Star Wars: The Bad Batch–Decommissioned

Bad Batch First Look: “Decommissioned”

I’m continuing to enjoy The Bad Batch episodes, even though some people are starting to cry “filler!” I don’t understand that, I think each and every episode is adding to the story and creating more anticipation. Geez, what do these people want?

Anyway, I thought “Decommissioned” was a fine episode, with a surprise cameo of the Martez sisters from Clone Wars Season 7. I thought their story arc went on a little too long in CW, but I didn’t hate them or anything. So it turns out the BB and the sisters are both after a tactical droid in a Corellian factory where Separatist droids are being destroyed, or “decommissioned.” Both groups are after it for different reasons: the BB have been given an assignment from Cid, and have no idea who actually wants it; while it turns out the sisters are after it to help those who want to fight against this new Empire (seeing how the Clones are being used by the Empire, the tactical droid would know about their strategies and how to fight them).

I won’t go into details on what happened in the factory, but naturally the two groups have to work together to get out of the factory alive, with the tactical droid. The droid head ends up being destroyed, but Hunter gives the sisters the copy of the information inside its brain that Tech and Trace created. He knows they will put the information in it to good use, for something that matters. Raffa tells him that, in the end, everyone has to choose sides, which makes Hunter thoughtful. Yes, surviving is important, but at what cost? I have a feeling the Batch will eventually decide to fight this Empire that turned their world upside down, used their brothers for evil, and took their crew member, Crosshair, for their evil ends. It makes sense that they would do this, eventually, and I’m guessing once they meet up with Rex, they’ll be inspired to do so by him.

So who’s the contact Raffa talks to at the end of the episode? Could be Bail Organa. Could be Rex. Those are my top two contenders, and probably obvious. I don’t care which one it is; I’d love to see both of them (and we know we’ll eventually see Rex). And the fact that they have R7, Ahsoka’s droid, means she’ll probably be involved at some point, which is exciting. According to the novel Ahsoka, by E.K. Johnston, Ahsoka doesn’t meet up with Bail and become Fulcrum until a year after Order 66, and clearly it hasn’t been that long in this show. But events in books and comics can be tweaked, as we saw with the whole Depa Billaba and Caleb Dume thing in the first episode, Aftermath, which contradicts the Kanan comic (but only in the details). So it’s not out of the question that Ahsoka may make an appearance.

And Wrecker hits his head again, and then he says the dreaded words: “Good soldiers…” and I thought, oh crap, it’s happening! But he snaps out of it and he’s fine again. But it’s coming. Oh lord, it’s coming.

Other things I loved about this episode: Omega learning to use her laser bow. She’s not very good at it at first, which seems natural for most people, and Cid claims she needs to beef up her “noodle arms.” But Echo claims she just needs to tune out distractions. And that seems to be the case when she suddenly and effortlessly knocks off several droids later in the show. She says she just needed to tune out distractions, which sounds very Jedi-like. Or maybe I’m reaching, I don’t know, lol. I so want this girl to have the Force!

Also, this joke:

Dumb, but funny anyway! I bet Echo was waiting for someone to say that his whole life, lol.

I’m hoping to see more of Crosshair’s story soon, too.

What did you think of “Decommissioned”? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

12 thoughts on “Star Wars: The Bad Batch–Decommissioned

  1. great point about the avoiding distractions sounding very Jedi-like! I’m trying to keep my mind open about Omega so I don’t get disappointed, but there have certainly been some very Force-y hints so far!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. So “filler” is something I first heard about when watching anime (not sure if it originated from anime circles) but people will say an episode is a filler because it deviates from the main story arc. Some filler episodes can be really bad lol but some end up being pretty good in their own right. Usually people don’t like fillers because they just want the main story arc to continue without being distracted. I’ve referred to at least one episode of this show as a filler lol.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That’s a good definition of filler. In that sense, the use of the word filler is fine. But I find some people use the word “filler” when they think an episode is boring or pointless, and I just haven’t seen that in this show. But of course, it’s all subjective, lol.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s true, people use it all the time in the wrong context lol. Perhaps those people are the types that find something boring in everything lol I would hardly call The Bad Batch boring! It might not be everyone’s thing but it’s hardly boring 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I agree, it’s not a good idea to write off something as “filler” because you don’t know if it’s actually setting up something for a big payoff later. I mean, when I was watching Rebels, I initially thought the space whale episode was just a throw-away episode… and then two seasons later we got to the series conclusion, and it became hugely important.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Bad Batch Decommissioned. I forgot that was the episode reference. I thought you were saying that Bad Batch had been cancelled. That would be terrible because I love this series. Everyone should!

    BTW, why don’t you suppose that the sisters could be working for, it with, Ashoka?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oops, I should have put the word Decommissioned is quotes or something, lol. Yeah, it’s a good show, can’t wait for season 2. Not sure what your question is asking, but the sisters are doing Rebel missions for Ahsoka, who is Fulcrum, a secret Rebel intelligence agent. That’s what I got out of it, anyway. Thanks for reading!

      Like

Leave a comment