1x08 Reunion

[8.0/10] Cad. Mother Fucking. Bane.

Look, I am frankly bearish on The Bad Batch’s use of continuity. There hasn’t been a single episode in the series so far where the titular team of clones hasn’t crossed paths with some established character from elsewhere in the Star Wars Galaxy. I want this show to stand on its own two feet. Making it so reliant on the in-universe equivalent of celebrity guest stars every week hurts rather than helps that.

But who am I to deny the utter cool factor of hearing Cad Bane’s iconic modulated accent for the first time in nearly a decade? I am incapable of resisting the sheer awesomeness of him having a western-style shootout with Hunter, as befits the character’s Dollars Trilogy roots.How can I claim not to be thrilled by watching little Todo 360 try his hand in battle while his master utters dry cool lines like nobody’s business.

I still lament Star Wars’ broader small universe problem, but the benefit of the expansive world of the show is that it can have these sorts of characters burst in out of nowhere and raise the stakes. They bring the thrill of recognition and, for Cad Bane especially, an instant legitimacy from their look and history, that makes their arrivals herald something major coming down the pike.

Apart from Bane’s drop-in, there’s big time happenings in the rest of “Reunion.” For one thing. We get a long awaited skirmish with Crosshair. That was probably inevitable at the season’s halfway point, but it’s still exciting to see the former Clone Force 99 member stand-off against his brothers, in a stormtrooper vs. clone trooper stand-off. The Bad batch and Crosshair know one another’s tactics too well, which makes for some compelling double bluff situations.

At the same time, “Reunion” features arguably the show’s best set piece so far. The Bad batch find themselves penned in on one side by Crosshair’s confederates, and blocked by an ion engine jet on the other. The Bad Batch’s choice to use the torpedo Wrecker found earlier in the episode, in conjunction with charges placed around the engine casing, isn’t exactly clever, but it’s resourceful and dangerous, which fits Star Wars tor yelling to a tee. The explosions that ever the casing from its mooring, the jet that signes Crosshair in the wreckage, and the tumbling act our heroes do as the plan works but takes its toll, carries that epic Star Wars excitement that’s so elusive and yet so thrilling.

All that aside, I enjoy the fact that at the midpoint of the season, the show is still making thematic deposits. We get another conversation between Hunter and one of his brothers about what path they should be following. Clone Force 99 is comprised of soldiers. That’s what they know how to be. Right now they’re trying to survive -- and make enough money to do so -- something Star Wars doesn’t touch on enough as a consideration for day-to-day citizens in the galaxy. But there remains the question of what they will choose to do as their lives start to settle a bit, whether they’ll follow in Rex’s footsteps, keep working as mercenaries for Cid or strike out on their own, or find a middle ground that lets them choose their destiny apart from their programming. The show hasn’t forgotten about this continuing crossroads for them, and I appreciate that it gets a mention despite all the fireworks taking place here.

Of course, we also see Bane win the day and kidnap Omega, ostensibly at the behest of the Kaminoans. I like that story choice. Not only does it create an instant goal for the Bad Batch going forward, to rescue the little girl they’ve grown close to, but it lays the foundation for the moral clarity the team needs to choose the right path -- to protect innocent kids like her. And at the same time, I like that our heroes lose, that Hunter gets outgunned, that they’re lucky to make it out of Bracca alive.

Sometimes the most interesting stories in Star Wars come from when the good guys lose and find themselves at their lowest points. (Hello Empire Strikes Back fans!) In “Reunion” the Bad Batch goes up against someone even badder, and they fail, losing the most vulnerable member of their ranks in the process. That’s a bitter pill to swallow, but one that raises the stakes, independent of the wide-brimmed hat-wearing gunfighter making his glorious return.