Episode 5 of the Mandalorian compared to a New Hope. Also...Boba Fett?

Long time Star Wars nerd here, if you didn't already know. I'm here to show how much fan service was actually in the latest episode of the Mandalorian. I've watched it once now, so I might have missed a few things. Stick around to the end and add anything you caught I might have missed! Spoilers for the episode beyond this point, obviously.

Back in 1977, when the first Star Wars debuted, one of the most powerful scenes was the opening. As soon as the opening crawl ended and faded away, we were treated to a pan down of the moons and surface of Tatooine with the Tantive IV flying past. Wow! So here is  shot #1.

Iconic opening scene...

The next scene, almost immediately after scene 1, is a sweeping view of the Mos Eisley space port with the Razor Crest coming in for a landing. The match comes from when Luke, Ben and the droids are checking out the city for the first time.

You'll never find a more wretched hive...

Of scum and villainy...

When visiting lovely Mos Eisley, you better stop in at the Cantina! Now droids allowed! (In fact, they're serving you drinks!)

The actual cantina... minus a few characters. Look! There's Treadwell the droid...

And when in the Cantina, make sure you check out Han Solo's booth. Too bad this character didn't have half the charisma as Han.

I have a bad feeling about this...

This next scene wasn't actually in a New Hope, but I remembered the photo on one of my old Star Wars books when I was a kid. I always thought that Stormtrooper was pretty awesome and that the Dewback was just as cool, and lifelike.

Dewback!

There were a lot of other things that were Star Wars fan service as well. From the EV robot serving drinks, to the R5 droid rolling past, that Treadwell droid I showed in one of the pictures, even the tracking systems on the star fighters were old school. But was this all worth it?

It... felt different, this episode. It was a familiar trip down memory lane and I appreciated it. But is the story enough to carry this episode without all the flashbacks? I mean, if you removed all these nods, does the story stand alone?

What we have is a story of Mando helping out a young bounty hunter in need. Or trying to. The kid ends up falling prey to dreams of fame and fortune and tries to go against Mando. Who pretty much takes him out in a fairly unspectacular fashion. All Mando is learning is not to trust anyone. And he didn't really help.

I'm going to watch it again, just because I like to see if I missed anything the first time around. To say goodbye, here is my final comment on that "mysterious stranger" at the end of the episode. I heard a clinking like spurs, and something triggered in my subconscious. Where had I heard that before? Then it hit me.

If you have Disney+ go to these two times and listen. You'll hear the same sound effect...

If you listen to the sound of the spurs here and in the Empire Strikes Back, you'll find they are identical. Is Boba Fett going to make a come back? And does he need to?

It would make sense. Boba Fett climbed out of the Sarlacc from Jedi on Tatooine. He could have been hanging out on this planet for a while now. And Mando has obviously been here before. He can talk with the Tusken Raiders. 

As a child, I'd have died to see Boba Fett make a return. But now, do we need to see him? Would it make sense? And would it take away from this show? 

What do you think? Did you notice anything I missed? Do you agree with the Boba Fett thing? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!