Bad Batch 1x15 "Return to Kamino" - Reaction & Review
Added 2023-03-01 12:31:49 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Here it is - my reaction to season 1 episode 15 of The Bad Batch!!! Going back for Hunter proves to be trickier than we thought, because it turns out they're taking him right back to Kamino!!! And meanwhile, prep is being made to usher everything the Empire wants off of Kamino....so that can't be good :/ But guys, I was NOT ready whatsoever for Crosshair's reveal!!! It crossed my mind that maybe he had it taken out and would now join our crew, but I NEVER thought he had it out the entire time! So all of that was just voluntary? Not just aligning his ideals with the Empire, but actually trying to take out his brothers multiple times?!
Killing civilians?!?! Sheesh!!! It's a lot to take in! And so is the destruction of Kamino....!!!!!! Dang! Great ep! Enjoy! ~ MH
Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Lo1-9B4NW42Iba2_JxsaKFO2_dzcWjO/view?usp=share_link
Comments
That's so true! I love the use of music here too. And the twist with Crosshair makes things so much more complicated!!! XD
Melissa Moore
2024-10-21 14:50:54 +0000 UTCSuch a great episode. One thing I love about this show, or at least last episode and this one that I remember, is that it’s not afraid to reuse some great themes. They reused music from rescuing Leia from the Death Star last time, and reusing Kamino’s theme here are both so great. Crosshair not having his chip seemingly since basically the start was such a great twist, I was convinced too that maybe we just get the chip out and he’ll be fine. So excited for next week, then s2&3 which are somehow even better!
Cody
2024-10-18 01:17:36 +0000 UTCI hear you!! It's very possible he had an off-camera struggle like Rex! It does seem unlikely that he'd just give into it if the theory that the Jedi having an influence on the clones is indeed true. Working side by side with Obi-Wan, the GOAT, could not possibly leave one unaffected!!!!
Melissa Moore
2023-03-06 14:25:30 +0000 UTCI've always been a little biased against Cody due to that scene in Revenge Of The Sith where it looks like he, without a care in the world, fires on Obi-Wan! I have to give that scene slack though as the chip story about the clones hadn't been developed yet, and now we can look on it and say like with Rex, that perhaps there was a moment where he tried to stop it, but it just overpowered him; as in TCW, we can see how close Cody and Obi-Wan are, and that Cody's leadership is inspired from his General.
Saltire
2023-03-05 23:49:13 +0000 UTCNice!!!! He's a legend! OH I love the Superman theme!!!!!!!! Superman is another huge fandom of mine that I haven't been as active in for many years, but will always be near and dear to my heart! His composing on that was epic!!!
Melissa Moore
2023-03-05 16:19:34 +0000 UTCThat's a good point, the chip was only really good for that one order; didn't realize the influence diminishes after that, I kinda thought it was the reason that some of the clones were acting less out of independent thinking, but then there are some that still do, anyway! Ohhh I know, the theory does not explain away Cody, although to be fair, maybe that was because the chip had just been activated? Maybe he didn't have enough time to really fight it off? Not sure....! That's interesting that it switches off after time, wow! Ohhhhhhh no kidding about the clone in Obi-Wan!!!!!!!!! I never realized he was in the 501st!!!! :O That's so interesting. wow....!! That definitely goes a long way to show that Crosshair would be acting on his own at this point anyway. Ooof.....from that ep to this....definitely jarring!!!!!!!!! :O
Melissa Moore
2023-03-05 16:18:46 +0000 UTCYeah its unmistakably John Williams. And while Kiner and his crew are getting there for sure with their magnificent work on the animations, Williams will always be on another level. Man is a genius. Funnily enough though, my favourite piece of his isn't from Star Wars, but Superman's main theme.
Saltire
2023-03-05 01:46:06 +0000 UTCAlso at this stage, whether the chip is still active in him or not is irrelevant, as it seems that since the clones completed their primary mission from Sidious in destroying the vast majority of Jedi; that after a while it holds less influence on them; and your own theory about clones that hang around inspirational people, like Rex did with Ahsoka and Anakin, Howser it seems with Cham (though of course he isn't a Jedi) - and that doesn't explain bleedin' Cody hanging around with the greatest of them all in Obi-Wan, yet he fired on him freely, grrrrr!! :P - seem to be less swayed by the chip. It must also switch off after time. I've been rewatching Obi-Wan on another reactor's page last night and that horrible scene with the clone begging for creds; he was no ordinary clone, but clearly had Anakin's 501st legion markings, so definitely would have known Obi-Wan, yet he didn't turn into some sort of Terminator on seeing him, though he probably didn't recognise him tbf as he is probably too far into the bottle now; so this gives credence to the fact that Crosshair is making these decisions on his own, separate from the influence of the chip. Yeah the Jedi Cruisers destroying Kamino leaves a bad taste. I was rewatching your TCW Rookies episode reaction just last week from season 1, where the cruisers come in to save the day for Kamino from Grievous. And now its come to this.
Saltire
2023-03-05 01:41:06 +0000 UTCYep, I'm gonna keep just saying what comes to mind instead though. :P This had to be hard for Omega, but she was super helpful for sure! Clash of ideals is definitely what's going on here. That's true, when we first meet the Bad Batch it sort of sounds like the mutations weren't really intended, but they happened to be advantageous. Here it sounds intentional! Haha Crosshair was definitely giving some Vader vibes here. Ohhh I didn't remember that about them modifying Crosshair's chip after the Saw incident. It does clear up a lot about his emotions, intentions, etc. though. LOL you'd think I'd be used to it by now right? It is a huge waste! That's the thing, they never said/showed inhabitants, but there must have been people besides just the local government and scientists right?! It's hard to tell. But yeah, either way, I'm mad. :P
Melissa Moore
2023-03-04 15:39:53 +0000 UTCThat's awesome, I didn't realize it until folks started pointing it out!!!
Melissa Moore
2023-03-04 15:36:34 +0000 UTCNo kidding about the music!!! I know, poor Omega, this couldn't have been easy for her. The reveal that she's actually older than the Bad Batch is wild to think about, and makes her upbringing even more sad! She watched them be born, or whatever is closest to that, then was all alone again. I'm glad she gets to have a normal life now (well, whatever that means when you're on the run, but you know), but that's still a pretty sad past to contend with! I know, I hadn't thought about the abandonment issues with Crosshair either, to be honest, but it does make sense. I know, Crosshair can really predict their every move! I think you bring up some excellent points about Crosshair! He is deeply layered, and not everything he says is wrong. Overall he's misguided, but we only know that because we know how this ends. I also hadn't thought about the stuff with the chip, I kinda took it at face value more or less, but even that's not set in stone. Oh, I didn't realize that was the theme coming back or that it had been gone! Nice touch though! Ugh, Tarkin's famous line!!! Oh I know, it's an abomination to see the Jedi cruisers doing that. Kamino played a pretty big part in this whole thing for sure, so it is really jarring to see it get destroyed. I agree about the music too!!!
Melissa Moore
2023-03-04 15:36:20 +0000 UTCI loved that they re-used the Kamino music from Attack of the Clones when the group were flying down to land. Loving the series!
Jeremy Bassett
2023-03-02 06:27:06 +0000 UTCThe word you’re looking for again is penultimate. Yep, I’m gonna keep reminding you. 😁 Anyway, I know by the time you read this you’ll have posted the finale so I won’t stay too long: I haven’t seen it myself yet, so without that context: For someone who doesn’t want to return to Kamino, Omega has proven quite useful in helping the clones navigate. Crosshair sounds very bitter on his conversation with Hunter. Clearly, they have different ideas on what it means to be a clone. For one it’s about orders, for the other, it’s loyalty. And their ideals have directly clashed leading to this situation. When Omega gets to the lab she mentions this is where all of Clone Force 99 was bred but the way she said it implied that the deformations they experienced were intentional. Which opens up another set of questions, if that’s the case. Am I the only one thinking of Darth Vader trying to recruit Luke when we got to Crosshair trying to recruit his squad? You mentioned Crosshair doesn’t have a chip: but the thing is, we literally saw the Empire modifying his chip at the beginning of the series shortly after the incident with Saw’s group. So it must’ve happened after that. Either way it explains why his grudge is so emotional and it also explains why he’s so adept at predicting their movements. He can think for himself. “Is the Empire really going to destroy an entire place?” *stares at the screen Me: Did you really just say that? That aside, I did wonder about why they’d blow up all that infrastructure, seems like such a waste of resources. They also said they’d evacuated all essential personnel. It’s hard to tell who was left as Kamino never really showed a whole lot of inhabitants. But it’s the Empire so, if you aren’t mad about one thing you’re doing, you’re mad about another, right? ;)
Tyler Stobbe
2023-03-01 23:42:03 +0000 UTCAs they land on Kamino the music is straight out of Attack Of The Clones, the first time we saw Kamino; this is going to foreshadow what we see later. Penny for Omega's thoughts as they travel on the tube back to Nala Se's private lab. I don't think growing up there brought many happy thoughts for her. Crosshair feeling abandoned by the others was something I never thought of when watching this the first time, and boy that line about him not having a choice, really stings. He was always the most distant of the crew, but he was still one of them. So they find the private lab was where they were all created, and that Omega remembers seeing the rest of the Bad Batchers in there before they got sent off to be trained. Its such a weird thing to think about. She is a child, but is older than the rest of them (perhaps Echo aside as he was a first generation clone himself), and hence their big sister; which is why she wanted to go with them specifically in the first place as they were the nearest thing to family for her. Then when they left to go on their missions, she'd be back in that lab, alone, with perhaps just AZ for company. And then when you think about what her purpose is to the Kaminoans, to be just as close a copy to Jango Fett's DNA and then to be discarded after having that genome extracted, is horrifying to think about. She at least now has the chance to live a life like everyone else, but that would be a difficult thing for her to deal with, to understand her place in all this, big issues for a roughly 12 year old kid. I like how Tech tries to outthink Crosshair, but the latter knows him too well, and they walk right into his trap. Tech is very smart, but he isn't infallible. Crosshair wanting to send Omega away shows he still has some semblence of empathy there, as he feels - and he isn't totally wrong - that Omega should be given the chance to live a life outside of being a soldier; the rest of them weren't given that chance, but she has the chance to be able to do whatever she wants to. Also from his point of view, he sees this new order as a way for him and his brothers, to be who they were always supposed to be, soldiers making a difference again; that the Empire can give him and the others the sense of value and worth he feels they need, instead of a nomadic hand-to-mouth existence that they are having to endure now. Obviously his feelings about the Bad Batch being 'superior' and a weapon the Empire can use to bring order to the galaxy, are wrong, but if you go back to the Clone Wars introductions with them, he had that kind of attitude back then. The chip activating and being intensified strengthened these beliefs, and Hunter thinks its this thats causing him to act this way, but is the chip still in him? He says he had it removed, but did the Empire lie to him and its still running away; could they remove it at all with his injuries on his right temple (he got it when an engine ignited on him full in the face)? Or has the chip just opened his eyes to what he thinks their destiny is. I'm not defending him (though Crosshair is my favourite of the Bad Batch), but this is realistic and shows his character has layers to him, instead of just being the bad guy now. Ah man, that bit when the Bad Batch theme comes back, which you missed, tut tut ;) - that we haven't heard since the first episode - as Crosshair helps fend off the droids, is so emotional. It shows they were all meant to be together, that they are brothers, and its just sad that they look at things from the opposing sides. Tarkin giving his famous line here to Rampart : "you may fire when ready" which he says as they blow up Alderaan in A New Hope and I believe Rogue One too. Seeing the once Jedi cruisers that represented the Republic, move in to destroy Kamino and clones go through with destroying the place, is just devastating. 99 would be turning in his grave when he and others fought so much to protect it. That moment before the guns open fire, where we see the empty rooms of such a familiar place now, is sobering. Whilst for me Attack Of The Clones is the worst film in the franchise, Kamino itself has become such an iconic Star Wars location for over 20 years now, that we kept coming back to in Clone Wars; and to see this is what inevitably becomes of the place, is just haunting. And Kevin Kiner does another of his remarkable compositions for that final scene as Kamino is destroyed.
Saltire
2023-03-01 14:56:46 +0000 UTC
