Review: The Bad Batch’s “Bounty Lost” is All About the Bounty Hunters

Star Wars: The Bad Batch continues to impress with “Bounty Lost,” which continues the series’ recent hot streak of well-written episodes. This installment picks up right where last week’s left off. As Clone Force 99 leaves Bracca to pursue Cad Bane and retrieve Omega, Crosshair chases them, even though he’s still recovering from his burns. Omega must find a way to escape the deadly bounty hunter.

I’ve complained a lot about how The Bad Batch feels more like Omega’s show with the Bad Batch tagging along and teaching her things from time to time. It definitely feels that way here, with Omega getting a ton of screen time.

This really is Omega’s episode. To start, we learn why she is so important to the Kaminoans: she is a “pure genetic replication” of Jango Fett. The Kaminoans haven’t been making exact replicas of Jango since he died. However, they took a risk with Omega, which they hadn’t done since making Boba Fett. While Omega’s importance to the Kaminoans is clear, we still aren’t sure why exactly they need her just yet. All we know is that Omega is an important to their schemes.

Will we see Boba Fett on Star Wars: The Bad Batch?

Speaking of Boba, Tech identifies him as the “Alpha.” Tech also points out how Boba hasn’t been seen since the start of the Clone Wars; apparently he’s off somewhere in the galaxy running his own crime operation. Boba’s disappearance could’ve been what made the Kaminoans’ feel they needed to create Omega. But now that Boba has been mentioned and Cad Bane’s returned, it’s possible we could see him.

When Cad Bane is knocked to the ground and his hat falls off, Omega sees a metal plate covering the top of his head. He never wore that during The Clone Wars series, and a closer look shows a dent in the plate. This reminds me of something on Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Before that show was canceled on Cartoon Network, Dave Filoni and the writers planned an arc where Bane takes Boba under his wing and mentors the aspiring bounty hunter. The storyline was supposed to end with a duel between the two that resulted in Bane’s death and the dent in Boba’s helmet. Since the show was canceled, the arc was scrapped, and it didn’t make it to the actual season 7. But Bane’s return could mean that we might actually get to see this legendary duel in The Bad Batch.

Give the bounty hunters in Star Wars their own show

“Bounty Lost” heavily focuses on bounty hunters. Cad Bane is in most of the episode, but Fennec Shand also makes an appearance. Nala Se hired Shand to keep tabs on Omega and ensure her safety, which explains why Shand is kind and protective toward the young girl. With how many bounty hunters are introduced in shows like The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian, a standalone show about bounty hunters would be great for Disney+. Maybe The Book of Boba Fett will explore that.

Omega is reunited with Clone Force 99 by the end of the episode. Thankfully, this storyline wasn’t a repeat of Grogu’s kidnapping from The Mandalorian, which is what I was afraid of after last week’s ending.

There’s not much of the Bad Batch in this episode of The Bad Batch, but we’re getting used to it

“Bounty Lost” seems so wrapped up in the stories of Omega and the bounty hunters that it forgot to feature the other main characters in more than four scenes. Then again, It the past couple of weeks have focused on developing the Batch’s characters and backstories, so we can consider this a nice breather. It’s also cool to explore all the connective tissue between this show and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

It seems like Fennec and Bane will back for more, but what of the Kaminoans? What is their next move? We might get a focus on the Bad Batch next week as they recuperate and figure out their next steps. I am disappointed the episode didn’t focus more on Crosshair, but at least we saw him at the beginning.

While I am annoyed at the lack of focus on the main characters, “Bounty Lost” is still a fun and action-packed episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and sets up storylines for the second half of the second half. Speaking of that, Disney released a teaser of what’s in store over the next several episodes:

See you next week!

Grade: B+

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