Episode Rankings: Chuck

Before Shazam, Zachary Levi was Chuck. Chuck was a really fun and charming spy show with great actions, a charming cast, and plenty of loving tributes to geek culture. While the last two seasons dropped off in quality a bit, at its best, Chuck was legitimately really great. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Chuck Vs The Other Guy (S3.13) 
2. Chuck Vs The Colonel (S2.21) 
3. Chuck Vs The Ring II (S3.19) 
4. Chuck Vs The Push Mix (S4.13) 
5. Chuck Vs The Ring (S2.22) 
6. Chuck Vs The Beard (S3.09)
7. Chuck Vs The Subway (S3.18) 
8. Chuck Vs The Cliffhanger (S4.24)
9. Chuck Vs Santa Claus (S2.11)
10. Chuck Vs The Goodbye (S5.13)
11. Chuck Vs The First Class (S3.05) 
12. Chuck Vs The Nemesis (S1.10)
13. Chuck Vs The Predator (S2.17)
14. Chuck Vs The First Fight (S4.07)
15. Chuck Vs The Tic Tac (S3.10)
16. Chuck Vs Sarah (S5.12)
17. Chuck Vs The Best Friend (S2.14)
18. Chuck Vs The Santa Suit (S5.07)
19. Chuck Vs The Gravitron (S2.08)
20. Chuck Vs The American Hero (S3.12)
21. Chuck Vs Phase Three (S4.09)
22. Chuck Vs The Bullet Train (S5.11)
23. Chuck Vs The First Kill (S2.20)
24. Chuck Vs The Alma Mater (S1.07)
25. Chuck Vs The Pink Slip (S3.01)
26. Chuck Vs The Seduction (S2.02)
27. Chuck Vs The Living Dead (S3.17)
28. Chuck Vs The Family Volkoff (S4.20)
29. Chuck Vs Operation Awesome (S3.04)
30. Chuck Vs The Muuurder (S4.19)
31. Chuck Vs The Marlin (S1.13)
32. Chuck Vs The Anniversary (S4.01)
33. Chuck Vs The Lethal Weapon (S2.16)
34. Chuck Vs The Fat Lady (S2.07)
35. Chuck Vs The Hack Off (S5.05)
36. Chuck Vs The Truth (S1.08)
37. Chuck Vs The Last Details (S4.23)
38. Chuck Vs The Angel de la Muerte (S3.03)
39. Chuck Vs The Leftovers (S4.10)
40. Chuck Vs The Dream Job (S2.19)
41. Chuck Vs The First Bank Of Evil (S4.17)
42. Chuck Vs The First Date (S2.01)
43. Chuck Vs The Crown Vic (S1.11)
44. Chuck Vs The Fake Name (S3.07)
45. Chuck Vs The Couch Lock (S4.05)
46. Chuck Vs The Suburbs (S2.13) - 8.4
47. Chuck Vs The Three Words (S3.02)
48. Pilot (S1.01)
49. Chuck Vs The Cubic Z (S4.03)
50. Chuck Vs The Undercover Lover (S1.12)
51. Chuck Vs Tom Sawyer (S2.05)
    
52. Chuck Vs The Curse (S5.06)
53. Chuck Vs The Cat Squad (S4.15)
54. Chuck Vs The Honeymooners (S3.14)
55. Chuck Vs Bo (S5.10)
56. Chuck Vs Agent X (S4.22)
57. Chuck Vs The DeLorean (S2.10)
58. Chuck Vs The Fear Of Death (S4.08)
59. Chuck Vs The Final Exam (S3.11)
60. Chuck Vs The Baby (S5.08)
61. Chuck Vs The Balcony (S4.11)
62. Chuck Vs The Tango (S1.03)
63. Chuck Vs The Ex (S2.06)
64. Chuck Vs The Suitcase (S4.02)
65. Chuck Vs The Sizzling Shrimp (S1.05)
66. Chuck Vs The Zoom (S5.01)
67. Chuck Vs The Break-Up (S2.03)
68. Chuck Vs The Wedding Planner (S4.21)
69. Chuck Vs The Broken Heart (S2.18)
70. Chuck Vs The Tooth (S3.16)
71. Chuck Vs The Aisle Of Terror (S4.06)
72. Chuck Vs The Imported Hand Salami (S1.09)
73. Chuck Vs The Nacho Sampler (S3.06)
74. Chuck Vs The Third Dimension (S2.12)
75. Chuck Vs The Helicopter (S1.02)
76. Chuck Vs The Kept Man (S5.09)
77. Chuck Vs The Cougars (S2.04)
78. Chuck Vs The Coup D'etat (S4.04)
79. Chuck Vs The Wookie (S1.04)
80. Chuck Vs The Mask (S3.07)
81. Chuck Vs The Beefcake (S2.15)
82. Chuck Vs The Frosted Tips (S5.03)
83. Chuck Vs The Seduction Impossible (S4.14)
84. Chuck Vs The Role Models (S3.15)
85. Chuck Vs The Sandworm (S1.06)
86. Chuck Vs The Gobbler (S4.12)
87. Chuck Vs The Sensei (S2.09)
88. Chuck Vs The Business Trip (S5.04)
89. Chuck Vs The A-Team (S4.18)
90. Chuck Vs The Bearded Bandit (S5.02)
91. Chuck Vs The Masquerade (S4.16)

Episode Rankings: Person Of Interest

Person Of Interest is easily one of my favorite shows of all time, evolving from a simple (though still great) procedural to a fantastic sci-fi series with lovable characters, great social commentary, crazy plot twists, creative formula shifts, and some of the all-time greatest episodes and seasons of television. If you passed on this one because you thought it looked boring, you are seriously missing out. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. If-Then-Else (S4.11)
2. Return 0 (S5.13)
3. The Crossing (S3.09)
4. Asylum (S4.21)
5. Prisoner's Dilemma (S2.12)
6. The Day The World Went Away (S5.10)
7. Deus Ex Machina (S3.22)
8. Zero Day (S2.21)
9. YHWH (S4.22)
10. The Devil's Share (S3.10)
11. The Devil You Know (S4.09)
12. BSOD (S5.01)
13. Firewall (S1.23)
14. Aletheia (S3.12)
15. Endgame (S3.08)
16. Dead Reckoning (S2.13)
17. Terra Incognita (S4.20)
18. .exe (S5.12)
19. Beta (S3.21)
20. God Mode (S2.22)
21. Flesh And Blood (S1.19)
22. Relevance (S2.16)
23. Most Likely To (S3.19)
24. Number Crunch (S1.10)
25. Razgovor (S3.05)
26. Lethe (S3.11)
27. Witness (S1.07)
28. Control-Alt-Delete (S4.12)
29. The Contingency (S2.01)
30. The Cold War (S4.10)
31. SNAFU (S5.02)
32. Root Path (S3.17)
33. Baby Blue (S1.17)
34. Synecdoche (S5.11)
35. A House Divided (S3.22)
36. Trojan Horse (S2.19)
37. Critical (S2.07)
38. Prophets (S4.05)
39. Sotto Voce (S5.09)
40. Death Benefit (S3.20) 
41. Panopticon (S4.01)
42. Shadow Box (S2.10)
43. No Good Deed (S1.22)
44. Blue Code (S1.15)
45. 4C (S3.13) 
46. MIA (S4.13)
47. In Extremis (S2.20)
48. Super (S1.11)
49. QSO (S5.07)
50. Bury The Lede (S2.05)
51. Matsya Nyaya (S1.20)
52. Bad Code (S2.02)
53. Root Cause (S1.13)
54. RAM (S3.16)
55. Search And Destroy (S4.19)
56. Liberty (S3.01)
57. Booked Solid (S2.15)
58. Mors Praematura (S3.06)
59. 6,741 (S5.04)
60. Get Carter (S1.09)
61. Many Happy Returns (S1.21)
62. Proteus (S2.17)
63. Til Death (S2.08)
64. Pretenders (S4.06)
65. 2 Pi R (S2.11)
66. Lady Killer (S3.03)
67. The Fix (S1.06)
68. Q&A (S4.15)
69. Triggerman (S2.04)
70. Wingman (S4.03)
71. Reassortment (S5.08)
72. Legacy (S1.12)
73. The Perfect Mark (S3.07)
74. ShotSeeker (S5.05)
75. Skip (S4.18)
76. Point Of Origin (S4.08)
77. Truth Be Told (S5.03)
78. Risk (S1.16)
79. Allegiance (S3.18)
80. Mission Creep (S1.03)
81. Nautilus (S4.02)
82. All In (S2.18)
83. Last Call (S3.15)
84. Pilot (S1.01)
85. Guilty (S4.14)
86. Reasonable Doubt (S3.04)
87. One Percent (S2.14)
88. Nothing To Hide (S3.02)
89. Judgement (S1.05)
90. COD (S2.09)
91. Brotherhood (S4.04) 
92. Masquerade (S2.03)
93. A More Perfect Union (S5.06)
94. Identity Crisis (S1.18)
95. Ghosts (S1.02)
96. Karma (S4.17)
97. Wolf And Cub (S1.14) 
98. Foe (S1.08) - 7.6
99. Provenance (S3.14)
100. Honor Among Thieves (S4.07)
101. The High Road (S2.06)
102. Cura Te Ipsum (S1.04)
103. Blunt (S4.16)

Episode Rankings: Nathan For You

Nathan For You is one of the most unique shows I've ever had the pleasure of watching, perfectly blending the line between reality and fiction. Nathan's "ideas" are all super creative and each season continuously tries to one-up itself in ambition and scope. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Dumb Starbucks (S2.05)
2. Finding Frances (S4.07)
3. The Hero (S3.08)
4. Smokers Allowed (S3.05)
5. Electronics Store (S3.01)
6. The Claw Of Shame (S1.07)
7. Souvenir Shop/ELAIFF (S2.01)
8. The Anecdote (S4.04)
9. The Movement (S3.03)
10. Computer Repair/Psychic (S4.06)
11. Santa/Petting Zoo (S1.02)
12. Pet Store/Maid Service (S2.03)
13. The Richards Tip (S4.01)
14. Private Investigator/Taxi Company (S1.08)
15. Horseback Riding/Man Zone (S3.02)
16. Gas Station/Caricature Artist (S1.04)
17. Shipping Logistics Company (S4.05)
18. Nail Salon/Fun (S3.07)
19. Taxi Service/Hot Dog Stand (S2.07)
20. Yogurt Shop/Pizzeria (S1.01)
21. Andy Vs Uber (S4.03)
22. Mechanic/Realtor (S2.01)
23. Funeral Home/Burger Joint/Skydiving (S1.06)
24. Hotel/Travel Agent (S3.06)
25. Liquid Store/Exterminator/Car Wash (S2.04)
26. Sporting Goods Store/Antique Store (S3.04)
27. Clothing Store/Restaurant (S1.03)
28. Dating Service/Party Planner (S2.06)
29. Haunted House/The Hunk (S1.05)
30. Toy Company/Movie Theatre (S2.08)
31. Chili Shop/Massage Parlor (S4.02)

Episode Rankings: Burn Notice

If you've seen my reviews of Burn Notice, you'd know that I didn't really fall in love with it, not even after seven seasons. It's watchable for sure, with a strong cast and solid action, but it was tonally inconsistent and didn't feel all that sure about what type of show it wanted to be. However, if you're a Bruce Campbell fan, you'll be more than happy with what you get. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. Bad Breaks (S2.13) 
2. Lesser Evil (S2.16)
3. Shock Wave (S6.06)
4. Sea Change (S7.12)
5. Dead To Rights (S5.12)
6. Last Stand (S4.18)
7. Devil You Know (S3.16)
8. You Can Run (S6.17)
9. Double Booked (S2.08)
10. Desperate Times (S6.10)
11. Out Of The Fire (S4.17)
12. Tipping Point (S7.11)
13. Reckoning (S7.13)
14. Do No Harm (S2.10)
15. Hard Time (S4.10)
16. Means & Ends (S6.12)
17. Friendly Fire (S3.11)
18. Scorched Earth (S6.01)
19. Guilty As Charged (S4.12)
20. Game Change (S6.18)
21. Long Way Back (S3.09)
22. Good Soldier (S2.09) 
23. Dead Drop (S1.11)
24. Under The Gun (S6.04)
25. Enemies Closer (S3.13)
26. Company Man (S5.01)
27. Dead Or Alive (S4.16)
    
28. Over The Line (S6.13)
29. Depth Perception (S5.16)
30. Where There's Smoke (S4.08)
31. Broken Rules (S1.07)
32. Desperate Measures (S6.11)
33. Question And Answer (S3.02)
34. Fail Safe (S5.18)
35. Psychological Warfare (S7.07)
36. Eyes Open (S4.13)
37. Rough Seas (S2.07)
38. Entry Point (S4.06)
39. Blind Spot (S4.11)
40. Army Of One (S5.10)
41. Friends And Family (S3.01)
42. Loose Ends (S1.12)
43. Shot In The Dark (S3.07)
44. Hot Spot (S2.11)
45. Good Intentions (S3.15)
46. Fast Friends (S4.02)
47. Damned If You Do (S5.13)
48. No Good Deed (S5.04)
49. A Dark Road (S3.10)
50. Unpaid Debts (S1.06)
51. Mixed Messages (S6.02)
52. Bad Blood (S2.06)
53. Neighborhood Watch (S4.05)
54. Acceptable Loss (S5.17)
55. Odd Man Out (S6.16)
56. Forget Me Not (S7.02)
57. Fearless Leader (S3.04)
58. Brotherly Love (S4.15)
59. Bloodlines (S5.02)
60. Breaking And Entering (S2.01)
61. Sins Of Omission (S2.15)
62. Better Halves (S5.11
63. Official Business (S6.09)
64. Hard Bargain (S1.09)
65. Noble Causes (S3.12)
66. Friends And Enemies (S4.01)
67. Wanted Man (S1.08)
68. Friends Like These (S3.08)
69. Split Decision (S6.05)
70. Brothers In Arms (S7.04)
71. Trust Me (S2.03)
72. Down & Out (S6.14)
73. Square One (S5.05)
74. Scatter Point (S2.05)
75. Made Man (S4.03)
76. Hot Property (S4.14)
77. Necessary Evil (S5.15)
78. All Or Nothing (S7.06)
79. Reunion (S6.07)
80. End Run (S3.03)
81. New Deal (S7.01)
82. Fight Or Flight (S1.03)
83. Center Of The Storm (S4.09)
84. Things Unseen (S7.10)
85. Hard Out (S5.08)
86. Seek And Destroy (S2.12)
87. Mind Games (S5.03)
88. Pilot (S1.01)
89. Turn And Burn (S2.02)
90. False Flag (S1.10)
91. Enemy Of My Enemy (S5.06)
92. Best Laid Plans (S6.15)
93. Past & Future Tense (S4.07)
94. Nature Of The Beast (S7.08)
95. Comrades (S2.04)
96. Down Range (S7.03)
97. Old Friends (S1.04)
98. Breach Of Faith (S4.04)
99. Truth And Reconciliation (S2.14)
100. Last Rites (S6.03)
101. Breaking Point (S5.14)
102. Signals And Codes (S3.05)
103. Exit Plan (S7.05)
104. Partners In Crime (S3.14) 
105. Identity (S1.02)
106. Unchained (S6.08)
107. Eye For An Eye (S5.09)
108. Bitter Pill (S7.09)
109. Family Business (S1.05)
110. The Hunter (S3.06)
111. Besieged (S5.07)

Episode Rankings: Mr Robot

Mr Robot was one of the first shows I reviewed on this blog, and it's one that I have a very conflicted relationship with. It's an incredibly crafted show that everyone should watch, with great acting, striking cinematography, insane twists, a strong sense of intensity, and a depiction of hacking that's actually realistic and not just "cyber nukes are attacking my mainframe!". However, it also has a lot of frustrating red herrings, abrupt character deaths, and an ending that almost ruined the show for me. Despite all that, however, as long as you don't mind being baffled, confused, and maybe a little frustrated, Mr Robot is an experience unlike any other and a must-watch show. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00 (S3.05) - Many shows and movies try the "long-take gimmick". This episode had my favorite execution of them all. 
2. eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v (S1.08) - One of my favorite twists in all of television, nothing Mr Robot did was able to top this one.
3. shutdown -r (S3.10) - How to nail your season finale: Shove the show's entire cast into a single room and let them loose, it works perfectly.
4. 405 Method Not Allowed (S4.05)
5. eps3.5_kill-pr0cess.inc (S3.06) - How the hell do you come this close to topping runtime-err0r.r00?
6. eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme (S2.07)
7. 407 Proxy Authentication Required (S4.07)
8. eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt (S1.09)
9. 409 Conflict (S4.09)
10. eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes (S2.06)
11. eps1.9_zer0-day.avi (S1.10)
12. eps2.9_pyth0n-pt2.p7z (S2.12)
13. eps1.5_br4ve-trave1er.asf (S1.06)
14. eps3.1_undo.gz (S3.02)
15. 402 Payment Required (S4.02)
16. eps3.6_fredrick+tanya.chk (S3.07)
17. eps1.0_hellofriend.mov (S1.01)
18. eps2.3_logic-b0mb.hc (S2.05)
19. eXit (S4.11)
20. eps2.9_pyth0n-pt1.p7z (S2.12)
21. eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h (S3.01)
22. 401 Unauthorized (S4.01)
23. eps2.7_init_5.fve (S2.09)
24. 408 Request Timeout (S4.08)
25. eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx (S2.10)
26. 410 Gone (S4.10)
27. eps3.8_stage3.torrent (S3.09)
28. eps1.2_d3bug.mkv (S1.03)
29. eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc (S2.02)
30. 406 Not Acceptable (S4.06)
31. eps1.4_3xpl0its.wmv (S1.05)
32. eps1.6_v1ew-s0urce.flv (S1.07)
33. eps1.1_ones-and-zer0es.mpeg (S1.02)
34. eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc (S2.01)
35. 404 Not Found (S4.04)
36. eps3.3_m3tadata.par2 (S3.04)
37. eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko (S3.08) - I totally get why some people love this one but for me, it suffers from coming directly after not one, not two, but three of the best episodes in the whole show.
38. eps2.2_init_1.asec (S2.04)
39. eps2.6_succ3ss0r.p12 (S2.08)
40. eps3.2_legacy.so (S3.03)
41. 403 Forbidden (S4.03)
42. eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd (S2.03)
43. eps1.3_da3m0ns.mp4 (S1.04) - Apparently this episode foreshadows the finale a bit. I always thought this was one of the weakest ones so... not a very good sign...
44. Hello, Elliot (S4.13) - I'm still mad about this ending. Mr Robot was on track to being one of my favorite shows ever, but that final twist really messed everything up 
45. whoami (S4.12)

Episode Rankings: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is just a really solid comedy, reliably funny and a great pick if you want something comfortable. Here's my ranking of its episodes:

1. HalloVeen (S5.04)
2. The Last Day: Part 2 (S8.10)
3. Game Night (S5.10)
4. Ransom (S7.12)
5. Cinco De Mayo (S6.16)
6. The Box (S5.14)
7. The Last Ride (S4.15)
8. The Last Day: Part 1 (S8.09)
9. Jake And Amy (S5.22)
10. Ding Dong (S7.07)
11. Johnny And Dora (S2.12)
12. Ninety-Nine (S5.09)
13. Halloween IV (S4.05)
14. Lights Out (S7.13)
15. Windbreaker City (S2.15)
16. Yippie Kayak (S3.10)
17. Tactical Village (S1.19)
18. Beach House (S2.12)
19. The Bet (S1.13)
20. Dillman (S7.09)
21. Halloween III (S3.05)
22. Honeymoon (S6.01)
23. Charges And Specs (S1.22)
24. Suicide Squad (S6.18)
25. The Negotiation (S5.13)
26. Four Movements (S6.04)
27. Moo Moo (S4.16)
28. The Oolong Slayer (S3.04)
29. Pimemento (S7.03)
30. The Crime Scene (S6.06)
31. The Jimmy Jab Games (S2.03)
32. Halloween (S1.06)
33. Sicko (S6.17)
34. Show Me Going (S5.20)
35. The Fugitive: Part 2 (S4.12)
36. Valloweaster (S7.11)
37. The 9-8 (S3.15)
38. Operation: Broken Feather (S1.15)
39. The Road Trip (S2.09)
40. The Bimbo (S6.13)
41. The Lake House (S8.02)
42. Safe House (S5.12)
43. Greg And Larry (S3.23)
44. The Big House: Part 2 (S5.02)
45. The Takeback (S7.08)
46. Renewal (S8.08)
47. Bureau (S3.22)
48. Halloween II (S2.04)
49. Coral Palms: Part 3
50. The Vulture (S1.05)
51. Boyle-Linetti Wedding (S2.17)
52. Kicks (S5.03)
53. The Cruise (S3.13)
54. Bachelorette Party (S5.19)
55. Manhunter (S7.01)
56. Lockdown (S2.07)
57. A Tale Of Two Bandits (S6.05)
58. The Party (S1.16)
59. The Chopper (S2.22)
60. The Fugitive: Part 1 (S4.11)
61. New Captain (S3.01)
62. Paranoia (S3.20)
63. The Jimmy Jab Games II (S7.04)
64. The Set-Up (S8.06)
65. Jake And Sophia (S2.06)
66. White Whale (S5.21)
67. Thanksgiving (S1.10)
68. Cop-Con (S4.17)
69. The Honeypot (S6.07)
70. Ava (S3.08)
71. The Pontiac Bandit Returns (S2.10)
72. Ticking Clocks (S6.14)
73. The Tattler (S6.03)
74. Old School (S1.08)
75. The Puzzle Master (S5.15)
76. The Night Shift (S4.04)
77. Unsolvable (S1.21)
78. Captain Kim (S7.02)
79. Chasing Amy (S4.18)
80. The Funeral (S3.02)
81. The Big House: Part 1 (S5.01)
82. The Mole (S2.05)
83. Grey Star Mutual (S5.18)
84. The Golden Child (S6.09)
85. Defense Rests (S2.14)
86. Bad Beat (S5.05)
87. Hitchcock & Scully (S6.02)
88. 48 Hours (S1.07)
89. Undercover (S2.01)
90. The Favor (S5.11)
91. Pilot (S1.01)
92. Casecation (S6.12)
93. The Mattress (S3.07)
94. Monster In The Closet (S4.06)
95. The Wednesday Incident (S2.16)
96. House Mouses (S3.16)
97. Maximum Security (S3.21)
98. Coral Palms: Part 1 (S4.01)
99. Christmas (S1.11)
100. Skyfire Cycle (S4.08)
101. He Said, She Said (S6.08)
102. Admiral Peralta (S7.10)
103. NutriBoom (S5.16)
104. Karen Peralta (S3.14)
105. The Tagger (S1.02)
106. Detective Dave Majors (S2.21)
107. Game Of Boyles (S8.07)
108. Two Turkeys (S5.07)
109. The Apartment (S1.18)
110. Boyle's Hunch (S3.03)
111. DFW (S5.17)
112. Trying (S7.06)
113. Terry Kitties (S3.19)
114. Captain Peralta (S2.18)
115. Ms Santiago (S4.07)
116. Serve & Protect (S4.14)
117. The Therapist (S6.11)
118. Balancing (S8.04)
119. Full Boyle (S1.17)
120. The Bank Job (S4.21)
121. Coral Palms: Part 2 (S4.02) 
122. Hostage Situation (S3.11)
123. The Slump (S1.03)
124. The Overmining (S4.09)
125. Chocolate Milk (S2.02)
126. Adrian Pimento (S3.17)
127. Sal's Pizza (S1.09)
128. The Audit (S4.13)
129. Pontiac Bandit (S1.12)
130. Into The Woods (S3.06)
131. The Slaughterhouse (S4.20)
132. PB&J (S8.05)
133. USPIS (S2.08)
134. Gintars (S6.10)
135. Debbie (S7.05)
136. Stakeout (S2.11)
137. Cheddar (S3.18)
138. The Ebony Falcon (S1.14)
139. Me Time (S1.04)
140. The Good Ones (S8.01)
141. Crime And Punishment (S4.22)
142. Nine Days (S3.12)
143. The Swedes (S3.09)
144. The Venue (S5.06)
145. Fancy Brudgom (S1.20)
146. Blue Flu (S8.03)
147. Sabotage (S2.19)
148. Captain Latvia (S4.10)
149. Your Honor (S4.19)
150. Payback (S2.13)
151. AC/DC (S2.20)
152. Return To Skyfire (S5.08)
153. Return Of The King (S6.15)

Book Of Boba Fett (Season 1)

I was really kinda excited for this one. One of my favorite Mandalorian episodes so far was the Boba Fett episode, directed by Robert Rodriguez. I was really excited for the potential of a show with episodes exactly like that one, with Rodriguez being able to do whatever the hell he wanted. What we got, however, is one of the most poorly-plotted and executed shows I've ever seen, and it just kept getting worse...

Book of Boba Fett is a show about the titular character (along with Fennec Shand) taking over for Jabba and becoming the crime lord of his territory in Tatooine. This seems like a really cool premise, as we get to see more of Temeura Morrison's take on Fett as well as more focus on Fennec Shand, one of my favorite new Star Wars characters. However, the series almost immediately fell apart when I realized that half of the first episode was just flashbacks of how Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc Pit. That's probably my biggest gripe with the series, the first four episodes are composed of like 75% flashbacks and 25% present day story, which makes for a really poorly-paced show. Even worse, those flashbacks just feel unneccessary to me. The Mandalorian did a great job of leaving enough hints that you could infer what happened to Boba Fett between it and Return Of The Jedi, The flashbacks did have some neat scenes like the train chase, the Ratcatcher droid scene, and Fennec blowing up the Sarlacc, but the show spending so much time on things the audience pretty much already knows wastes time from the present day stuff, which ends up having some major problems of its own. I'm not a fan of some of the story directions taken in the flashbacks either, like the entire first episode being spent on Boba Fett being tortured and the tuskan raiders getting abruptly killed off.

Boba and Fennec trying to run Tatooine was a much more compelling storyline than the flashbacks, at least at first. I think Boba and Fennec's dynamic is by far the best thing about the show, their banter is great and gives the series so much energy. However, this storyline suffers from feeling really overstuffed, often writing out characters introduced in previous episodes to make way for new ones. The biggest example was The Twins, who initially seemed like an intimidating antagonist over the show only to leave Tatooine in Episode 3. By the final episode, there was only enough present day stuff (not counting the Mando stuff) to make up a little more than a single episode of the series, which is just awful pacing, no matter how you cut it. I also think the show suffers from Rodriguez's direction in some early episodes, both of which were far and away the worst in the series. They looked oddly cheap, with some bad effects and baffling directoral choices, and ended up having the bulk of my plot issues with the show. They made a bad first impression for Boba, and while every episode not directed by him looked so much better, they still struggled to make up for that rough start.

However, this is only how I'd describe the first four episodes of the show, because the second half of Book Of Boba Fett is an entirely different beast. In Episode 5, we had a perspective shift to see what The Mandalorian was up to, and I kinda liked it. It was a well-directed episode and nice change of pace to tie Mando into this show's storyline, and I expected to return to Boba soon enough. But then we got Episode 6, which not only shafted Boba Fett again, but instead focused on Luke, Grogu, Timothy Olyphant's character, Ahsoka, and Cad Bane all in the course of a single episode. That was the breaking point for me. I can't even begin to explain how much I despised this episode. I was already annoyed with Luke showing up in The Mandalorian, but this is just plain ridiculous! The whole episode was nonstop hollow fanservice and nostalgia baiting, and everything I hated about this generation of Star Wars. I watch Star Wars to see something I've never seen before, there's a whole universe to explore and we get the same ten characters showing up in everything! The least I wanted from Book Of Boba Fett was a look into the politics and underworld of Tatooine, to breath new life into what's become a fairly generic planet, but we couldn't even get that! The finale was actually one of the better episodes, as it brought back the focus to Boba Fett and had some of Rodriguez's best (or least bad) direction, but the fact that there was virtually no show to set it up meant that it felt kind of rushed and hollow. It tries to be a large-scale final battle that brings back all the characters that you know and love, but I don't know and love any of them because they barely got any screentime, depth, or development.

Overall, I tend to not get burned by Star Wars. I love the sequels and have a lot of nostalgia for the prequels despite their divisive natures. But Book Of Boba Fett felt like the first Star Wars property to not just disappoint me but genuinely anger me. The show was already rough with its abundance of pace-killing flashbacks, wasted characters and plot points, and inconsistent visuals, but even that was better than the show bringing the focus off the main character to bring the audience on soulless nostalgia trips.  By the finale, for the first time ever, I was sick of Star Wars. My favorite franchise ever. 

1/5 Stars