Review: Star Wars The Bad Batch “Infested”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Batch discovers that Cid’s Parlor is under the ownership of a crime boss. Cid and the Batch must work together to sabotage his operation and take the parlor back.

Our Take:

I hope you got the exterminator on speed dial because this week’s episode is infested with creepy crawlies and plenty of Bad Batch action. So far, the show has provided a couple of enjoyable filler episodes amid the interconnected ones. Whether these filler episodes are essential to the main arc or not, the writers always knew how to make them as entertaining as the episodes involving the Batch battling the Empire. Unsurprisingly for me, this episode is no different.

This week pits the Batch against a crime boss named Roland Durand (voiced by Tom Taylorson), who replaced Cid as the head of her parlor for his operation. He used the parlor as a hideout to sell the crates of spice to the Pykes. Crime operations are usually common in the Star Wars universe, so I wasn’t surprised to see it return in this episode. Roland was a run-of-the-mill character who seemed like a bad guy at first but was actually misunderstood, but Taylorson’s vocal performance managed to make him tolerable.

The episode served as both a stealth mission and a retrieval mission. The stealth mission involved Cid and the Batch sneaking into her back office to steal Roland’s spice shipment, which was intended for the Pykes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an easy task for them as they had to get through the underground tunnels infested with Irlings to do so. Then we have the retrieval mission, which has the Batch retrieving the spice after losing them in the Irling hive during a scuffle to rescue Omega and Roland from the Pykes.

The stealth part happened to be slightly better than the retrieval one in my eyes due to the mine cart chase sequence and the threatening nature of the Irlings. However, both missions managed to provide enough enjoyment in their stakes and humor to escape the hive alive. Most of the comedy came from Cid’s goons distracting Roland by capturing his pet, Ruby while the titular characters steal the spice. The episode also showcased more of Cid’s soft spot for the Batch amid her snarky attitude, which helped maintained the likelihood of the character.

Overall, the “Infested” episode is far from a dangerous infestation. It’s another filler episode that delivers another batch of decent action and stealth even though it did little to nothing to progress the season’s story arc. With only a couple more episodes to go in season one, we can only assume that the show will have to do something big to end its arc off on a high note.