Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3 episode 5 review
‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ season three episode five gives a close look at how Crosshair is adapting to life outside the Empire, focusing on his relationships with Hunter and the rest of the squad. It’s a pleasant character piece with some but limited spectacle, but it’s not firing on all cylinders like the previous episodes.
Starting on Pabu, audiences see Omega readjust to life back with her family, with child-like joy. While she is technically older than her brothers, she isn’t as mature as them, and hasn’t had chance to experience the joy of being young. She’s slid right back into life with the rest of the Batch, unlike Crosshair.
Crosshair is unwilling to spend time with his brothers, instead training away from them. His shaking hand is worsening, affecting his aim. It’s something that will force him to question his purpose as it grows, putting him in a bind. For now, it’s not affected him on the battlefield. He and the others attempt to decrypt Nala Se’s datapad.
When Echo returns he reveals that Tech could have done it, or it needs to be hooked up to an Imperial terminal. This is Crosshair’s chance to prove his loyalty, so he suggests an Imperial base that will have minimal staff. The planet isn’t named, but it’s Barton IV, from the excellent season two episode “The Outpost” where Crosshair turned on the Empire.
It’s a welcome sight, and forces Crosshair to confront what happened on that planet. Him in his old Bad Batch armour also forces him to confront his identity. When he sees the clone helmets thrown on the floor, he picks them up out of respect. Omega deactivates the outside sensors to power up the base, and Hunter and Crosshair go outside for a heart to heart.
The pair almost come to blows, but have to work together when the monster of the week appears, a wyrm. There’s some serviceable action, and everyone escapes, slightly closer to Mount Tantiss than before. It’s light on a driving force like the prior three episodes, and so doesn’t have the same impact when watching it. It’s a quieter watch.
This episode closes the loose ends that the first four episodes set up, which means that the first third of the season does feel like a complete story, a large arc like ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars.’ When viewed in that light, episode five is a mostly satisfying end to the short-term narrative, though hopefully Crosshair’s redemption is set to continue as the show goes on, and he doesn’t sacrifice himself for his brothers. There’s a tease of the future, but it’s not one that gives the last two thirds the thrust they might benefit from.
