“The Bad Batch “Battle Scars” had nothing good about it, and I was very disappointed. I hope Episode 8 will be better”
The seventh episode of The Bad Batch was relatively fun. However, it also suffers from tired plot points and force feeding us events too fast. The episode starts with the clones doing a job for Cid; stealing some lizard creature or whatever. When they get back, I found it somewhat humorous when the reptilian Cid refers to the creature as a reptile as she is a giant reptile, technically. Yet, that’s where my amusement ends.
REX RETURNS!
Without any preamble or plot development, Rex appears in Cid’s cantina and tries to warn them about the inhibitor chips. While nice to see Rex, I was hoping he wouldn’t appear so early in this season. He was name-dropped in “Cut and Run” and that’s really how I wanted it to stay. Sure, he’s a cool character but Rebels didn’t show Vader until the final minutes of the final episode of Season 1. There is something to be said about building up suspense.
Clone Force 99 doesn’t think the inhibitor chips are a problem for them. But Rex urges them to travel to the junk world of Bracca to visit an old downed Republic Star Destroyer; where it might still have a working medbay to remove the chip. Huh? How can you assume that a huge ship that has been partially destroyed will still have the medical equipment intact to perform complicated brain surgery? I know they can’t stop at a Medcenter on a planet due to the Empire hunting them, but come on. Couldn’t they find a backwater surgeon to do the job? It’s just lazy writing, to be honest.
WRECKER’S RAMPAGE
To no surprise, they followed up on Wrecker’s inhibitor chip starting to work. And he briefly goes on a mindless rampage, trying to kill everyone for not “complying” with Order 66. Again, this plot point should’ve been saved for later. It just was foreshadowed in the last episode, and it doesn’t seem smart to bring it out so quickly. They subdue Wrecker, and I just feel like it was a huge waste of a story point.
VERDICT
This episode really had nothing good about it, and I was very disappointed and hope Episode 8 will be better. For eagle-eared (and-eyed) fans of Star Wars, Bracca is the planet in the video game Fallen Order; where the protagonist Cal Kestis gets a job after surviving Order 66.
I love when Star Wars re-uses planets and just doesn’t make new ones on the fly. And if anything, Omega is seeing the galaxy as Clone Force 99 goes everywhere. Speaking of Omega, I really like her character more and more as the show goes on. And her bond with Wrecker is very cute and paternal. We end with a cliffhanger. And who knows, maybe they will cross paths with a certain former padawan. I really hope so.
The Bad Batch is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus NOW!
Author
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
