The Bad Batch S3E8: Bad Territory

A muddled, boring story lead us into "Bad Territory."

We've had another hiccup in the final season of "The Bad Batch" with the eighth episode. The episode's duration is devoted to a storyline that goes nowhere and gives our heroes zero in the way of new information. While I still enjoyed the episode, it was by far my least favorite of the season.

"Bad Territory" is a meandering story that has Hunter (Dee Bradley Baker) and Wrecker (Baker) reconnecting with Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) to gain more info to determine why the Empire is after Omega (Michelle Ang). What could have been a banger of an episode is boring at best and left me mouthing "dank farrik" at my TV screen.

 I'll break this episode down quickly because there's not much to it. Seeing an opportunity to exploit our two members of Clone Force 99, Fennec enlists the duo to help her bring in an elusive target in exchange for information regarding the Empire's M-Count program. We learn the Empire has called in elite bounty hunters to hunt down high M-Count targets, but Fennec has little firsthand knowledge of what the program entails but knows someone who might.

So, with Hunter and Wrecker working for her, they go after quarry Sylar Saris, and we spend the entire episode slowly in pursuit. Once they find Sylar, the action is even a little lackluster and so dark you can barely determine what's happening. Many have complained about the episodes' darkness; up until now, I've thought the argument silly. "Bad Territory" is so dark I had to increase the brightness on my TV just so I could make out what was happening.

Then, after capturing their target, Fennec gives them ZERO info but promises to contact them as soon as she does. A story with high promise and little payoff in the final season of a series? Unforgivable! At this point, each week, we should be treated to something epic, and it feels like the creative team behind the season pulls back as soon as things start to really pick up steam.

As Fennec leaves our duo, she contacts a mysterious fellow bounty hunter, informing them of Hunter and Wrecker inquiring about the M-Count program and letting them know tracking them should be pretty easy. Really? Our heroes have been hiding out on Pabu for a while now, and the Empire hasn't been able to find them, but for a single bounty hunter, it's an easy endeavor? Doesn't make much sense.

The only redeeming element of this episode is the exploration of Crosshair’s (Baker) hand tremor. I commented online that I thought it would turn out to be like Dr. Watson's psychosomatic tremors in the 'Sherlock' series, and it appears that's where they're going with it.

A medical droid finds nothing physically wrong with the clone, suggesting it could all be mental.In an effort to help him, Omega teaches him how to meditate to quiet his mind and hopefully alleviate the hand tremors. I appreciate their exploration of this element of trauma, specifically PTSD, and how individuals struggled to overcome it. This is something I think could benefit many people, unfortunately, it feels a little lost in this muddled episode, which is a shame.

I'll be honest - I just want to see Clone Force 99 do some cool stuff and keep our story moving every week, but the eighth installment of the final season felt like filler that didn't satisfy either of those things. The shocking thing was that the episode lacked any excitement.. Sure, there were some cool moments, but this is the first episode I've had to rewind because I wasn't into the story enough to devote my attention to it.

"Bad Territory" felt like a wasted 30 minutes of Star Wars television, and it might be one of the series' worst episodes. With seven episodes left, let's hope Disney and company regain their footing and give The Bad Batch the proper sendoff they deserve.