Over-reliance on "flashback in a dream" is a sign of catastrophically weak storytelling

[Orrex]

I'm looking at you, Boba Fett.

Also, the back & forth between current day intrigue and flashback origin story gets really tiresome really quick. It's barely tolerable in a long-form show on the CW, but in a concentrated ~6 episode miniseries it's an absolute failure.

I hope that they abandon this trite gimmick going forward.

On the plus side, TBoBF didn't open with a scene a headstone from behind with characters standing around making somber statements, only to have the next scene jump to "Three weeks earlier..." That's an unmistakable hallmark of creative bankruptcy.


Boba Fett has been a fan favorite since his cartoon debut, and he deserves a more compelling story than they're giving him so far.

[Dr. Strange]

1. You ain't wrong.

I also feel like the series is a bit of a revisionist history, trying to clean up the images of Boba Fett (somewhat acceptable) and the Tusken Raiders (bordering on nonsensical).

[Orrex]

3. I don't need kinder, gentler Raiders

Last edited Tue Jan 11, 2022, 12:38 AM - Edit history (2)

I had a fiction/screenwriting prof years ago who often used the phrase "don't play the packing," by which he meant that we shouldn't reveal the entire backstory (in which the character is "packed" ), because doing so will invariably weaken that story, and usually the character as well.

Weeks before it premiered, I opined that the the three things the Solo film should not do were:

1. Show us how he got the Falcom
2. Show us how he met Chewie
3. Show us how he did the Kessel Run

Those three things made up 90% of the film, more's the pity.

It would be enough for Boba to say "Tuskens found me, and they taught me their ways," and leave it at that. Spending so much time in the past will cause the viewer to think that the present story is too weak or thin to care about.

But I suspect that the Raiders will figure in as some kind of shock troops later in the series, in what the writers think will be a big, fan-pleasing surprise.

[ruet]

2. I Watched Something Within the Last Year...

that featured a flashback inside of a flashback. It was a prime "WTF are they thinking" moment. ...might have been Virgin River or Law & Order: Organized Crime. Having said that; have you tried Station Eleven? 😎

[Orrex]

4. I once had a fiction workshop...

Granted, we were amateur writers of widely varying quality critiquing each other's story in (hopefully) constructive ways.

One author wrote a dream sequence with a lengthy internal monologue and, you guessed it, a flashback. It was incredibly sloppy, and we told him so (gently).


Haven't tried Station Eleven. Worth a look?

[ruet]

5. Lol.

I think S11 is wonderful but it is flashback and flash forward heavy. ...in a good way. There are a couple scenes (Hamlet) that are just brilliant, IMO. I watched that scene about five times and was blubbering through every one. If you're a fan of Dune; I think the actress who plays the young version of Kristen would make a perfect Alia Atreides in Pt 2 of the movie.