"The Bad Batch #11: Devil's Deal"

"The Bad Batch #11: Devil's Deal" written by Tamara Becher-Wilkinson, directed by Steward Lee

This episode was another knock out of the park ride! Although I do have some issues with one character in particular's development. But with my love of canon continuity and origin stories?? How could I not have enjoyed this one?? 

I mean, we see a young Hera...WITH Chopper (see above)!!! I'd unfortunately run across some spoilers before seeing this one, so had a pretty good idea that young Hera was going to be in this. But I was NOT expecting Chopper!!! I love this droid so much. In fact, he was the first droid plushie in my now extensive collection of droid plushies. He's so dang sassy and independent and that comes through in this episode which brings me such joy. We even get to see Omega and Hera meet and it is the most precious interaction ever. Omega tells the Batch, "She's kinda strange. I like her!" So freaking cute. And Hera's fighting spirit is clear as day. You can tell without a doubt that this young, independent girl will become the fiercely brave warrior and pilot of the "Rebels" TV show!

The focus is on the Twi'lek planet of Ryloth which gets us, in addition to Hera, her father--Cham Syndulla, her mother--Eleni Syndulla (see below), the Twi'lek Senator--Orn Free Taa, one of Cham's head freedom fighters--Gobi Glie, and the seemingly omnipresent Vice Admiral Rampart of the Empire. Rampart really is getting an awful lot of screen time and I wonder if they're building up to something big with this character. There's just too much he's involved with for their not to be some sort of pay off. As for Cham, he wants...peace...?!? Huh??? The Cham from the Lords of the Sith adult novel and the Cham from "The Clone Wars" TV show were all gung-ho, militaristic, the fight above all else! This Cham is meek, defeated, and Gobi and Eleni have to do a lot of convincing for him to see that the peace they are being offered is merely an illusion. This just doesn't feel like Cham and, in my opinion, muddies his development as a character. It would be like learning that Saw Gerrera once cooperated with the Empire, something that simply doesn't compute. And then there's a discussion between Cham and Hera in which Cham tells her that she needs to accept peace and not fight, that she's been around war too long. But remember in the "Rebels" TV show how he was pissed at her for leaving the militia-like Free Ryloth Movement to fight back against the Empire as a whole? I'm telling you, this Cham is very different--hopefully we'll at least get to see why his attitude roller-coastered so drastically. 

Clone Captain Howzer (see below) is an enigma. He acts like the clones used to act and not with the rigid, dogmatic, kill-kill-kill of the post-Order 66 clones. When Hera and Chopper get caught inside the restricted zone around an Imperial refinery, he tells Cham that he'll let the infraction slide. And then when she gets caught again, this time smuggling weapons with Gobi, Howzer says, "Sir, she's only a child." We've seen the exact opposite kind of programming in Crosshair who is ready to do anything to follow orders and bring glory to the Empire. His conscience has been shredded. But Howzer definitely has a conscience and I'm hoping there's more to him than meets the eye!

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Trivia:

-The Havoc Marauder (the Bad Batch's ship) is a modified Omicron-class attack shuttle

-The yellowish Twi'lek working with Gobi is named Serin (see the two in the opening scene's crowd below)

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So many questions are beginning to bubble to the surface and I cannot wait to see how they get answered!!!