We can’t all be winners, and this is certainly true as The Bad Batch picks itself up from Ryloth and continues its narrative journey in a galaxy far, far away. Also, if you don’t like bugs or have a phobia of insects, you may want to give this one a skip.
The Plot
The Bad Batch returns from a job and discovers Cid has been ousted from her place of operations by an up and coming criminal mastermind named Roland Durand. He owes the Pykes a shipment of spice that Cid determines to steal. The Pykes will be so angry with Roland they’ll oust him for her.
The Bad Batch considers up and leaving, but Omega convinces them to help Cid. They travel through an underground network of tunnels infested by large, sleeping insects and succeed in stealing the spice but not before being spotted by Roland’s men, who pursue very loudly. The insects wake up, and the spice is lost as Cid and crew escape for their lives.
The Pykes now know that Cid is involved, and they hold Omega hostage until the spice can be retrieved. Omega and Roland bond in captivity, specifically over a pet named Ruby, while the Bad Batch and Cid retrieve the spice. They square their account with the Pykes, Cid gets her parlor back, and Roland loses a horn for his efforts.
The Good
Even though Cid has treated Omega and her brothers like garbage, exploited them every step of the way, Omega still wants to help Cid. In the same way, Omega advocates for Roland when it seems the Pykes may make him pay with his life for all his mistakes.
There’s a juxtaposition where the Empire will not hesitate to imprison or kill anyone who makes a mistake (just talk to all the generals who took each others’ place after being choked to death by Vader). This is reflected in the Republic who decided to imprison Boba Fett, a young boy, in an adult prison after he attempted to avenge his father’s death. There is a distinct lack of second chances in both the Republic and the Empire that came after it. Based on what we’ve seen of the Kaminoans, it’s also likely there were precious few second chances in Omega’s life prior to her joining the Bad Batch on the run.
It speaks to Omega’s big heart that she does want to give Cid a second chance, even though Cid is shamelessly exploiting and using them. It’s good that Omega wants to give Roland a second chance even though his actions directly put her and her friends in harm’s way.
The opportunity to be better is so important. People cannot improve if they experience perpetual punishment. Yet Star Wars fails to follow through on this difficult idea through a lack of engagement with it.
Yes, Cid is given a chance to continue working with the Bad Batch, but will Cid ever be held accountable for the harm she does to them? In the course of the episode alone, we learn that Cid didn’t provide all the necessary information for a successful mission. Cid threatens them with their secrets if they do not help her. Though Omega wants to help out of kindness, the others are coerced by Cid.
In the same way, when Hunter asks Omega why she vouched for Roland, she only says that Ruby likes him. Clearly this is only the tip of the iceberg and viewers are invited to bring their own interpretation to the text, but the burden that undermines Omega’s reactions with Cid carries over here too. Roland is not held accountable to Omega or to the Bad Batch or even to Cid. The only thing that Roland experiences is a punishment: the loss of his horn. We do not know much about his species, but it’s also likely this punishment may have disabled him in some way as well.
It’s possible the point is that eventually Cid will get what’s coming to her, and Omega will be forced “to grow up” out of seeing the best in people, but I don’t want Cid to be punished (and I don’t want Omega to stop seeing the best in people). I want the Bad Batch to be free of Cid, I want them to feel something at what she has done to them, just as they need to feel something about their relationship with the Republic, but I don’t want Cid to be punished in the way that Roland is.
The Bad
This is another filler episode. For people who read the reviews, I’m sure it’s no surprise this isn’t an episode I cared for, primarily because I dislike Cid centric episodes.
Overall, “Infested” lacks tension. At no point did I worry what would happen. There is no surprise in this episode, no additional revelation. The individual members of the Bad Batch do not go through any tension beyond making sure they keep Omega safe, which we’ve seen before over and over again. Omega’s choice to advocate both for Cid and Roland doesn’t go through any tension or growth.
In Conclusion
Like I said before, something can’t be awesome all the time, but this has the additional burden of coming out of Ryloth’s shadow. Let’s hope next week’s episode will be a little stronger.