Finally, The Book of Boba Fett gets good...by becoming a different show entirely. You could watch this episode completely independently, as a bridge between season two of The Mandalorian and the upcoming season three. The shift shines an even bigger light on Boba's lack of an arc within his own show, but it's hard to complain when Bryce Dallas Howard's direction on the usual Jon Favreau script brings so much entertainment. Unlike Boba Fett, Din Djarin doesn't want or have the ability to shift from bounty hunting to a more managerial position. "Return of the Mandalorian" opens with exactly what it says on the tin as Din strides into a slaughterhouse to collect a bounty. He hasn't been back home to the covert since giving baby Grogu to Luke Skywalker, and is feeling the baby's loss while learning how to use the legendary Darksaber. He does find his way home, to a very cool hiding spot on the vacuum-facing edge of a ring-like space station called Glavis. After defending the Darksaber against Paz Vizsla's claim, he ends up leaving the covert in search of a spiritual rebirth that will let him rejoin the clan for good. Because he showed his face to an outsider back in season two, he has to go for a cleansing bath in ritual caves beneath Mandalore - the same area the Imperials destroyed. Another way to approach the nostalgia issue is whether the episode fits into the show's larger arc. As essentially a vignette from The Mandalorian stuffed into The Book of Boba Fett, it doesn't. A common critique for the less-compelling parts of a franchise are that they feel "inessential." Technically, this episode is. Season three of The Mandalorian will probably show Din with his new ship and Grogu's armor, and the time skip alone will be enough explanation for them. It's an odd choice, to say the least, to fill a show that already doesn't do enough groundwork with its characters with different characters entirely. But ultimately the episode was too good to care about all that. As someone who watches every week, I can't complain about an episode that made me gasp, laugh, and yearn for these characters.
