Title: In The Name of Honor Directed by: Robert Rodriguez Runtime: 1 hour
Well folks, here we are. The final episode. Will there be more? Some people are calling The Book of Boba Fett “The Mandalorian Season 2.5”. I suppose that makes a little sense given the past two episodes. Personally I’d watch another season of Boba Fett, however a season two may depend on what happens in Season Three of The Mandalorian. Although, on the Disney+ app, Chapter 7 is labeled as “Season” finale. Hmm…
As a heads up, there is a post credits scene (between the artwork credits and the black screen credits). I’m not going to spoil it here but worth watching so you don’t have questions later.
spoiler alert!!!
The following content contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett s1e7.
I’m a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory. There is so much I could relate to with a few of those characters (mostly Leonard). Recently we’ve been watching Young Sheldon (essentially a TBBT prequel). If you are familiar with any of Chuck Lorre‘s sitcoms, he often adds “vanity cards” at the end of the credits of each episode. There is one particular vanity card about fictional character affection that hit home.
Chuck Lorre has been appending these vanity cards to the ends of his shows for nearly 25 years. The content of these cards can range from venting frustration to random images or just a simple brain dump. Politically, I may not always agree, but they are often very humorous.
“It’s A Strange and Wonderful Thing”
The final episode of Season Two of Young Sheldon there is a particularly interesting vanity card. This also exactly coincides with the final episode of The Big Bang Theory series. Chuck Lorre quips that “it’s a strange and wonderful thing to feel affection for a fictional character”. In this particular case he’s referring to Sheldon Cooper. He also lists off several other fictional characters for whom, I assume, he also felt this strange connection.
I’d like to list mine. I felt the same way when Fraiser, Friends, Castle, Scrubs and The Big Bang Theory ended. I, equally, loved Sheldon, Fraiser Crane, Chandler, J.D. and Richard Castle (to name a few). I hated to see these shows end. In an article I found on Refinery29, a media psychologist, Dr. Karen-Dill-Shackleford, said that we “get really attached to them because they bring you joy or cheer you up after a rough day.” This is absolutely true about Star Wars, at least for me. It doesn’t matter if its the sequels, prequels or the original trilogy. After 9 (or 11) movies, you feel a connection.
It Happens In Books Too!
These fictional character affections extends beyond just television series and/or movies. I have often felt a similar parasocial relationship with characters in books. Eragon from The Inheritance Series comes immediately to mind. I’ve felt similar connections to Harry Dresden, Ender Wiggin, Shawn Hagan, and Wade Watts (to name a few more).
We spend years and/or hundreds of pages living their lives, albeit fictional. If the author or screenwriter is any good, we begin to develop an emotional connection. It’s normal for all of us to feel this way, as long as that passion remains healthy. We live vicariously through their triumphs and their defeats. These connections explain why we are so devastated if the character dies or when the actor passes away.
Who are some of the character’s that have made you feel this way?
In honor of Black History Month, I thought I would choose an African American for the next “How Much Do You Know” topic. There are several folks to choose from in the Star Wars Universe, but I didn’t want to make the obvious choice. I think the others will have their time in future posts but for this month, how much do you know about Phil LaMarr?
Phil LaMarr is pretty interesting. He was born in Los Angeles and he went to Yale University. He is one of the founding members of the Yale improve group, Purple Crayon. This is probably when improv became his life.
A Prolific Career
I think the first time I saw Phil LaMarr is MadTV. In fact that is probably one of the rare times you will see him in live-action. His impressions of Ray Charles, Johnnie Cochran and Sammy Davis Jr are some fond memories. However, what I find most interesting about Phil LaMarr is his voice acting career.
At the time of this writing Phil LaMarr has 502 acting credits and the bulk of them are voice acting roles. He has the occasional live-action role. For example he is Rag Doll in The Flash TV series and Malefic J’onzz on Supergirl. However his versatility really shines in all of his numerous voice acting roles.
In Star Wars (since that’s why we’re here) he is mostly known as the animated voice of Kit Fisto. In various other series he’s also provided the voice for Bail Organa and Orn Free Taa as well as random stormtroopers and other side/background characters. Most recently he’s provided the voice for two characters in The Book of Boba Fett.
Outside of Star Wars, you may recognize him as Hermes in Futurama, Samurai Jack, Ollie Williams in Family Guy, various characters in the DC universe; the list is extensive.
Clearly he’s an amazing actor and I really enjoyed doing the research.
Title: From the Desert Comes A Stranger Directed by: Dave Filoni Runtime: 47 minutes
We are at the penultimate episode of season 1. I’m optimistic there will be multiple seasons of The Book of Boba Fett. The Pykes are feeling threatened and they are making it clear. Anyone that supports Boba Fett’s resistance will pay the consequences.
How do you follow Mando’s return??! Is there more Mando?? After last weeks amazing episode there are so many theories about this weeks episode. Will we see Luke? Grogu? Cad Bane? I can’t answer these questions for you right now. We need to that spoiler warning first!
spoiler alert!!!
The following content contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett S1E6.
Title: Return of the Mandalorian Directed by: Bryce Dallas Howard Runtime: 51 minutes
Well I can’t provide you with a spoiler alert this time as the title kind of gives it away. Yes, Din Djarin is back. We knew he would be appearing at some point. The end of Chapter 4 kind of foreshadows that. Given the title of the episode it should be obvious he is the focal point of Chapter 5.
While the title kind of gives away one particular spoiler, there are things that happen that I don’t want to give away.
Therefore I am going to pause here so I can …
spoiler alert!!!
The following content contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett S1E5.
Title: The Gathering Storm Directed by: Bryce Dallas Howard Runtime: 48 minutes
Boba prepares for war. He is Daimyo and as Daimyo he must protect that which he wishes to keep. Will the other families help protect that which they wish to keep? In the past, Boba wants his ship, the Slave 1, and he needs help to get it back.
This episode is a little slower but it’s aptly named. I think it’s setting up for the final 3 episodes. It spends a little more time in the past but, as you will see, there is a reason for that. Regardless of the pace of this episode, I did enjoy it because it’s Star Wars. Next week is going to be interesting.
But before we get into to much more detail …
spoiler alert!!!
The following content contains spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett S1E4.
