The Bad Batch The Bad Batch 1.04 - Cornered - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

great to see Fennec Shand

the depiction of the planet, Pantora, is amazing, the animation just continues to be the highlight of the whole show for me, I kind of wish they had stayed on the planet for a few episodes, though I guess I’m also looking forward to where else they go

 

I say more of internal antagonist and not a villain.

 

I really do like seeing a more civilized planet in the Star Wars galaxy.
Star wars in general has spent so much time on backwaters recently its cool to see a big city again.

 

I gave it a 7/10
Tbh I didn't particularly care too much for this latest episode. Sure it was a fun romp through Pantora and the introduction of Fennec Shand was pretty cool, but overall this wasn't all that memorable of an episode. My main takeaway was that at least the entire episode didn't involve Omega stupidly trusting the complete stranger she just met on a planet she was obviously never on before.

 

It's Cut Lawquane, he wants his adopted daughter back

 

Boba Fett wants his sister back.

 

6/10

My least favorite so far. It sets up a concrete jeopardy for our crew to focus on so it definitely serves a purpose and pumps up excitement for the future. I just don't see it having much rewatch value.

 

I give it an 8 simply because of my love for Fennec Shand and the actress.

 

I'll give it a 9.

This episode was great fun to watch. The boys are going to struggle with civilian life. My boy Echo was funny as hell and showed his growth. Hunter stole the show and had me rooting for him all the way. Fennic wasn't just fanservice. She was leveraged to raise the stakes in an early episode where bad things happening Clonewing Duck and Omeglyn were unlikely. Pulled on my heartstrings a bit with the Waxer-looking doll. Awesome short but sweet hand-to-hand fight. Great execution of a chase long scene. Pantora was cool. People are celebrating and just living in bliss right now so the bright city lights are tinged with a storm sneaking in.

Point taken off for ruining that diabetes-inducing moment when a terrified Omega runs into Wrecker and gets scooped up in his arms. The instant KO really sucked. I did feel like I was abruptly pulled out of the middle of the conversation on the ship when the four of them were sitting around Omega. Then thrown into a redundant obligatory ending scene with Fennic so she could contact her mystery employer so the episodes ending was janky but I won't take a point off for that.

 

Omega wanders off again and gets into trouble, they need to put a friggin bell/leash on that kid/clone.

the Bad Batch may actually be worse at surrogate child rearing than Mando is!

 

Decent episode. I enjoyed it. Fennec Shand was really cool in this and I liked all of the connections to other stories e.g. finally seeing Pantora the planet as opposed to the moon that orbits it, the R1 style clone doll, the Voorpaks from Resistance. Stuff like that makes a shared universe a lot of fun.

 

I was curious to see if there would be any cameos from the familiar Pantorans from the TCW episodes, like Riyo Chuchi for instance. You wonder where she was in the days following Order 66.

 

Gave it a 3. It was just an incredibly boring story and nothing happened. Just more of the same.

 

Some more thoughts after reading other comments...

I don't see any contradiction between Fennec's portrayal here and her portrayal in The Mandalorian. As others have pointed out, this is 20+ years before the Mando and there's plenty of room for character development so saying that her portrayal is inconsistent doesn't make sense. However, I think her code of honour seems pretty much like what it was in the Mando. Different people and different cultures define honour differently and honour doesn't necessarily entail compassion. Prowess and reputation are often also big parts of honour systems in the real world, like in chivalry and bushido. What Obi-Wan Kenobi thinks honour is need not be what Fennec Shand or Boba Fett think honour is. For them, honour might simply mean completing jobs, building a reputation, and honouring deals. That has all been consistent.

Secondly, I love the idea of Boba Fett hiring Fennec to capture his "sister". As much as I'm enjoying the Kamino subplot of this series, the hunting Omega part of it is the least interesting part of it for me. It makes Omega feel like discount Grogu. The Boba idea is a lot more intriguing imo.

 

Good episode but not great, getting a bit too formulaic, gave it 7/10

 

I doubt she'll be a full-bore villain but maybe. If she butts heads with Mando I think it'll be over interpretations of honor or something. I remember in TCW she felt more angry, unpredictable and dangerous, just felt like a more dynamic character. She wasn't an *evil* villain there, but could still be bad. They softened her up in Mandalorian without showing any transition, so feels like she lost something, not a convincing fanatic imo.

 

Bo-Katan was never really a fanatic though, sure she followed Pre Viszla a true fanatic in his ways, but she got together with the wrong crowd, i bet she secretly loved him. She's like the true mandalorians off old and don't want to let go and Viszla uses her.

 

I hope so. People and the writers often forget that she worked for a terrorist organization.

 

nah keep her as she is and don't turn her into a villain.

 

Seriously, Bo-Katan went right along murdering and BBQing people on Carlac.

I have seen some suggestions the final shot of Omega in this episode with the ridged pipes on Echo's suit framed behind her, is foreshadowing for Cad Bane who iconically had something like a respirator on face until season 4 being the next bounty hunter. Interesting but that seems a stretch.

 

I think it’s just people hoping Bane appears.

 

At least Bo-Katan in the Mandalorian was shown having moments of contension with the other characters and putting her ambitions above the needs of others. That is at least somewhat consistent with her portrayal in the Clone Wars, at least before the last season, as opposed to Rebels where Bo-Katan needs to look even better than Sabine in order to justify her receiving the Dark Saber.