The Bad Batch review: “Devil’s Deal” is more Star Wars filler

The members of The Bad Batch barely appear in “Devil’s Deal,” which brings back a fan favorite character from Star Wars Rebels.

In a surprising change of direction, the eleventh episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch barely features the titular characters and instead ties up loose ends from Star Wars: The Clone Wars while also providing backstory for a Star Wars Rebels character. “Devil’s Deal” begins much like last week’s episode: an Imperial occupation of a planet makes the people jaded toward the Empire while the leaders do the best they can to protect their subjects. Cham Syndulla struggles to keep Admiral Rampart satisfied while his ally Gobi Glie and his daughter Hera prepare to fight.

Admittedly, I was never interested in the Ryloth storylines on The Clone Wars or Rebels. While I think it’s neat that Dave Filoni gets to close out this storyline on this show, I just saw this episode as filler. It doesn’t help that the Bad Batch only shows up for two minutes, and the rest of the characters are uninteresting.

However, both Hera and Chopper from Star Wars Rebels show up, and I was genuinely excited when they did since they were some of my favorite characters on that show. Filoni is clearly trying to connect all his shows, as Kanan Jarrus, Rex, Cad Bane, and Fennec Shand have all appeared on The Bad Batch. He also did this with Rebels and The Mandalorian, where characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul, Ahsoka Tano and Boba Fett made regular appearances. I’m not complaining, though, as I’m enjoying watching his grand plans come to fruition.

Back to the episode, it was nice to see Hera’s origins firsthand as we only had clues throughout Rebels. It was great to see how early she developed her interest in flying and her relationship with Chopper. I also enjoyed her brief interaction with Omega as they talk about flying. This leads to the only funny moment in the episode as the logical Tech is confused about the feeling Hera gets while piloting. This episode should’ve lightened up a bit.

Crosshair has a significant presence this week as Rampart’s enforcer. He tracks down Gobi Glie and his resistance fighters at the start of the episode. He’s also fully recovered from the Bracca incident, which left significant scarring on his face. He means business. Crosshair also gets to show off his incredible sniping skills as he takes down Gobi’s ship with a single bolt. He also coordinates Senator Taa’s assassination with Rampart, following through with it at the end of the episode. Cold-blooded and unrepentant, Crosshair was a highlight this week.

“Devil’s Deal” also continues to show us the rise of the Empire. Ryloth is yet another planet that’s bent the knee to the Empire, much like Raxus did last week. The Twi’leks of Ryloth aren’t pleased with the sudden power shift. However, Cham steps in to calm everyone and reassure them the Empire is there to protect them, much like the Republic did during the Clone Wars. After his speech, the people seem to relax.

This echoes the Imperial soldier from the third episode who praised the Empire for providing for him. The Empire doesn’t seem too bad in their eyes, as it provides stability and security throughout the galaxy. It’s a concept that’s been explored in The Mandalorian, with ex-Imperial officers believing they were doing the galaxy a favor by bringing it to heel.

But we know what’s really going on behind the scenes. I love when these shows explore the Empire like this and we get to see another viewpoint.

While I wasn’t too keen on the Ryloth story and some of the characters, I am interested to see the direction the next episode goes; it looks like we’re getting a two-parter. “Devil’s Deal” ends with Cham and his wife captured by Rampart and Hera and Chopper narrowly escaping. Rampart wants Hera caught, but if Clone Force 99 gets involved next week (which I hope they do), then the Empire and Crosshair might run into trouble.

Grade: B

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