Simon LeonardTable of Contents
We’ve been waiting years for the final episode to arrive and apparently, we can’t wait any longer. The Bad Batch has been one of our favorite shows since the first season finale hit, and I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to take in the final chapter of this wild ride.
The sci-fi series The Bad Batch has been on my radar since it first came to air in 2012. It is a space opera, a political thriller, a cyberpunk story, and a game of wits between two former enemies, but one thing it is not is a simple story of good versus evil.
The Bad Batch is a parody video game series about a group of clones whose lives are cut short by a rogue scientist and his apprentice.
REVIEW: The Bad Batch – “Finale Part 1: Return to Kamino” (Season 1, Episode 15)
“We used to be brothers; we may be again.”
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*SPOILERS*
Crosshair gloats over Hunter in “Return to Kamino,” refusing to inform him where he’s being transported. Meanwhile, Tech is getting the ship ready to go. The Batch notices that Hunter has vanished from Daro, and Omega demands that they rescue him. Admiral Rampart is anxious to acquire the rest of the Batch, so Crosshair sends Hunter to him. Tech receives directions for a hidden landing pad on Kamino that transports them deep below via a tube system. Omega informs the boys that this tube, unlike the others that run throughout Kamino, goes to Nala Se’s office. The Batch arrives at a lab, where Omega informs the others that their mutations have been amplified artificially. They meet AZI-3 there, who tells Omega what happened to the Kaminoans and ordinary clones. Crosshair is alerted to the arrival of his former brothers and Hunter’s rescue team by an alarm. Because Crosshair is solely pursuing them and not Omega, the men decide to split up. They stroll straight into Crosshair, who is anticipating their arrival. Omega receives Echo’s signal to return to the ship, but she chooses to go on her own rescue mission. Crosshair kills his soldiers who refuse to surrender, and Hunter is persuaded to join the Empire. Omega summons a swarm of training droids to attack the Batch. Crosshair is forced to labor alongside his brothers to live as a result of this. Admiral Rampart evacuates Kamino, and Grand Moff Tarkin authorizes him to fire on the planet while the Batch remains aboard. Crosshair confirms that his chip has been removed, but does not specify when. As the Empire fires on Kamino, Hunter stuns him, and the Batch flees with Crosshair in tow.
Return to Kamino encapsulates everything I love about The Bad Batch, as well as much of what makes Star Wars a fantastic franchise in general. Fast-paced, brutal action scenes alternate with gentler character moments throughout the show. “Return to Kamino” is by far Crosshair’s finest episode to yet, providing us a clear understanding of why he’s been pursuing his brothers for the Empire. I’m surprised to hear that he doesn’t have an inhibitor chip anymore, and I can’t help but question whether he’s lying (or if the Empire made him think this is the case). Why would one of their troops be allowed to remove his chip? Tarkin was also seen watching Crosshair in some kind of chamber earlier in the season, which appeared to be strengthening his chip. However, lying or faking out such a significant narrative element so near to the season’s conclusion would be strange. Only time will tell whether this is true. When Crosshair shot his troops and urged Hunter and the lads to join the Empire, I was taken aback. First, I was taken aback by Crosshair’s promise to defend him from the soldiers in this condition, and then I was taken aback by his offer to Hunter. None of the others seem to be interested in serving the Empire, and I can’t believe Crosshair still believes he’s a valuable part of the army given what just occurred. It’s probably a firing offense for him to kill his own troops in order to protect the ones he’s meant to be eliminating.
Of course, after Rampart says, “Let the clones die together,” we as the viewer realize it doesn’t matter, but Crosshair doesn’t. After defeating the Stormtroopers, Crosshair offers Hunter a short speech, which I really enjoyed. In that there’s a lot of truth to what he says, he reminds me of Maul from the Siege of Mandalore. In the new, Imperial world, loyalty to the Republic means nothing, and he’s correct that the Batch is better than the ordinary clones in certain respects. Given Rampart’s intentions, this signifies little, but the irony adds to the drama. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Crosshair in the future, and I’m happy Hunter didn’t make the same mistake he did with his brother. I appreciate how Crosshair feels betrayed just as much as they do; after all, he was left for dead. Anyone would be a bit wounded after something like that, regardless of the circumstances. Crosshair fighting with his siblings for the last time(?) was also fantastic and a bit melancholy. Omega was incorrect this time, releasing the training droids after the Troopers were already dead, which I enjoyed. That was a bit amusing.
The subplot with Crosshair, the Imperials, and the Kaminoans was fantastic. The murder of Lama Su and the destruction of the Kaminoan facilities serve as a fitting conclusion to this tale. I won’t say I’m upset since everything turned out as it should, but I will miss this element of the program. The unease of a new administration (even though it isn’t truly new) is where a lot of the tension sprang from. In “Return to Kamino,” they focus on Omega’s strange link to Nala Se once again. Omega becomes upset while talking about Kamino while assisting Tech, Wrecker, and Echo in infiltrating Kamino via Nala Se’s office. Next season, I anticipate to learn more about this. Personally, I believe it is a mother-daughter relationship. Although Nala Se does not seem to be much more sympathetic or caring than the other Kaminoans, she did assist her in escaping. Fennec Shand was even recruited by Nala Se to battle Cad Bane and her protectors/makeshift family.
I particularly like learning that Omega and the Batch were genetically modified to enhance their distinct characteristics. Clone Force 99 is officially not a batch of faulty clones, as has been suggested at before. In future seasons, I’m curious whether they’ll be able to dig further into Kamino and the secrecy surrounding its activities. I’ve always like this, but now that the laboratories have been destroyed, it’ll be difficult to continue investigating one of the show’s most intriguing elements. The last, haunting images of the abandoned Kaminoan facilities are both beautiful and heartbreaking. The barren cloning pods and quiet corridors are a profoundly disturbing sight. Kamino was never a pleasant place, either in terms of purpose or outcomes. The Clones were one of the most fascinating and sympathetic aspects of The Clone Wars, and they remain so in The Bad Batch. As a result, seeing what happens to the one location they’ve ever called home is sad. What happened to the pre-existing clones who were shuttled “off-world”?
“Return to Kamino” is a fantastic episode that has me waiting for the next one. In this episode, the characters and their conversation are on fire. The lifeless, sterile views of Kamino and the final explosions as Admiral Rampart terminates the Kaminoan experiment are the finest this animation technique has ever looked. I’m excited to see where the program goes from here in next week’s episode.
Plot – 10
Acting (10 points)
Progress – ten
10 Production Design
10 points for animation and action.
10
Outstanding
“Return to Kamino” is a fantastic episode that has me waiting for the next one.
The Batch have a space shuttle ship at their disposal, and they’ve set it up inside the abandoned Kamino prison as a crafty trap for the Rebels coming in from the other side. But first they have to wait for the Rebels to arrive, and they’re not going to be able to rest too long as they’ve got a war to fight back on Coruscant. This episode is one of the series’ strongest, as the Batch prove to be a more than worthy adversary, and the episode’s final twist is a key moment for the series.. Read more about the bad batch full episode and let us know what you think.
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Simon Leonard