We’re into the penultimate episodes of The Bad Batch now, and they’re some of the best this season. Episodes 12, 13, and 14 are some of the most interesting and unique episodes of The Bad Batch so far. These episodes have some character development, enjoyable new characters, and connections with the other episodes in the season. It may have taken until nearly the end of the season, but I’m now fully invested in where this story is heading.
Episode 12 is titled “The Outpost,” and it’s another Crosshair episode (yay!) Crosshair is a character that I wish had more screen time (even though he’s still with the Empire). This time he’s been assigned to help secure an Imperial outpost alongside an extremely insecure Imperial officer called Nolan. It’s at this snow-covered outpost where we meet the new fan-favorite clone Mayday. The bond developed between Crosshair and Mayday is a highlight of this episode, with Crosshair remembering what it’s like to have brothers again (about damn time).
After some shenanigans, Mayday is injured, and Crosshair carries him back to base during a blizzard. Once they arrive, Crosshair asks for medical assistance, but officer Nolan says they’re disposable. This pushes Crosshair over the edge, and he shoots Nolan in the chest, solidifying his turn away from the Empire. Now if he could only rejoin his old squad now, please.
“Pabu” is the title of episode 13, and it’s the opposite in tone of the previous episode. Instead of soldiers questioning their loyalties, we have kids playing with alien monkeys. After breaking up with Cid, the Batch is looking for a place to crash. Luckily for them, their treasure-hunter friend Phee Genoa knows a place. She takes them to the remote island of Pabu, where they can collect themselves. The entire time they were relaxing on the island, I waited for something bad to happen (like the Empire finding them). And what would you know, I was right.
The island is hit by a city-destroying tsunami. The Batch gets everyone to safety and later offers to help rebuild. Throughout the episode, you can tell that most of the Batch are considering staying on Pabu, all except for Hunter. His desire to give Omega a better life is an interesting plot point that I wish they delved into more during the season, but beggars can’t be choosers. Hopefully, it’ll stay relevant until the end of the season.
The penultimate episode of the season (because the finale is a double episode drop) is titled “Tipping Point.” This episode starts to tie together most of the lingering plot threads from this season. There’s the clone rebellion story with Echo and Rex saving clones from the Empire. Then we have Crosshair’s defection from the Empire and winding up in an Imperial research facility (doesn’t seem like a fun time). And finally, we have the Bad Batch finding a new place to live. Now that’s a lot of plot lines to cram into a 29-minute runtime, but they managed to pull it off.
We have Echo rescuing some clones and obtaining some encoded data that he needs Tech’s help with. Then we have Crosshair being interrogated by some creepy scientist who wants Omega. And the Bad Batch is just chilling on Pabu, living their best life. Echo arrives on Pabu for Techs’ help decoding the information. Once Tech decodes the data and discovers it’s a list of detained clones. They then receive a transmission from Crosshair, warning them they’re being hunted. Hunter thinks it’s a trap, but I can almost guarantee that the final episodes will begin with them tracking down their lost brother.
Episodes 12, 13, and 14 of The Bad Batch finally got me invested. It helps that these episodes had compelling stories, but having them begin to connect is never a bad thing. With only two episodes to go, and with them being a dual release, I’m excited for what the end of this season has in store. I only hope that all the main characters make it out alive (Crosshair is gonna die saving them, isn’t he).
Have you been keeping up with The Bad Batch? What do you think of it? Is Mayday now in your top 10 clones? Let us know in the comments below where we can collectively worry about which member of the Bad Batch is gonna bite the dust.
