Well, I've got to give the whole book an overall 'meh', although it definitely had its enjoyable parts.
1. Tactics, tactics, tactics. First, why does Fennic do all the thinking on this show? Second, why do they all stand around in the ruins with their thumbs up their butts for so long? 3. When they finally do get out and do something, why do they bunch up like cheerios in a bowl of milk, where one proton grenade can get them all? Lastly, and mostly: YOU'VE GOT JET PACKS! WHY DO YOU STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FRICKIN' STREET INSTEAD OF TAKING THE HIGH GROUND THE BADDIES ARE USING AGAINST YOU?!?! If SW has taught us anything, it's that you always want the high ground!
2. Did anyone else notice that the rickshaw was faster than the vespas? I swear, those silly, chromatic scooters and the space-goth/ hipster? misfit gang were the worst parts of this show.
3. I question Luke Skywalker's judgement, sending Grogu out on his own with Artoo and his X-wing. What'd he say? "Nice choice- get off my planet, you little ingrate! Artoo, take not-Yoda here back to Mando on Tatooine!" Worse than the real life humans who trust their five-year-olds to the airlines to fly alone with connecting flights through places like Chicago in the wintertime.
4. Rancor on the loose. Me: "GOJIRA!!!!!"
5. Blasters were shown to be the most ineffectual weapons in existence in this episode. Those big war droids didn't kill a single person, and the rancor survived a dozen face shots without even flinching. The Wookie is apparently tougher than beskar- at least Mando and Boba took a knee after all those hits. The Wookie just kept on trucking. Mando and Boba apparently felt safe enough to pause for a quick tactical discussion right in front of the war droid they were fighting. The war droids either flat held their fire or had stormtrooper-bad marksmanship at every point.
My point? There comes a time when plot armor far exceeds suspension of disbelief, even when watching a space-western.
Overall, this whole 4-episode show (because 33% of it was episodes of The Mandalorian) was just weak sauce from start to finish. Temura Morrison didn't make for a convincing Boba Fett, at least not the way this was written. Plus, Boba Fett walking around without his helmet all the time just doesn't feel like Boba Fett. I mean, after the badass teaser of seeing him shoot Bib Fortuna off Jabba's throne, did anyone want to see him turn into a 'nice guy: man of the people?' I think a SW version of Tony Soprano would have been a lot better.
Given the level of Robert Rodriguez's involvement in this, I was very, very disappointed in the action scenes.
At the last, we get to see that the marshal survived. Thank the Force for that, at least!
