The Bad Batch Spoiler Recap: Reunion

Well, Crosshair’s back.

I’ve been saying for weeks that I wanted to check in with him, but did I want it to go like this? I don’t know…

On Kamino, there is a bit of a scuffle between the Kaminoans, who want the Bad Batch back, and the Empire, who want them dead. When Crosshair reports that his former squad is on Bracca, he is sent after them with a whole squadron of troops, with orders to terminate them.

The Batch are still hanging out on Bracca, where we left them last week. Despite the ominous note of the Scrapper’s Guild that we ended on, they turn out to not be much of a threat. They are quickly dispatched, and Hunter tells the Batch that he wants them to salvage what they can from the downed cruiser they’re on, as well as pull information from the bridge so they can sell it and pay back what they owe Cid. 

Though they do succeed, that quickly becomes irrelevant as Crosshair and his squadron show up. They fight, there is a chase, Crosshair is injured by a blast from an ion engine that he tried to use on the Batch, and our crew barely makes it back to the Marauder in one piece. 

This is where we get the...ahem...person that was teased by the Kiner brothers yesterday. But first, let me back up.

On Kamino, Nala Se and Lama Su worry about the Empire’s approach. They worry that it will harm their “contingency plan”. She tells him that the bounty hunter they hired for the job ought to be sufficient, but he wants to increase their odds. So this likely solves the mystery of who it was that hired Fennec, but then I can’t help but wonder at the secrecy? Why let it remain a mystery in the episode when it was what most of us expected? Unless of course, they weren’t referring to Fennec at all and she was hired by someone else? What if the bounty hunter they’re talking about is....

Cad Bane.

I don’t have any particular attachment to Cad Bane, but I will say, it was nice seeing a familiar face again. It’s no secret I’m having a harder time connecting to this series than I did to Clone Wars so I’ll take what I can get.

Bane shoots Hunter and presumably makes off with Omega. The Batch reassembles on the ship and as Hunter wakes up, he knows what they have to do: they have to get Omega back.

If it sounds like I glossed over a lot of the plot, it’s because I did. This episode wasn’t super plot driven. It’s the mid-season point, so I know just from a writing perspective it’s about getting a lot of moving parts lined up where they need to be for the back half of the season. And while many of my friends were extremely excited and moved by the episode today - and I love that for them, truly - it left me feeling a little cold, and I think I need to explain why. 

I have heard the case made that this show is more character driven than plot driven, but I can’t say that I agree with that assessment. And I think that my sentiment can be clearly illustrated with this episode. This is the first time we are seeing Crosshair since episode 2. It’s been six weeks. That is a long time for an audience to forget about a character, especially when the show has gone to such great lengths to show how well the team functions without him. They have never missed a beat. There was never once a role Crosshair filled that could not be easily filled by someone else.

There is an expression in Farsi. When you miss someone, you say “their place is empty”. Crosshair’s place within Clone Force 99 has never once felt empty. Not to me, and based on the reactions I saw, not to the Batch either.

I never once got the sense that when presented with the opportunity, they wouldn’t kill him. They unleashed an ion blast right in his damn face, for goodness sake.

Based on the number of jobs they’ve performed for Cid, and the number of troops who now respond to Crosshair, it’s safe to assume some time has passed since Order 66. A safe bet would be a few weeks at least. So why is it, when the Batch see their so-called brother again after weeks apart, they don’t react with anything other than disdain. They know he’s got a chip in his brain. They know it isn’t his fault, not really. But it’s not “omg, Crosshair!” it’s “ew, Crosshair.”

They do make a single attempt to reach out to him, telling him in what can only be described as half-hearted fashion, that there is a chip in his head. They make no active attempt to grab him, no strategy to save him and bring him back. They haven’t talked about him at all in the last several episodes. I want to care. I want so badly to care. But it seems the writing isn’t interested in making me care. 

I already have that uncomfortable prickle on the back of my neck. What I call my “December 2019 senses”. This is not going to go well for Crosshair. I can already see that single moment of heroism before his eyes close forever, and the inevitable discourse that will follow. 

But what about the rest of the Batch? Surely their characterization makes up for the lack of Crosshair? But that’s the thing. I don’t feel we’ve gotten anything from them either. I’m all for a slow burn, but we are at the halfway point of the season, and I don’t feel like I know any of them better. 

Wrecker and Omega have a sweet relationship, like chaotic siblings. Echo feels like the sweet but stern dad who wants her to be safe. Tech still doesn’t feel like anything more than a one-note exposition spouter. Echo might be more machine than man, but it’s Tech that feels like a droid. 

And then Hunter. Oh Hunter.

I have seen fantastic metas and fan commentary that paint Hunter as Omega’s father figure. But is that in any way supported by the show? No, I would argue that it isn’t. He reacts to Omega’s abduction like a commander who lost a soldier, not a father who lost his daughter. And that is fine. There is nothing wrong with that being the dynamic, except it’s very clear the show wants me to feel differently. And I just...can’t.

But back to my larger point, it feels like the show is being perceived as character-focused because there are a lot of main characters. But that’s really not enough. They have to have some action mixed in. It’s Star Wars, that’s how it works. But the balance being struck just means that the action scenes we get detract from potential moments of introspection. 

Moments that are meant to be big character beats gain importance because we convince ourselves after the fact that they matter. But the text doesn’t support it at all. 

Take the last time we see Crosshair before today. He is sitting on his bunk, looking dejected and broken, every muscle on his face screaming “what have I done/what is happening to me?”. But the next time we see him? He’s ratting out his brothers to the Empire, not a trace of remorse to be had.

Literally, what?

Why were we not cutting back to him over the last six weeks watching his slow descent? Why is it so sudden? Why is this feeling like Ben Solo all over again?

To draw a parallel with another recent property, in this way Crosshair is a lot like the Winter Soldier from the MCU, with a couple of key differences.

The first is that we had time to learn who Bucky Barnes was before he became the Winter Soldier. We spent a whole movie with Bucky Barnes. Then when he does reappear, trying to kill his former best friend Steve Rogers, it is immediately clear that Steve is shaken to his core. Any future interaction they have, Steve’s goal is to stay alive, yes, but also to save his friend. To bring him home. Not to run away. 

We care because Steve cares. If the Batch doesn’t care, then why should your audience? And if they do care then you could have fooled me.

That’s not to say that I hated this episode. And if you’ve made it this far, thank you for sticking with me. There are beats that I think work. Wrecker and Omega’s relationship is one of those beats. Theirs is by far the strongest bond between any of the central characters, and it’s very endearing to watch. 

Then there is Echo, who might not be giving all I want from his character, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t my favourite member of the Batch. He is the one who feels that the Batch lack purpose, and I ultimately have hope that he will help drive them towards whatever their long-term purpose might be. He reminds Hunter more than once that they’re still soldiers, and while there might not be a war to fight, there is still a life and a galaxy worth fighting for, Echo to me, is the moral centre of this whole deal and any time that has a chance to shine is worth singling out.

On a final note, while I am never one to really notice music in TV shows (shame on me, I know) I did actually notice it this week. Why? It might be because I am in my Ben Solo-Redemption Arc feels with Crosshair, but I couldn’t help but notice a couple of notes from Kylo Ren’s theme play every time I saw Crosshair. Am I imagining things? It’s possible. But either way, kudos to them for getting me to notice for a change.

I am, despite the above, enjoying this show. I think it’s fun, and I look forward to it every week. I think the creative team has set up characters and a story that I desperately want to feel something for. I just wish it didn't fall so frustratingly short of the emotional suckerpunch I know it can deliver. 

What did you think? Were you excited to see Cad Bane? Will Boba show up so they can have their duel (credit to my friend Hannah for that)? Are you as mad about Crosshair as I am? Join us for Bad Bitches on the Bad Batch, our biweekly livestream to dive in! And for more Star Wars discussion, don’t forget to subscribe to “Space Waffles”, our Star Wars focused podcast!

The Bad Batch is streaming now on Disney+ with new episodes every Friday.