Review: Star Wars: The Bad Batch “Tribe”

There has always been one thing that’s been sorely lacking from the Star Wars universe. And this week, Filoni and friends have fixed another little plot hole…a Wookie Jedi.

The episode started out hot. The gang went to the Vanguard Axis trying to score a job. That didn’t end well when Omega came across a child Wookie Jedi named Gungi. They fought their way off the hub, and brought their new friend back to Kashyyyk. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended.

Once the team made it to Kashyyyk, that’s where the episode just kind of fell apart. This became a very run of the mill filler “rescue” episode really quick. The team brought Gungi back home, caused some problems with a local mob squad enslaving the local Wookie population, presumably for the empire. What this is really doing, however, is reinforcing the xenophobic side of the Empire that has rarely been talked about. So, it’s kind of alright to expand that a bit.

The final bit of the episode didn’t leave any tension, either, because the group of Trandoshan mercenaries and Clone Troopers got mollywopped by the Bad Batch and Gungi. It wasn’t even close, and goes to show how powerful the Jedi (and Sith) are, even as children. It’s pretty sad, because the writers built up the clone troopers to be very slightly below the Bad Batch, so what does that say for them? Just send Vader or an Inquisitor, and they’re toast. Game over.

The problem here lies in the cookie cutter plot of the episode. Why would I care about this week’s episode if it feels like Filoni and company just wanted to take the easy way out and copy/paste a filler episode’s plot from The Clone Wars? I get that the overarching plot can only really be over a certain amount of episodes, but so far, there as only been two, maybe three where I felt there has been any cohesion. There needs to be something going on soon, because sooner or later, this is going to get stuck in the mud.

This isn’t bad. The story was executed well. However, and this is a giant however, it led to a giant nowhere that didn’t change the status quo of the greater “The Bad Batch universe.” It was a somewhat mid diversion that had me wondering where the kaboom was. I had a lot of trouble even worrying about the deforestation of the planet at the hand of the Trandoshan mercenaries.

I think i was just expecting more. Season one had me feeling a sort of way, where things felt bigger. Season two feels like a step down from the rest of the animated Star Wars series that came out. I’m hoping the quality steps up, but “Tribe” ain’t it.