Liked the pilot, only wish it was a bit longer to cram in a more developed hook for the the present-day storyline which was left very open-ended. The flashbacks of course compensated for this. I was overjoyed to see a few seconds of the Kamino cloning facilities and the Geonosian arena.
Overall I’m glad they prioritised character work over action for this pilot. The flashbacks were the ideal route to go, as one of the most interesting things about post-ROTJ Boba is what events led to his more humbled and affable demeanor. The EU always zigzags on whether Boba had an honor code before, so I think the show would do the right thing by having the Sarlacc incident and Tusken captivity be the events that bridge the ruthless and the honorable depictions of Boba. Speaking of the Tuskens, seeing even more of their customs after The Mandalorian did a lot to humanise them was very welcome and I’m intrigued to see how they factor in Boba’s personality shift to the one we meet in Mando S2.
It was really interesting to see a different kind of Tusken tribe. Besides the different attires, they seem to be more nomadic and more progressive, as apparently there isn’t segreggated clothing for women and younglings among them (as there was in AOTC).
The Kraken-like monster was a fine addition to the rather implausible levels of Tatooine biodiversity. I liked the old stop-motion feeling conveyed by its movements, though its somewhat humanoid face veered a bit into the uncanny valley for me.
As always, the small easter eggs and connections to other Star Wars media are welcome. It’s so refreshing that Mando and Book of Boba feature so many familiar aliens like Twi’leks, Trandoshans and Rodians after they were conspicuously absent from the sequel trilogy. The Cantina song variant, the 8D8 torturer droid at the palace and the Tusken gourds were also nice details. One thing that left me scratching my head however was the depiction of Mos Espa. Yeah I can find it likely the city grew considerably in the span of 30 years since it was last seen in the prequels, but I don’t remember Mos Espa being built in the middle of a valley surrounded by huge cliffs (and reaching beyond them as well).
The end credits theme song is growing on me and it kind of reminds me of Viking music. Could the chanting also be a reference to Tem Morrison’s Maori background?