Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Cut and Run Review

TBB "Cut and Run"

Are Hunter and Omega getting a Din Djarin and Grogu arc? It's a thought that arises in "Cut and Run", a decent second installment of the show in which the villain is bureaucracy, old Clone Wars guest stars return, and (found) familial bonds are forged.

When Clone Force 99 lands on Saleucami, Omega greets the sun and dirt of the new world with wonder. After all, neither sun nor dirt are in evidence on Kamino. Her reaction is reminiscent of Rey's "I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy" when going from Jakku to Takodana in The Force Awakens.

The Bad Batch are there to meet with Suu and Cut Lawquane, the latter of whom is a deserter clone trooper. Both characters appeared in The Clone Wars. At this stage in galactic history, other clone troopers are being used by the Empire, exactly as stormtroopers soon will be. And they're enforcing a new registration drive for citizens to get mandatory chain codes. (Read: DMV Real IDs.) So the villain in this episode is bureaucracy.

The Lawquanes are determined to leave Saleucami with their children, and Hunter deems their family the best place for Omega - at least until she chooses to stay with our heroes. But to get off-planet the Lawquanes need chain codes, a problem Tech and Echo set out to fix. That duo's scene together brings to mind the arguably redundant nature of having two "techie" characters, in the fine tradition of, say, Tej and Ramsey in the Fast and Furious series.

So what we end up with is a Mission: Impossible setup where one group of characters has to walk casually through a checkpoint while another frantically hacks into the system to establish their credentials. The Lawquanes make it off planet, and the Bad Batch shoot their way out of the spaceport to fight another day. "Cut and Run" is a fine statement for the surrogate father/daughter bond developing between Hunter and Omega, and for the state of this galaxy in transition. 6/10.

Stray observations:

- It should be noted that the Imperial officer pushing chain codes in a public holo message is one Vice Admiral Rampart. Why is this significant? He has a Black Series figure, so you can bet that the toys have tipped the show's hand and he's got a bigger role to play as the show goes on.

- Echo's right arm has a servo that interfaces with computer terminals exactly like R2-D2's arm.

- Wrecker gets a classic Ralph McQuarrie poncho, and continues his Gonk droid exercise routine.

- Two connections to Solo: the boot on the impounded ship is like that on Lando and L3's Millennium Falcon, and the Imperial check-in station with tray for item exchange is straight out of Coronet Spaceport on Corellia.