Last week, War-Mantle turned up the dial to a 4-star review as we head into the final episodes of the debut season of The Bad Batch, and as we learn that the show is confirmed for a second season the dial nudges up even further as the 15th episode takes Clone Force 99 – minus the captured Hunter – back to the one place Hunter promised Omega she’d never have to visit, her former rain-sodden home on the water planet of Kamino. It’s clear that they are being led by the nose back to Kamino to rescue Hunter, but even as Crosshair activates Hunter’s signal, alerting the batch to his location, viewers and characters know they will still try. Once again it’s the knowledge and ingenuity of Omega that helps them gain access to the heavily secured former cloning facility, leading the Havoc Marauder to a platform some distance from Tipoca City, using a tube system under the ocean to journey to the secret lab of Kaminoan scientist Nala Se, and the room where the batch were developed.
There’s an oddly fascinating allure to seeing Kamino so deserted, the usually bustling corridors empty, all clones transported off-world to an unknown fate, Kaminoans either drafted into the ranks of the Empire or eliminated. The season-long gestating plans of Admiral Rampart to remove the clones and replace with enlisted staff edges closer, but despite this nightmare scenario for Clone Force 99 they battle on, captured in the hunt for Hunter in the training room with Crosshair and engaging in a battle of wills and morals that sees Crosshair at first spectacularly protect the batch before making them an offer they can’t – but steadfastly do – refuse.
There’s less room for character moments in this tense episode, the focus of the mission, and what’s at stake sitting right at the forefront of the show, but we still get to see Omega and her resolve to do the right thing tested…if there were ever any doubt she’s a member of the batch, they are well and truly washed away here. She waves away Hunter’s apology for bringing her back to Kamino when he promised she’d never need to return, and refuses to go back to the Havoc Marauder when Echo, Tech and Wrecker are captured. They never gave up on her, and she won’t give up on them.
The music by Kevin Kiner and his sons is perfect, utilising moments from Attack of the Clones to perfection, while certain scenes evoke moments from the original Battlefront 2. As always the animation is stunning, the scenes on Kamino are just incredible as the rain lashes down, and as the episode ends with Imperial rain hammering down from Star Destroyer turbolasers into the almost deserted city of Topioca, and we’re left with a classic cliffhangar as the lights go off and the stricken city tumbles into the sea with our heroes inside, ending a hugely impressive and well-observed episode and dangling the carrot for next weeks season finale.
Read our previous reviews of The Bad Batch here:
