Every time an episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch lands, Fantha Tracks will be giving their responses, and here are our initial gut feelings, deep dives and thoughts on episodes one, two and three of season three, ‘Confined’, ‘Paths Unknown’ and ‘Shadows of Tantiss’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Eric Onkenhout
The Bad Batch season 3 dropped with three episodes at once, “Confined”, “Paths Unknown”, and “Shadows of Tantiss”. This is its final season and with that is bound to be an emotional roller coaster. Over the first two seasons, we’ve seen Clone Force 99 go from a tight-knit well-oiled machine to a dysfunctional cluster that’s been through hell and back during the early days of the Empire. It is a dark time for the Batch, Omega has been kidnapped and taken to the Imperial Cloning facility on Weyland where she reunites with Crosshair, and Tech has been presumably lost. All that remains are Hunter, Wrecker, and what little hope they have.
The first three episodes of The Bad Batch had a very different feel and pacing than previous seasons. I hesitate to use the word slow. It felt methodical. Nothing was done without purpose. The repeated dripping water in Omega’s cell and her daily routine of helping Emerie Karr and her visits with Nala Se. It reiterated what Omega has been enduring in her time as a prisoner. The monotonous tasks. “Confined” felt very much like an animated episode of Andor. “No way Out.”
I enjoyed the episode but I didn’t understand why the same clones were having their blood tested for midi-chlorians. What would a second test reveal that the first didn’t? I found that to be confusing. But I appreciated Omega’s empathy towards the lurca hound, Batcher.
“Paths Unknown” was a prime example of Star Wars horror. Hunter and Wrecker land on Setron to find Omega and run into three younger clones, Deke, Stak, and Mox. Mox is voiced by Daniel Logan (young Boba Fett from Attack of the Clones). The abandoned Imperial facility left behind a world of experiments gone wrong. Horrible creatures roamed the hallways and landscapes. It was like something out of The Last of Us. Hunter and Wrecker narrowly escaped a mutated Sarlacc-like creature that was pure nightmare fuel. Slither vines also brought up thoughts of a possible drengir connection.
“Shadow of Tantiss” was my personal favorite thus far. Any time Palpatine (and Ian McDiarmid) return to animation you know things are going to get dark super fast. All eyes are on Palpatine as he tours Mount Tantiss with Hemlock. Palpatine affirms Project Necromancer is vital to the longevity of the Empire. It was previously mentioned in The Mandalorian Chapter 23: The Spies. With backstory about how Palpatine’s cloning facility grew, It’s satisfying to see threads from the sequel trilogy and the post-Jedi era lead to the early days of the Empire. It helps make Palpaitne’s return in The Rise of Skywalker make that much more sense.
The Bad Batch season 3 didn’t explode on the scene. It felt more like a dark cloud rolling in – very ominous and foreboding. We’re firmly in the dark times now. We see the oppression in Kenobi and Andor. The Empire’s reign was only 20 years, but it was a long two decades.
Ross Hollebon
The Batch is back, and it’s bathed in brooding and bleakness as the three-episode, season-opener introduces chaos and tension for most characters. The 87 minutes of run-time (including introductions and end credits) serve as a high-stakes sabacc tournament, setting the final season as a life-or-death experience.
In round one, the cards have been shuffled and dealt—with an extremely dangerous -15 card, the “Evil One,” lurking. The sudden appearance of Emperor Palpatine in the opening arc of this final season raises the stakes for everyone involved. Palpatine not only invited himself to the game, but immediately went all-in, and called—explaining to Dr. Royce Hemlock, his head of Project Necromancer, “There is nothing of greater importance to secure the future of this Empire. Whatever is needed to accomplish this goal, you will have it.”
The tense nature of this series kicks into high gear with the Emperor’s words and actions, helping to bridge other areas and stories within the Disney+ era of Star Wars. This early hand of crisp Flasks, Sabers, Staves, and Coins provides hints at why Grogu is so important in The Mandalorian and why Omega is so critical in this series. It helps explain what is happening in the scientific labs during the Aftermath trio of novels by Chuck Wendig, as well as the lab experiments taking place on Exegol during The Rise of Skywalker.
As Palpatine, seemingly encouraged by Hemlock’s progress, readies to leave the base, new developments are occurring right under his nose. Omega, her new friend “Batcher,” a lurca hound she nursed back to health and rescued, and Crosshair flee Tantiss Base into the dangerous jungle. They rally from their losing hand and eventually jump to hyperspace, only escaping with their lives because Hemlock needs Omega alive—Omega’s temporary Idiot’s Array.
Meanwhile, Hunter and Wrecker are traveling the galaxy looking for their smaller lost partner. Their own games of chance are numerous and include collecting bounties for the Durand Syndicate on Devaron to acquire intel on where to find Omega, and visiting a former Hemlock-led scientific base that suffered an orbital bombardment just like their original home of Kamino.
The trio of episodes is an excellent launch into the culmination of The Bad Batch story. It’s currently a storm-ridden, deluge of darkness, but Omega remains positive and persistent as her hope continues to guide them all. Deal me in. I’m ready to keep playing as Dave Filoni masterfully weaves all of these storylines together.
Mark Newbold
We’re into the final season of The Bad Batch, and after the tragic ending of the second season, the loss of Tech and the abduction of Omega you could be forgiven for anticipating a barnstorming, all-guns-blazing rescue episode as Wrecker, Hunter and friends breakout Omega so they can continue their missions throughout the galaxy. Thankfully, The Bad Batch is far smarter than that, and what we get in the opening trio of episodes are steadily paced, well-thought out stories that move up through the gears of tension and paying off not in action – though there is plenty of that – but in reveals, as we learn the true depth of Project: Necromancer, its importance to the Emperor and just how insidious (pun intended) this long-term plan is, casting its tendrils as far into the future as The Mandalorian and of course The Rise of Skywalker.
We open with Confined and Omega pretty much as we last saw her, short hair and still very much the kid Clone Force 99 lost, and as the debut episode moves on we see a visual cue as her hair grows longer, the monotony of her situation made clear as her sterile cell door opens every morning with Emery telling her there is much work to do, and she walks the same route, passing the similarly captive Crosshair as she carries out her menial duties. She makes a straw tooka doll from the straw on the floor of a lurca hound she domesticates and calls Batcher while trying to forma bond with Emery, a fellow female clone. The performances are uniformly great, with Michalle Ang absolutely nailing it as Omega, giving her the perfect balance of childish charm and confidence with just enough uncertainty to make her completely endearing (while never forgetting that she’s the oldest member of the Batch and knows how to handle herself).
In the second episode Paths Unknown we rejoin Hunter and Wrecker, a far more sombre pair than before as their team of six is now down to just the pair of them. Echo is off with Rex, Crosshair defected, Omega was taken and Tech is dead. They’re knuckling down into the hard work of detecting where their sister is, taking work with the Devaronians in trade for the location of Hemlocks base, and when that turns out to be a bust they run into a trio of young clones who have managed to survive in the wilderness (and it’s dangerous wilderness laced with terrifying Imperial experiments that make the vines of the forest a murderous threat). We’re definitely in the action arena with this episode, showing us not only the skills of the remianing Clone Force 99 members, but how well they communicate and work with fellow clones. Add one of the most exciting and satisfying ends to an episode as the youngsters return to help their stricken fellow clones and we’re already up to full speed.
Of the three episodes, it’s quite possible that the third – Shadows of Tantiss – will be the one most talked about, as not only does it bring us one of the most menacing turns by Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine we’ve ever seen (his menace drips off the screen, so kudos to Hemlock for keeping his composure so well) but we’re also seeing the continuation of the Necromancer project, and as the importance of Omega becomes crystal clear, it makes her escape with Crosshair and Batcher even more thrilling. As a pair, they are just perfect; her endless optimism clashing with his endless cynicysm is a joy to watch, and you forget that as with every other member of the Batch, Michelle Ang is acting opposite Dee Bradley Baker.
A superb return for the final season, and another reason to hope against hope that we get more Star Wars animation, as on this form we could be in for one of the most impressive seasons of Star Wars television so far.
