The fifth episode of The Book of Boba Fett may not have had the titular character show up, in any capacity, but it was a great episode, but with only two more to go, the penultimate had to get things back on track, which is why it was very weird to see that this episode almost completely ignored the main thread of the story, yet again.

When the episode started with Cobb Vanth, the marshal we met in the opening episode of season two of The Mandalorian, it was clear that he was going to play a role in the recruitment of people to fight for Boba Fett, much like how Fennec Shand recruited Din Djarin in the last episode. To have it them randomly cut to Din flying to meet up with Grogu and Luke Skywalker, well it was odd, even more so, having then spend a good chunk of time, seeing Luke attempting to train the young padawan, that was even weirder. Not having Din and Grogu meet up again, made sense and I was honestly hoping they wouldn’t, as we had a great farewell at the end of The Mandalorians second season and we really didn’t need it again.

Once that was done though, we got to see Din meet up with Boba, Fennec, Black Krrsantan and the space moped gang was where we finally got the show back on track, but that lasted for all of 15 seconds. Fennec explaining that they were outmanned was fine, seeing Din willing it go recruit some folks made sense as well and tied back into the opening moments with Cobb, the problem was that it broke the pace again. The show has had horrible pacing all season long, we have had characters do nothing for an entire episode, except live in flashbacks and then when it looks like the story will finally move forward, that changes again. The last episode being all about The Mandalorian did make some sense, it needed to introduce the character to people that may not have seen the show he starred in, in order for him to make sense for why Boba would want him, but to then dedicate half of the next episode to the same character just seemed pathetic.

Don’t misunderstand, I loved both seasons of The Mandalorian, it was great television, but this is not his show, the entire sequence of events with Luke, Grogu and Ahsoka, didn’t have to take place in this series either. Ahsoka is getting her own show, The Mandalorian is meant to be getting a third season and if they keep going with slotting Mark Hamill in as Luke Skywalker again, there could be a Jedi Academy tv series spun up, but this is meant to be a show about Boba Fett. The flashbacks I can understand, it helped fill in the blanks between Boba being knocked into the Sarlacc Pit and then when we encountered him in The Mandalorian, but once that was done, which should have been a single episode at most, it needed to paint him as a proper character and it has failed to do that.

Boba Fett at least showed up this episode, though he didn’t speak and just stood there while Fennec Shand attempted to point out the obvious and that is the problem with the show, the creators don’t seem to have a coherent plan of attack. Once they started to insert characters into the second season of The Mandalorian, it was clear that the success let them do whatever they wanted and it has only gotten worse from this point on. Cad Bane showing up in live action was great, though as they never named him, anyone who has never seen The Clone Wars tv series, or any of the animated shows, won’t get what made it special. It honestly felt like his inclusion was purely for the sake of appeasing long-time fans of the series and that is what annoys me the most.

Out of the past 90 minutes of the series, the titular character has only appeared for barely 2 of them and when he did, it was in a completely non-speaking role. The story for the show has been all over the place, first it was about establishing how Boba Fett survived, then it looked like it was about how he planned to survive this threat on his newly claimed throne, but then it took such a turn, who knows where it will end up. The show ending with a bombing helped make the stakes more real for Boba and his group, but it should have happened two episodes ago, to highlight why he needed the muscle and why this group was such a threat. Right now, if you are wondering if you should start watching the show, I honestly say avoid it, until the final is done, because right now, it is more like getting 6 chapters from a 70-chapter book and at no point, do any of them logically connect to the others.

The Book of Boba Fett could have been an amazing tale, given a valid reason for why this beloved character is so admired, despite his limited screen time over the years, but has failed to do that. This episode had some decent pieces but focused on the wrong ones, which as the second episode in a row to do that, makes it feel less about Boba and more about Din. The episode had fine moments, but without the starring character doing anything, you have to wonder why bother naming it after him.