Star Wars: The Bad Batch-Season Three Pt. Two

• Created by Dave Filoni
• Developed by Dave Filoni and Jennifer Corbett
• Directed by Brad Rau (Supervising)
• Based on Star Wars created by George Lucas
• May 4, 2021 to Present
• Disney+

Starring

• Cut Lawquane, Captain Rex, Captain Howzer, Captain Wilco, Commander Cody, Commander Mayday, Gregor, Scorch, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, Crosshair, Barton Coburn-Dee Bradley Baker
• Omega-Michelle Ang
• Nala Se-Gwendoline Yeo
• Doctor Royce Hemlock-Jimmi Simpson
• Emerie Karr-Keisha Castle-Hughes
• Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious-Ian McDiarmid
• Lady Isa Durand-Anjelica Huston
• Mox-Daniel Logan
• Asajj Ventress-Nika Futterman

A group of clone troopers on the run with genetic mutations that help them resist Order 66 take on mercenary missions in the aftermath of the Clone Wars.

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A Different Approach

• Directed by Saul Ruiz
• Written by Ezra Nachman
• February 28, 2024

So Crosshair and Omega find themselves on your standard backwater Star Wars planet. Not complaining. Star Wars is quality comfort food when done right. Interesting and exciting comfort food that’s gorgeous even if the environments are grungy like this episode is. I know that may sound a little confusing.

Part of the story works on the underground economy that occurs in any seriously corrupt government. What I’m referencing is the bribe that Omega and Crosshair must supply in order to get off the planet. Omega hustles a card player to get the money.

What I found interesting was I read that this game that they’re playing actually has rules and was created by the people behind this episode. That’s a certain dedication to the narrative that you don’t often find. This is certainly no fizzbin though I’ve heard that game can actually be played despite the rules being made up on the fly. But we’re talking about Star Wars and not Star Trek here.

This follows the Star Wars formula and that’s a good thing. If you can’t figure out where they are actually going to get away then you haven’t been paying attention to Star Wars or the general show that has a cute kid in it. But they make that obvious moment fun and exciting. It leaves things on a tense note as Hunter and Wrecker reunite with Omega and tensely with Crosshair.

Four good episodes in a row lets me know that the remaining nine are more than likely going to be high quality.

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The Return

• Directed by Nate Villanueva
• Written by Amanda Rose Muñoz
• March 6, 2024

Maybe I spoke a bit too soon.

This episode is all about a mission to get access to an Imperial data terminal in order to bypass the encryption on the pad that Omega used to escape. That’s the whole story there. That’s everything other than an unintentional nod to the Dune influence that has been with Star Wars since A New Hope. In this case it is a giant worm on the snowy planet that the abandoned Imperial base that they get into.

The Return is a survival story which they’ve done already this season but by the end of the story Wrecker and Crosshair seem to have come to a relative understanding, if not settle their differences enough to function together. At least it moved things forward.

The thing is The Return feels like an idea too short to be an episode. It’s 10 minutes worth of show stretched out into 20 something minutes. It’s enjoyable for what it is but I think this could’ve been part of another episode and been much more exciting than it is. Either that or pack in some more season plot development.

This episode wasn’t terrible, but it was a small idea extended into full episode. So far the weakest episode of the season.

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Despite the weakness of the most recent episode, I do have high hopes for the remainder to come. One kind of weak episode in a so far strong season does not worry me just yet.