Star Wars: The Bad Batch (1.5) Episode Recap: Unmasking Fennec Shand

Both of the shows I have recapped this year preceding Star War: The Bad Batch have been miniseries. As I am finding out in the process of recapping this current Star Wars show, that is a much different format. While The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and WandaVision mostly told singular stories with a designated start and end point (well, kind of, but I have written plenty on that elsewhere), The Bad Batch is telling part of an ongoing story. More than that, it doesn’t appear to have a clear end point. Episode after episode builds the characters and the journeys, but they don’t necessarily always feel like they are adding up to something. Discussions about Fennec Shand (whose name we don’t officially find out till the end of this week’s episode) and who sent her bookend this episode, but everything that happens in between is another adventure for the Bad Batch.

The group’s adventures the past few episodes have cemented their status as outlaws on the run, but this episode was the first to mark just what they were going to need to do to survive. They have to save a young rancor from slavery before being able to obtain any information about the bounty hunter on their trail. If you don’t know what a rancor is in Star Wars (I admittedly didn’t remember either), you are in for a delightful little surprise. This is especially true during the chase scenes of this week’s episode. In Kong: Skull Island, Kong fights a skull crusher at the end of the movie and, for lack of a better phrase, beats her down. Think that battle but on a smaller scale and far less gruesome.

While we are still are waiting on the other shoe to drop about what makes Omega a special clone, she again uses her smallness to her advantage in this episode. After bailing out the rest of the Bad Batch a few episodes in a row now, it is safe to say she is a bonafide member of the squad. The Bad Batch’s writing still adds in nuggets to remind us just how young and naïve she is from time to time. This week it is when the crew has to explain slavery to her. It’s a nice addition for younger viewers too, as Omega can function as a sort of surrogate for understanding some of the more advanced issues or events at play in the show. It also reminds us that Hunter, Wrecker, and the rest of the crew are effectively raising this child on the run from some of the most dangerous hunters the galaxy has to offer. The stakes have never been higher for any clone in the Bad Batch. As more adversaries are unmasked from Fennec Shand to whomever is paying her to Crosshair, the team is bound to face more challenges. But as the Bad Batch makes it clear time and again, if Hunter, Omega, Wrecker, Echo, and Tech stick together, they just might be able to make it.