Hello there!
Welcome to my first episode review for The Bad Batch. My reviews will follow my usual format: an overview of the plot (so be aware, there will be spoilers!), my review of the show, then a few “Moments in canon” – references that link to other media and the galaxy as a whole. Today, we’ll be looking at episode 8: “Reunion”.
Plot Summary
On Tipoca City, Crosshair reports to Admiral Rampart that Clone Force 99 has been spotted on Bracca. Lama Su is also present and tries convincing Rampart that they will be great assets if they can be brought back alive, however Rampart orders Crosshair to terminate them.
On Bracca, Wrecker is teaching Omega how to disassemble a thermal explosive when Echo arrives telling them that Hunter wants to speak to them. On their way to Hunter, Echo notices a trio of scrappers observing them and the 2 clones successfully catch and incapacitate them. Echo wants to get off planet, however Hunter wants to take weapons and info from the Star Destroyer with them, which they can use to pay off their debt to Cid.
“In our present situation, we need money. And we have a chance to make a lot of it right here.”
While Tech goes to the bridge to see what information he can download, the rest of the team go to the munitions depot, where they stock up on detonators and a proton torpedo. Omega is called to the bridge to help Tech, but before they can finish, they see 3 Imperial attack shuttles arrive.
Back on Kamino, Lama Su meets with Nala Se. He tells her that they can no longer delay as the Empire’s mission to Bracca is a threat to their contingency plan. Lama Su says they may have to ask for assistance, to which Nala Se questions if they should considering that they already have someone handling matters, but Lama Su says that as long as one of the bounty hunters delivers the young clone intact, that should be all that concerns them.
On Bracca, Crosshair and his unit disembark from the shuttles along with a contingent of clone troopers. One of his unit states that there is too much interference in the atmosphere to pick up any life signals, however Crosshair correctly deduces that they are being jammed. Crosshair sends one shuttle of troopers to find the Havoc Marauder, while the rest of them advance on the Star Destroyer.
“Aren’t we headed to the hangar?”
“Not anymore. We’ll cut through the artillery deck.”
The Bad Batch make their way through the corridors, avoiding the clones looking for them. Tech successfully taps into their comms and hears Crosshair order the patrols to push the Bad Batch towards the hangar. As this had been his plan, Hunter switches plans and leads the group to the artillery deck, however they are quickly surrounded there as Crosshair had guessed that Tech would tap into their comms. Hunter and Omega both try appealing to Crosshair, saying they know he is being controlled by his inhibitor chip, but this does not dissuade Crosshair. With Tech having powered up the Star Destroyer while accessing the data on the computers, he and Echo reroute power to the laser canons nearby, and their unexpected firing creates chaos among the regs and causes the decks to collapse, giving the Bad Batch a chance to escape.
Tech leads the group to the ion engine chamber, with the intention to exit the ship through the chambers at the aft of the ship, however Crosshair anticipates this and gets in a sniping position that pins them down inside the chamber, while one of his squad starts to bring the engine online, which will incinerate the Bad Batch. The group use the explosives they had been commandeering and use them to break the chamber away from the engine, causing the chamber (with the Bad Batch in) to fall to the ground as the engine ignites, causing burns to Crosshair before the engine can be shut down.
“I’ve taken down so many clones over the years. Once you figure out one, the rest are easy.”
The chamber’s fall separated Hunter and Omega from the rest of the group, and they make it back to the Havoc Marauder first, only to find that the regs there have already been dispatched by an unknown assailant. The assailant reveals himself: a Duros bounty hunter (Cad Bane) and his droid Todo 360. Bane refuses to tell Hunter who hired him, and demands that Hunter hand over Omega. Hunter tries to shoot him, but Bane has the quicker draw and shoots Hunter in the chest, before stunning Omega.
Hunter comes around to find the rest of the Bad Batch over him, and as Imperial forces arrive, they fight their way onto the Havoc Marauder and take off. Hunter tells the group that Omega was taken by a bounty hunter and that they have to find her.
Review
Wow, another fantastic episode! After a slow start following a great premiere, the series has really found its feet in the last couple of weeks as we reach the middle of the season.
Before anything else, I want to start by talking about the visuals in this episode, with the limited power in the Star Destroyer and the setting of most of this episode at night allowing for the use of torches and lights on the Imperial shuttles to create scale and scope, while also giving us some beautiful images, especially a couple of moments where Crosshair and other Imperials are silhouetted against the light coming from their shuttles. I also really loved the final sequence as Hunter comes around and is helped onto the ship where we see everything from his perspective, with a reduced vision and a Head-up Display due to him having his helmet. It’s a great moment as it leaves us a little disoriented, exactly how Hunter would feel in that moment given his injuries and him just coming back to consciousness.
I predicted last week that Crosshair would be making his return in this episode, and I was so happy to be right, as the stakes felt so much higher with him there rather than just a detachment of regs, though I loved how Crosshair brought forces with him rather than just his unit – he knows not to underestimate Clone Force 99! Similarly, I loved how Crosshair was such a threat to them as he knows their tactics from all the times they worked together, allowing him to guess that their scans are being jammed and successfully predict that Tech will tap into their comms, allowing him to lead them into a trap, and even after that guessing their next escape route and beating them to the exit. Had it not been for the Bad Batch’s ingenuity – and the detonators they had gone back for – our heroes would have met a gruesome end here. But what I really appreciated as well was that not only was Crosshair a true threat, he was also able to take injury here. So often we seem to see villains constantly foiled but never hurt until they are actually killed, but it looks like Crosshair suffered some serious burns before the engine was shut off.
But what next for Crosshair? He’s now badly injured and has lost Omega while also failing to capture/kill the Bad Batch. Is this the moment that Rampart deems him no longer useful and pushes him to one side? If so, will that lead to him being even more determined to complete his mission, or will it be the first step towards a redemption? Only time will tell.
Probably more important in the immediate story will be Omega’s fate, as she is now in the clutches of Cad Bane. and what a moment that was as he was revealed – safe to say my jaw hit the floor! He is without a doubt one of my favourite bounty hunters, and bringing him in really upped the stakes as we know that this is someone who can go head-to-head against Jedi and win. The scene with him had such great western vibes (no real surprise given his inspiration was Lee Van Cleef), with his iconic wide-brimmed hat, a musical motif that was very western-inspired and then of course the face-off and quick draw against Hunter. If I hadn’t been so worried for Hunter and Omega, I’d have been going crazy! Now it looks like he is working for the Kaminoans judging by the scene in the middle of the episode, s it will be interesting to see what happens next. Will the Bad Batch catch up to him before he can reach Kamino? Will they have to free her from the planet again? Or will another bounty hunter like Fennec intercept Bane and steal Omega for herself, as it certainly sounded like it was the Kaminans who hired her, and maybe also other hunters—perhaps the infighting for the bounty is what will let the Bad Batch find and catch up to them.
A few final thoughts on the episode:
- I must admit that I expected more from Crosshair’s unit, who were hardly any more successful than the regs with them. Hopefully we do not go another 3or 4 weeks without seeing them, so that they can become more of a threat
- It was interesting to see Omega fail the test to disassemble the detonator at the start of the episode. Many people had theorised that she was able to observe and quickly pick up skills, though that did not seem the case here, Expect to see her successfully disable a detonator at some point in the coming weeks, though
- I really appreciated seeing Echo so uncomfortable about the work they are doing and wanting t be a soldier. Having been so close to Rex, it makes sense that seeing his former commanding officer still in the fight, he would want to join too
Moments in Canon
- Cad Bane is once again accompanied by his droid Todo 360
What did you think of the episode?
Thanks for reading. Good soldiers follow orders….
The Canon Padawan 