Review: Star Wars: The Bad Batch “Cornered”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
The Bad Batch has successfully fixed their crash landed ship, but now they’ve got even more problems: they’re running out of supplies and their ship’s code has an APB out on it. Tech can fix the second item, but they’ll have to land to make it happen.
The crew lands on Pantora in order to scramble the code and buy more food. They have to barter Echo as a fake droid to do it though, and then Omega is captured by a bounty hunter named Fennec when she wanders off after a lost toy. Fennec is a difficult fighter to match, but in the end the clones manage to escape the planet in safety — for now.
Our Take:
Last week’s episode was all about Omega taking the mantle of the hero and saving Hunter, and this week we’re doing the opposite of that. Cornered finds Omega in the clutches of a dangerous kidnapper working for the Empire, and her newfound clone family having to scramble to get her back to safety. It’s a pretty standard episode for the most part, but has plenty of fun along the way thanks to its rapid pacing and pretty scenery.
The episode is set mainly in the town market of Pantora, which is a bustling place of commerce, entertainment, and general chaos. It’s a great way to show off the colorful, fluid animation that brings us into Omega’s POV as she gets to see one of the common sights that is uncommon for her. Plus, there’s plenty of little callbacks like Lothcats and familiar stuffed toys.
The plot itself is definitely nothing we haven’t seen before. Omega getting easily distracted and running off while Hunter somehow still doesn’t know to keep a closer eye on her is pretty predictable stuff as far as inciting incidents go. What’s new this time is that there’s a direct antagonist who’s intent on taking control of the runaway clone. Fennec isn’t a very memorable character to me, but it is a cool crossover with the Mandalorian, where we saw her teaming up with Boba Fett to help protect good ol’ Grogu.
What’s more interesting is that she seems to be after Echo specifically rather than any of the other escaped clones. There’s definitely more to this small child with the adorable accent than meets the eye, and I hope we find out more soon. Speaking of things that are being hinted at, some have speculated that Wrecker’s inhibitor chip is going to kick into gear before too long due to the number of head bonks he keeps being subjected to. He gets another one this time around, so that programming won’t be dormant for much longer I’d guess. And if Echo turns out to have force abilities, things may not end well.
The Bad Batch feels a tad bit too familiar this week, but it does introduce a possible antagonist who will keep hounding our ragtag team down the line, as well as cement the bonds between Echo and her newfound family. Plus, that whole selling-Echo-as-a-droid bit was pretty hilarious!
