2x14 Tipping Point

[7.5/10] This is mostly a table-setting episode, but the table-setting is good, so I can't complain too loudly. You need episodes like these to lay the groundwork for what I expert to be a rollicking finale. There’s not as much in terms of major developments, or at least conclusions, but it puts all the pieces in place for the climactic finale.

I can't gripe about a lack of action though. The opening rescue where Echo and other clone trooper rebels rescue their brothers from an Imperial prison transport is exciting as all get out. Watching them storm the transport, use a neat-looking “leech” vessel to sneak in, and retrieve their comrades and some important data before the “reinforcements” arrive is a thrill a minute. Along the way, The Bad Batch has gotten very good at constructing these standalone set pieces. Those scenes capture the energy and tension of a good Star Wars operation, while having some distinctive clone character. The excitement here is worth the price of admission.

And there’s a solid plot connection to. Echo and Rex are piecing together that the Empire is shopping out “dissident clones” to some mysterious location. Echo retrieves the data file, but the Imperial Commander was trying to delete it, so he needs Tech to decode it, providing an excuse for Echo to come to Pabu. The breadcrumbs are leading to the right places.

My only bit of whinging is that the Pabu sections feel the most like throat-clearing before the real fireworks begin. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see the setup of Omega’s flying lessons with Tech, or the warm reunion between her and Echo. But this mostly seems like a check-the-box reminder that Clone Force 99 is considering settling here permanently because they’ve fit in so well with the community, until an old friend gives them information about Dr. Hemlock, his facility, and Crosshair being trapped there. This is all necessary narrative piece-moving, but not the most compelling material.

And yet, the stuff with Crosshair is. His part of the story has become one of my favorites. He’s not a very talkative guy to begin with, so the show has to get more creative to illustrate the idea that he’s had a change of heart. Watching him submit to torture without giving up any information about the rest of the Bad Batch is heart-rending on multiple levels. Him using his one chance to break out of his cell not for an escape attempt, but to warn the rest of his brothers that the Empire is coming for Omega shows how much his perspective has shifted, and speaks to an appreciation for Omega after she saved him on Kamino.

The scenes are all shot and staged well to highlight Crosshair’s determination and Dr. Hemlock's menace, and provides the most drama and character of anything in this one. Somehow, along the way, Crosshair became this pathos-ridden, noble, suffering man who wants to look out for the people he once turned on, and it may be my favorite thing from this season.

Overall, there’s nothing too major in this one. It’s plainly putting in the pieces that lead to the final chapters of this story. But the pieces are good, so it’s tough to be too unhappy with any of it.