Hey! Hallie here!
I finally got around to watching the latest episode of ‘The Bad Batch’ and wow. This episode got kind of dark, especially with how cute the storyline between Omega and the other clones was. There isn’t much I can say here without SPOILERS, so here’s your warning for the review ahead. I can say I’m interested to see just how far they’re going to go with the heavier themes they’ve been establishing. I have so much I want to talk about so let’s get right into it.
The Good:
Omega and the Bad Batch: This storyline was mostly focused on Omega, but it cleverly used a small, deserted planet to put the focus primarily on the characters. In this episode we got to see all four members of the Bad Batch begin to appreciate how difficult it is for Omega to be traveling with them as a child. Hunter is probably the most aware of this, which makes sense given the character growth he went through in the last episode, but all of the members had to acknowledge that they should be more courteous around her. Wrecker was primarily used for this. He started out the episode seriously considering taking Omega’s rations because of how hungry he was, and ended the episode by creating a small bedroom for her on the ship. He even gave her his stuffed toy to help decorate. This type of focus on Omega could have infantilized her, but the show cleverly avoided this. Instead it introduced an environmental villain Omega was particularly suited to go up against after the Bad Batch’s ship crash lands on a dark, mysterious planet. While Tech and Echo are attempting to repair the ship, they realize that it’s being attacked by some local wildlife. Omega manages to convince Hunter to let her go with him to find the beast and get back an important part Tech needs to fix the ship. Hunter ends up getting knocked out and Omega has to venture into the beast’s lair alone, where she manages to outsmart the creature without hurting it and retrieve the part. I love that every time they emphasize how young Omega is they always make sure the audience knows she isn’t someone to mess with, either.
Crosshair and the Empire: Crosshair is back and with him comes a very dark storyline for the Empire. Crosshair still seems to be doubting himself, especially in situations where he’s reminded of the friends he left behind, but his hesitation is only ever momentary. In this episode it seems the Empire is successfully keeping him under their control and, even worse, Imperial Admiral Rampart is now introducing the beginnings of the Storm Troopers. Seemingly to prevent the Empire from having to spend any more money paying the Kaminoans for clones, Rampart suggests they start recruiting humans and train them under experienced clones. They test this out with Crosshair, who is given a troupe of human fighters to work with. They send the new group after the rebels we saw Saw Gerrera leading a little while ago. They don’t make it in time to find Gerrera, but they do find some inhabitants of the nearby village using the resources he set up to escape the planet. When all of them refuse to give away the location of Gerrera, one of the human fighters protests against killing the group, especially because there are children among them. However, Crosshair uses the moment to remind the group why he was put in charge by murdering the guy in cold blood and overseeing the rest of them as they fire on the villagers, killing them. It was a very dark scene that demonstrated how horrific the Empire really is. All of this contrasted with the other members of the Bad Batch admitting they miss Crosshair and Omega assuring them that he is still good at heart, he simply can’t control his actions. It hits well emotionally, but maybe for the wrong reasons.
The Bad (Batch):
Crosshair: Here he is again, which might be a bit confusing. As I said above, seeing the way he’s being controlled vs the way the other members of the Bad Batch are missing him right now was emotional. But not because I cared at all about Crosshair. While Omega keeps assuring the Bad Batch, and the audience, that Crosshair is a good guy, I’m not sure I believe her. I know he’s being controlled, but all we got of Crosshair before the chip kicked in was a completely sadistic personality mixed with some general rudeness. I can’t help but agree with Tech in this situation. I don’t even know if he would be a good person without the chip. If they’re trying to play off Crosshair’s current position as tragic, it isn’t working. They needed to have established that he was actually worth converting before they decided to turn him into a villain.
The Character Development: I liked the character moments we got in this episode, but none of the characters really went anywhere. Hunter already learned to respect Omega last episode, so there wasn’t much here for him. Omega has established herself as both capable and caring, so while I liked that she got to show it off here, it wasn’t new. Wrecker has already shown how much he likes kids and that his occasional mistakes are never malicious, so it wasn’t a surprise he tripped up around Omega and decided to right his wrongs. Tech and Echo hardly got anything. With so few episodes, I hope we get more character development really soon here. This episode didn’t do too much in that regard.
Overall I liked this episode! I hope to see more from the characters in the future, but the plot seems to be going somewhere very interesting. The Empire is really shining right now with its surprisingly important and horrific storyline. While I liked the bonding amongst Omega and the Bad Batch in this episode, I hope next episode we get something more impactful and active. Nothing has beat the first episode so far, but none of these episodes have been bad at all!
Don’t do anything fun until I get back!
Hallie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 