The eighth episode of The Bad Batch, entitled "Reunited," was the most well-made and most captivating episode of the season by far. But that almost got overshadowed by all the inside references and major reveals.
Almost.
Then there was yet another loose-ended character reveal at the end, which was awesome, no matter how contrite and phony it felt. But the character reveal completely shifted attention away from, and changed the tone of, the rest of the episode more to its detriment, which is a bummer, because this episode felt like scenes from a movie. It was truly one of the best episodes of any of the Star Wars animated shows.
The latest episode picks up where we left off last week (this had more of a sequential feel than the "conundrum of the week" flavor all the other episodes had). The Bad Batch is still on Bracca, with the Empire hot on their tail. If you remember, Bracca was the planet your character (Cal) was on during the Jedi: Fallen Order video game (which I loved). Anyway, the Empire has no interest in bringing back these Clone 99 troopers alive, including Omega. That proves concerning for Lama Su back on Kamino, and he needs to take drastic measures to preserve her life.
Crosshair leads the Empire's squad to hunt down his former brethren. The middle of the episode is one awesome action scene after another. The Bad Batch is trying to salvage valuable weaponry aboard a crashed starship with Crosshair in hot pursuit.
One of the standout scenes comes when the Bad Batch needs to hide out in the engine room. But that proves deadly as the Empire turns on the still-function engine (like an old car sitting in a garage for years that somehow still turns on) and flushes them out. Not only was this portion some of the best action we've seen yet, but the visuals also looked incredibly polished, more than anything we've seen to this point. Even the lighting effects to this point were notable; remember when I was complaining about action scenes in the dark a few weeks ago? That was not even close to a problem here because of much improved art and visual direction. Whether it was the flashlights piercing through the dark hallways and casting illuminated reflections, or the glow of an engine as just starts to ignite, the production value was at the top of its game.
Hunter and Omega are trying to reach their ship while Echo and Wrecker are going back for the weapons they're scavenging in hopes to receive a nice chunk of change from Cid. Hunter expects more confrontation, but then starts noticing something weird. Several Empire troopers are already laying on the ground unconscious or dead.
That's when he shows up: Cad Bane makes a triumphant return! Cad Bane was a gun-slinging bounty hunter during "The Clone Wars." He was a part of the one of best story arcs involving an undercover Obi-Wan Kenobi working with Cad Bane (while secretly trying to catch him red handed). Bane has the feel, tone, and even, to a small degree, the accent of an old-west outlaw. When he spots Omega, he stares down Hunter in a classic spaghetti western-style duel.
And Cad Bane wins. He shoots Hunter down.
Wow, what a scene! It was incredibly paced, the score added to the intense moment, and just like, Hunter is dead, and Cad Bane takes Omega. Presumably it was Lama Su who set the bounty on Omega, which is why all these bounty hunters (such as Fennec Shand), have been showing up at random points. Might a certain other famous bounty hunter show up at some point? Boba can't be too far off, right? Maybe this is all leading into a bounty hunter spinoff show of some kind. It's possible that there are connections to the live-action Book of Boba show coming late this year, but I doubt it.
The rest of the Bad Batch arrive at the scene and check on Hunter, who, of course, is not dead. We got another visual trick as they carry him aboard the ship. We see a first-person perspective of what Hunter sees as they carried him aboard the ship, though, and it looked very much like a video game (perhaps a reference to the old Republic Commando video game).
All in all, it was an incredibly fun episode with a great tone, high-stakes tension, and more incredible deep cuts for Star Wars fans. We're halfway through the season, so I suspect the action is going to accelerate these final eight episodes. And I highly doubt we're done with the fun (but forced) character appearances.