The Bad Batch Spoiler Recap: Infestation
Fresh off their victory saving the Syndulla family in last week’s episode, the Bad Batch opened this week with...a time jump.
How much of a time jump is unclear, but when our boys walk off the ship talking about a nest of gundarks, it was clear some time had gone by since Ryloth. Even though the comment about Cid needing to pay them more would have made perfect sense for Gobi Ghee’s weapons drop accidentally turning into involvement in local politics.
When they make it back to Cid’s, they find it greatly changed. The place is overrun with hostile, uniformed guards, and even a few Pykes. They barge into Cid’s office to find it occupied instead by a (strangely sexy) Devaronian named Roland Durand.
Roland brushes off the Batch’s concerns, and ominously tells them Cid has been “taken out”. Just as the boys look ready to shrug off yet another call for help, and just as Omega insists that of course they need to find and help Cid, this particular crisis is averted. Cid is just fine, and is hanging out on the Marauder.
I couldn’t help but feel that even this was wasted potential. We’ve seen time and time again that the Batch has gone on missions and even helped people for either financial gain, or just because they were asked. If Cid were really missing, then this would have been their first true test of loyalty to someone who isn’t one of their own. Though she is blackmailing them into working for her, Cid is still someone who has looked out for the Batch, and for Omega specifically, and for them to decide to find her with no outside prompting would have been a huge leap in their character development.
But instead, Cid is just fine, and she’s even got a job for them. Roland Durand, she explains, is the son of Isa Durand, a noted crime boss. He’s taken over Cid’s parlor because Ord Mantell is strategically located at the centre of several hyperspace routes. He’s looking to make a name for himself by taking a job with the Pykes. Cid tells the Batch they need to disrupt his efforts while remaining hidden, lest the eyes of the Pyke syndicate turn on them instead.
She guides them to old mining tunnels under the city that lead directly beneath her office. It wasn’t until later in the episode that I realized these tunnels go way out into the wilderness beyond the city and then loop back around. The entrance and exit are within a few blocks of each other, but the main chamber where the episode climax takes place is out in the middle of nowhere.
As they slowly guide the carts through the tunnels, Cid warns them to be quiet. Any loud noises might awaken the “hive”. Though Wrecker drops his flashlight at one point, in a moment I’ve decided is an homage to The Fellowship of the Ring, the hive thankfully remains dormant. With the help of Cid’s Weequay and Ithorian friends, who kidnap Roland’s pet Ruby to distract him long enough to leave the parlor, the Batch sneak in and make off with the spice.
They very nearly made a clean getaway too, were it not for Roland returning to his office just a shade too early, and sending his men after them. A firefight ensues in the tunnels, and wakes up the hive - an entire cluster of simply massive insects. Now that they don’t need to stay quiet, they take out Roland’s men by any means necessary, even if those means involve them dropping the shipment in the tunnels.
But it doesn’t matter. They escaped and don’t have to worry about disposing of the spice some other way. But crisis not averted yet - there’s still 13 minutes left in the episode.
When they arrive back at the parlor, they find everyone dead. Well, almost everyone. Roland is still alive, and has led the Pykes right to them. The Pykes say they will consider the matter resolved if the Batch returns the spice. So it’s back to the bug cavern, they go. Only this time, Omega is kept behind as collateral.
The bugs - Irlings, as they’re called - have gone dormant once again. However, as a precaution, Tech assembles a device that will diffuse a blinding light throughout the cave to scare away the light-averse insects. Though they get most of the spice out without incident, a piece of equipment falls at the last second and wakes up the bugs. Tech’s device goes off without a hitch, and they return to town in time to return the spice and retrieve Omega.
Roland is let go after having one of his horns severed - although for a moment there, I really thought I was about to watch a slow beheading at 6:30 in the morning - and he and the Batch go their separate ways. Confused about why Omega would try advocating for Roland at all, she points out that if Ruby trusts him, then perhaps he isn’t all bad.
The final scene of last week’s episode was rife with potential for the final quarter of the season. Crosshair had just requested permission to hunt down his brothers, and there was something in his tone that, at least to my ears, spoke of uncertainty. But that did not come up at all this week.
The big struggle The Bad Batch has had all along is occupying this strange space between being a streaming show and still trying to work within the formula of network kids television. Back in the day, on a channel like Cartoon Network, there was no guarantee that your audience would watch every episode every week, especially in the days before PVR. But with everything exclusive to a streaming platform, The Bad Batch had the space to really dive deep, to make the show about the changing state of the galaxy from the point of view of five different characters who no longer understand their place in it.
Instead, the show has defaulted to mission-of-the-week storytelling, which would be fine if there weren’t hints of them at least trying to go a little deeper with it. When they do manage that, it always comes off beautifully. But with only 3 episodes left now, and the characters not feeling any different or more developed than they did in the first episode, it’s cause for concern. Moments like the Batch all drawing their blasters to protect Omega were fine - and the animation was wonderfully synchronized - but it’s not the effective character beat they think it is because they’ve always been this protective of Omega. Hunter not wanting to help someone yet again is frustrating, because if he can’t get it together enough to help a person he has some kind of working relationship with, then who does he consider worthy of his help? How does he expect to keep his family safe if he turns his back on the entire galaxy? On those who make it better on a broader scale, or those like Cid who could be an ally for him down the road.
It’s also frustrating because as a whole Star Wars storytelling outside of the High Republic is really diving into the underworld, with the War of the Bounty Hunters comic run, and the upcoming Book of Boba Fett. With the frequent appearance of bounty hunters on this show, and the Batch’s integration into the world of smuggling and crime, that alone would have been enough to sustain a series. What happens when the best of the best from the Republic army fall into a life of crime amidst a changing galaxy. But, regretfully, the show has a tendency to introduce a lot of potentially interesting storylines without ever properly exploring any of them to any great depth.
Next week will likely be another adventure of the week episode, where everything is back to zero at the beginning, and back to zero by the end as well, with the final two episodes delving into the showdown with Crosshair. But the Batch have been separated from their fallen brother for nearly the entire season, and any time they do see him, the loss is thoroughly glossed over. Trying to resolve 14 episodes of tension in 40 minutes will be a challenge, especially as that tension was not given the emotional weight it needed to really resonate with many in the audience who weren’t already invested in some way.
But fingers crossed, and as always I’m happy to be wrong.
What did you think? Did you expect the return to format? Are you worried about the finale or do you have faith? Are you a little in love with Roland? Join us for Bad Bitches on the Bad Batch, our biweekly livestream to dive in! And for more Star Wars discussion, don’t forget to subscribe to “Space Waffles”, our Star Wars focused podcast!
The Bad Batch is streaming now on Disney+ with new episodes every Friday.