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 episode fourteen of season two, ‘Tipping Point’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Mark Newbold
We’re approaching the sharp end of the second season of The Bad Batch, a fascinating selevction of adventures – as the debut season was – that in additon to delving into the lives and relationships of the warriors of Clone Force 99 has done a superb job of showing the state of the wider galaxy, something recent TV series in animation and live action have done superbly across different eras.
Here the threat is clear; the existence of the clone army that took the galaxy is at stake, and while they are – and always have been – a controllable, weaponised threat we care about many of these soldiers. Having done only what they were bred to do, the effects of Order 66 has not only changed the galaxy but changed them, and you have to wonder why there isn’t an Order 99 that activates to bring their accelerated clone lives to an early end. It would appear that’s not the case, and as their collective fates grow darker by the day, how long before the galaxy (Palpatine) plays them as he played Admiral Rampart, the Jedi Order, Dooku and the rest of this unfortunate galaxy.
As for Tipping Point, we open with Captain Rex, Echo and crew taking control of an Imperial vessel loaded with clones, freeing them as the ship is left listing. It’s an interesting scene, showing just how militarily superior Clone Troopers are to the enlisted soldiers now employed by the Empire and also their admirable tactic of only firing on stun as we cut to Doctor Hemlock and Crosshair at Mount Tantiss, still captured and on the table as the doctor tries to find out where Omega and Clone Force 99 are. To his credit – and likely also because he genuinely doesn’t know – Crosshair stalls, leading to painful repercussions.
There’s an air of dark inevitability about the episode as we hop to Coruscant and the Martez sisters workshop as friend of the army Riyo Churchi arrives to help however she can as Hemlock convenes with Governor Tarkin, who is concerned with security at the Wayland Complex. There’s actions happening across the galaxy that feel destined to intersect, almost certainly in the two-part finale that will conclude the season, and as we watch Crosshair almost but not quite escape Mount Tantiss as on Pabu Hunter and the team settle in to this new island life they’ve more than earned but almost certainly won’t be able to sustain, there’s a feeling of dread and sorrow, and it’s been written across Hunters face all season.
Crosshair does manage to get a message out – ‘Plan 88: The Seeker’, which isn’t a song by The Who but could be – according to Hunter at least – a trap, and as we end with Crosshair still on the table we have to wonder if there’s a way for Clone Force 99 to, if not reform then perhaps be somewhat on the same page. The reuniting of Omega and Echo was a rare charming note, as was the repairs carried out on Pabu by Wrecker, who is clearly enjoying his time there, but this is still a galaxy at war. Not an overt military conflict, but a war on the very souls who were corrupted at birth and forced to turn on their Jedi commanders and steal the galaxy for a dark power that cares not a jot for their welfare or survival.
Where we leave the Bad Batch by next week, who knows, but it can’t be anywhere good.
Eric Onkenhout
Tipping Point begins with clone trooper prisoners escorted by TK troopers and Commandos onto an awaiting ship. As that ship leaves planetside, another drops out of hyperspace and begins firing on the Imperial ship. With the Imperial ship’s hyperdrive disabled, it cuts to the cockpit of the attacking ship. Inside are Echo, Nemec, Rex, Gregor, and Fireball. They board the Imperial ship and quickly take out the less-skilled Imperial TK troopers. Even the Commandos don’t slow them down. The lone Imperial officer bites down on a shock pill and commits suicide before he answers any of their questions.
Before they can extract all the data they’re looking for, Imperial reinforcements arrive. Before the V-wings can destroy them, the clones and their rescued counterparts jump to hyperspace. On Mount Tantiss, TK troopers escort Crossfire out of his cell and to an operating room where scientist Karr and Dr. Hemlock await. Hemlock wants Crosshair to tell him where Clone Force 99 is so he can get to Omega. Crosshair pleads ignorance, and the torturing ensues.
Meanwhile, on Coruscant, Echo and Gregor bring Howzer and his men to Trace Martez’s repair shop, where they rendezvous with Senator Riyo Chuchi. Back at Mount Tantiss, Karr suspends the interrogation. However, Crosshair grabs a blaster pistol, shoots the stormtroopers and interrogation droid, and stuns Karr. Crosshair makes his way through the prison but is eventually knocked out by toxic gas created by Hemlock, who is immune. Back on Weyland, Dr. Hemlock tries to reassure Governor Wilhuff Tarkin that the loss of the ship will not compromise the Weyland facility. Tarkin disagrees, but Hemlock vouches for their security protocols.
On Pabu, Echo asks Hunter if he and the other clones plan to stay on the peaceful island indefinitely. Tech summons the rest of the Bad Batch to the ship via comlink. Aboard the Marauder, he explains that the Imperial transport Echo hijacked was assigned to the Advanced Science Division, a clandestine operation without records of its location or purpose, headed by Dr. Royce Hemlock, who was expelled from the Republic science corps for his unauthorized and unorthodox experiments.
Tech also finds Crosshair’s old code with the message “Plan 88. The Seeker.” Tech thinks Crosshair is warning them, but Hunter believes it is a trap. Tipping Point ends with Crosshair strapped to the torture table once again.
Tipping Point was a fascinating episode with loads of intrigue and tension. A few points of interest. Howzer was last seen in season one’s Rescue at Ryloth, and this is Gregor’s last appearance before he’s seen in Star Wars Rebels, unless he is in future episodes of The Bad Batch. When Tech explained Hemlock’s shady history, it reminded me of the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele who performed disgusting operations and experiments on prisoners. Something tells me Scientist Karr will start to help Crosshair escape. I don’t believe she is driven by Imperial motivations.
The following two episodes are a two-parter which are the last two of the season. We can already see the indecision on the group’s part as to whether they should find Crosshair. But when Wrecker asks how they’ll know if it’s a trap, I say spring the trap.
Jen Sopchockchai
If anyone were to ask me to rank all the members of the Bad Batch (past and present), my answer would fluctuate depending on the time. I often say Tech is my personal favorite. Lately, I might be more inclined to say that Omega is the most complex, compelling, and generally awesome character and therefore my favorite. Wrecker is so lovable and Hunter is so cool. Echo is…fine. Maybe better than fine now that he’s gotten more to do, striking out on his own to join Rex and fight the good fight. This episode made me feel so much empathy for Crosshair because he very quietly — almost invisibly — protects his former squad mates from Doctor Hemlock, enduring intense torture over what seems like many days. And then, when he finally has a chance to escape, he doesn’t prioritize his own escape. He first tries to send out a coded warning to the others: “Plan 88 — The Seeker.” As far as I can tell, this hasn’t been uttered in any previous episode, but “Seeker” at least more clearly refers to someone looking for them, which means that the squad must go into hiding to stay safe.
Right before he gets interrupted, I could hear Crosshair start to say something over the comms about Omega. And in general, I got the impression that he was mostly worried about Omega, who Hemlock calls the “rogue clone.” Crosshair’s steadfastness in not giving up The Batch specifically for Omega warms my heart even more because the last time Crosshair saw Omega, she was trying to tell him that “You’re still their brother, Crosshair. You’re my brother too.” It’s nice to think that those words stuck with Crosshair more than they seemed to at the time.
It looks like Crosshair’s situation may be tough to take for the female clone scientist too. We spend a lot of time watching her squirm or look unsure when her boss, Doctor Hemlock, gives a harsh command. There are a couple moments when it almost seems like she’s trying to help Crosshair, but not so much that she’ll get caught or accused of sympathizing. When she tells him, for example, that he shouldn’t try to endure the torture because there’s no way out, she’s giving bad advice, but the tone makes it sound like it’s coming from a genuine place of care. So maybe Crosshair’s attempt to protect Omega will ultimately convince her to betray Hemlock?
Doctor Hemlock, on the other hand, will show no such restraint if he discovers his own underling has betrayed him. I’ve found Hemlock to be pretty terrifying so far; I’d say that, in terms of perverse delight in suffering, he’s potential competition for Doctor Gorst, our child death scream torturer from Andor. His emergence from the yellow gas and subsequent exposition that he has developed an immunity to his pet toxin gave me the shivers. His name may be a little heavy-handed at first blush, as Hemlock is a highly poisonous plant that attacks the central nervous system until the victim suffocates. This may be how Doctor Hemlock’s toxic gas works.
I appreciated how this episode brought together the three big storylines from this season: Crosshair becoming more and more disillusioned with The Empire, the Bad Batch trying to decide what kind of life to live, and Echo/Rex/Senator Chuchi fighting and advocating for clone rights. It seems inevitable that they will all converge at Mount Tantiss during the two-part finale next week.
There have been some complaints that Crosshair has not appeared in enough of Season 2, only popping in for an episode here and there. We have gone several consecutive episodes without seeing him at all, as he has only appeared in Episode 3: “The Solitary Clone,” Episode 12: “The Outpost,” and now this week’s Episode 14: “Tipping Point.”
He has had the most compact yet the most potent arc this season, going from an unflinching “good soldiers follow orders” attitude in Season 1 to utter loneliness and under-appreciation in “The Solitary Clone,” followed by a sense of injustice and revenge in “The Outpost,” and finally culminating in outright defiance of the Empire in “Tipping Point.” Along the way, he has had meaningful interactions with other clones like Cody and Mayday. Those have led him to his tipping point. We shall soon see what spills thereafter.
(This is condensed and edited – with permission – from Jen’s The Long Take review, which you can subscribe to here)
