RECAP: On the season 1 finale of The Bad Batch,
On the season 1 finale, we saw the Empires destruction of Kamino and the fall of the Clone’s home world, an almost reunion with Crosshair, the Empire escorting Kaminoan scientist Nala Se to a secret imperial facility built into a mountain. Upon landing in the facility, Nala Se is greeted by and Imperial Scientist, who reveals they have big plans for her “Scientific Talents.”
SPOILERS AHEAD
What an exciting kick-off to another season! As good as the heist story is, it was refreshing to see a heist that didn’t quite work out. It will be interesting to see how the Bad Batch responds next week! It is clear why Disney releases multiple episodes at once. Our entry back into the narrative needs more than one 20-minute episode to kick things off.
Season 2 Episode 1 (Spoils of War):
We start off with the Island chase that we got in the Bad Batch trailer with Wrecker, Echo, and Hunter being chased down by Crab-like aliens on a tropical plane while Omega relaxes in the ship, although we find out she should be studying Imperial Ships with Tech.
Clone Force 99, being chased by the Crab-like aliens, needs a quick escape while both parties have to deal with situations. While these Crabs attack the ship, it looks like Omega has mastered her Bow-Blaster as she easily takes care of several of the crabs.
And in classic Bad Batch form, their escape takes an unexpected turn that results in an exciting sequence. After this escape we pick up right where we left off with the mentor-mentee/parent-child relationship between Hunter and Omega, where Hunter is telling Omega she needs to stay safely on the ship, despite her obvious impact in helping the Batch escape with their cargo.
Back in Sid’s bar we catch right up with her witty remarks and a new face, Phee, voiced by Wanda Sykes, makes some sly comments to the team before hinting that there is another high profile job for our favorite band of modified clone troopers.
The Bad Batch are headed to the Outer rim, aaaaaand we get to go back to CASTLE SERENNO A.K.A the Lair of Count Dooku! We haven’t seen this place since the Clone Wars Animated series where we got to see Count interact with his dark apprentices and fend off attempted assassinations as he led the Separatist forces from his throne room!
The objective – to steal Dooku’s war chest.
Sid informs them that this job may be their ticket to freedom. This is a classic heist narrative, and one that has been popular for Star Wars narratives (remembers the aeist arc in Andor?). One more job to guarantee freedom. We’ve seen it 100 times before, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting!!!
We are starting to see some difference between members of the Bad Batch in their views about ] their future, as Echo makes it clear that they need to do more and prepare for a future fight against the Empire, while Hunter clearly wants to stay under the radar of the Empire and have some semblance of freedom.
Back to Serenno, the Bad Batch get to see again the brutality of the Empire’s scorched earth tactics against planets (Similar to Kamino and Mandalore). They see the war chest being moved off world and the Clone Troopers monitoring the transportation of the riches.
Let the heist begin, the Batch dives right in to steal a ship that is transporting the war chests where we get to see Dooku’s spoils of war as the batch look for anything of value while staying hidden from the Empire. Wrecker stuns a trooper which causes issues for the Batch as he fails to check in. As Hunter creates a diversion for them the Clone Troopers realize what is going on and lock down their transport ship trapping Tech, Echo, and Omega on board. This heist has quickly turned into a rescue mission as Hunter and Wrecker need to save the crew (Tech, Echo, and Omega) trapped on the ship.
As the group gets separated because the troopers launch the cargo in an effort to protect it from being stolen, Hunter and Wrecker have to formulate a new plan, as we see them escape a Trooper attack into, none other than Dooku’s ‘Throne Room’ where another battle commences.
Inside the transport ship, we see Tech, Echo, and Omega, fight their way through a ship that has eliminated their means of escape. Luckily Omega has been studying her Imperial notes, because she finds a way for them to escape—inside a cargo container—before even Tech is able to come up with a solution showering her growing knowledge, keen ability to improvise in challenging situations, and her overall value to the team.
And just like that, we end the episode with Wrecker and Hunter falling down Dooku’s lift and Tech, Echo, and Omega in a free fall as they release the cargo container with them inside.
Season 2 Episode 2 (Ruins of War):
We pick up right where we left off with the falling crates. And just like that, Omega was right about the re-entry thrusters in the cargo unit!
Back in Dooku’s castle, Hunter and Wrecker escape over a cliff and head through the ruins of the city the empire destroyed. As the crate crashes, there is definite ‘Andor heist vibes’ and I was worried that a crate would take out a member of the Batch early, but fortunately (or unfortunately?), it only resulted in a broken leg for Tech. The three members leave the wreckage, it is clear Omega has more plans for the War Chest. As they continue to make their way through the Serenno forest, Omega sees someone following their crew and discover a local, Romar, spying on them.
Hunter and Wrecker make their way through the ruins pursued by the troopers. The troopers expand their search as they realize via comms channels that all of the “thieves” survived.
As Omega, Tech, and Echo chat with Romar, we get more back story on Dooku’s thievery from his own people to fund his war efforts. Omega wants to go back to the war chest, but Tech and Echo task her with monitoring Romar. This interaction between Romar and Omega, where Romar shows Omega a Serennoan toy, shows just how little of a childhood Omega had got both on Kamino and with the Batch. Romar also gives some back story on his planet and reminds Tech that these planets existed peacefully long before the war with their own unique cultures and ways of life. As Tech is occupied with Romar’s data file, Omega works her way back to the war chest to try and recover the loot for her squad. Echo races to find Omega, and while he does catch up with her, the Clone Troopers pin them down forcing them to hide in the container.
As Hunter and Wrecker are being pursued by the Troopers, who are closing in on their position, they rig up an old separatist tank to help them fend off the Trooper’s air and ground attacks.
Hunter and Wrecker make it back to the ship just in time as Tech is pinned down trying to support Echo and Omega. Omega continues to go after the war chest because she reveals that she is feeling responsible for the challenges that face the Batch.
Romar comes Tech Omega and Echo’s rescue in what seems like repayment for fixing his data file. As Hunter and Wrecker rescue their fellow Batch members, Romar gifts Omega with the Serennoan toy (a kaleidoscope like gadget).
At the end of the episode Clone Force 99 heads back to Sid empty handed and Echo has an important moment reminding Omega that they chose to live this life and fight the empire, which is the right thing to do.
The episode ends with an appearance from Admiral Rampart, who is meeting with the Clone Captain who had led the chase against the Bad Batch on Serenno. Admiral Rampart encourages the clone captain him to falsify his report, because it was previously believed that Clone Force 99 had perished on Kamino, and Admiral Rampart wants to keep people—specifically General Tarkin—believing that the Bad Batch is deal.
As “good soldiers follow orders”, this clone captain refused to falsify his report, and the Admeral Rampart shoots him, which concludes the episode.
Admiral Rampart mentions that it was important that General Tarkin remain unaware of the survival of Clone Force 99, which we can assume is to protect himself, as Admiral Rampart’s failure to take care of the Bad Batch would mean he would be reprimanded by the ruthless nature of the Imperial Hierarchy.
Thoughts and Stand Out Scenes:
I will never say no to more Dooku back story!
Dooku is one of the most fascinating characters in Star Wars, and we have already talked about how awesome the Tales of the Jedi were in giving us background into Count and his fall to the Dark Side. Going back to his home only adds more depth to his character and is a really awesome way that this show has again connected the different stories in the Star Wars Universe.
A moral conundrum and a hint at a future team up?
During their plundering of Dooku’s treasure, Omega brings up a VERY good moral conundrum that is easily missed about the Bad Batch engaging in a similar form of profiteering that Dooku had engaged in during the war; however, Echo ensures her that there is a difference because of how they plan on using the funds that they are steeling. While Dooku used his riches from the Separatists to fund his galactic war, we can assume that Echo is wanting to use these funds to help build a rebellion.
This raises two interesting thoughts while watching.
1. Funding a rebellion is still technically funding a future war, a moral question that was briefly pondered in The Last Jedi; and
2. Could these funds that the Batch keeps pursuing be used to help a young(er) Luthen Reel from Andor? If Luthen is looking for funds for his rebel plans, it could be a possibility that his early efforts are jump started by hiring Clone Force 99? Given that this series takes place before Andor, and has made several connections to the other Star Wars stories, will we be in store for a bit of a crossover?
Final Thoughts:
Episode 1 was my personal favorite, we got right back into the action like we’d never left! Episode 2 was a great way to wrap up the heist story, but I found that the transitions between groups happened almost too fast. The back and forth between groups happened at breakneck speed and made it harder to follow each group as we kept heading back to the other group as anything really started to happen.
These episodes gave us a lot in terms of future development:
• We see that there are conflicting views within Clone Force 99 as Echo thinks they should be doing more in their fight against the Empire, while Hunter wants a free but hidden life.
• Sid seems to be fueling some of this conflict by advancing her own agenda and going to the other members of the crew along before bringing in Hunter and Omega.
• Omega feels responsibility for their overall rough situation.
• Admiral Rampart learns the Bad Batch survived and will likely be taking steps to ensure their elimination, so he doesn’t face the consequences for his own failures.
Great season premier! I will give this 8.5 Clone Troopers out of 10.
Watch The Bad Batch on Disney+.
