The Bad Batch: Point of No Return Thoughts
The Empire comes for Omega, and nothing goes the Bad Batch’s way as we enter the season’s last act.
There are five more episodes left this season (and for the entire series), and this is the most hopeless of endings yet. While it is unclear how much time has passed between “The Harbinger” and “Point of No Return,” the Bad Batch is taking Asajj’s warning to heart and preparing to leave Pabu.
And it is not a coincidence that it is twilight on Pabu when we usually see the island in sunlight. The peaceful sanctuary that Pabu has provided for the Batch is over, and tension increases as CX-2 leads an army of troopers to retrieve Omega.
Omega Rising
Omega continues to show her experience and evolution in various ways. When the Imperial raid begins, and the Pabu residents are scrambling, Omega remains calm compared with poor Lyana, visibly shaken by the experience. She has already seen so much at such a young age (and she is still older than her brothers). This lesson can apply to the real world; not everyone has the privilege of childhood. Emerie did not and is currently struggling with seeing other children going through what she did.
Watching the Bad Batch fight so hard to keep Omega is an effective contrast to the first season episode, “Cut and Run,” when Hunter tries to send Omega off with Cut Luquane and his family, thinking that is the best thing for her. And even up to this point in the season, Omega has been adamant about sticking with her brothers. But she also has been carrying the guilt of leaving the other Clones on Tantiss behind. In “A Different Approach,” when they crash land on Lau, Omega wants to return for the other Clones, but Crosshair tells her they must keep moving as the Empire will be tracking them. This guilt makes her insist on going on the mission to Barton IV. Echo assures her she did the best thing and got out of Tantiss.
But The Bad Batch writers know how to build up passing moments and conversations and pay them off. Faced with the destruction of Pabu, Omega tells Crosshair that the only solution is for her to surrender. She will have to say goodbye again to her brothers, but this time, it is on her terms, and it is her decision.
Crosshair does what only Crosshair can do: Treat Omega like an older sister. Would Hunter or Wrecker let Omega turn herself in? It is not easy for the usually icy-cold Crosshair to express emotion, but Dee Bradley Baker (as always) gets the conflict across of how scared he is to let Omega go.
Of course, Omega also believes that Crosshair made that shot and got the tracker beacon on the ship. Whether the two had ANOTHER tracker remains to be discovered, but it is a humbling moment for Crosshair. Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair failed in different ways in this episode: Wrecker was taken entirely out of commission, almost dying when the Maurader blew up, but saved himself and Gonky. Hunter got another great fight scene, taking out troopers to commandeer a shuttle for escape, only to be thwarted by CX-2’s willingness to kill other troopers to complete his mission. Even Batcher was chased off by troopers after trying to save a Pabu citizen’s home from being raided.
Ultimately, no one in the episode got what they wanted except CX-2, which was more of what Hemlock wanted.
Preparing to leave, Omega adds Tech’s glasses and the original Lula to the Archium, saying goodbye to the past while honoring them and emphasizing that Pabu has become just as much of a home as their beloved ship.
And RIP to the Maurader. Once upon a time, the Maurader getting blown up would have wrecked Omega. She freaked out when it was stolen in “The Crossing,” overwhelmed with Echo leaving and things changing. Here, there is no time to mourn anything for Omega. Her training has been called out throughout this season, and her growing fighting and battle skills have been on display, but her poise and clarity in conviction also highlight that she is not just a soldier but a leader.
A Broken Home
Home is where the heart is, and for the Bad Batch, this is THE truth, as their physical homes keep getting destroyed. First, they lost Kamino, their home for most of their lives, in an Imperial bombardment. They found a temporary home on Ord Mantell working for Cid but were never entirely at home, and the Trandoshan ultimately betrayed them when they were most vulnerable.
Conversely, Phee introduced them to Pabu, where the Mayor, Shep, his daughter Liana, and the entire community immediately welcomed them. They stayed and helped rebuild after a tsunami and found a true home outside of the Maurader. So when CX-2 destroyed the Maurader, and the Imperial units arrived on Pabu, it felt like the Empire had again taken away their safe space. And now the Bad Batch’s real home is broken, too, with Omega back in the hands of the Empire.
The only natural respite is to take CX-2’s smaller but sleek ship.
So About That CX-2…
The first scene in this episode is on a moon base where Phee and her droid, MEL, stop for fuel. In the last episode, CX-2 mentioned he “squeezed” information about a pirate from her, so this is the next logical step. While CX-2 successfully decrypts Phee’s log to find Pabu, she appears to sense some presence, but the shadow Clone escapes before being discovered.
The writers have built this character up for what feels like a significant reveal, but I have reached the limit of my patience. With only four episodes remaining, the mystery surrounding this character has morphed into a no-win situation. If it is Tech, they have presented an almost impossible scenario of “what now?” CX-2 has killed most of Rex’s team, nearly killed Crosshair and Wrecker, and laid siege to Pabu. How does one come back from that?
On the other hand, if CX-2 is a red herring and is genuinely an unknown Clone, then that will be incredibly frustrating and almost inexcusable based on specific story beats presented. I do not envy the writing team, but the story is set in stone, and we will have a resolution soon. Still, there is the question of the OTHER Clones at the Tantiss facility who needed more time (per Hemlock) to be ready to join CX-2 and if they will come into play. Everything is moving too quickly in mainly good ways; however, CX-2’s identity has been drawn out for too long.
“Point of No Return” has The Empire Strikes Back vibes because it is the Bad Batch’s lowest point this season. How the team responds and figures out how to get to Tantiss will likely involve Echo, Rex, Phee, and possibly other contacts they have made throughout the series.
This season has been particularly dark, so turning to characters from previous seasons will bring levity, which would be most welcome after watching these past few episodes.
Originally published at http://creditsandcanon.com on April 9, 2024.
