Stolen Valor In A Galaxy Far, Far Away. 'The Book Of Boba Fett' Outshines 'The Mandalorian' In Finale Ratings? This is not the way.
In a mind boggling turn of events, Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett finale has somehow surpassed The Mandalorian second season in viewership and we have a few things to say about it.
For those who might not have watched Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), the show is a spin-off The Mandalorian, a much more fleshed out and, let's say, superior series. It follows fan favorite bounty hunter Fett as he escapes the fate of the Sarlacc Pit, befriends assassin Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), and has intentions to become the head crime boss in wake of Jabba The Hutt's demise. Great concept, but due to gross mismanagement, what we are given is a slow, dull, subdued hero who does little to nothing throughout the show. So much so that he is excluded from two entire episodes in order to check in on The Mandolarian and his little pal Grogu.
Talk about not having confidence in your narrative.
Now, before we get into why the ratings are a travesty, we should discuss how this happened. It happened largely in part by how the creatives didn't really know what to do with the character, who, honestly, would have best been used as The Madalorian. All of his best attributes were used for Mando, leaving scraps for Fett's character development. It seemed like they under-baked the show in order to get it out quickly, while riding a better character's coattails in a desperate attempt to steal some unwarranted thunder.
It is understandable the show had high ratings, Star Wars has a way of doing that, but to go the route they did was weak, lazy, and cheap. Honestly, if it weren't for the inclusion of Mando, most people probably would have jumped off of this show halfway through. Most of us only stuck around for the piddly bit of Mando's storyline that was shoehorned in as filler.
New rule: If you are making a property for a particular character, don't remind the audience of something better that they would rather be watching.
Sufficient to say, The Book of Boba Fett could have been great and that last episode was proof of the fact, though to say it got better ratings, albeit true, comes with the caveat that they needed help from better characters in order to do so.
Star Wars is a tried and true property which The House of Mouse can't quite find its footing with fans, no matter how much money they throw at it. Trust the narrative, dial down the fan service, and get creative. You bought properties like Marvel and Star Wars to do what you used to do best, entertain. Do better Disney.
