Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 14 review
‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ returns for its penultimate episode, both for season three and the series as a whole. It’s a pulse-pounding affair right from the start, with the group finally entering within touching distance of Mount Tantiss, and Echo even managing to get to the base. Meanwhile, Omega continues to plan her own escape from the Vault, with the help of an old friend. The episode leaves quite a lot left hanging for next week, giving the finale the mammoth task of wrapping everything up.
One area of the episode that hits the most is the music. The Kiners knocked it out of the park with the score, bringing intensity to the action right from the off. This doesn’t let up for the episode either, putting audiences on the edge of their seat throughout the whole episode. Related to this is the sound effects. The roar of the science vessel as it flies through the air, the thunder of TIE fighter sounds as the V-Wings cut across the sky, the shrieking of the shuttle as it falls out of the sky, it’s fantastic.
Speaking of shrieking, that’s what Vice-Admiral Rampart spends most of the episode doing to hilarious effect. Voice actor Noshir Dalal knocked it out of the park this week. Rampart has been a great addition to the past three episodes, and his presence in the finale adds a rogue element to the mix, as it’s unclear what his true intentions are. It’s also fitting to have the overarching villain for the first season and half of the second be there when everything closes.
Villains get a lot of praise, and in the case of Doctor Royce Hemlock, it’s clear why. He continues to be a joy to watch, with the writers in this episode treating the Empire and Hemlock as competent forces to be reckoned with, instead of meat sacks to be pushed over on the Bad Batch’s way to victory. Jimmi Simpson continues to add a lot of quiet menace to the character, forcing audiences to really pay attention.
The Bad Batch crashes after being shot down and have to try and avoid capture by Imperial search parties. They’re set upon by a huge creature that lives in the jungle and inevitably get discovered by the Empire. This perhaps is the least interesting part of the episode, but it is still enjoyable. At least it’s punctured by Rampart’s screams.
Echo is of course separated from the main group, trapped alone on the science vessel. His parts are full of tension as he perilously comes close to being discovered, only to sneak away undetected. But his luck doesn’t hold out forever, as Emerie finds him sneaking about in her lab, forcing a confrontation. Echo demands to know why the Imperial scientist has cooperated with the Empire’s heinous experiments, and Emeria can only muster the answer of “just doing her job”, an answer that has come up plenty of times before throughout history and doesn’t absolve her complicity.
Omega realises her brothers are on their way to rescue her, in a moment that shows she understands what their capable of, and just how much trouble the Empire is in. She sneaks around the vents and finds out that the Zillo beast is being held captive just like her and plans to free it to cause chaos in the final episode.
The other children attempt to cover for her but are unable to keep the scientist away for long, as they’re still new to the espionage. It leads to a tense moment where it looks like Omega might get spotted, but for now, her escape route is undiscovered. It’s a great tease for next week setting the stage for chaos at Tantiss.
The penultimate episode set the stage for an explosive season and series finale for ‘The Bad Batch’, as it continually ratches up the tension and intensity for a huge release. Dalal proves what a gem he is as Rampart, and Simpson continues to impress as Hemlock. Hopefully, the final episode is able to tell a compelling ending as it wraps up several of the threads that are still hanging for the series.
