Welcome back! Last week was a big episode for The Bad Batch as a certain intergalactic gunslinger graced our screens and took our precious Omega right out from under the noses of Clone Force 99. Will they be able to get her back? What does Cad Bane even want with Omega? We’ll look into that and more in this week’s look at Star Wars: The Bad Batch in Five Thoughts.
Oh, and spoilers, obviously.
1. Picking Up The Pieces
I’ve been hoping that The Bad Batch would fall into a more serialised format and I’m glad to see this episode pick up directly after the last, as a direct continuation. Despite it’s multi-episode arcs, The Clone Wars was firmly an episodic show with each episode acting as its own short film. Rebels and Resistance weren’t quite on that level, but kept the episodic format in order to be more new viewer friendly with kids being able to drop in on any episode and still be able to grasp the characters, the drama and the stakes.
The Bad Batch and it’s Disney+ home felt like the perfect way of moving away from that formula, especially given that it’s now impossible to just catch an episode at random, and they, for the most part, haven’t. That’s one of the frustrations I’ve had with the show so far: it fell very early into the same kind of pattern that Rebels did as it obfuscated its central conflict under a good amount of inane drama only there to kill time. Here, though, The Bad Batch finally feels like it’s coming into it’s own and, boy, did it make all the difference in this episode.
2. Return Of The Mack
Cad Bane is just the coolest character Star Wars has ever had. Like, there’s no argument. There’s no case to be made here. He just is. That’s it, that’s the entire thought.
No, okay, I actually thinking that bringing back Bane here was the perfect move at the perfect time. It’s the perfect level of dramatic escalation at the right time as the season is staring down the barrel of its final few episodes. The threat of Omega being hunted is something that has played throughout the show, maybe not the extent that I think it could have, but it was certainly an established threat by last episode so when Cad Bane of all beings stepped off that ramp in front of Hunter, it was a reveal that worked perfectly.
What I love about Bane is that he’s never The Bad Guy™. Sure, he’s not exactly the nicest being in the galaxy and he’s cold, callous and calculating (all of which we see in this episode), but something that The Clone Wars instilled in me is that if Cad Bane is involved, there’s always a bigger picture. Cad Bane isn’t the bad guy, he’s just the guy that the bad guys call to make something happen. He’s the perfect bridge from the relative stability of Ord Mantell to wherever the story takes us next. Though, I do have to point out that metal plating on his head; does that mean his training of Boba and subsequent duel already happened? It would make perfect sense for Boba to show up on The Bad Batch and I was hoping that the show would re-use some of the cut content between Bane and Boba, but it looks like they’re picking up after that. Maybe we’ll get to see it in a flashback if Boba ever does turn up, I’m just sad that it looks like we’ll never see a fully realised version of that cut arc from The Clone Wars
3. Omega Separated
See, now, this is how you make an episode about Omega being in danger without it feeling insulting to the intelligence of the viewer. We’ve seen similar scenarios in past episodes and often the danger to Omega feels tame in the grand scheme of things or Omega’s actions don’t befit someone of her age and experience. We went from a very sheltered and quite naïve girl to a battle hardened and quick thinking little badass really quickly over the course of some episodes that, frankly, don’t feel like they earned that transition, but I don’t really care at this point. I like this Omega better and, clearly, the show does too. It’s almost entirely dedicated from her attempted escape from Bane while the rest of the Bad Batch race impotently in their wake.
Continued belowIt’s a fun way of showing how much she’s grown, how much her time around the rest of the Bad Batch has shaped her into this inquisitive and keen survivalist, and goes a long way to connect her tenacity to that of Jango Fett with the revelation that she is a pure, only slightly altered genetic clone. She’s as close to a perfect replication of Jango Fett since Boba, and this episode perfectly encapsulates that in a way that supports the reveal with a story that showcases all of the qualities inherent to her connection with Fett.
4. Battle Of The Bounty Hunters
There’s no other way to put it: this was the highlight of the episode. This was what this entire episode was built around and, boy, did they nail. The atmosphere this fight has, the use of fog, light and shadows was pitch perfect. The art style of this era of Star Wars animation has come a long way since the early days of The Clone Wars and this really felt like The Bad Batch flexing and, I gotta hand it to them, they deserve. Every shot of this fight was immaculate, every pause and recollection of breath only heightens the tension of the situation until it hits a breaking point.
Piggybacking off my last point, I think it was a genius decision to showcase this fight between Bane and Shand through the perspective of Omega, who’s just trying to survive. There are so many shots of Bane and Shand either fighting around Omega as she scrambles away or of the two fighting the background, silhouetted by the fog. It’s a masterclass in taking one very simple concept and spinning it out to fill the episode with wit, drama and tension in an incredibly artistic way. This is the standard I expect from Star Wars.
5. Hunter Reunited
This was not an episode for the Bad Batch, not the crew of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech and Echo, at least. After being firmly in the limelight last week, this is Omega’s episode. Every action taken is on her onus and Hunter and gang really only show up every so often to remind the audience that they’re chasing after Omega. That’s a good thing, actually, seeing that separation from specifically Omega’s perspective does a lot for this episode. Yet I loved that it ended on the note of Hunter reuniting with her. As much as Omega, Hunter is ostensibly our main character and it’s a pretty bold move to do a Lone Wolf And Cub riff where the cub is separated and we don’t get to see the reaction of their guardian. It keeps us at arm’s length from this still rather mysterious figure at the centre of this story and leaves him with a sense of protectiveness over Omega that only the threat of losing someone forever can endear. I’m excited to see how they follow this one up.
