Full Series The Bad Batch 2.12 - The Outpost - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Brilliant episode, hoping Crosshair breaks off to join Rex and Echo’s (and Cody?) band. Some of the more mailed-in filler episodes continue to annoy me, but overall this season has produced some really strong content. It’s amazing what this series (and clone wars before it) is capable of when it allows itself to be a little darker and explore more adult themes

 

I'd say that apart from Andor, star wars animation has gone way darker and adult than live action.

 

Mandalorian is more kid friendly then Bad Batch, thats intresting.

 

I honestly think there were only 2 episodes so far that were completely useless. The rest had their uses with character development. Especially with Tech.

 

I think Ruins of War is still my favorite episode of the season, but this one is my highest-rated so far (9). Crosshair really suits the moody, atmospheric stuff, and this is his strongest showing yet. I noticed the title-card fanfare was shortened this time, and I love little differences like that to signal something significant.

There's some really nice symbolism in the episode, but the biggest draw for me is the titular outpost. I love a premise like this, centering on something simple and tactile that gains more meaning through the details of the story. In this case, there's a juxtaposition of scope -- something small but significant in the midst of a cold vastness. And more specifically, the outpost represents the clones, like a bastion of brotherhood that's been neglected and whittled away. Now the Empire just strips it and leaves it in the literal cold. It's a really poignant fate, made more so by Crosshair's effort to save Mayday. I really hope Crosshair pulls through whatever comes next, to carry on what he gained (or regained) out there.

Also, props for the episode twice continuing when I thought it was about to end, which is fitting since it seems like Crosshair thought the same.

 

This episode completely caught me off guard. Didn’t have time to watch this and Mando on Wednesday so I prioritized the former. But WOW

I loved this episode. And this is from somebody who, while I’ve appreciated seeing things more from the empires side and how they are changing things and becoming increasingly tyrannical, is not a huge fan of Crosshair. I always really struggled to get him as a character and I genuinely believed that the bad batch were much better off without him from an audience point of view as he ruins any on screen chemistry and flow.

But yet here we are, 15 minutes into an episode after not seeing him for a while, and I’m crying at the TV saying ‘he’s carrying the deadweight’.

I’ll post more in detail tomorrow, but I’ve been quick to criticize after some episodes and just had to write down my immediate elation at that episode.

 

Have a really bad feeling Crosshair won’t make it out of the season

 

I gave this a 10/10.

I really like these deep dive, emotional episodes as opposed to the mission of the week. I wasn't expecting to see Crosshair again and even more surprised to be rooting for him. I think this season, and his episodes in particular, are exploring a real unexplored yet very interesting time. We didn't know what happened to all surviving clones and now we're learning. I do like how this is also showing how Crosshair isn't one dimensional. He's starting to see the Empire for what it is and how them leaving Mayday was unforgivable. I'm not sure what to expect for next week but can't wait.

 

Watched it a second time, gave it a 10. Really liked it.

 

Yeah I'm in that boat too. I can see him being redeemed and then killed off.

 

Crosshairs had quite a few parallels with Fives in this episode. I don't see him making it out to the season either. Totally calling Crosshair dying in Hunter's arms.

 

I agree his odds of survival is not good. But I say so were Kallus chances in Rebels season 3. So I hope like Kallus, he survive and redeem himself and joins Rex and Bad Batch in a clone uprising, that will become The Clone Rebellion.

 

Yeah I too get the feeling that Crosshair won’t be making it out of this season alive. I feel like he is going to have some kind of short heart to heart with Omega and then sacrifice himself for rest of the squad

This episode was spot on. You had the typical imperial officer who hit all the right smarmy/condescending villain notes. Mayday was an instant classic clone and it was amazing to see the other side to Crosshair. No doubt he’s been seeing things like this during his time with the empire, but working with mayday and understanding the conditions they’ve been working under and how expendable the clones are viewed as seems to have finally driven it home to him

 

Listening to my grandfather's story of what Soviet/Russian officers were like in every war, Nolan is not that far from realism, quite the opposite.

 

To be fair the fact that a trooper would Frag Nolan was not at all surprising. I knew it would happen the moment he talked. But that’s kinda the empire’s MO. They don’t care about their grunts like at all. They could throw away thousands of them and not care. It’s a thing that happens all to often in the real world. If this was a beginning of season 2 crosshair nothing would have come of it. The empire wants people who don’t consider their troops human so they can easily throw their lives away. They also want officers who are easily controlled. Nolan is both of those.

 

My problem with Nolan isn't that he's a horrible person. What they showed in this episode isn't a person at all. Real people have more than one dimension. Take that officer Bill Burr shot in the middle of their conversation in The Mandalorian; that seemed like an actual person, a human being with history and life experience and other interests. Nolan was nothing but an ugly plot point. If they had bothered to give him just a line or a moment that showed he had just a tiny bit of depth, he would have been adequate as a villain. But they didn't, and the result just didn't work for me.

 

I don’t think we need to see a redeeming factor for him to have more than one dimension. I liked Nolan more than some one note imperials. His hatred of clones and cowardice are real enough to me, I can imagine he developed that mindset out of fear of death, clones are bodies to die for him.

He reminded me of the role a younger Ozzel from TESB played in the comic “In Service of the Republic”

 

As far back as "Pursuit of Peace" a senator tells Padme clones are just bred to die. They also became a symbol of public unrest with the Jedi and the War. Remember the picket signs that were basically clone helmets with "no" signs? People were really unhappy they didn't have light to read or hot showers because the cost of the Jedi's army was bankrupting the Republic. I can see Nolan being one of those. Even if the general populous didn't want to enlist at that time. It's easy to see where so much hatred of the Clones would come from.

 

If they had given him a moment like that, it would have been fine. But they gave him nothing at all. Just hating and mustache twirling. He really was a caricature.

 

I forgot to note before that Crosshair reaching up out of the snow reminds me of Boba -- another near-death experience and turning point for a clone. Still hoping Crosshair gets to follow through with this, and that the recurring question of what so many clones died for won't also be applicable to Mayday.

This take makes sense for me. I think of Nolan as kind of an office lieutenant, someone who's used to ordering others around while having things in between himself and any real danger. The most telling moment is when Mayday asks him how many missions he's commanded. Nolan didn't have to give the honest answer; he could've just shoved the question aside as impertinent, but instead had no retort at all, which could mean the question actually scared him. Part of his hatred of clones may be in knowing that they're a lot more qualified for these operations than he is.

 

Nolan has an overinflated sense of self importance. He views his subordinates as tools that exist only to serve his wishes, not as living beings that have inherent value. As he says, he hates clones because he considers them outdated at this point. They’re yesterday’s army and they’re being discontinued after all. On some level I would say he feels disrespected that he has to work with hand-me-downs. Like they’re the ones who are potentially holding his genius capabilities back.

 

That’s one of the best parts the only person who isn’t expendable is Palpatine

 

I watched this again last night.

Excellent episode. It’s still smaller in scope when it comes to assets than the clone wars was - but it uses that as a strength.

The outpost is almost deserted because most of the clones died. It works really well. And what the show does with landscapes, environments, and lighting is beautiful.

The places the series takes us do not look like they are on a budget, (something that bugged me about Rebels and Resistance at times when compared to the Cline Wars.)

After this episode Crosshair has officially become my favorite and the most interesting character on the series,

 

I agree completely.
Which sadly means this cannot be what ends up happening - given my 0% of success in predicting anything.