Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch concluded with the team learning who was sent after Omega while also rescuing the most adorable baby rancor you’ve ever seen (who hopefully won’t be retconned into the one Luke kills in Return of the Jedi). Hunter was also faced with the reality that deserting the Empire might require the Bad Batch to take on mercenary work if they want to survive.
This week, Clone Force 99 takes on another odd job that inevitably winds up being much more dangerous than anticipated. As always, the recap portion of this review will contain plenty of spoilers along with some brief explorations of Star Wars lore.
Bow Flex
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
The episode opens with Omega doing some target practice in Cid‘s bar with the Zygerrian crossbow she picked up last week. Echo coaches her while two bar patrons bet on if she can hit the target or not while loudly jeering/cheering her on.
Despite barely being able to control the crossbow, Omega still manages to hit just outside the bullseye. Her celebration is cut short when Echo reminds her that she’s only hit the target three out of twelve attempts. When she complains about the bar patrons, he tells her that she needs to tune out all distractions, which she fails to do and misses wildly on her next two shots.
The archery lesson is interrupted when Cid walks in, shoos the bar patrons away, and tells the Bad Batch that she’s hiring them to retrieve a Separatist tactical droid from a decomissioning facility on the planet of Corellia.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
*Side Note: We saw tactical droids a lot during the Clone Wars, which were able to learn and develop combat strategies as they led the Separatist droid forces against the Republic (hence their high value on the black market right now). Also, Corellia is a major ship manufacturing hub and the home planet of Han Solo.
Hunter expresses some hesitancy about signing on to work for Cid, but acquiesces when she reminds him a partnership would help the Bad Batch to make money and allow her watch their back. She then tells Omega that her crossbow struggles won’t improve until she builds up her arm strength. Her point is proven when she takes the weapon and easily hits three bullseyes in rapid succession.
Unwelcome Encounter
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
After boarding the Havoc Marauder, the Bad Batch hide their ship under a transport vehicle headed towards Corellia. Upon entering the planet’s atmosphere, they detach and land in the industrial zone of Coronet City.
*Side Note: This is the city where we first saw Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The squad heads out on foot to the decommissioning facility, where Tech quickly figures out the police droids‘ patrol rotation and leads them inside without being spotted. After Wrecker knocks out one of the human factory workers, they come to a conveyer belt filled with Separatist droids being prepped to be scrapped.
Hunter tells Echo and Tech to help him locate and retrieve one of the tactical droids. He then asks Wrecker to keep a lookout, which turns into an order when Wrecker complains about having to do what used to be Crosshair’s job. When Omega asks what she can do, Hunter tells her to stay put keep her eyes peeled for the tactical droid. While this was clearly a task designed to keep her out of the way, Omega manages to be the first one to spot a tactical droid sitting on the conveyer belt.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Meanwhile, Hunter, Tech, and Echo make their way to the facility’s control panel. After stunning a pair of workers, Echo patches in and discovers that the tactical droid Omega spotted is the only one left that hasn’t been scrapped. The droid’s head has been separated from it’s body, but that’s the only part they really need anyway.
Unfortunately, the squad is taken by surprise when someone dressed as one of the factory workers swoops in and grabs the it.
Omega gives chase over Hunter’s objections, which results in her being stopped by another thief dressed as a worker. When she lifts her crossbow with what could be generally described as unsteady aim, the thief lifts up her mask to try and talk the girl out of shooting her. Although Omega has no idea who she is, Star Wars: The Clone Wars fans will immediately recognize that it’s Rafa Martez.
*Side Note: Ugh…
After trying to hail Rafa on her comlink, Trace (Rafa’s sister) races down a set of stairs with the droid head, which leads her to the control panel where she’s surrounded by the Bad Batch. Meanwhile, Rafa manages to trick Omega into thinking she’s going to surrender. When Omega lowers her weapon, Rafa lunges forward, causing the bow to fire and hit one of the facility’s main vents. Omega also loses her bow, which drops down to another level beneath them.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
The combination of the laser firing and gas spewing everywhere finally alerts the rest of the facility workers that they’ve been breached. One of the workers then spots the Bad Batch, causing him to declare a lockdown. As the conveyer belt stops and the blast doors come down, the entire facility staff evacuates, leaving the Bad Batch and the Martez sisters locked inside together.
Because she’s the absolute worst, Rafa tries to blame Omega for their predicament. Things escalate even further when a battalion of police droids file in and begin firing at them.
Rafa orders Omega to pick up a weapon and begin firing back, which the girl responds to by correctly/awesomely pointing out that she had a weapon before Rafa knocked it out of her hands. Thankfully, Wrecker spots them and is able to begin shooting down the droids from his lookout position. Rafa takes advantage of this of by ditching Omega and running off.
*Side Note: Seriously…Rafa is the worst.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Meanwhile, a group of police droids manage to pin down the rest of the Bad Batch, allowing Trace to escape. Omega radios Hunter to tell him that she’s in pursuit of Rafa, which he’s predictably unhappy about. After ordering Tech and Echo to get the lockdown lifted, he takes off to find Omega.
Trace spots Rafa and tosses the droid head to her, which she promptly drops onto a conveyer belt after running into a police droid.
*Side Note: Do I even need to say it again?
Rafa is just about to get taken out by a police droid when Hunter shows up saves her. She responds by declaring that he shouldn’t expect any gratitude before shooting a droid that was headed toward him. The pair are then forced to fight together as more police droid close in on them from all sides.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Meanwhile, Omega and Trace race each other down to the conveyer belt to retrieve the droid head. Omega snags it and takes off just as Echo shorts out the facility’s entire system while overriding the lockdown. He then tells Wrecker to get to the conveyer belt controls on the upper level, which must be turned on to reboot the facility.
Unfortunately, Wrecker’s path to get there involves jumping onto a crane over a large chasm — no small feat for someone who’s deathly afraid of heights. He manages to make it across, but bumps the hell out of his head before pulling the lever.
The conveyer’s sudden restart causes Omega to fall and drop the droid head as a pile of droid parts crashes down onto her leg. Trace picks up and droid head and flees.
Chip Malfunction
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Back at the conveyer belt lever, Wrecker writhes in agony as the pain he’s been experiencing in his head over the last few episodes becomes unbearable. Just as most of us predicted/feared, the source is revealed to be his inhibitor chip when he begins to mutter “good soldiers follow orders.”
The lethal phrase/command is interrupted by a combination of his own willpower and a pair of police droids, who shoot him in the shoulder and cause him to collapse onto the ground. The droids assume their target is dead instead of unconscious (because of COURSE THEY do) and depart.
Meanwhile, Trace radios Rafa to meet her at the facility’s north exit. She’s just about to leave when she looks up and sees Omega still stuck on the conveyer belt, which is headed toward a smelting pit. Because Trace isn’t horrible like her sister, she goes back to help.
At the same time, Omega radios in to Hunter and begs for help, causing him to go into full Dad Strength mode. As Trace looks on in disbelief, he attaches a grappling line from their walkway to the conveyer belt, causing it to crash down and take out the rest of the droids that were firing surrounding them.
This also causes Rafa to fall, which would have been a bonus if she landed in the smelting pit, but she comes down on the conveyer belt instead.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Omega falls down into the smelting pit just as it’s beginning to fire up. Thankfully, Trace appears and reaches down for her. When Omega is unable to grab her hand, she tells the girl to get one of the nearby droid parts and hold it up. Omega does so, allowing Trace to begin pulling her up just as a group of police droids begin closing in on them. Before the droids can fire, however, Hunter drops down and takes them all out before helping to pull Omega to safety.
The Bad Batch leader expresses his gratitude to Trace, who graciously accepts it. The nice moment is ruined when Rafa falls down next them and begins complaining that no one asked about her welfare. She then demands that Hunter allow her and Trace to leave with the tactical droid head. As more police droids begin to fire at them, Hunter insists they worry about the tactical droid head later and work together to escape the facility.
Meanwhile, Tech calls into Wrecker, unaware that his teammate is barely conscious and fighting against the inhibitor chip.
Demolition Derby
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Trace, Rafa, Hunter, and Omega, meet up with Echo and Tech, who have been pinned down at the facility control panel by a new wave of police droids. After an admittedly hilarious moment involving Echo’s name, Trace decides that they should use the tactical droid to activate the other battle droids in the facility.
When Echo points out that it might not be a good idea to reawaken a hostile military force, Trace counters that they’ll be able to control them via the tactical droid’s head. Tech agrees with the plan and helps her get the tactical droid online.
Meanwhile, Omega radios in to Wrecker. At the sound of her voice, he’s able to shake himself awake, drop down to their position, and start kicking all types of ass.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Despite Rafa’s jeering/whining, Tech gets the tactical droid online, which Trace uses to wake up the battle droids and commands them to attack the police droids.
As you might imagine, the Bad Batch are surprised to be saved by their former enemies, but don’t waste any time using the diversion to escape with Rafa and Trace. On their way out, Omega randomly finds her crossbow and even more randomly begins shooting it with ease, explaining that “it’s all about tuning out distractions.”
Unfortunately, one of the police droids manages to shoot the tactical droid’s head out of Trace’s grasp and destroys it. As a new wave of police droids begins to close in, the Martez sisters’ astromech (R7) lands their ship (the Silver Angel) nearby, allowing them and the Bad Batch to board the craft and escape.
*Side Note: This astromech looks a lot like Ahsoka’s (R7-47) which was destroyed after the Siege of Mandalore. It’s not though…unless the show’s writers are now okay with contradicting canon within Star Wars: Clone Wars in addition to the books, comics, and video games.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
Aboard the Silver Angel, Rafa expresses disbelief that a group of clone troopers would not only desert the Empire, but work as mercenaries to acquire a dangerous item without knowing exactly who it was going to.
Trace explains that their contact needed a tactical droid head to fight back against the Empire. When they land next to the Havoc Marauder, Hunter hands over a data rod Tech used to download the tactical droid’s intel, allowing them to use it for the “right reasons.” Omega also asks them to come visit her and the Bad Batch on Ord Mantell sometime.
After the Martez sisters depart, Rafa contacts an unidentified person via hologram to let them know that they didn’t get the tactical droid, but they do have it’s data. She also informs them that they were helped by a squad of rogue clone troopers…and that she knows exactly where to find them.
The Verdict
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
I’ll fully admit that when the Martez sisters showed up, my expectations for this episode dropped significantly. Thankfully, they were far more tolerable this time around than they were during their appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
That being said, Rafa is still all types of insufferable.
As far as who she was talking to, my guess is Bail Organa based on clothing, but that’s pretty much a shot in the dark. I definitely don’t think Rafa was selling the Bad Batch out, though. Not only would Trace have tried to stop her, but they would have shown us if it was someone like Fennec Shand.
As for the rest of the episode, the action was a lot of fun, especially when Hunter went into Dad Strength mode to save Omega. Speaking of her, I’ll point out once again how significantly more likable she is compared to most child characters in Star Wars — so much so that I’m starting to wish Hunter would give her a little more credit. While she’s still a child that needs protecting, Omega has also proven herself multiple times to be incredibly resourceful and brave.
Unfortunately, the part where she suddenly became a skilled archer through the power of positive thinking was pretty ridiculous.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+)
I also really like where the show is going with Wrecker’s inhibitor chip, although I wish the aftereffects of what happened this episode had been explored more. I get that they want this to play out over time, but it was frustrating to have such a horrific moment left in the background of another otherwise static (yet still extremely fun) episode.
Hopefully the Bad Batch’s new status as a galactic A-Team allows them to go on many more adventures without taking too much focus off the overarching narratives — especially the Republic transitioning into the Empire.
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