The Bad Batch Spoiler Review: Retrieval

 This review contains spoilers for The Bad Batch episode “Retrieval”

Here at The Geeky Waffle, while we are fans of The Bad Batch, we are also in support of the Unwhitewash TBB movement.

This movement is from the Twitter user @unwhitewashtbb and is being led by “fans of color, disabled fans, neurodivergent fans, and Jewish fans.” It’s to bring awareness of the racial discrimination that is baked into the very fabric of this show. The Batch is designed to be “elite clones” and yet their skin tones are very white. All clones are designed after Temuera Morrison, who is a man of color. If the only clones that are perceived as white are considered “elite” and “the best” while regular clones who still appear as people of color are seen as “lesser,” these kinds of design choices have very real consequences on young audiences. @UnwhitewashTBB cites in their title card the hurtful implications this has on minority groups. The card, linked here, goes into great detail about how and why this is a problem. Go read it thoroughly.

It’s important that the creators hear the concerns of fans and work to rectify them. To be clear, whitewashing characters of color should never happen in the first place. It’s a choice that begins in the design phase, which makes it faulty and wrong from the start. We will continue to help hold the creators accountable so mistakes like this don’t happen if we get a season three as well as for future Star Wars projects.

Please follow @UnwhitewashTBB for more information.

The Bad Batch episode “Retrieval” was about what I thought it would be, but that’s not necessarily bad. Coming off last week which sent me on a personal emotional roller coaster, I was more than happy to have an adventure of the week for the Batch to focus on getting their ship back. And there were still plenty of possible setups, the squashing of a popular fan theory, and more so let’s get to it.

This episode felt a lot like one of the Azmorigan episodes of Star Wars Rebels with a dash of a Star Wars Resistance vibe which I really dug. Mixed in with it, it had a huge helping of themes that Andor also covered. Actually, I do like how many of these shows are doing these similar themes but with different target audiences. Star Wars Resistance season one and Andor season one are the exact same plot overall. Both focus on how step-by-step fascism invades a community. The only difference is that in Andor, the fascist government is already in place while Resistance is how it invades as an outlier in peacetime. The Bad Batch is hitting many of the same themes as Andor too and giving them to an all-ages audience. “Retrieval” is essentially Andor’s prison arc for a younger demographic. This is important work too to help the next generation realize the dangers of capitalism, how fascism works, and so on.

The reason it works is that we’re witnessing it through the eyes of Omega. She is the perspective of the audience. These are all new concepts to her. Immediately, Omega realizes how and why Mokko’s business is wrong, and she wants to save Benni. An extensive bad system like the Empire can embolden people to make smaller bad systems. These massive concepts like fascism and capitalism aren’t just one thing to tackle. It’s a series of small blocks that make up a huge structure of abuse and subjugation. Mokko is just one block in this structure, and Omega is starting to see it’s not easy to stop the Empire when other bad people are using its formula. She’s never quite seen anything like Mokko’s operation… at least not from an outsider’s point of view.

While Cid is a lot more hospitable towards the Batch and clearly has a soft spot for Omega, Cid’s treatment of them isn’t too far off from Mokko’s. Granted, it’s not as extreme. She isn’t withholding food and water for their work. But that wily Trandoshan is in charge of their money and where it comes from. Omega and the Batch get sucked into Cid’s game out of need, but I also think it’s because Omega genuinely likes Cid, Phee, and that entire side of things.

Still, Cid is essentially doing to the Batch what Mokko was doing to Benni and the kids in the mines. I do think this episode will help Omega see that.  The rest of the Batch has already been questioning Cid’s methods and jobs. That’s a big reason why Echo left because he never wanted to be a mercenary. Omega’s words to Benni at the end of “Retrieval” is going to resonate more I think: It’s a big galaxy and they can do anything. The finale episodes of season two seem to be setting up for a breakup between Cid and the Batch. I can see this episode as a possible place to point back to the moment the clones realized they needed to leave Cid.

One popular fan theory (that I subscribed to as well) was Benni and his friends were actually young clones. In the season two trailer, there was a shot of the boys. They were masked up so they could have been the clones we saw taken off of Kamino at the end of season one. I do think it would have been interesting to have the Batch find a group of young subjugated clones. That would have been a massive storyline that would have fit very well into the overarching story of season two of helping displaced clones. It would also give a chance for Rex and Echo to come back into the mix. Sadly, that’s not what we got here. Still, I do like what we got. It’s a much smaller story that seems to be set up for the Cid breakup. If young clones were involved, this suddenly possibly becomes a multiple-episode arc which I don’t think the crew had in mind this late in the season.

I do think we’ll be seeing Benni down the line. He leaves with an open-ended offer if the Batch ever needs a thief to call him. Star Wars Rebels used to do stuff like this by introducing a character early in the show to bring them back later. The series finale of Rebels essentially brought back almost every minor character from the series. I could see The Bad Batch building up this kind of format too.

I do like the follow-up with Tech and Omega at the end of “Retrieval.” After their talk in “The Crossing,” Tech actually takes the initiative to check on Omega and asks about her thoughts. I’m not sure he would have done that before last week. It was great to see him follow through and make a point to check in with her. It’s clear they’ve really had a crossing of communication (pun intended) and have a much better understanding of each other. It’s been wonderful to see Tech’s growth over the course of the season.

This better not be set up for him to die later. I will be so upset if they give up fantastic neurodivergent representation only to rip it away.

“Retrieval” was another good entry into The Bad Batch season two. I am really enjoying this season so far. I am bummed that it’s about to share a space with The Mandalorian because we all know that Mando is going to completely overshadow it in every way. Especially since there’s, like, NOTHING Star Wars coming out in the summer so this is… a choice. I don’t understand why not delay Mando a few more weeks, but I also don’t know what’s happening behind closed doors at Lucasfilm. Maybe they’re going to drop some big reveal for summer at Star Wars Celebration in May and Mando needed to be finished before then. Still, I hope the love with The Bad Batch will keep on chugging along because I do adore Star Wars animation the most.

Also, bring back Crosshair. It’s about time to check in with him again.