Max Nocerino 
This week’s episode of The Bad Batch catapulted the show back into being one of the best animated Star Wars TV shows of all time.
THE BAD BATCH seemed to be going through a dry spell. Episodes 5, 6, and 7 bored me. However, “Bad Territory” really turned the tables on this and catapulted the show back into being one of the best animated Star Wars TV shows of all time.
The Batch has officially moved its base of operations to Pabu. Pabu is a beautiful ocean world with a picturesque island where residents live a simple and harmonious life. The animation and design are gorgeous. It amazes me how far Lucasfilm animation has come since 2008.
THE M-COUNT MYSTERY
Hunter and Wrecker are determined to discover why the Empire wants Omega so badly and what her M-count has to do with it. The Batch didn’t learn about midi-chlorians in Clone AP biology class. This reminds the audience how woefully ignorant the average galactic denizen is about the Force and how it operates. Omega has shown no signs of her new Force sensitivity. I love how the writers subtly build up to it by having Omega show Crosshair meditation that she learned from Order 66 survivor Gungi.
Hunter and Wrecker know that the Empire is “conveniently” hiring bounty hunters to hunt down beings with high M counts. Since Tech’s untimely demise, the two have no clue who to turn to but the source. That source is none other than The Mandalorian’s/Book of Boba Fett’s Fennec Shand. A bounty hunter they have tangled with in the past.
FENNEC RETURNS!
I love Fennec. She is cold and severe with an emotionless demeanor. She also has an air that she is the smartest in the room, and seeing her sharp wit “impale” the bumbling, oafish Wrecker is quite amusing. Fennec agrees to give them the information they need if they help her capture a bounty. She is tracking a terrifying insectoid alien on a strange swamp planet and uses them to clear dangerous obstacles out of her path.
Again, the animators’ creation of the swamp water is just visual magic. I really feel as if I am jumping into the putrid water alongside Wrecker and Hunter.
VERDICT
What I truly enjoyed about this episode (besides Shand’s interactions with Hunter and Wrecker) was while I knew this was a brief mission to gain some intel, the writers made it a reasonably exciting story sequence. The safe house where the bug guy hid was dark and frightening. With the creature lurking in the shadows before striking, I felt like I was in a Ridley Scott Alien movie! I also expected the outcome to get wrapped up fairly quickly, but I still had some fun in the process, and that’s what Star Wars is all about. The B story with Omega and Crosshair was straightforward but also worked very well for me. It should be simple, but no simpler, as Einstein said.
There is a lot of fun stuff, lots of Star Wars-y goodness, and lots to unpack at the end of the episode. Solid A.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus now.
FORCE FACTS
-
The space station Fennec is hanging out on looks familiar, and I can’t tell if it’s the exact location as the Axis Vanguard droid crime ring station from last season. However, it is full of scary, rowdy thugs and the perfect place to find a hardened bounty hunter veteran.
-
I still don’t know why people say M-count instead of midi-chlorians. Is the word midi-chlorian taboo or not a generally accepted scientific term?
-
I like that the planet they are tracking the bug alien on is said to have hostile air for human breathing. Shand puts on a rebreather, and the clones put on their helmets. I feel this is a very good decision on behalf of the writers, as fans often complain that every planet seems perfectly suited to human life. That is unrealistic, as most planets in the real universe are not conducive to life, well, life as we know it.
-
The bug alien criminal. Is he a Vratix? One of the insectoid aliens who invented bacta? I’m not entirely sure, but he’s quite formidable in combat and down-right terrifying in low-light environments. His species also seems to be highly resistant to stun blasts, adding more difficulty in capturing him.
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!
