Summary
The penultimate episode of The Bad Batch really ups the stakes and brings us closer than ever to what is sure to be a dynamite finale.
“Flash Strike” is the penultimate episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and it’s starting to feel like it now. There have been plenty of unnecessary detours along the way, but there’s little else to do by the end of Episode 14 other than break into – and break out of – Mount Tantiss.
In Episode 13, Clone Force 99 finally acquired exact coordinates to Mount Tantiss, while Omega worked on the beginnings of an escape plan. “Flash Strike” continues both of these plot threads directly, picking up with Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair figuring out an infiltration plan.
Hemlock Is Tipped Off
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 14 (via Disney+)
It wouldn’t be easy to get inside Tantiss at the best of times, but certainly not with Hemlock on high alert. Unfortunately, he’s tipped off about the gang’s arrival, sending fighters to intercept them as they arrive. The Bad Batch are shot down during their approach, making for a daring escape that, like several other sequences, has a touch of comedy given Rampart continues to be dragged along for the ride.
Some may ask why Rampart continues to be involved in these shenanigans, but I enjoy his presence a lot, both because he’s funny but also because he’s an interesting counterpoint to Crosshair. Both fell for the Imperial ruse and were betrayed by the Empire, but both reacted in entirely different ways. While Rampart doubled down on his own self-interest, Crosshair, through Omega and the rest of Clone Force 99, found something deserving of his loyalty.
Now, that loyalty is stronger than ever. Isn’t it?
Omega Does Die Hard
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 14 (via Disney+)
While Crosshair, Wrecker, Hunter, and Rampart tussle with a giant creature in the woods, Echo sneaks into the base itself with a hand – literally – from an inventory droid. Inside, he searches for schematics, but the base is on high alert.
Speaking of which, now is as good a time as any to mention that Omega takes the base’s security alert as an opportunity to go full Andy Dufresne, emboldened by her brothers finally having arrived to rescue her.
She already pried off a panel in her cell in the previous episode, so here she sneaks into the ventilation system while the other kids run interference. She needs to confirm that the alert is really the rest of the Bad Batch arriving, since if she makes a bold escape and doesn’t have a lift home, everything falls apart.
Omega discovers that the Empire are experimenting on some kind of creature, which must relate to Project Necromancer somehow, and makes it back to her cell just in time.
Emerie Does the Right Thing in The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 14
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Episode 14 (via Disney+)
Meanwhile, a disguised Echo continues sneaking around the base.
Of course, he’s discovered by Emerie. Based on Omega’s descriptions of the Bad Batch in the past, Emerie is able to figure out that it’s Echo inside the Stormtrooper outfit, and confronts him about what he’s doing.
Luckily, Emerie has decided that it’s time she pitched in and helped the Bad Batch free the children. At the same time, Omega tells the kids she has found something big but will need their help to get them all out of there.
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