It looks like the end of the road for the Bad Batch in the show's penultimate episode

The Bad Batch infiltrate Mount Tantiss in episode 314 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. A satisfying ending to the show looks unlikely. But we'll get to that later.

As for this week, "Flash Strike" kicks off with the crew still attached to the belly of an Imperial science ship heading to Mount Tantiss, where Omega is being held captive with other Force-sensitive children. They are discovered almost immediately when Scorch informs Dr. Hemlock that the Bad Batch were spotted at the space station. As soon as Hunter detaches and flies into orbit, they are attacked by fighters and forced to crash land onto the planet Weyland.

With Admiral Rampart essentially dead weight, the crew struggles to avoid the deadly animals on the planet while Imperial patrols loom in the distance. Rampart also tries to plant some bad ideas into Crosshair's head. The guy used to be Crosshair's boss, so he knows that the sniper has a mean streak. But it seems like Crosshair isn't hearing it; he confides to Wrecker that he owes Omega for not leaving him behind when they broke out of Tantiss in the beginning of season 3. I think it's safe to say that Omega successfully turned Crosshair to the good side and they are bonded. I just fear that Crosshair will probably have to sacrifice himself to save her in the finale.

Rampart is eventually captured by a patrol and will likely sell out the Bad Batch to Hemlock to save his own skin in the next episode. Meanwhile, Echo disguises himself as a stormtrooper and steals a hand from of a droid. I think it's really cool that he has the ability to mix and match limbs like that, and it comes in handy here. This disguise allows Echo to infiltrate Mount Tantiss, where he encounters Emerie while trying to locate Omega. Emerie somehow recognizes him even though he's wearing a helmet, and they have a pretty compelling conversation. My suspicions that Emerie was waiting for an opportunity to turn her coat are confirmed.

After Echo guilts Emerie about betraying her fellow Clones, she agrees to help him free Omega and the other prisoners. Now, not only are the Bad Batch ready to infiltrate Mount Tantiss the outside, but Echo and Emerie are on the inside and Omega has plans of her own. She tests out the escape hole she made in the last episode, and uses it to make her way through the facility. She finds a containment area where clones of the Zillo beast are being held and tells the other children that she is planning on letting them loose. So in addition to escaped prisoners, inside operators, and Clones on the outside, Dr. Hemlock might have angry Zillo beasts destroying his base. Not to mention Rex and his guys likely coming to save the day, as next week's episode is titled "The Cavalry has Arrived."

Will one episode be enough to put a bow on this?

The only problem is that next week is the series finale, and all reporting suggests that it will be a typical 25-minute affair. I don't know how this show can wrap everything up in that time, leading me to believe this isn't the end for these characters like I've been hoping. Not all of them anyway. I don't think Disney has the audacity to kill off Omega and we know that Rex, Wolfe and Gregor make it out of this alive. But can the show pull off killing any of the other major characters like Crosshair, Hunter and Wrecker while wrapping up the other storylines?

It seems like a lot to have Hemlock's base get destroyed, someone die, a big reveal for the Star Wars universe as a whole and resolutions to storylines for Rampart, Emerie, Omega, Crosshair, Rex and Wolfe. Maybe I'm setting myself up for disappointment by expecting them to do all of this, but I feel like they need to give us something good in the finale and there are a lot of loose ends to tie up right now.

Episode Grade: B-