I don’t know. My feelings for The Bad Batch have tanked considerably. The series isn’t exactly bad and this latest episode was pretty good but…once again, it got convenient when it had to.

Spoilers Ahead!

When last week’s episode ended it was obvious that Crosshair’s imminent return was due. Sure enough he showed up with enough stormtroopers in tow to be able to take on four clones and a kid. He was wrong of course because stormtroopers are Star Wars’ worst and most easily killed soldiers.

There’s a scene early into the episode where Crosshair has Clone Force 99 cornered. There are troopers on all sides and Crosshair is ready to take a shot. But for some reason, he wants to talk instead. (I remember him being the type of guy who shoots first and asks questions later.) Hunter manages to buy the Bad Batch enough time to get away but thankfully, the episode still isn’t over yet.

They then get trapped in the Star Destroyer’s engine, Crosshair has his troopers turn it on, but instead of The Bad Batch getting barbecued they manage to find an ingenious way to live and Crosshair ends up getting badly injured (this was the best part of the episode.) But no, there is one more surprise in store; the arrival of Cad Bane.

I’m not going to lie. I was excited to see the Clint Eastwood-esque bounty hunter back in another animated Star Wars project considering that he is my favorite bounty hunter of all time (sorry Boba Fett.) Plus, his standoff with Hunter was exciting and concluded nicely. But that’s just where the primary problem of the episode lied.

For some reason that wasn’t explained properly in the episode, Hunter and Omega were the first ones to get to the ship while Tech, Echo, and Wrecker were conveniently lost in an avalanche somewhere. The whole time Hunter had to confront Bane I kept saying out loud, “Where’s his backup? Where are the other clones?!”

It was their convenient slow climbing that allowed Hunter to get shot and Omega to be taken. Yes, there’s development for the series but ultimately it came about in a lazy way. So once again, yes the episode was decent, but I’m left with a sour taste in my mouth because I know I was witnessing lazy writing again.

Maybe it’s just me but this series, as beautifully animated as it is and as entertaining it may be, just isn’t hitting my happy buttons the way I want it to.

Eight more episodes to go. Let’s see what happens next week.

(Oh! And wait a minute! What is up with The Bad Batch getting shot but not killed? They’re not wearing beskar. They’re pretty much wearing the same armor as normal clones and yet, I’ve seen Wrecker shot at least three times in this series and now Hunter and after each contact with blaster fire they come away unscathed. That’s not supposed to happen, is it? Hmm…)

I thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day.