Star Wars: The Bad Batch is starting to repeat itself in “Cornered”
A new week means a new installment of Star Wars: The Bad Batch! This week, in “Cornered,” the group lands on Pantora to hide and gather supplies and credits. While they are on the planet, bounty hunter Fennec Shand tries to collect the bounty on Omega. The Bad Batch must devise a plan to rescue Omega from Shand.
The biggest highlight this week was the animation. While the show has had top-notch animation since it started, I appreciated the finer details in this episode. The facial features, shading and lighting, and blurred-out backgrounds look amazing as ever. When Hunter, Echo, and Omega walk through the crowd at the start of the episode, you can clearly see how much time the animators spent working on every single face in the throng. It was most impressive!
The action was another highlight this week. Shand and the Bad Batch fighting for Omega on the streets and tunnels of Pantora (not to mention that aerial chase) is classic Filoni-era Star Wars: The Clone Wars-style excitement. When Hunter finds Omega with Shand, they both reach for their weapons like it’s an old Western standoff. You can feel how much Hunter cares for Omega as he worries he will lose her or Shand will harm her.
Omega is also growing as a character as she adapts to perilous situations. She might’ve been naive to trust Shand at first, but Omega attempts to make her escape when she realizes her mistake. She’s a kid and acts like one when she arrives on an exciting new planet, chasing after the animal that stole her clone trooper toy, but she also learns that the universe is a dangerous place. In fact, Shand is the one who tells her.
Shand might’ve gained our trust in The Mandalorian, but this is a different, younger Shand. She is more focused on getting her reward, but there are moments where it seems like she is mentoring or looking after Omega. While she could’ve done this to gain Omega’s trust, it felt like the softer side of her we are familiar with was coming out. This won’t be the last time we see Shand in the series as she is dead set on collecting the bounty on Omega.
The Bad Batch is starting to feel repetitive
There are also humorous moments in “Cornered” as Echo tags along with Hunter and Omega disguised as a droid. Hunter trades him for credits and promises him he’ll be back for him. I was glad this gave Echo something to do other than doing stuff with Tech offscreen, but I was again disappointed by how little the bulk of the Bad Batch had going on.
I prefer all members of the Bad Batch together, like in the premiere, instead of them splitting up at the start of every episode and doing their own thing while Hunter and Omega get the most screen time. I thought we would get a moment of them psychically together rescuing Omega, but I was wrong. Shand knocks out Wrecker in a second and Echo escapes to join Tech in preparing the ship, which leaves Hunter and Omega trying to get themselves out of a sticky situation yet again.
The episode ends with the Bad Batch rushing to leave the planet on their way to a new world or system. The structure is starting to become repetitive.
The show is clearly planting the seeds for future storylines such as Crosshair’s inevitable reunion with his former squadmates, Omega’s secret, and now Shand’s return. Still, these episodes are starting to feel like filler. The Mandalorian cranked out exciting stories week after week while also adding to the Star Wars mythos. The Bad Batch seems to be dropping the ball.
“Cornered” starts with the promise of something different for The Bad Batch, but fails to deliver as it falls into familiar lockstep. While I love the focus on the characters and their relationships, it’s not enough. We need to see more character development and the story needs to start moving along. Otherwise, The Bad Batch will become a snooze fest.
Grade: B-
Next. Star Wars: The Bad Batch review, “Replacements”. dark
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