"Bad Batch" Ep. 3 - "Replacements"

"Bad Batch" Ep. 3 - "Replacements", written by Matt Michnovetz, directed by Nathaniel Villanueva

This was a really good episode! We get two different storylines, both with their own bit of intrigue, action, and character development. We see Omega become even more a part of the crew and Crosshair being even more controlled by his inhibitor chip. I am so incredibly excited to see where everything goes from here!!

In their escape from Saleucami, the Bad Batch's ship sustained quite a bit of damage, damage that Tech was quick to dismiss as not important...to the Bad Batch's chagrin. They get thrown out of hyperspace and crash land on a desolate moon. Realizing one of the capacitor's is damaged, Tech and Echo go outside the ship to replace it with the one spare they have on board the Havoc Marauder...only to have it stolen by an Ordo Moon Dragon, a species that feeds off pure energy, glowing green as it absorbs it (see below). Hunter and Omega go out after the beastie in an attempt to regain the part...but Hunter gets knocked out and Omega is left to accomplish the mission. Is she brave enough and strong enough to be successful when it's pitch black and there's a monster on the loose?? I'll just say she's an admirable character who's more courageous than one would think!!

But the real story (and the reason for the title--"Replacements") lies in Crosshair being teamed up with four non-clone recruits to go take out Saw Gerrera's group of "dissidents." The Kaminoans have been enhancing his inhibitor chip's functioning and goodness has he become violently evil. *tear* Rampart, the man in charge of implementing the chain code program (described in my review of Ep. 2), has hand-picked the non-clone recruits, certain that they will be as ruthless as the Order 66-ed clones...but will regular people really be gung ho about killing a bunch of innocent civilians?? Crosshair certainly is...and he is brutal in carrying out his directive, even killing one of his fellow soldiers who doesn't have the stomach for the task at hand. *shiver* See Crosshair and his non-clone crew below.

---

Random notes/thoughts and trivia:

Omega knows an awful lot about the inhibitor chips and keeps revealing new information to her new family who are continually flummoxed and irritated about being controlled in such a droid-like fashion...understandably so! I really hope we get more info on Omega's background as the story progresses because although she's been a main character from the start, we still know next to nothing about her!!

CT-9904 = Crosshair

It is implied that Project War Mantle (remember this from Rogue One when Jyn is reading out various Imperial programs while looking for the Death Star plans on Scarif?!?) is the name for the non-clone recruiting program involving skilled clones as the trainers--a 50/50 situation to take advantage of all available resources. 

Wrecker has a gnarly headache which if Ep. 4 is any indication is just a red herring...I originally thought for sure it was his inhibitor chip malfunctioning, foreshadowing even more bad news for our heroes...but it looks like that's not the case. *phew*

There's a mysterious conversation between Lama Su and Nala Se about producing superior clones with new genetic material (as Jango's genetic material is starting to degrade). I am SUPER curious as to what this is all about and can't wait to delve into the mystery!!

---

I'll leave you with an image of Omega sitting in her new Wrecker-created bedroom, holding Wrecker's plushie, Lula. This moment was so epically precious and the bond forming between Omega and Wrecker specifically is so incredibly heart-warming!!