Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Cut and Run review S1 E2
Cut and Run didn’t do a whole lot to change my early concerns with The Bad Batch. The good news is the series is still early enough to find its way, but so far the initial results aren’t encouraging.
With Crosshair and the Empire after them, Hunter and the rest of the team — along with Omega — try to get out of dodge and reconnect with an old ally, fellow clone deserter Cut and his family.
Cut and Run proves a clever title for the episode as Hunter gets a new sense of the changing galaxy under Empire rule. The clones are acting like Stormtroopers now despite still being in their clone armor.
I’m curious how the series is going to play out as The Bad Batch aren’t exactly being hunted down like Jedi and the ragtag insurgent forces. Rebels effectively covered the tyranny of the Empire and the growing opposition to them. Where will Bad Batch fit in to this continuity? As the A-Team of sorts traveling through the galaxy assisting folks who need it for credits? Or taking more of The Fugitive approach with the team constantly on the run?
Omega immediately bonds with Cut’s children and proceeds to act like a child. Omega is still an uphill character for me. We didn’t get to know the Bad Batch well enough to throw in a cute kid into the mix and she still seems way too forced in what otherwise could have been an exciting fugitives from the Empire series.
I don’t care about her sense of wonder, excitement and questions. And like any kid sidekick her grand purpose seems to be to inadvertently create trouble for the Bad Batch by trying to be helpful.
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Maybe the big issue is trying to see how the hinted Hunter/Omega dynamic of the ill-prepared parent/guardian figure and precocious child will be any different than the Kanan/Ezra one from Rebels or Mando/Grogu from The Mandalorian. Those were so well done and essentially four episodes in, it’s hard to see this being at that level or worth revisiting again.
It doesn’t help that Omega feels too similar to 80s cartoon sidekick characters like Spike, Orko, Snarf, Scott & T-Bob. She’s just the plot device to introduce problems that wouldn’t exist with adult characters. It’s not a good sign that I’m already rooting for the Bad Batch to ditch Omega right away.
Ultimately my biggest issues with Crosshair turning on the team and Omega joining is these would have been viable plot threads later on in the series.
Crosshair getting programmed to be the series villain would have been a great season finale development while Omega could have been introduced in season 3 or 4. The rush to change an embryonic status quo so far has felt like the wrong choice.
Again, showrunner Dave Filoni has earned the benefit of the doubt thanks to his Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian track record, but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of a misfire.
Cut and Run feels too much like the worst aspects of the largely excellent Star Wars animated universe thanks to a greater focus on the latest addition to The Bad Batch.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney+
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