The nice thing about The Bad Batch airing on Friday is that, no matter how bad the end of my work week is, I get to sit down with some Star Wars, and my day becomes kinda good again, even when an episode is lackluster because, c’mon, it’s Star Wars. It’s not always supposed to be good. In fact, Star Wars is historically and endearingly bad on occasion (surely we all remember “I don’t like sand”). It’s simply part of its charm.
That said, sometimes the bad isn’t endearing and is just straight up disappointing. “Cornered” had both types of bad, but more so the latter.
The Plot
Technically this episode isn’t “filler,” but it had the vibe of that kind of episode even though it introduces a bounty hunter that viewers of The Mandalorian will recognize as Fennec Shand, voiced by Ming-Na Wen. This should, technically, count as significant plot development. And yet, for some reason, it doesn’t feel like it. Perhaps it’s because at no point did anyone feel truly in danger or have any hard choices to make.
The episode opens with Hunter pointing out an uninhabited planet as the perfect place to hide (which…wouldn’t that be the first place Imperials would look?), but they don’t have enough fuel, they don’t have enough food, and they don’t have enough money to get there. Off the Republic bank roll, the Bad Batch are essentially on their own when it comes to resources. More problematic than that, their ship’s signature is on the Empire’s most wanted list, meaning it will be difficult for them to go anywhere, especially with the Empire rolling out its new surveillance system.
They decide to modify the ship so the signature can be scrambled, necessitating them to land on Pantora to make the necessary tweaks. They successfully avoid having their ship scanned once they realize they must bribe the shipmaster, who then relays their position to Fennec. But hey, it’s not all scum and villainy here. Technically, he did keep his word not to scan the ship, but not betraying them to bounty hunters was never part of the deal.
After an uncomfortable scene where Echo in disguise is mistaken for a droid and sold to procure some quick credits, Omega is separated from Hunter. Lost in the big city, she bumps into Fennec, who pretends to befriend her. Hunter, once he catches up, realizes that Fennec is no friend. This sparks a confrontation between the two, where Omega runs away and does her best to escape Fennec, even neatly outmaneuvering the bounty hunter on one occasion.
Eventually they’re able to escape Pantora, while the episode closes with Fennec reporting that Omega got away. To whom, specifically, she’s reporting is not revealed. One could surmise it’s the Kaminoans, and the narrative could fit that supposition. I’m personally hoping another party is at play here.
The Good
You know what Star Wars consistently gets right? Their droids. Every single time they are cute as heck, and this episode is no exception. One of my favorite moments is when the protocol droid, so preoccupied with their own importance, tells various R2 units that they would supervise the work of repairing the Bad Batch’s ship, mere moments after admitting they weren’t programmed for ship repair.
Absolutely delightful.
The Bad
I feel I’ve been using this format for so long it would break an unspoken rule to add a separate section, but the following is more or less disappointment as opposed to anything necessarily bad about the episode.
I just want some character development. Is that too much to ask?
Wrecker is the same as he always is, kindly belligerent and anxious for food, which I wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t consistently played for laughs. Eating disorders aren’t generally shown on shows in this genre, but every time a character with a focus on food graces the screen for comedic effect, I wish the creators wouldn’t shy away from the complicated feelings that would drive this kind of behavior. Did the Kaminoans not give Wrecker enough food? Is Wrecker concerned that if he doesn’t eat enough his strength will diminish, making him just a normal clone? There is plenty of material to create additional substance, but it’s routinely ignored for other aspects of the plot–in this case one of the most boring chases I’ve witnessed. Even Wrecker being so easily defeated by Fennec didn’t give his character a moment of internal crisis beyond disappointment that he’s “missing all the action.” Which yes, he is missing all the action going on inside himself because the writers won’t tell us about it.
Any indication he may be next to struggle with his inhibitor chip disappeared, and if his headache from the last episode truly was just from the crash, then I must ask: what is the point? It makes no sense for only Crosshair to be affected by the chip, otherwise it’s just too easy, and I don’t want the clones to have it easy.
I’ve said this before about Echo, but he’s practically a cardboard cutout of himself in Bad Batch. He had more development in his handful of episodes in The Clone Wars. At least he said he was worth more than two thousand credits in that extremely uncomfortable scene, but that is probably the first glint of something like a character we’ve seen throughout the entire series.
Tech basically just exists to do techy, hacky things. How’s he feeling? We don’t know. I guess as long as he has something to finagle with his technical genius he’s fine. But people aren’t like that!
Even Hunter is falling a little flat in his interactions with Omega. The dynamic of having a kid when they live inherently dangerous lives still has to go beyond protecting Omega. Omega is in his care so that does have to be a very big part of their character dynamic, but so far it also feels like the only dynamic.
The Bad Batch’s individual wants and needs, and how that may or may not be in conflict with each other, are unclear. I’m not sure if it was sacrificed to emphasize Omega and Hunter, but it is currently doing everyone a disservice.
And finally, for what I did find truly bad with the episode.
I’ve mentioned several times now that the scene where Echo is mistaken for a droid and sold for some quick cash made me extremely uncomfortable. It feels the writers forgot that the clones actually were sold to the Republic, and Star Wars historically tends to make light of slavery in general.
Another aspect where Star Wars tends to stumble is their treatment of disabled characters. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker is a great example of this, and this scene edged into those waters as well. It’s clear that the shop owner thinks Echo is a droid because of his prosthetic, which does not resemble a human hand.
The consistent dehumanization of Echo, first in being sold in farce, second in being mistaken as a droid because of his prosthetic, does not sit well with me. Perhaps it would be different if Echo actually was a character in his own story, but so far he hasn’t been. I can’t help but feel there’s some kind of significance that he is the clone who has been the most whitewashed as well. The message it sends is distinctly unpleasant as core aspects of Echo’s character are routinely undermined and dismissed by the creators.
In Conclusion
With two and a half strong episodes and one weak episode, Bad Batch is still ahead. Fennec Shand is a fun cameo, and viewers can occupy themselves during the boring parts by imagining how interesting the show could actually be if the writers weren’t afraid to delve.