*Warning: the following review of episode nine of Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 2 contains spoilers*
Oh, well. I apologize for sounding like a broken record, but every time I think, “Ok, this is where the season will kick into gear,”…it doesn’t, though I’ll keep this one brief. After two genuinely thrilling episodes, episode nine of Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 2 continues the story of Clone Force 99 (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) not with a bang but with a massive whimper. However, the filler does evolve the character dynamics between the remaining clones and Omega (Michelle Ang).
The events of last week’s midseason episodes caused Echo to join Rex in the fight against the Empire. Omega is still reeling from losing Echo, which hits particularly hard after Crosshair also dipped (but he’s working for the Empire…and it’s been a while since we haven’t seen him in the show…wonder what he’s up to).
As the Bad Batch travel to extract some ipsium for Cid (Rhea Perlman), the team, unfortunately, gets stuck inside a cave after a group of mercenaries steal their ship and causes the ipsium to blow up. We then get an amazingly bog-standard “get out of an impenetrable cave” episode, but one that at least reinforces their friendship.
Omega learns something valuable about life as she and Tech exchange a poignant conversation on separation and how humans need to adapt to a changing environment to survive before we get out of the cave. This is the first filler episode of the season (possibly the show) that focuses on character growth instead of dull side missions. I particularly enjoyed that aspect of the episode very much.
Because, yes, the side mission is dull – the action is amazingly murky and not thrilling since we know the stakes are extremely low. Whenever there’s a filler episode, all characters usually survive the dire outcome they’re thwarted in. So as much as the animation looks good, the action isn’t as exciting as in past series episodes. And since the episode’s plot is amazingly clichéd, the emotional weight isn’t there.
But at least they deepened the characters. What happens when everything you know and loves suddenly gets taken away? Omega can’t quite grapple with that reality, and her conversation with Tech at least helps her try to heal from that loss. I would’ve loved to see this in season one, with the filler episodes actively developing the relationship between Omega and the rest of the batch instead of consistently putting her in trouble and saving her. It was a broken record., and I’m glad the show is at least trying to get past that. Now, if that’s done, can we get things moving again? We have seven episodes left, and I would love to see a further exploration of what was set up in episodes 1 and 2 and episodes 7 and 8. After that, it’s time for Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 2 to stop holding us back and become exciting again. That would be nice to see.
✯✯✯
The ninth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 2 is available to stream on Disney+.
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