Max Nocerino 
The Bad Batch gives us a great story, like a plate of delicious pasta, but once again, a dead roach inside it ruins the whole thing.
While there are a few plot pertusions, THE BAD BATCH remains one of the most creative storylines Star Wars has created in animation in a long time.
The previous episode, “Juggernaut,” suffered from poor plot devices. Especially shoehorning in the disgraced Imperial admiral Rampart and the lazy, sloppy method of stealthily entering a planet’s atmosphere. However, “Into the Breach” tried early to make up for these shortcomings by giving us a fun and exciting infiltration sequence slightly different from what we’re used to seeing.
RAMPART’S ROLE
Rampart’s here. There’s no getting around it. While I think it was a lousy choice to make him the in-person, I do enjoy Rampart’s subtle humor, being one-half Imperial pompous and one-half whiny, petty, washed-up man. He is pretty annoying, and his personality juxtaposed with a hard-butt Hunter or cold and calculating Crosshair was fun to watch. The clones promise his complete freedom if he can help them get the coordinates so they can rescue Omega….again.
I am mixed about Omega getting captured and then rescued all the time. Logistically, there aren’t many other options for the show to go on. Omega has acquainted herself with the other children prisoners or specimens on Tantiss and confides in them that she has escaped from this facility and will do so again with them. I love the leader vibes that Omega exudes despite being so young. Her plan to escape reminds me a little of Shawshank Redemption. It is refreshingly unknown how Omega will carry out the rest of the breach, though, and not knowing what will happen next, I feel, is always the mark of a good story.
RETURN TO CORUSCANT
The clones and Rampart journey to an Imperial orbital station above Coruscant. Rampart conveniently does not know the exact location of the Tantiss facility, and the clones must get creative. Alongside the occasional comrade Echo, they steal an Imperial shuttle and plan to slice into the station’s departure records for the next science vessel to depart for Tantiss. Hemlock has covered his tracks well, and I am pretty surprised by how efficient the safeguards are. Imperials are not known for well-thought-out security. But on the other hand, Hemlock is not your average Imperial. He is undoubtedly more intelligent than the average Wookiee.
It gets a little tricky when the clones learn that the coordinates are only uploaded to the ship before it makes the jump to hyperspace. Ooooh. Even more air-tight security. The clones now have to hijack a vessel that will piggyback onto the departing vessel. I would stop and say this is a brilliant objective, EXCEPT for how stupidly easy it is to do. The ship the clones use is blatantly in range and in view of the departing ship and latches on like its no big deal! This is so dumb, and as someone who watches Isaac Arthur on YouTube every Thursday, there is no such thing as stealth in space. How in the galaxy did the Imperial science vessel not see them coming? Could their sensors and scopes have been more blind?!
VERDICT
I don’t like these little chinks in the armor. You give us a great story like a plate of delicious pasta, but once again, there is a dead roach inside it that ruins the whole thing. It’s very similar to Phee’s planetary entry brain fart. I am getting worried that the finale in two weeks will suffer from more unsatisfactory plot holes. I would have given this episode a B+, BUT it loses many points for this mistake.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is streaming exclusively on Disney Plus now. Stay informed and never miss a story with our frequent updates at Future of the Force.
FORCE FACTS
We noticed various Force facts, Easter eggs, trivia moments, and observations throughout the episode. How many of them did you see?
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The location where Phee dropped the Batch and Rampart off is a gaseous world with floating cities, similar to Cloud City; however, the architectural style is very different. It kind of reminds me of drawings of potential future “cloud” cities hovering in the atmosphere of our close neighbor Venus.
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The orbital station in Coruscant’s orbit looks EXACTLY like Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art. Ralph died in 2012, but I still remember his sad passing like it was yesterday. He truly was one of the best artists I’ve ever seen (in modern times), and you could easily call him the “Art-father” of Star Wars.
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It is still unclear what experiments the Empire is doing with these Force-sensitive kids, but they are being monitored at all times and encouraged to play games in order to keep their mental focus sharp. Perhaps they are trying to see manifestations of Force-ability? But wouldn’t it be better to put them through an obstacle course of some sort instead of having them laze around and play holo-jenga all day?
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!
