Here we are, folks, back in that galaxy far, far away to check in with The Bad Batch for their third episode. After a stellar premiere episode and a resoundingly impressive follow up, this week sees the show slow the pace down to let the ramifications of the previous two episodes settle in before we can move forward. With plenty of military intrigue and big monsters to go around, let’s take a look at Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s third episode, “Replacement,” in Five Thoughts.
Oh, as always, spoilers below. Duh.
1. On The Back Foot
Last week, we saw the Empire ascendant and they were shown to be a fairly formidable force despite a somewhat tumultuous transition away from the Republic. This episode opens by continuing that theme, leaving the Bad Batch drifting through hyperspace and trying to fix their damaged ship before it falls apart around them completely. There’s something genuinely quite interesting in the way this show operates as a transition point from The Clone Wars to Rebels in terms of animated shows and from the dying days of the Republic to the burgeoning strength of the new Empire in terms of wider Star Wars lore.
In just three episodes, they’ve managed to very effectively communicate just why that transition period created a staying power in the Empire that would last over two decades despite being so nakedly and openly terrible. We’ll circle back around this point, but one of the newly recruited soldiers under Crosshair mentions that the Empire feds and clothes him, which is more than the Republic ever did for him and I just can’t help but enjoy the dramatic irony in the way Star Wars can have characters who are very earnest about their belief in such a cartoonishly evil Empire.
2. Another Happy Landing
Man, I’d hate to be an insurance provider in the Star Wars galaxy. Every goddamn hero ship in one of these stories crashes sooner or later, and I’m honestly quite surprised by how soon it happened here. Hell, I didn’t even get around to learning what the ship is called. Thankfully, this is a lot less The Mandalorian, where the Razor Crest is stripped for parts or submerged underwater or blown up every other episode, and a little more The Empire Strikes Back where the ship being grounded is a platform for an adventure side story.
3. The New War Effort, or Good Soldiers Follow Orders
Crosshair might be my new favourite Star Wars villain in a hot minute, and it’s precisely because I know for a fact someone is bound to have read that first part of this sentence and immediately recoiled at my calling him a villain. Yes, his actions are controlled by his inhibitor chip and he has no real conscious control over his instincts or personality, but, christ, is he creepy. There’s something so genuinely wonderful about the show making Crosshair the most creepy, snake-like, skeevy weirdo in the world and then undercutting that with just enough compassion for the loss of his brothers that, even after he slaughtered a number of innocents in cold blood, watching him walk into his barracks, that was once filled with the boisterous charm and personality of Clone Force 99, in dead and silent misery makes me feel genuinely sorry for him.
Unlike Admiral Rampart, who shows up to be The Bad Batch‘s answer to, I’m assuming, early season Kallus. The generic Imperial agent with a chip on his shoulder and a vision for the galaxy that will put him on a path to hound our heroes to the end. At least, I certainly hope it’s not that obvious. I do love that the transition from using clones to conscripting civilians as soldiers is something that is text to The Bad Batch as opposed to simply a background detail in wider Star Wars canon and, as I mentioned, I love that they’re putting thought and effort into the characterisation of the Imperials, for the most part. I can’t wait to see where they take it with this mysterious Project War Mantle.
4. Creature Feature
I can fully see some people calling this episode filler, especially in terms of the Bad Batch’s side of the story, but there’s just something I find so honestly entertaining whenever Star Wars pulls out a new big monster for the heroes to encounter. I’ve been watching a lot of Shōwa era Godzilla films recently and it’s no secret that Ishirō Honda’s kaiju films have been a massive inspiration on Star Wars throughout its existence and this episode wears that inspiration on its sleeve. There’s obviously parallels to the Mynock scene in Empire, as I mentioned, but I was also reminded of the Zillo Beast arc of The Clone Wars and, to an extent, the giant snake thing from The Rise Of Skywalker.
Continued belowThe reason I bring up these examples is that they’re also stories in which the heroes encounter a big alien creature in their story and the creature just happens to be trying to survive, just as they are. This isn’t a violent conflict so much as it is a struggle over resources which I really appreciate in a story; it cuts through the generic action plotting that, for example, something like the big ice spider episode in The Mandalorian suffered from and allows for more recognition of circumstances from the characters in search of a solution where kill or be killed isn’t a foregone conclusion. Is it the more lore important episode in the history of Star Wars? God, no. Is it a fun little romp for our heroes while the villains plot in the background? Sure is, and I loved it.
5. Omega Steps Up
I’m not going to lie, it does feel odd that this is the third episode in a row which ends with Omega doing something surprising to save the lives of the Bad Batch in an otherwise tense and potentially deadly situation which leads to the group embracing her as one of their own and having the final moment of the episode being one where Omega gets to experience a comfort she’s never experienced before. It’s a bit… same-y, to say the least. That is to say, I love what they’re doing with Omega and Hunter and the rest of the Bad Batch in terms of characterisation, from the writing to the performances to the animation, it’s just that the way that is being communicated through the plotting and structure of the episodes so far is through a series of very similar feeling events and scenes. I know I just finished saying this I loved this episode for being a silly, little adventure and I stand by that, but I hope from here we actually get to see something from Star Wars we’ve never seen before. I want something new and exciting.
