Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 5 Review

Once again, we return to a familiar formula:

-The gang is on a mission to locate something important; in this case it’s intel from imperial facility.

-They encounter trouble.

-They get their quarry under duress.

-They make a daring escape.

It would be tiresome to see this repeating over and over again, if not for the character change that is happening with crosshair. Crosshair is becoming emotionally flooded and I wonder if that’s why his hand is shaky. There’s nothing physically wrong with him; his deprogramming is almost complete, and now as a human being, he just doesn’t know how to manage his humanity. His eyes appear glassy in the darkness as he pays respect to Commander Mayday and the other fallen clones of the Barton IV imperial outpost. We don’t know if his eyes are tearing up or if it’s just the reflection of the lighting, but he is clearly feeling a lot of sadness and anger. It’s fascinating to see this change coming over crosshair, because I think it’s something we can all relate to on some level.

We knew it would take a near death experience, and the gang working together, in order for Hunter and Crosshair to have a reconciliation, and I think having this moment happen in the framework of an old-fashioned Bad Batch episode was the right thing to do. When they finally had their conversation, true to their characters, it wasn’t melodramatic. After the mission they just gave each other a nod. Then, when they had their conversation, it wasn’t an apology, it was just an mutual understanding of the mistakes that they have made. All things considered, these scenes and moments are very well in tune with the way Crosshair's character is developing.

The only critique I have is the fact that it only has taken one episode to traverse that wide gulf of disconnection that was so blatantly presented in a visual metaphor at the end of episode 4. Just one mission to achieve reconciliation between Crosshair and Hunter? That seems forced. It would be better if it had been stretched out over a few episodes.

But perhaps this quick reconciliation is plot driven. Meaning, the gang getting back together is just the prologue to some intense action and meaningful reveals as we move on with the rest of the series. I assume the gang will find Mount Tantiss and expose it. I assume Palpatine will throw Dr. Hemlock under the bus the way did with Admiral Rampart.

Maybe, (I hope) the final episode Epilogue will show us this cloning operation moving to Exegol, thus further legitimizing the sequel trilogy by tying it now not only to the original trilogy, but to the prequel era as well. Essentially, I think Dave Filoni is doing everything he can to save the sequel trilogy. Although it’s going to be a tough journey, I think, for the most part, he gets one step closer to achieving that goal with every episode he works on.