2x10 Retrieval

[8.0/10] The thrust of “Retrieval” is pretty simple. This is a Star Wars-y spin on an Oliver Twist-type story, with an orphan being mistreated by the greedy leader of what is basically a workhouse. Mokko, the sniveling, Hoggish Greedley-esque head of the mine keeps his child slaves in thrall and in debt to him, and it’s pretty plain how evil he is. I like the story of how Beni thinks this is all there is. Yeah, things aren’t great. But he genuinely believes that Mokko is looking out for him and his cohort. He wants to work within the system, thinks this is the only way, and believes that resources are scarce and his benefactor is doing the best he can.

Then, he meets Omega and realizes it doesn’t have to be this way. He sees how the rest of the Bad Batch trusts her and treats her well in a way that's genuine, rather than transactional. She gives him her rations out of the kidnessness of her heart, rather than only offering food out of an expectation that she’ll get something in return. This is all Beni has known, but through Omega, he sees that there’s another way, a better way, and he doesn’t have to merely survive like this. I find that idea beautiful, even if it’s understandably simplified for an all-ages audience.

It reminds me of my favorite Kingdom Hearts game, 358/2 Days. (I know. I know.) This episode and that game’s story share the same sense of a young man making his way through an abusive system who doesn’t know it’s abusive, only to realize there’s other options when he interacts with outsiders who model genuine care, affection, and connection in a way he didn’t realize was possible, but eventually internalizes.

Apart from the highfalutin character material, there's also some good nuts and bolts Bad Batch action and excitement here. The gang sneaking in through a smoke stack, having to dodge its every-sixty-seconds blast is an exciting setpiece. The crew having to navigate Mokko’s mine, with the grown members of Clone Force 99 repairing their ship, while Omega sneaks around to get the access codes that will allow them to escape the compound’s ray shield makes for a good setup. And the closing stand-off, with Mokko threatening Omega if Hunter and company don’t relent, only for Omega to show the trust in her surrogate father to leap over the edge knowing he’ll swing down to catch her, is as thrilling as it is heartening.

Therein lies some of the show’s thematic material. In the process of garnering the command codes, Omega discovers that Mokko was lying. There’s no shortage of ipsidium. Mokko’s just siphoning off the creme de la creme for himself, leaving those in servitude to him with scraps. It’s the last straw for Benni, provoking the realization that Mokko doesn’t actually care about them, and is, in fact, taking advantage of them.

Let’s be real, this is basically a worker’s revolt. Again, there’s a four-color quality to this, with Mokko as a mustache-twirling villain (with a few shades of Fury Road’s Imortan Joe given the water rationing). But at the end of the day, this Benni, with the help of his compatriots, overthrows Mokko with the mine’s workers resolving to split the profits evenly instead of letting their “leader” skim off the top and hand out the minor remnants as though he’s being generous. Mokko dying because he whiffs too hard on a punch rather than anyone taking actual action is kind of cheap. But again, the ideas and sentiments of the scene work, so it’s easier to give that sort of thing a pass.

All-in-all, I enjoyed this little duology. The first half and the second half are pretty different, but I like the throughline of Omega accepting that change can be okay, and you can find a way through even the most challenging of situations, only to impart that same message, through her words and her example, to someone else who badly need to hear it. The well-staged fireworks don’t hurt either! This has been a great season so far, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.

(As an aside, this episode felt strangely of a piece with “The Forgotten” from Batman: The Animated Series, right down to unfortunate souls being forced to work in a mine, and Mokko having the same “regal bearing” as Boss Biggis.)