Welcome back to our corner of a galaxy far, far away as we check in on what’s happening this week in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The last two episodes really turned things around for me on this show, I was pretty critical of it overall and mostly not enjoying myself as the show barrelled through some lackluster episodes. Now, though, I’m happy to say that I’m really enjoying myself with this show and this episode may be one of the best of the bunch.
Let’s find out how as we dive into Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s “Infested” in Five Thoughts. Oh, and spoilers, obviously.
1. Changing Of The Guard
Coming back to Ord Mantell, I have to say I was wary of the direction of this episode in the beginning. After spending two episodes with a focus on a completely different, if familiar story on Ryloth, going back to the status quo of yet an episode opening with the Bad Batch walking into Cid’s bar after an off-screen job was something I was kind of dreading. Thankfully, this episode immediately took that expectation and turned it on its head by introducing Roland Durand, an opportunistic heir to a criminal dynasty who has bought out Cid’s parlour in a big for territorial power. That’s a really interesting wrinkle to the story that showcases the ripple effects of the actions of a wider galaxy influencing our heroes’s journey. This is the exact sort of story I’ve been waiting for The Bad Batch to tell.
We’ll get more into it, but Roland Durand is one of the more interesting and fun to watch characters that Star Wars has introduced in a hot minute and it was really impressive to see how easily he worked in this story. Where the last two episodes worked because they leaned more on continuing a long-running thematic subplot than what the Bad Batch was up to, this episode works because it completely shakes up the status quo in a really interesting and seemingly lasting way and a lot of it is through Roland’s inclusion. He’s a dynamic and genuinely interestingly faceted character who, in one episode, becomes a surprisingly engaging piece of the puzzle. I can’t wait to see more of him.
2. Paying Off Investments
I’ve been… hard on The Bad Batch. I’ve admitted it before, but, sure, I’ve judged this show pretty harshly for even the most mediocre of episodes and I don’t necessarily feel like it’s the most fair to go into what is primarily a children’s show with that kind of attitude, but the Star Wars brand does confer a certain expectation of quality. That’s why I’m really stoked that this episode took advantage of all of my complaints of the series so far and actually did something with them. I noted in the previous two episodes that The Bad Batch almost seems to work better when the group isn’t the centre of attention and they move through the stories and lives of those around them and this episode does that perfectly. Not only does it do that perfectly, but it makes that character Cid and pays off the amount of emotional investment put into her character so far. I really like Cid and even though she’s a pretty present part of the show, her role has never really been more active than giving the Bad Batch their job for the episode.
Here, Cid’s a main character and the guiding light through the web of intrigue and stealth that the Bad Batch fall into because of her. It not only allows Cid some really interesting moments of depth, but it allows the Bad Batch to reflect on their purpose and nature because of their relationship with Cid. This is one of the few times we’ve seen the Bad Batch do a job like this not out of a sense of brotherly bonding or pure survival, but out of a specific loyalty. They don’t owe Cid anything except for the fact that she was there and offered them a job when no one else would. It really rounds out the relationship they’ve had with Cid since she was introduced and paves the way for an interesting new place for the story to go.
Continued below3. Changing Formats, Raising Stakes
I simply love it when Star Wars has moments of cinematic fun, throwing out convention and fully committing to using Star Wars as a way of exploring and experimenting with screen language. Animation makes that all the more available as they’re not beholden to anything beyond the style of animation. As the Bad Batch and Cid delve deep into the tunnels of Ord Mantell to steal the spice, there’s a genuine sequence of pure tension. Dread creeps in with the shadows and the quiet. Pushing the lighting capabilities of what these shows can do now, The Bad Batch takes what’s otherwise a pretty standard Star Wars monster threat and amps it up to something genuinely scary with nothing but atmosphere.
The threat of some subterranean something that isn’t a problem if they’re quiet is a pretty rote idea that naturally needs something to spice it up. Whether it’s the actual creature itself or the specific threat it represents, there’s some level of seasoning needed. What worked for me here is that The Bad Batch employed careful of use of cinematic atmosphere to escalate the tension in a way that didn’t require the threat to be all that important, just the feeling of it being immediate. Like, the Irlings are pretty standard Star Wars bug monster fare by this point, but it’s the genuine tension of the build up to their reveal that made them a notable part of this episode.
4. A Bad Deal
This episode introduced the Pykes perfectly. They are immediately a present, dynamic threat to be dealt with and manoeuvred around. This isn’t the Empire, you can’t brute force your way through the Pykes. The seedy underbelly of Star Wars has always lead to its most interesting and lasting characters and any story set in that world needs to maintain that level of unpredictability that makes it so unique. The Pykes may be a uniform, faceless organisation, but it’s not one to be trifled with. Not when they have such an imbalance in power in any situation they walk into. Any action against them is war and just being able to walk away from this episode is a decisive victory for our heroes.
With the Pykes now established and the Bad Batch frequenting themselves amongst the underworld of Star Wars, it’s only a matter of time before we end up seeing a wider picture of where the underworld is currently. With the Empire taking over and the power vacuum left by the end of the Clone Wars slowly filling, where do the chips fall? It’s probably far too early in the timeline to maybe wish that we’ll get to see what Maul’s up to in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars, but either way, I can’t wait to see what parts of the Star Wars underworld this show explores next.
5. Bringing The Party Together
I really think this show is beginning to find its feet and how to structure itself and I’m really glad it’s seem to find it this early. As harsh as I’ve been on The Bad Batch, both The Clone Wars and Rebels took more than one season to find its flow. There feels like a comfortable equilibrium now as the show enters its final two episodes. I both don’t know what to expect, but am expecting to enjoy it. There’s something about this show that makes me think of a tabletop RPG party. With a big, explosive opening that introduced a lot of the moving pieces, there was a lull as the show tried to figure out what to do with each pieces and where it was supposed to go. Now, things are falling into place and while the overall narrative of the show’s first season remains to be played out, it’s gotten to a point where I’m hardpressed not to be invested in this show and these characters. That’s pretty big praise coming from the fact that by this point into the first season of Rebels, I was ready to call it quits on that show. Though, given how that show turned out, I don’t know if that’s something to brag about.
