'Book of Boba Fett' writes a great chapter, but it's someone else's story

NOTE: Spoilers ahead through Wednesday’s episode of “Book of Boba Fett” and the first two seasons of “The Mandalorian” on Disney+.

Let’s be clear: I love “The Mandalorian.” It’s a great series, and I can’t wait for the third season.

So I was a bit surprised when this week’s episode of “Book of Boba Fett” seemed to borrow a chapter from “The Mandalorian.” As Tribune-Review writer Rob Owen mentioned to me in an email, “When the best episode of the season lacks the title character, that’s concerning.”

The series’ fifth episode would have been the perfect way to kick off the third season of “Mandalorian,” following Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) on a bounty hunt that leaves him in need of a little first aid. That leads him back to The Armorer and fellow Mandalorian Paz Viszla, whose last name is a dog breed and yet another brick in the wall of bad “Star Wars” names.

But I digress — and so does this episode, picking up the “Mandalorian” storyline about the Darksaber that Mando acquired when he defeated Moff Gideon. His quest for a new ship leads him back to Amy Sedaris, still hilarious as everyone’s favorite intergalactic mechanic, and eventually to a meeting with Fennec Shand, who brings him into the fold as muscle to close the episode out.

And that’s great. But that’s a recap of a “Mandalorian” episode.

It’s a strange choice for a series that seemed perfectly content doing a deep dive into the history of a long-time fan-favorite character.

Critics have accused the show of moving too slowly, but I’m perfectly content spending time in the gritty world the show-runners have created. And while the Star Wars universe has gone to the Tattooine well more than a few too many times, “The Book of Boba Fett” has been a welcome trip back, getting some backstory on the Tusken raiders and broadening the palette of characters on the desert planet.

But at the same time, we’ve gotten a look at what happened after “Return of the Jedi,” and unless the deep-dive goes all the way back to Boba’s teenage years, the potential chapters in “The Book of Boba Fett” are limited.

I wonder if Disney is planning to merge these two series. Perhaps Boba’s play to become the Don Corleone of Tattoine don’t work out, and he joins the Mandalorian’s team for that show’s next season.

I’m still very interested to see where this season goes, but it’s hard to judge this week’s entry properly. It’s a really good episode … of a different show?

New episodes of “The Book of Boba Fett” stream Wednesdays on Disney+.