive mirrors of the speeder-mopeds. Which brings me on to the speeder chase itself, normally a highlight of any Star Wars story, but this one failed to follow Lucas’s cardinal rule of “faster, more intense!”. I feel I would have been more accepting of this street gang if they’d been on a different planet such as Coruscant, but they just didn’t suit the Tatooine aesthetic at all in my opinion.
Now Danny Trejo’s Rancor keeper however did suit the Tatooine aesthetic down to a tee, instantly looking and feeling like he belong in this desert underworld environment and was a most welcome addition to the cast.
A mixed bag of an episode for me after the high of the first two, but looking forward to seeing more next week.
Daniel Lo
Danny Trejo. That’s it. That’s the Tweet.
Sorry, wrong platform. Also, Stephen Root. He has done quite the 180 from setting the building on fire to hoarding water. That’s not all, of course. His character crucially provided insight on how Mos Espa was divided under Bib Fortuna’s weak rule, and reminded us that Tatooine once had a lot in common with Kamino. Very cool.
Lortha Peel also teased what he described as a “deadly” street gang who are “half man, half machine”. And with that, I’m getting my biggest gripe of the episode out of the way: The gang completely fell short of Vader’s description. Instead, we got a handful of well dressed kids with high tech prosthetics who wouldn’t look terribly out of place on the upper-ish levels of Coruscant. They’ve also got a matching fleet of bright, candy-colored speeder bikes (Wookieepedia’s term, so I’m going with it for now) that somehow never get dirty. In short, they neither looked unemployed nor the type to be stealing out of desperation or survival. Yet, they immediately jumped on Boba Fett’s job offer.
I admit I haven’t been a huge fan of the extended flashbacks in the first two episodes, but this one was great: Brief but impactful. Great Mando tie-ins with the skewered Stormtrooper helmets and of course a crowd-pleasing Peli Motto cameo. Ominous reminder that the Pykes cannot be trusted, nor have we seen the last of the Kintan Striders. The decimation of Boba’s Tusken tribe was a rude awakening, which he responded to with respect and poise.
What quickly followed was a terrifying awakening by Black Krrsantan. We’ve probably never seen the full extent of a Wookiee’s lethal strength on display like this before, which was both cool and scary. In a very indirect way, it reminded me of Vader’s scene at the end of Rogue One, another instance when Star Wars dipped ever so slightly into horror film mode. How bonkers was Boba to attack a Wookiee while unarmed and armorless?? This gave the street gang an opportunity to showcase their loyalty, as well as the ever trusty Gamorreans. Once again, Fennec Shand put an unwelcome visitor in their place with everyone’s favorite trapdoor. We also got a bit more insight into Boba’s leadership style: sharing the use of his bacta tank with a subordinate.
The rest of what I felt was a highly entertaining episode involved a plethora of interesting setups: The Hutt twins announced their return to Hutta. Scary Wookiee bounty hunter was set free. Rancors were shown in a different light, while Danny Trejo’s intentions remained unclear. The idea of Boba Fett riding on top of a rancor was all sorts of cool. After a mostly enjoyable speeder chase scene (the lack of lean angle by the gang’s “speeder bikes” bugged me a little), the Mayor’s partnership with the Pykes was revealed. And of course, the last two lines of dialogue: “These are just the first wave. They’re going to war.” “Then we will be ready.”
Count me in.
Carl Bayliss
Another short chapter this time out, with a run time of just 39 minutes, and although we get plenty of action this one left me feeling like it was more a stepping stone as with the first episode.
We got some more explanation about the districts of Mos Espa and the controlling groups, and a trader begs Boba for assistance in dealing with a gang of ‘scooter looters’. With some cybernetic upgrades to themselves and very shiny, brightly coloured speeder ‘vespas’ they are quickly recruited by Boba to be his eyes and ears on the streets. A lot of backlash about these, particularly the scooters, as they seem out of place – too pristine for the beaten up backwater that is Tatooine – think when Padme’s ship arrived and was a polar opposite to the dirty, rough look of everything else.
The ‘flashback’ section brought us some fairly heavy, and presumably tone setting events, with Boba negotiating with the Pikes who inform him that they are already paying the Nikto gang for safe passage through the Dune Sea. Upon his return we find the whole tribe (?) has been slaughtered whilst he was away, and the tagged ‘JL’ logo we saw them spray on the homestead they attacked previously left as their calling card. Fully expect future flashback sequence to cover more ‘revenge’ for this attack…
Boba is then quite literally rudely awakened by Black Krrsantan who has been sent to kill him, but is defeated, with help from Fennec and the biker gang. The Hutt twins turn up at a later point, apologising and with a gift of a rancor (complete with Danny Trejo as his keeper), but a warning that trouble is coming and they don’t want to be part of it – possibly hinting that a greater ‘big bad’ is on the way.
So not as great an episode as the last one, and certainly seems to have caused a lot of debate online (which I’m guessing is good for Disney, having people talking about your content!), but I believe we’ll only see the full effect of some of these elements as the story unfolds.
Paul Naylor
I guess if I ever got into a fight with a wookiee, I’d prefer to be wearing more than my underoos! Another fab episode of The Book of Boba Fett saw the return of my new favourite wookiee, Black Krrssantan, rudely awakening Boba from a Bacta dream. We’ve become accustomed to seeing Fett’s past from his healing chamber slumber, and it was with a tinge of sadness that we witnessed the demise of his Tusken clan. I never thought I’d care about sandpeople so much. But it was from this stasis that Boba was dragged into battle with the gladiator Wookie – a battle he would have lost were it not for a little help from new allies. More on that in a minute.
The episode commenced with a water broker, Lortha Peel – played by the versatile Stephen Root – awkwardly challenging Tatooine’s new daimyo to rid the scourge of a street gang. So, off Fett goes with Fennec to see what all the fuss is over.
It transpires to be a gang of youngsters with colourful retro-style scooters, led by the feisty Drash, who, along with her gangmates, has had droid modifications to her body. The gang is talked into working for Fett. My only criticism is that if this gang is so hard up for work, how come their rides are so shiny? Plus to have them in four bold colours rather than one or two seemed to jar with the aesthetic we are used to in the Star Wars galaxy.
Back at the palace, Fett in bacta reflects on his childhood on Kamino. A reminder of his watery beginnings – very different to his new life on Tatooine. Then we see him astride a bantha, off on his travels to reach a protection agreement with the Pykes. It appears that the Kintan Striders already get paid by the Pykes for ‘protection’ and that Boba will need to sort them first, before replacing them with his own protection racket.
However, on return to his adoptive tribe, we witness the aftermath of a battle that has seen the Tuskens decimated. It is unclear if any have survived.
Following a respectful funeral pyre, Fett and Bantha walk off into the Dune Sea and that is the point at which the crimelord is dragged unceremoniously from his healing chamber by Black Krrsantan. Fett struggles with him on his own, and would probably have perished were it not for the Power Rangers, erm I mean Drash and co.
It appears that the wookie assasin has been sent by the Hutt twins, which is odd, because they then visit in person to offer a tribute to Fett – a rancor, with its very own keeper, by way of apology for trying to assasinate him. It’s a weird galaxy for sure! The Hutts have come to say goodbye, claiming that another syndicate has been promised the palace and all its trappings on Tatooine by the mayor. But to who? Time will tell.
In a surprise move, Boba releases Black Krrsantan. The wookiee seems perplexed. Honour amongst thieves, hinting at a future alliance? Maybe.
We get to see the rancor, introduced to Boba by the keeper, who explains that the creatures imprint on the first people they see. “I want to learn to ride it,” exclaims Boba. A tantalising prospect for another chapter.
Boba, Shand and the scooter clan pay a visit to the mayor, who it appears has now joined the Pykes to rid Tatooine of Fett. We learn this following a somewhat pedestrian chase through the streets of Mos Espa, involving the mayor’s creepy Twi’lek henchman, pursued by Darsh and co. This is all building nicely to a war. Who will Fett call upon to help him? Do the Pykes have allies too?
There were also some great Easter Eggs in this chapter, including a brief sighting of Peli Motto and pit droids from The Mandalorian and the trashing of a painting that features the last three daimyos – Jabba, Bib Fortuna and Boba Fett. Was this symbolic? Perhaps.
Greig Robertson
Mixed feelings about episode 3, it kicked off really well with more Black Krrstantan, the Hutt Twins and the Tuskens, but the chase scene at end of the episode really let it down.
The chase was slow, the Vespas too clean for a desert planet with lack of water and it reminded me way too much of Biffs gang in Back To The Future 2. I’m hoping I’ll have a different view of the episode when the bigger picture is revealed when all 7 episodes have aired, but it felt like so much more could have been delivered in this third chapter.
Becca Benjamin
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