Thoughts On 'The Bad Batch': "Cornered"
Episode four of The Bad Batch is here, and it may be their best episode yet! I know it feels like I have sung the show’s praises after each and every episode, but the show continues to impress each and every week. This week’s episode was filled with more action than we have seen since the first episode, and it has some truly tense moments. It also gives subtle hints about what we might be able to expect from the rest of the season. That is not to mention the reintroduction of a new fan favorite character. The show keeps proving every week why I should be interested in Clone Force 99.
The most obvious point of conversation is the series introduction of Fennec Shand, the fan favorite character who was first introduced in The Mandalorian. We have known that the bounty hunter would appear in the show for a while, but I don’t think any viewer knew when she would be introduced or how big her role would be in the show. The new episode seems to answer the latter. At first, it appears that Fennec will be just a one-off antagonist who is going after the Bad Batch and trying to obtain Omega, but, toward the end of the episode, it appears that she will be pursuing the characters throughout the entire season.
That being said, the show does a good job of showing that Fennec isn’t just another heartless bounty hunter. In the show, we see that she can actually be rather kind and thoughtful at some points. We also saw this side of her a lot more in The Mandalorian season 2, but she was in the service of Boba Fett at the time. However, the behavior of her character in this show could imply that she may not be a permanent villain to the renegade clone squad. Either way, the end of the episode makes it clear that she will be popping back up again soon.
My only gripe is that the show seems to rely a lot on the audience having seen The Mandalorian already. I understand that most people should have already seen both seasons of the hit show, but if they haven’t, The Bad Batch doesn’t do a great job of introducing this character. However, they do have time to go even deeper into that character than even The Mandalorian did, so I think I can give them a pass.
I think it is also worth noting that Ming-Na Wen reprises her role as Fennec Shand in this show. Ming-Na Wen is a fantastic actress and voice actress, so her performance here is obviously top-notch. She clearly gives her all in the performance, and she is just as amazing and cool as she was in The Mandalorian.
Also, I don’t think I have given him due credit yet, but Dee Bradley Baker does an amazing job voicing each and every clone in both The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch. He brings something new to each character. Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and even Crosshair all sound different and have their own unique quirks despite being clones. It is really a testament to Dee Bradley Baker’s skills as an actor.
All in all, the new episode was absolutely great. It had a great chase sequence, and there were some good fight scenes throughout. It was able to show that the Empire (or possibly the Kaminoans) may be more interested in Omega than Clone Force 99. Slowly but surely, they are telling us what the Empire has in store for the clone soldiers and what makes Omega so important. It is also just a fun show, and it keeps me entertained each week. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store.