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 nine of season two, ‘The Crossing’. Beware of spoilerific elements in here.
Jen Sopchockchai
From the moment Clone Force 99 brought Omega onto the Marauder, or, perhaps even before then, when Omega clearly seeks out Clone Force 99 in the halls of Kamino at the start of Season 1, I have thought of the Bad Batch as a found family. This episode made me realize that the members of the Bad Batch have not yet come to terms with this idea themselves. Episode 9, “The Crossing,” continually poses one question throughout: is the Bad Batch a squad or a family?
And what better way to answer such a question than through a mission in which nothing seems to go right. A mission that tests the bonds they’ve forged up until this point. Sid sends The Batch to an abandoned mining facility that she bought for cheap, in the hopes of being able to profit off the remnants of the highly combustible ipsium they might find there. Someone steals their ship, a stampede almost tramples them in the canyon, and a cave-in traps them inside part of the mines. And, with everything going wrong, they’re not in sync with one another — perhaps for the first time. They’re testy, getting on each other’s nerves, and blaming one another for all these missteps largely out of their control. It’s clear that something is off.
We can see that without Echo, missions logistically become a lot harder to accomplish. Someone can sneak in and steal the Marauder not necessarily because Wrecker was asleep on the job (easy there, Tech), but because they’re just spread too thin. And, more importantly, we see that the loss of a member has taken an emotional toll as well.
On paper, this seems like a run of the mill mission, but the noticeable behavioral differences among various members of the Bad Batch clearly shows just how much the events of the two-parter from the week prior — especially the loss of Echo — has affected them. This episode in which everything seems to be going wrong and no one seems to be getting along — a real low point for the squad this season — is the most appropriate follow-up. They can’t just go back to business as usual; they must confront change, their feelings, and engage in a conversation about whether or not they are just a squad or a family.
I know I’m not alone when I say that by far the most compelling scene in this episode was the one in which Omega and Tech have an extended heart-to-heart about dealing with the absence of Echo and, more recently, the Marauder — or as Omega says, their home. When Omega asks Tech if they’re a family, it forces him to think about their relationship differently. I don’t mean that he suddenly changed his mind and said, I once thought we were a squad, but now I think we’re a family. It’s more admitting to and acknowledging what he’s probably felt for some time but just failed to articulate in the way that Omega does in that moment.
My heart melted when Tech said to Omega that, “I may process moments and thoughts differently, but it does not mean I feel any less than you.” It was such a profound moment of clarity and understanding. Again, this wasn’t a one-way street. It’s not just that Omega had to knock some sense and help Tech discover his feelings; she too gained a better understanding of him in that moment. The whole exchange was beautiful.
It’s somewhat unusual for an episode of The Bad Batch, especially this season, to end on a cliffhanger if it’s not the first half of a two-parter. It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. My guess would be that in order to get their ship back, the Bad Batch will need to learn more about the situation with the planet and therefore the mysterious thief. There’s a lot of potential to show more of the Empire’s long arm of destruction and devastation here, especially since that’s been a big theme this season.
(This is condensed and edited – with permission – from Jen’s The Long Take review, which you can subscribe to here)
Eric Onkenhout
‘The Crossing’ was a personal episode for me as it touched on something that I struggle with, but it’s something that goes very misunderstood. Society tends to accept and promote outspoken, vocal, expressive, and outgoing individuals. Maybe it’s because when a person speaks, we better understand where they stand. Generally speaking, humans are social. We like being around each other, but for individuals like me, being social and verbally expressing ourselves can be incredibly exhausting.
If folks were asked who their favorite member of the Bad Batch is, most would say Wrecker because he’s fun, funny, and silly. Tech would likely get the least votes because he is a mystery, and some would say robotic. Now we know why Tech is the way he is. Folks like Tech and I don’t process feeling like most people. We don’t get super emotional about circumstances we have no control over. It’s not because we don’t care or are holding it in. Things happen for a reason, and that reason must be accepted because there is nothing we can do to change it.
To Tech, Crossfire and Echo’s decision to leave is part of life. Change happens, and life evolves. Being upset about that is pointless. In Spock’s words, “it’s illogical.” Even explaining it can be difficult because, to us, it just is. There is no why. We’re basically Jedi by default. But because we don’t show emotion externally, it doesn’t mean we feel nothing on the inside. We feel the same sadness as everyone else, but it rarely shows on the outside. Coming out of this episode, each member of the Bad Batch knows each other a little better than before. And that should be everyone’s goal.
Mark Newbold
It speaks to the depth of writing and the character work of Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang that an episode like The Crossing can be both action-packed and character focused while delivering quality Star Wars programming and adding even more layers to the relationship between kid sister Omega and her big brothers in Clone Force 99. While we felt her hollowness at Echo leaving, and felt her question whether they were a squad or a family, this time round her focus was Tech, his analytical, logical outlook on life and socially awkward manner softened by her direct questions and clear sadness. Once again, the Batch delivers heart and soul, wrapped in the very satisfying bow of the Star Wars galaxy.
We’re out on a mission for Cid, this time looking for ipsium in an abandoned mine the tricksy Trandoshan has bought and despite the mission being seemingly simple and a bust, there are a few factors to consider. The terrible weather conditions which can tear anything to pieces being one, thieving starship thieves being another. While the older members of the batch understand Echo’s reasons for taking a mission with Rex and putting his efforts elsewhere, his absense has clearly opened a hole in the team, and with Wrecker taking his eye off the ball (by dropping his eyelids over them for a nap) and allowing the Marauder to be stolen, the tensions only rise as Tech and the tank of the team needle each other as Hunter tries to play referee and Omega sadly watches on.
Is the Marauder a starship or a home? Are they a squad or a family? We watch as Omega struggles with the situation as the ground begins to shift around them. We’re in the home straight of season 2, and that impending sense of doom, of something big about to happen refuses to abate. What it will be we don’t know, but the big question is will this fractured found family have the tools to cope with it? Let’s hope, because a year after Order 66 and the fall of the Republic, it certainly feels like the writings on the wall for the sons – and daughter – of Kamino.
