TV Review: ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Season 2, Episode 8
by Frank Martin
It’s always a beautiful thing when the two major elements of Star Wars — science-fiction and politics — come together so perfectly. Where the previous episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch focused mainly on the politics of how the Empire will treat the clones now that they’re not needed, this episode could be viewed as a continuation, except with the addition of the Bad Batch themselves. What follows is the combination of the political intrigue and the sci-fi action that makes Star Wars so excellent.
Rex (Dee Bradley Baker) contacts the Bad Batch (also Baker), asking for their help with a covert operation. The mission: steal evidence that their home on Camino was destroyed by the Empire rather than a storm. It was supposed to be an easy quest that, of course, becomes complicated. In a very dramatic finish, the Bad Batch bring the evidence to the Senate just in time to reveal the truth. Unfortunately, Emperor Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) was already two steps ahead and used the revelation to his advantage, ushering in his plans to create an army of Imperial Stormtroopers.
Star Wars fans know that the Bad Batch’s quest to secure a future for clones was doomed from the start. Still, it was interesting to watch the events unfold. The Emperor is a master manipulator, so of course he would have the last laugh in the end; watching it all play out is still incredibly fun to watch. Hopefully, the Bad Batch will still manage to get some semblance of a happy ending, even though fans know that a perfect happy ending will never come. Also, Echo left the group in the episode’s closing moments. The ramifications of that decision will be interesting to watch unfold.
The Bad Batch streams Wednesdays on Disney+.
