SPOILER TBOBF EP. 4 - The Gathering Storm

Ah! I forgot about that line in Mando. This is true, he's completing that mission with Fennec. A former independent contractor that he now saved and has started a 'tribe' with. Kind of touches on the themes of TCW, every clone is a person, is distinguishable, is worthy.

 

I thought this episode was much improved over the first 3 - really wish this had been the first episode, it would give me more optimism about the series. Overall I remain SUPER frustrated by the poor quality of almost all aspects of this show.

- A “mod shop” on the outskirts of town? Really? Boba just casually carries a nearly dead person around in no hurry and sets her on the table. Dude casually fixes her like a broken skateboard. So silly and dumb. Every time a stormtrooper gets shot they are dead instantly, but Fennec…she just needed a Spy Kids mod shop.
- Fennec wakes up to find she now has robotic guts..basically just continues on with the conversation like she was told she had something between her teeth.
- The killer Wookiee that jogged off after failing to kill Boba and barely harming Boba now just easily tears off limbs in the middle of a bar. Oh, and then just casually goes to work for Boba. Makes zero sense in character or situation development.
- The is a GIANT hanger door to Jabba’s place with 20 guards around it…oh, but there also just so happens to be a 5ft tall sewer entrance right next to it with just a couple iron bars in place that NONE of the guards are paying any attention to. Oh and it’s well lit and leads right into the heart of the palace with an easy to open grate in the floor. I’ve seen Bugs Bunny cartoons that had more probable obstacles. Just terrible writing even for a kids show.

While I thought the overall production quality and look of this episode was also improved over the first 3, the visual aesthetic still pales in quality comparison to the Marvel Series on D+, I really don’t understand why the show looks so consistently cheap.

Hopefully episode 5 gets better. I’ll take any incremental progress at this point.

 

stormtroopers don't die their armor converts impact into a wave of kinetic energy that knocks them out. It doesn't kill them

 

Given that the show is portraying a desert planet and was filmed on the most expensive soundstage in the world, The Volume, I'm not understanding your 'looks cheap' comments. Since Mos Espa is a city, I personally would have liked to have seen more people in the streets to give it a more crowded, big city, feel, but from a production design stand-point, there's not much new and exciting you can do with Tatooine.

 

Chapter 4 the Gathering storm, a fitting episode in prelude to war with the Pykes. I'd liked the Boba/Fennec scenes & the dinner meeting especially when the killing threat was made the rancor defended his master causing the guests to avoid being eaten. I can see why Jabba had the trap door in the middle of the throne room so such threats will be swiftly eaten.

 

I wasn't really suggesting Boba had any investment in the Sarlacc's fate. We the audience do though. I'm sure the absence of the monster in that pit may have implications for future storylines.

I think it added a bit more that was valuable. Fett playfully putting Shand in her place. "Next time don't press my buttons!"

My main point about getting the armour back is that its an artefact of his past and that re-visiting things from his past seems to carry pain and present danger to Fett.

 

Although the whole conceit of the flashback story device is Boba revisiting his past. And since it's made possible by the bacta-pod treatments, the implication is that it’s actually part of his healing process. He has to go backward in order to move forward.

My main point was that the scene itself is largely unnecessary. It doesn’t propel the story or plot or character forward in any meaningful way. “Thank You Mario! But Our Princess Is In Another Castle!” That’s not to say it doesn’t have value in reinforcing already established themes, but structurally it could easily have been lifted out of the episode without anyone knowing.

The only reason I originally mentioned it at all was in relation to the remark of it being odd Boba doesn’t recall his armor wasn’t even in there. If he did, then this superfluous scene doesn’t happen at all. He just goes on to track down those Jawas, leading him to where we find him in Mando season 2. And then we’re all caught up.

So, fundamentally, it’s an action sequence for the sake of having an actions sequence, based on a fairly loose contrivance. That’s not ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Just an observation.

You’re “sure” it “may” have implications? Definitely maybe!

Sure, there’s nothing keeping them from doing more with this development later. That wasn’t really what I was getting at though.

 

That's virtually the whole of Mandalorian season 2.

 

A quickie OT: IMHO, Mando Season 2 was The Best SW since ESP.

It's fine and dandy for fans to criticize the 'video game' plot devices of SW shows like The Mandalorian and TBoBF. Whether they are 'justified' or not depends on one's perspective.

Favreau and Filoni are making live-action shows from comic book scripts. That doesn't mean their plots can't be criticized as long as they are critiqued for what they are.

 

Brilliant! But only the ones at the back of the line need to wag!

 

I couldn't agree more. A series allows us to have little (but important) moments that you wouldn't have time for in a feature film -- Things like all the little Din-Grogu interactions we got in Mando and Boba crafting his own gaffi stick in TBoBF.

Again, I hear ya. But I've come to believe that Star Wars (as George Lucas originally envisioned it) actually fits better as a TV series than a feature film. The TV shows allow us all to take 'deeper dives' into the GFFA while at the same time setting up exciting new films that arise organically from the cool stuff happening on TV.

 

What's the issue with Krrsantan jogging off? A Wookiee ripping off an arm is hardly odd. A bounty hunter taking a job isn't odd either. If these type of innocuous things bother you I'm not sure there's gonna be much that pleases you going forward. These are pretty standard Star Wars tropes.

I'm not really understanding this either. I'm just assuming people are repeating this because they're seeing it in other places, TV picture setup issues, or people who are not used to 4K.

 

I really enjoyed The Mando despite it's flaws and thought BoBF could've and should've been even better but it just feels to me like parody or low budget fanfilm. I'm so disappointed and frankly, appalled.

I hoped I'd start liking this show but 4/7 eps in and I've lost all hope, that's as far I'll go as I don't want upset folks who are enjoying it - all power to those of you.

 

Agreed. Very disappointed in this series so far. There is no urgency, no “hook” for me to get invested in it. The score is lackluster and forgettable. But I will keep watching….

 

People are saying this because we are used to much better stuff, especially for TV. Netflix, Amazon Prime and co are producing high end looking streaming content, while TBOBF feels flat.

There are 5 reasons why a movie or a series can feel cheap. It's not just the visuals.

1) cinematography
The cinematography of TBOBF ist just boring and not very exciting.

2) editing
Especially the last episode was weirdly edited. It was fast paced edited, while the cinematography was too slow in comparison.

3) sound/music
It's neither Williams nor Göransson. The sound design is way over the top as well. Those *peng*, *bam*, *bing* SFXs makes the show feel like a parody.

4) acting
Temuera Morrison is a nice guy, sure, but he isn't a good actor. While Ming-Na Wen can do better, she only is acting the absolute minimum.

5) story and its location
As other Cantina members said before, this show has no urgency, no stakes. Then having Tatooine (at least as it is shown in this show) as main setting is very boring.


Yes, you can still have fun with a flawed show, but for my part I'm expecting much better these days.