REVIEW: The Bad Batch Season 3, Episode 12, “Juggernaut”

Television Reviews

*SPOILERS*

In “Juggernaut,” Omega arrives on Tantiss. She is met by Dr. Hemlock and brought to a surprised Emerie. Back on Pabu, Crosshair suggests the Batch find Vice Admiral Rampart and interrogate him concerning Tantiss’ location. Once they arrive at Aramis, an Imperial prison planet, Phee shuts off the ship to avoid detection. The boys take control of the transport, taking Rampart to the prison from his work shift. They’re set upon by Imperials, and Phee arrives just in time to rescue them and an unconscious Rampart. On Tantiss, Omega’s blood tests positive for M-count transfers, as expected. When she questions this, Hemlock takes her to the vault to see the children. However, once inside, Hemlock locks Omega in the vault to stay permanently. 

Although most of “Juggernaut” follows the Batch and concerns Rampart, my favorite scenes are on Tantiss with Omega, Dr. Hemlock, and Emerie. I love the creepy atmosphere in the facility, and Jimmi Simpson’s detached performance as Dr. Hemlock is perfectly unsettling. He plays well off of the bright-eyed Omega and conflicted Emerie. Emerie genuinely cares for Omega, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. She saw last week how the Empire is treating the children in the vault, and now she has a choice to make. Her “sister” is now among these children for whom she already had a lot of sympathy. I feel pretty certain that Emerie will find some way to help Omega and her new unwilling roommates, but I’m interested in seeing how that happens. Will this feel like a betrayal of Dr. Hemlock for her? For whatever reason, she has a significant amount of loyalty to him and the Empire as a whole. Having been by Hemlock’s side her whole life (as far as we know), she might see him as a mentor or even a father. He doesn’t value her or any clone beyond their utility for his research, but I don’t think she knows or understands that. Interestingly, the Batch found a different source for information on Tantiss’ location, as this was an obvious way to rope Emerie into their search for Omega. I really like Hemlock as a villain and hope he doesn’t die at the end of this show because I want to know more about him. I think Emerie, and at least some of the Batch, are unlikely to make it out of the show alive. Emerie isn’t inherently valuable to Hemlock’s goals like Omega is, so he doesn’t need her alive. This is just a tiny line of dialogue, but I appreciate Omega’s concern for Nala Se. Under the circumstances, it would be understandable if she wasn’t Omega’s top priority. But having her ask about her former mentor/friend’s well-being when she is essentially in prison herself speaks to Omega’s character and compassion for others. 

I’m somewhat disappointed in the first scene with the Batch. I’m reminded of Ezra and Sabine’s reunion in Ahsoka, where they never discussed Sabine’s bad choices onscreen. I expected Hunter to be livid with Crosshair for letting Omega go. After all, Crosshair just returned, and Hunter wasn’t willing to forgive and trust him immediately. Isn’t it a big deal for his first important decision back with the group to let Omega get captured on purpose? The only person who says anything is Wrecker, and he drops it as soon as the others decide they need to find Omega. Duh, of course, you need to find her. This just isn’t a very satisfying payoff to the turmoil and expert drama in last week’s second episode, “Point of No Return.” I expect better from The Bad Batch because the show usually delivers better. This doesn’t ruin the episode; as I said, the scenes on Tantiss are much better. But I don’t know why you have Crosshair miss the most important shot of his life if nobody is going to hold him accountable. I don’t think he did anything morally wrong, but one would expect Hunter to feel that way. He’s the closest with Omega, serving as a pseudo-father figure to the girl. They built everything up like Crosshair would make this shot like this is when he would master his shaking hand. Having him fail, just like everyone failed in that episode, was a brilliant choice. All this misery leading to what we expect to be the light at the end of the tunnel and… it’s not. Mission failed. I love it. It would just be even better if Crosshair were questioned or challenged on this choice he made if he had to defend himself to Hunter or even if he felt like he couldn’t. Maybe he would feel like a fool and a bad friend to Omega himself. 

Wrecker is awake and well at the beginning of “Juggernaut,” and the only sign of his trauma is him rubbing his head. This is another seemingly big moment in “Point of No Return” that is all but brushed off in “Juggernaut.” I want to emphasize that I don’t hate this episode; I just don’t understand some of the creative choices. I like Wrecker, and I don’t want him to die, but I don’t know why such a big fuss was made over him getting knocked out in an explosion just for nothing to come of it. 

This is a smaller nitpick, but why do the boys leave the other prisoners in shackles when they release them? What use is it to free them if they’re still on the planet and bound at the hands? I liked the idea of freeing them, but this isn’t much freedom. 

Overall, I’m of two minds regarding “Juggernaut.” It looks incredible, even in the dark combat scenes. You can see what’s happening! I don’t know why they can’t accomplish this more often. Just because it’s night or in shadow doesn’t mean the audience shouldn’t be able to see what’s going on. The scenes on Tantiss are flawless; I seriously have no problems there. It was nice to see Phee again (besides Clone X stalking her), and her calling Tech “brown eyes” one more time is too sweet. But the Batch’s storyline overall this week isn’t that exciting. I was surprised that Rampart ended up becoming their source; I liked him in earlier seasons, but being honest, I forgot about him. This was a great way to bring something back in rather than introducing some forgettable, one-and-done side character. I initially wondered if Rampart would be like the new Agent Kallus from Rebels, meaning he would become essentially part of the team after turning coat. Now, I doubt this is the case, which is probably for the best. But most of the Batch’s plotline, which is the episode’s main story, is dull and uninventive.