– Spoiler Review –
After the tone setting three-part season opener, The Bad Batch’s next release, “A Different Approach,” simmers with Omega and Crosshair’s escape attempt as the two wrestle with how best to continue.
“A Different Approach” wastes no time in picking up right after the events of “Shadows of Tantiss,” as we see Omega, Crosshair, and Batcher the lurca hound deal with their damaged shuttle, crash landing on a nearby planet. After the three-part opener, I was hoping we’d get more of Crosshair and Omega’s debates, as he struggles with his choices and acceptance of his fate, while she remains ever hopeful and even more resourceful due to her time basically filling in his shoes while he was serving the Empire. Thankfully, “A Different Approach,” since it’s literally in the title, pits the two against one another as they debate the best way to facilitate the rest of their escape and return to Clone Force 99. Crosshair wants to take the most direct, easiest approach, blasters first, talking later, even despite the growing tremble in his hand, which has thrown off his legendary aim. Omega wants to do things quietly and without drawing much notice, leaving blasters and bodies out of the equation, and later can’t imagine even leaving behind Batcher when she goes missing, so she’s a bleeding heart to a fault. The push and pull between the two is a really enjoyable aspect to the episode, as while Crosshair doesn’t want to do anything Omega does, she doesn’t leave him much choice and he’s still too unsure of himself to try anything harder than argue with her or grunt in a disapproving way as she forges ahead on her path. Her first attempt reveals a high price tag to board a shuttle without chain codes being scanned, but she’s quick to start raking in the credits when she plays cards at a local bar. Crosshair has enough of her approach once retrieving Batcher after he goes missing is her next play, instead of going to the spaceport and leaving the silly creature behind like he wants to, but he can’t deny how much he cares for her and follows her anyways. The moment she’s finally ready for his way is a delightful payoff and I felt like they managed to begrudgingly understand they both have their own strengths and they need to focus on those to continue their survival and escape. I’m sure they’ll still come at odds in episodes to come, and I look forward to it, but writer Ezra Nachman made this a perfect way to follow-up on all the promise from their scenes in “Confined” & “Shadows of Tantiss.”
When Omega’s playing cards to get the credits they need to covertly leave the planet, the local Imperial Captain Mann happens into the bar, noticing the action, and steps up to the table to play her. Given Star Wars’ track record with heavy set/fat characters, look at Jabba the Hutt or how they slimmed down Porter Engle of The High Republic for his heroic younger days, I had my concerns with Mann and how he’d be treated here as well. In fact, “A Different Approach” plays into our expectations of this at first I was even more worried, as he quickly turns around and demands a tax to be had on game once he loses to Omega, considering gambling is illegal and all there, while he barely notices a reference to Omega and Crosshair’s downed shuttle from a trooper, as he’s more concerned about collecting some of his credits back. Yet when Crosshair and Omega leave the bar, Batcher is gone and an opportunistic local offers up the reveal: Mann took Batcher. Once Crosshair joins her, aggravated yet accepting of her choices though claiming she’s wasting his skills, they make it around too easily, only for Mann to reveal he set this all up to get them, initially asking for Batcher to be taken outside while they were playing by claiming the hound a distraction. He was all too aware of the shuttle and her importance, so instead of being as incompetent as he acted earlier, he was far more than met the eye and ear. While he meets a fitting end for his actions, having acquired quite the zoological collection from the populace, I was delighted The Bad Batch attempted to break the mold with his character.
Escaping in another Imperial ship, Omega sends out a call to Hunter and Wrecker, hoping they’ll hear and arrive at a secret meeting spot, but Crosshair is quick to assume the possibility they won’t. From his demeanor, it felt like his assumption arrives from a place of apprehension rather than pessimism, as he hasn’t seen the rest of the Batch since they parted ways on Kamino after the Empire destroyed the facilities there (aka the season one finale). Omega’s already accepted him back, believing in him when he doesn’t believe in himself, so she’s not picking up on any of his concern and is later surprised by how her other brothers react when Crosshair makes himself known. The finale to “A Different Approach” is quite emotional, it nearly got a few tears from me, as it was awesome to see Omega reunited with first Wrecker and next Hunter, the animation team bringing some realistic tears and joyous facial expressions to Omega, while the Kiner family played up a heartening rendition of their theme, the cherry on the emotionally layered sundae. After the heartfelt reunion wraps up, Crosshair walks down the ramp of their stolen ship, both Hunter and Wrecker tightening up, defensive almost, while Omega looks at them with a mixture of surprise and disappointment. This is where the episode ends, the gulf between the rest of the group and Crosshair apparent from director Saul Ruiz’s framing, the unsaid promise of going to black at such a moment being The Bad Batch will deal with this more fully in a following episode, like episode 5, “The Reunion.” Previous seasons I’d have been concerned about the show following through on such a promise, or even taking time to make a problem between characters the focus of an episode, but I have faith they’ll take the time in the show’s final, truncated, and abbreviately released final season to do this reunion right. And given how entertaining Crosshair’s dynamic has been with Omega, I can only imagine how they’ll play up the ideological clash between him and his brothers.
Here are a few other things:
- Remaining season three release schedule: March 6: Episode 5 (“The Return”) | March 13: Episode 6 (“Infiltration”), 7 (“Extraction”) | March 20: Episode 8 (“Bad Territory”) | March 27: Episode 9 (“The Harbinger”) | April 3: Episode 10 (“Identity Crisis”), 11 (“Point of No Return”) | April 10: Episode 12 (“Juggernaut”) | April 17: Episode 13 (“Into the Breach”) | April 24: Episode 14 (“Flash Strike”) | May 1: Episode 15 (“The Cavalry Has Arrived”)
- The episode guides for the first three episodes went up much faster than expected, the following day even, so for the guide to “A Different Approach,” keep your eyes peeled to the official site on 2024’s leap day!
- Since they are releasing these so quickly, and the season is shorter overall, it does feel weird we’re already to the reunion, but like I said earlier, what happens next is likely to be the more interesting aspect of their story than having the two Batch groups separated or on the run more, trying find one another.
- Harry Lloyd, who voices Captain Mann, might be familiar to fans of the brilliant Arcane series as Victor!
- The density of the city, wind blown overhangs, and a great variety in outfits and aliens goes a long way into making the city feel alive, while the finale’s animal stampede was a visual feast! As we get such advancements, it’s still a reminder of how the animation still hasn’t properly addressed the Unwhitewash The Bad Batch campaign.
The Bad Batch’s season three, episode four “A Different Approach” lives up to the opening salvo of episodes and delivers on more of the engaging debates between Crosshair and Omega.
+ Crosshair and Omega’s debates over the way forwards
+ Quite the emotional reunion (and promise of dealing more fully with Crosshair’s return)!
+ Doing right by Mann
– Unwhitewash the Bad Batch
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Bluesky, Twitter @MynockManor, and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE BAD BATCH REVIEWS
Season Three: 3.1/3.2/3.3 Confined & Paths Unknown & Shadows of Tantiss
Season Two: 1.1/1.2 Spoils of War & Ruins of War | 1.3 The Solitary Clone | 1.4 Faster | 1.5 Entombed | 1.6 Tribe | 1.7/1.8 The Clone Conspiracy & Truth and Consequences | 1.9 The Crossing | 1. 10 Retrieval | 1.11 Metamorphosis | 1.12 The Outpost | 1.13 Pabu (by Katie) | 1.14 Tipping Point | 1.15/1.16 The Summit & Plan 99
Season One: 1.1 Aftermath | 1.2 Cut and Run | 1.3 Replacements | 1.4 Cornered | 1.5 Rampage | 1.6 Decommissioned | 1.7 Battle Scars | 1.8 Reunion | 1.9 Bounty Lost | 1.10 Common Ground | 1.11 Devil’s Deal | 1.12 Rescue on Ryloth | 1.13 Infested | 1.14 War-Mantle | 1.15 Return to Kamino | 1.16 Kamino Lost