– Spoiler Review –
Echo’s void means The Bad Batch‘s “The Crossing” goes mining for emotional depths, resulting in a mostly enjoyable episode which helps the team accept the new reality.
While I’ve certainly been enjoying The Bad Batch these two seasons, especially this season’s episodes which divert from the main characters, I’ve been hoping for Clone Force 99 to change or grow to some degree, but it hasn’t quite happened so far this season. Echo’s choice to leave the group and join Rex on his bigger, more important mission felt like a really great chance for the show to force the characters to reckon with this change and find a way to move on. Thankfully “The Crossing” focuses in on the aftermath of Echo’s choice, putting Omega and surprisingly, but very welcomed, Tech in the forefront. Besides maybe Hunter, the group’s all on edge and frustrated in their own ways by the hole left by Echo, Omega seemingly the most as we already saw at the end of “Truth and Consequences,” so while this episode’s mission is rather basic, Cid has them mining for a volatile substance which will bank them good money once refined, the substance of the character interactions is anything but.
Tech’s very technical way of looking at the galaxy and their situation has led to some fun laughs and important insight in the past, but the show’s never really dug much into how he feels about most moments, the most being in the season one finale regarding his ability to understand Crosshair’s decision even if he doesn’t agree with it. The way Tech’s been portrayed has often been compared to neurodivergent individuals, those whose brains function differently than what’s considered ‘normal,’ and “The Crossing” doesn’t shy away from this and instead embraces it. Tech’s habit of speaking the truth, of analyzing things and coming to a rational conclusion from the results, has grated the other Clone Force 99 members in the past, but the friction caused by Echo’s void only exacerbates his responses to the mining mission going, like most things do, awry. First there’s his insistence of pointing out Wrecker’s failure to protect the Marauder, then hammering home the point he shouldn’t drop the container with the volatile substance, and lastly his inability to empathize with Omega’s continued sadness over Echo’s choice. Since Wrecker has lived with and knows his brother Tech for far longer than Omega, he might be frustrated by Tech but he can deal with it, taking any feelings out on the big boulders blocking their way out after they get caved-in, but Omega just sees an emotionless brother and family member who doesn’t seem to care about Echo leaving or them losing their ship, their home, which he describes as a method of transportation. She leaves the area to be alone and Hunter/Wrecker eventually have a talk with Tech and point him towards Omega to make things right.
Tech starts bridging the gap between them by trusting her without much comment to extra more of the substance she’s uncovered deeper in the mine they’re trapped in. She overreaches and plunges into the dark depths, though Tech wastes no time on probabilities and jumps after her, the two surviving an underground aqueduct and finding a place for them to break out. While they wait for Hunter and Wrecker to arrive, Tech finally makes an attempt at healing the rift between them, explaining himself so that she can understand him better, but also because he knows he needs to with how he’s come off so far. It’s a great bonding moment for the two and will help them better work with and understand one another in the future, as she’ll now know he feels just as much as she does, he just has a different way of showing it/coping with it than she expects. Wrecker is my favorite of the Clone Force 99, as I don’t expect much out of him beyond the occasional tenderness, while Tech has his moments for me, but this episode brought him forward in a way I didn’t expect. As much as it was great for the show to develop him more and let him be the one to help Omega through Echo’s decision, the fans who haven’t seen themselves in Star Wars yet as there aren’t any neurodivergent-coded characters really out there, came out in force to show their love and appreciation of the representation (thanks to Hope at Dork Side of the Force for putting together many of the great Tweets!)
I also enjoyed the uneasy ending to “The Crossing,” as the Marauder is still missing, Cid’s very reluctant help is several days away, and they are currently awaiting it amongst the ruins of an empty space port long abandoned on the planet. I hope the show doesn’t just pick up with them so easily back to the galaxy, feeling uncomfortable without their flying home and hot in pursuit of any leads on who the mysterious young being was that took it. From their outfit alone, they gave me Hondo Ohnaka-vibes, though they seemed to be human under their mask…is it another of the younglings that were with Gungi (aka Petro)? Is it someone we’ve met in a previous episode of the series? Or relative of a The Clone Wars character? Or even…a young Boba Fett (this person had too much hair for that)? I’m very curious to learn where this is going!
From the beautiful storms and the giant stampede, there was plenty of amazing animation, especially Omega’s emotional range, though how pale Tech seems now that Echo is gone points to the continued need for the #UnwhitewashTBB campaign. You can read more up on the campaign via their Carrd, and this great article on Gizmodo, but it’s simply pointing out how the special clones of a character played by a Māori actor are whiter than any other clone, unintentionally implying superiority and uniqueness are inherent in those who are white versus their darker-skinned brethren. I find it hard to cover this show without mentioning it each episode, as not acknowledging it would be ignoring the problem. They’ve reportedly darkened the characters, but it’s still not been enough to fix the issue, so hopefully by the show’s eventual third season they can maybe get it right.
Here are a few other things:
- I was beginning to wonder if someone was going to be Lion King-ed in the stampede.
- Next week’s episode is the last one before The Mandalorian’s third season, so expect reviews of both shows here but hopefully this one won’t get lost in the hype shuffle online as Grogu does his usual show-stealing shtick.
The Bad Batch‘s “The Crossing” digs into the emotions of our characters in a very welcomed and appreciated way!
+ Tech’s neurodivergent representation
+ Omega and Tech’s chat
+ Who is this thief?
– Unwhitewash the Bad Batch
– Tough to go back to ‘mission of the week’ after the last two episodes
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE BAD BATCH REVIEWS
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
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