The Bad Batch Spoiler Review: Metamorphosis
This review contains spoilers for The Bad Batch episode “Metamorphosis”
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 “Metamorphosis” felt like a transitional episode to me in a lot of ways. On the surface, it seems like another adventure of the week. But then, it brought us into the bigger overarching story by starting us off on Mount Tantiss, introducing us to a new baddie, and pulling those connections in with the Sequel Trilogy. It took the format it has used all season but is changing into a much bigger story which is very exciting for the show.
I have heard whispers of a Zillo Beast popping up in season two. Apparently, there was footage of it in the Star Wars Celebration 2022 trailer, so it’s exciting to finally see it on screen in all of its glory. The Zillo Beast has always been a sympathetic creature to me. It was minding its own business before it was uprooted from its home and probably lived a horrific life until it finally passed away all because it crossed paths with Palpatine. It’s a lot like the villagers in this episode who were captured and will probably never be seen again just because they happened to witness the Emperor’s secret. What happened to the Zillo Beast was also one of the biggest lingering questions from Clone Wars, and now we see the answer to it.
In a stellar horror sequence invoking the Aliens franchise, we find out that there is a baby Zillo Beast on board this ship. While it is going around being a terror like its original predecessor, I can’t help but feel sorry for it. Like the clones, this Zillo Beast never asked to be created. Its life has probably been a series of living in test tubes, getting stuck with needles, and confinement. It’s a prison of the Emperor’s making, so why wouldn’t it take the first chance it could to escape? In a way, the Zillo Beast is like the clones. If the inhibitor chips worked perfectly, the clones would have been also stuck in servitude to Palpatine. As this season has been exploring, the clones are thankfully breaking out of those confines. They’re starting to wake up and see the prison they’re stuck in. Unlike the Zillo Beast at the end of the episode, some of the clones are getting out and finding freedom.
I do hope if there is a scene of the Batch going to Mount Tantiss, they find the Zillo Beast again and free it. That creature deserves to live its best life roaming around as a happy kaiju.
It also looks like we got a new big bad this week with Doctor Hemlock! After Admiral Rampart was ousted in the episode “Truth and Consequence,” I was hoping that the series would bring us the next villain. Hemlock did not disappoint as he was chilling and cruel right out of the gate. This also follows the formula set down in the other Star Wars series. Star Wars Rebels started with the lackeys that were Aresko and Grint. The Grand Inquisitor also entered the fray early on. They set the stage to be followed up by bigger threats like Vader, Tarkin, and Thrawn, each a step up in drama for the show. While Star Wars Resistance didn’t have the longevity of Rebels, it still started with the pirates, then stepped up into Commander Pyre, then Tierny, and finally into Hux and Kylo Ren. I’m not surprised at all that The Bad Batch is following this formula.
Hemlock came in smoothly approaching Nala Se like a friend. They seem to have some sort of past together which is a story that I’m eager for the show to explore. But his apparent kindness quickly ran thin at her refusal to work with him. This is a man who does not waste time as he immediately calls for the old Kamino Prime Minister, Lama Su, to be brought to them. Which, I must say, was a surprise to see Lama Su alive because I would have put money on him being killed at the end of season one.
In a single episode, Hemlock is a personal threat to the Batch which immediately up the stakes. Rampart was a threat in an external way. He was in charge of Crosshair which did make him a menace to our heroes from afar. With his political bills, he was trying to take away the clones’ freedom and dictate their future. And of course, he destroyed their home on Kamino back in season one.
When it comes to our main group though, Rampart was always this far-off boogeyman. Hemlock is different. Dealing with cloning, he’s a threat to them on a fundamental level as he’s messing with the very thing that created them. “Metamorphosis” ends with him sending not only Commander Scorch after the Batch but he is also putting a target on Omega’s head to force Nala Se’s cooperation. He’s gunning for our heroes in a more active way compared to Rampart who meddled more passively from afar. Both villains were bad and detrimental to the clones. Hemlock seems more lethal and personal, aiming for the throat of the Batch which makes him way scarier in my book.
The title “Metamorphosis” doesn’t only apply to the Zillo Beast transforming over the episode, but it’s also symbolic for the Batch as well. This season has meticulously laid out all the reasons how and why the Batch should leave Cid. The idea was set up in “Ruins of War” when she clearly tells Hunter that at some point the Empire will come and end her business. In “Faster,” Tech points out her pattern of using them as well as Millegi warning our clones of Cid’s past of backstabbing. In “Retrieval,” our heroes saw firsthand an operation by a malevolent person abusing and taking full advantage of his workers. Those workers were there out of need and couldn’t leave until the Batch liberated them. The Batch’s eyes are finally open to Cid’s treatment. Echo leaving was the first step. From the beginning, he always wanted to do more to help people.
This episode seemed to finally push the Batch to address the Cid issue. They worked for her out of need, but they are seeing the writing on the wall. She left them stranded and had no loyalty to rescue them. In their chat with her, Hunter is over her antics and is fully holding her accountable. So is Omega which was great to see her step up and call Cid out! While this is another adventure of the week, it appears to be their last mission with her. It’s also the first time where Hunter and Tech have a meaningful discussion on screen about leaving Cid. Tech rightfully brings up they need to be careful how they part ways. Cid knows way too much about them which would make it easy to throw the Batch to the Empire for a profit.
I think the key to this Cid problem is Omega. The Trandoshan boss has a big soft spot for the young girl. Omega might be the only thing that is keeping the Batch safe. I said in an earlier review that I could see the possibility of Cid dying this season in a sacrifice to help the Batch escape the Empire. Though before that happens, I do think she will at first betray them for profit. It’s only after they are in trouble that Cid will have a change of heart because of Omega and maybe Cid will then call on the other I.O.U.’s the Batch have gained over two seasons with Phee Genoa and Roland Durand from season one.
The Batch is going to be leaving Cid behind. Now the real question is when will it happen on the show.
Finally, I really love the development of Tech and Omega’s relationship since “The Crossing.” Echo and Hunter were very much the “parents” of the group as the fandom has dubbed them. Now with Echo gone, there is a void in that role. Tech has really stepped up the last two episodes to make sure that Omega is okay. In “Retrieval,” he checked in with her after the adventure was over to make sure she was emotionally okay and even gave her some guidance. I said last week and I’ll say it again, I do not think he would have done that prior to “The Crossing.”
Now in “Metamorphosis,” he is very aware of Omega at all times. He’s always seen her as an equal to the rest of the Batch, but he’s actively showing that acknowledgment more. He’s also vocalizing it more too, knowing now that Omega needs to hear it. Tech respects her knowledge of Kaminoan technology, letting her take the lead in the explanations. When Imperials are coming for the ship they’re on, Tech wants to stay and finish transferring the data they need. But when Omega tells them to go, he immediately listens with no hesitation. The vessel explodes, and he protects her with his whole body to make sure she’s unharmed. And once Hunter picks them both up, Tech makes sure that Omega is safely strapped in before securing himself.
Tech and Omega’s relationship is by far one of my favorite parts of season two. It was something I wanted to see more of in season one, and I’m glad we’re finally getting it.
“Metamorphosis” was a great episode that felt like this series is on the precipice of exploding in the narrative. It seems like The Bad Batch is ready to let loose to jump into the bigger Star Wars universe, and I’m all here for it. I will say I’m ready for Wrecker to have an episode. He’s really been in the background all season. It’s also time for another Crosshair episode. With the Batch being hunted by Hemlock, it feels like a good time for Crosshair to come back onto the scene.
