CONTAINS SPOILERS
As we saw last time, the Boba Fett of the past (bouty hunter loner) is now homeless. The Kintan Striders (the Nikto speed bikers) have burned down the Tusken camp where he was living, and killed all the members of his tribe. All he has left is his trusty bantha, which he rides across the sand, in search of a new (or an old) home. He returns to Jabba's Palace, which is too heavily guarded to be attacked. However, while he's settling down for the night - campfire and roasted meat - he finds a woman lying in the sand. There's been some rocket fire, or some flares have been launched, and Boba, in the near darkness, finds an unconscious woman. You'll need to watch this in near darkness too, or with the brightness turned up, as the producers decided to shoot this at night with the barest of illumination. Boba takes her to a doctor's... well, she needs modifications and cybernetic implements, and since the Borg aren't coming to Tatooine today, Boba finds a back-street modifications expert (side note - Picard Season 2 is on Prime starting in March).
In the better-lit doctor's surgery, (or 'mod-parlour'), we can see the the woman is Fennec Shand, who will become Boba's trusted second-in-command. Fennec undergoes significant modification - the number of wires, pistons, pipes and so on inside her show a serious degree of fixing and replacing which was needed after taking a blaster at close range.
Fennec has a bounty on her head, and she assumes that Boba is going to collect, but he has other ideas. He wants her to help him get his revenge on the Nikto speed bikers, and to do that, he wants her help in retrieving his Firespray gunship from Jabba's palace (now occupied by Bib Fortuna). She agrees.
Two are better than one, and the two of them are able - in a long and entertaining sequence - to sneak into the lower regions of Jabba's palace. The kitchen scene is particularly funny and very true to the feel of the original trilogy of films - Jabba's assistant droid ("You are a protocol droid? Yes or no will do?" has been appointed head chef, while there's a distant relative of General Grievous on chopping and slicing. The architecture and characters of Jabba's palace are very well executed and re-create the atmosphere of Return of the Jedi.
Boba acts as a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain - he wants his ship, he wants his armour, he wants revenge, and he wants to set up his own tribe ('Gotra') and run the crime scene in Mos Espa.
And his shopping list is taking shape: he and Fennec seize his Firespray Gunship - none other than Slave I. It's smaller than I remember it, but given that we didn't see much of it in Return of the Jedi, I'll go with it. It's still airworthy, and Boba and Fennec are able to retrieve it without too much difficulty (Fennec is a crack shot). However, siezing it and getting away with it are two different things - Boba can't find the gate or the way out (it reminded me of Kirk trying to steal the Enterprise from Spacedock).
Fennec decides to stick around, Boba, "Has a few scores to settle." And what scores! After annihilating the Nikto speed riders as if he were merely swatting flies, he goes back to settle a very old, very large score - the Sarlaac. This is a great scene - the wreckage of Jabba's barge and support craft still litter the crater of the Sarlaac pit - nicely done. Not only does he want his revenge on the Sarlaac, but he thinks it holds his Beskar armour (not realising that it was the Jawas who stole it while he was unconscious). Is he after revenge on the Sarlaac just for its attempt to digest him? Or is he primarily after the armour? I think it's the latter, but he can certainly hold a grudge and it might just be more revenge.
Either way, the Sarlaac gets a sonic torpedo in the neck (nice sound effects, consistent with Attack of the Clones) and will probably have indigestion for a thousand years.
Boba braves the Sarlaac's acid-filled stomach to search for his armour - and comes out looking even worse than when he went it. Fennec: "What you need is a bacta tank." Put it on the list of 'needs'.
If two are better than one, then a tribe would be even better, and Boba and Fennec decide to form an alliance. We see a brief flashback scene where Boba kills Bib Fortuna and takes Jabba's throne.
In the present, we see Boba's scars are healed (on the outside at least) and he's ready to start taking full charge of the situation in Mos Espa. His gang of biker-riding Mods (see, the name stuck) are patrolling the streets, and he's going to start showing his face around town. One person who isn't too pleased is Black Krrsantan, the giant black Wookie who tried to kill Boba. Boba returned him to the Twins; the Twins told Boba to keep him. No master, no aim, no self-esteem and decidedly unwanted, he's now stewing quietly at the local bar. One wrong move and he takes objection to a group of gamblers, throws them around the room, and then holds one up by his arms. The barkeeper, Garsa Fwip, tries to persuade Krrsantan to let the gambler go; she'll cancel his bar tab if he does. He declines - the poor gambler loses his arm - he drops a bag of coins and walks out. Better let the Wookie win. Boba recruits him into his ragtag group of mercenaries.
Boba hosts a meeting of the local crime lords; as the Daimyo, he's in charge and he's looking to get everybody together to tackle the Pykes. Each of the crime lords has tried to overthrow Jabba and Bib Fortuna, but have each been unsuccessful. Boba proposes an alliance; when they decline, he points out that they're all sitting on the trap door to the Rancor's cave. All except Boba, naturally. They still decline - they have no advantage in supporting Boba, so he permits them to leave, providing they remain neutral in the conflict.
As the crime lords leave, there is something familiar in the background music that plays, suggesting the impending appearance of a well-know character, just as Fennec completes the line, "Credits can buy muscle, if you know where to look."
A good episode, plenty of story development (mostly focused in the past this time), and with a very, very clear message that good things are going to happen with Boba's credits, Very excited for next week's.
However, he is massively outnumbered by the frequent arrivals of more Pykes into Mos Espa. Unfortunately, despite his attempts to reach out to the other crime bosses in Mos Espa, they all know he's the boss and he's the one who has the most to lose.
Fortunately for Boba, he has a Rancor in his cellar. That should bring them back into line.
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