THE BAD BATCH Season 3 Premiere Episodes Paint A Bleak Picture

The Bad Batch season 2 ended on a very dark note. And The Bad Batch season 3 premiere picks up exactly from there but with a quiet sense of hopelessness. The premiere episodes also tease a lot more hope to come seemingly from an unexpected source. Potentially, anyway. Read on for my review of the premiere of The Bad Batch season 3.

Please note that the following will contain some minor spoilers for the season 3 premiere episodes.

The Bad Batch Season 2 Recap

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The finale of season 2 saw Tech sacrifice himself for the team. A loss that I’m not completely over, to be honest. However, despite this sacrifice, the mysterious Imperial scientist in charge of cloning, captures and brings Omega (Michelle Ang) back to his secret base, to placate the Kaminoan scientist, Nala Se. While the Batch promises to find her, no matter what. Coincidentally, the only Bad Batch member in any position to help Omega, is also a prisoner on the same base; Crosshair. Seemingly setting up a potential reunion between all the characters of the original Bad Batch.

The Bad Batch season 3 premiere episode sees Omega going about her new daily activities assisting the Empire in their cloning experiments. Some time passes, and we see just how long Omega’s been at it. This first episode of season 3 very much felt like an episode of Andor. Not counting the adolescent clone, a newfound pet, and other general Omega cute-ness. But more in the sense of bleak-ness that Andor at times conveyed. There doesn’t seem to be any hope of escape or rescue for Omega. Not that it’s bothering her at all in any sense of the word.

Omega’s Relentless Optimism Drives The Story Forward

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Episode 1 is all about Omega and her insistence on escaping from this facility, but also rescuing Crosshair in the process. Despite his own objections, and refusal to let Omega get too close to him. Clearly stewing in his own guilt and betrayal of his brothers, and now the Empire he once believed in, Crosshair has actually lost all hope. Episode 1 is a quietly sad one that shows just how seemingly full of despair Omega’s situation is. With also the looming mystery of what her blood actually means to the Empire. Something that’s been teased since season 1.

When the track changes in episode 2 of The Bad Batch season 3 premiere, we get to see the actual Bad Batch, and their efforts to find and save Omega. It’s pretty disastrous. In the short time that the boys have been with Omega, she’s become their everything. So they are kind of desperate to find her. But they don’t lose hope. Especially when they come across abandoned young clone troopers, who revive their optimism in finding Omega. The troopers don’t lose hope themselves find inspiration in the Batch’s loyalty and dedication to one another. Even at the risk of their own lives. And in turn, they provided the boys with much-needed hope to keep pushing forward.

The Bad Batch Season 3 Premiere Tease The Redemption Of Crosshair

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While setting up a lot of thematic plot points, the season 3 premiere does, what I thought to be impossible. And that is, setting up a potential redemption arc for Crosshair. While I was wondering in season 2 if that is even possible, it looks like that’s what season 3 may deal with. The ending of the third premiere episode of season 3 saw Omega and Crosshair escape the Empire’s clutches. Presumably, they will be rescued by their brothers, rejoining Crosshair with the brothers he betrayed in season 1. This is sure to create a lot of tension and potential internal conflict within the group.

While it seems like Omega forgave Crosshair, the others may not be as willing to. Especially Hunter, who has butt heads with Crosshair the most over their ideological differences. But with Crosshair saving Omega, maybe it’s the first step to The Bad Batch finally reuniting and taking on the Empire together. We’ll have to find out as season 3 continues.

The Bad Batch season 3 premiere episodes are now streaming on Disney+.

What did you think of the first 3 episodes of season 3? Let me know in the comments below or on X (Twitter) at @theshahshahid where I’ll be talking about The Bad Batch for the next few months.