Star Wars: The Bad Batch S3 Ep 5 Review
Last week, Star Wars: The Bad Batch surprised me in two ways. Firstly, Omega reunites with Hunter and Wrecker in a mere episode after escaping from Tantiss, far sooner than I expected. Secondly, rather than the pair finding her, she was the one who located them. It showed how far she’s come under her found family’s guidance, but to be fair, she had help. She had Batcher and, more importantly, Crosshair backing her up. So, for the first time since Tipoca City’s destruction, Crosshair’s back with the Bad Batch. However, just because he realizes the Empire is full of it doesn’t erase the bad blood between him and the others. Given how the Empire’s hunting them and how they’re looking to rescue the other Clones in Tantiss, that will be a problem. Thankfully, few things are as capable of establishing or re-establishing camaraderie as a life-or-death situation together.
Crosshair Still Has Issues
Now that Omega’s back, the Bad Batch is doing its best to find some normality as they now live on Pabu. Omega’s happy to be back with her brothers, and they’re just as happy to have her back. Additionally, now that they know about the other Clones being held prisoner on Tantiss, they’re working with Echo to find the place and free them all. However, there’s still a bantha in the room, whose name is Crosshair.
Even though Crosshair’s back, the show doesn’t ignore what he did. He chose the Empire over his brothers not once but twice. Hunter isn’t going to forget that betrayal, and the two spend most of this episode treating each other coldly—as cold as Hoth.
There’s also another issue that Crosshair wants to avoid admitting. It’s unclear how it happened, but he’s got a hand tremor, AKA a marksman’s worst nightmare. Being a sniper requires a steady hand. A hand that won’t stop shaking keeps him from pulling off the needed shots. He might not even be able to use a regular blaster at this point. For someone who puts a lot of his self-worth into their skill as a soldier, this issue’s a fate worse than death!
Hunter and Crosshair Need to Work Out their Problems
It was made evident at the end of last week that Crosshair and Hunter would have some serious issues to work through. And while the show could’ve gone the easy route and had Omega use her empathy powers to get the two to reconcile, it doesn’t. I liked the message this was giving the audience. Sometimes, it’s best to let people work out their issues, even if that means letting them beat each other up. Either physically or verbally.
That, or put them in danger and force them to work together to reconcile their issues.
To find more info about the whereabouts of Tantiss, Crosshair leads the rest of the squad to the Imperial outpost, where he turned his back on the Empire. Except now, it’s been abandoned, with only the perimeter sensors keeping the wildlife at bay. Given how little the Empire cares for its people, it’s likely that they abandoned the place after they got whatever they wanted out of it. However, the encroaching threat of the wildlife does provide the perfect means for Hunter and Crosshair to work out their issues.
Hunter makes it clear that Crosshair’s choice of the Empire over his brothers was a mistake, and he does Not deny it. He thought they were what was best for the Galaxy, but his experiences at this outpost finally made him realize the truth. In contrast, Hunter is not without his own mistakes. Choosing to ignore Crosshair’s warning to stay away led to Tech’s apparent death and Omega’s capture. Granted, there were circumstances outside of the Bad Batch’s control, but the point still stands.
A Team Reconciled at Last
It’s easy for us fans to sit in judgment of Crosshair’s actions, though. We have the benefit of knowing how things will turn out in the future, and thus, we can judge people for their actions with that in mind. Crosshair and Hunter don’t have the benefit of foresight, though, and the result is that they have to make decisions based on their own experiences. And, much like in real life, those decisions can end up being the wrong ones. What matters is that they still have the chance to learn from them. By the time the episode ends, the two have managed to work out their differences well enough.
Which is good, because the Empire is still after them. And they’re going to need to work together to save as many Clones as possible.
I Give “The Return” a 4/5
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