TV Review: ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Season 2, Episode 3
by Frank Martin
The great thing about Star Wars is the many different eras that can be depicted. There’s the age of the Republic, the Clone Wars, the Empire, and then the time of the First Order — and those are just the eras getting the focus right now. At the same time, one of the depictions that hasn’t been often seen so often is the early days of the Empire. That’s where Star Wars: The Bad Batch shines. Season one did a lot to showcase how various planets dealt with the new Empire. It also revealed what happened to the clones in the immediate aftermath of Order 66. But as things settle down, and the Empire starts to get into a rhythm, the everyday life of the clones has still been a mystery. This week’s episode illustrates that time in depth.
After being absent from the two-episode premiere, Crosshair (Dee Bradley Baker) returns to active duty. Loyal soldier that he is, Crosshair is assigned to a squad tasked with eliminating a governor refusing to submit her world to Imperial control. He is also put under the command of Cody (also Baker), a popular character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Together, the two fight off a battalion of reprogrammed battle droids and relieve the governor of her control of the planet. In the end, though, Cody is distraught by how the Empire’s policies and goes AWOL, like so many other clones before him.
This is a very awkward time to be a clone. Their whole purpose was to follow orders and fight for what they were programmed to believe was right. Cody was a good man in The Clone Wars, so he was obviously perturbed by what was happening with the Empire. Crosshair, meanwhile, has shown himself to be loyal to the Empire — even going so far as betraying his old unit. As the clones begin to become more abused and phased out of the Empire’s ranks, it will be interesting to see if he continues to fall in line or if he ever decides to forge his own path.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch streams Wednesdays on Disney+.