Star Wars The Bad Batch: "The Harbinger" - Review

After almost a dozen years away, Asajj Ventress returns to television, but this Star Wars anti-hero’s big comeback proves to be a much quieter and gentler story than most may have anticipated.

Fennec Shand’s contact, the force-wielding bounty hunter Asajj Ventress, arrives on Pabu and offers to help Omega understand her what her high M-Count might mean and if this means that she might be Force Sensitive. However, the Batch soon discover that Ventress isn’t just any normal bounty hunter. She’s a Separatist war criminal and former assassin to none other than Count Dooku himself.

“The Harbinger” may have been the most anticipated episode of The Bad Batch in its entire history. When the full trailer to the series’ third and final season dropped, nobody was expecting to hear Nika Futterman’s venomous whisper. Despite a potential resurrection in a canned story arc for Star Wars Resistance, most fans had considered Ventress dead for well over a decade. Regardless of your feelings about the novel Dark Disciple, I think it’s fair to say that fans of the character were always disappointed that one of The Clone Wars’s most interesting characters had her story resolved in a novel rather than on screen, especially given how much Futterman’s performance came to define Ventress’s character. Getting the chance to not only see Ventress back in animation but also alive following her previously canon death was the best kind of surprise.

Given the expectations placed on “The Harbinger,” it would have been all too easy to let Ventress’s big return steal away focus from our principle cast of characters. We’ve absolutely seen our fair share of Star Wars shows that have pushed aside their main storylines in favor of letting that week’s guest star have their time in the spotlight, but script writer Jennifer Corbett thankfully avoids this. Ventress’s presence here is clearly positioned as a potential, atypical mentor figure to Omega and her own journey regarding her potential destiny. Answers about her resurrection or what she’s been up to since the end of the Clone Wars are saved for another time and while that may frustrate some fans, it ultimately serves the show.

Whether or not Omega is Force sensitive has been a mystery hanging over this series since the premiere and the question has only gotten louder since the start of season three. We needed another Force user to give us these answers and in a way Ventress makes for a more inspired choice than some of the other potential options. We could have easily brought Ashley Eckstein back to voice Ahsoka in a one-off episode, but Ventress brings with her a greater sense of conflict and unease that allows this episode to work dramatically. Even if Ventress seemed redemption bound when fans last saw her in The Clone Wars, we don’t know where exactly her current loyalties lie, and the Batch have no reason to think that she’s changed from her time fighting on the opposite side of the war. Also Ventress, isn’t really the most nurturing of people?

Ventress’s presence here also plays into long running themes in The Bad Batch about trusting former enemies in an ever changing galaxy. Ventress makes it clear that she doesn’t see the clones as enemies but victims of the same power structure that used and abused her. Omega in turn looks to Ventress as a potential mentor and another formerly lost soul like Crosshair.

It all makes for a much less explosive and flashy episode than some fans might have been expecting. While we do get a very well choreographed little smackdown between Ventress and the Batch and an end of episode fight with a sea monster, “The Harbinger” is a very action light episode. Ventress doesn’t join the Batch in taking down Imperials. There’s no surprise lightsaber duel. Instead we focus on a complicated woman helping a confused girl find her way.

If the Lucasfilm team hadn’t made it clear that we are definitely not done with Ventress’s story, it might have been disappointing to get such a relatively lowkey outing for her big return to animation, but as it stands I can accept this quieter, more emotional story. We see a Ventress that is oddly enough more sure of herself than we’ve seen her in a long time. She’s not necessarily a servant of the light, but she’s absolutely not a villain. Seeing her solve the episode’s big ending sea monster attack with a peaceful, nonviolent use of the Force feels like a huge step for her character and an evolution that is both surprising and entirely welcome.

Ventress’s answers regarding Omega’s future remains a little too vague for the time being. Sure, Omega may be Force sensitive but what exactly that means for her as a character or the future of this series is still a big unknown.

Despite the surprisingly gentle story told here, we end the episode on a feeling of unease and foreboding. The Empire is never far from getting what they want and the team’s peaceful existence on Pabu can’t lost forever.

Score: B+

Star Wars: The Bad Batch: "Bad Territory" -Review

(Yes, I know this is very, very late. I'm sorry. Turns out being a full time university professor is a lot of work and time commitment. Anyways, I do know that the big day is this Wednesday and I'm very determined to be caught up in time for all the tears and fireworks.)

The Bad Batch turn to an old adversary to find answers on Omega’s origins in this fun but unremarkable episode.

The Batch may know that the Empire is interested in Omega for experiments related to M-count, but that doesn’t mean that they have any idea what it means. In order to stay one step ahead of their pursuers and keep Omega safe, the squad must find answers. When Phee informs them that bounty hunters throughout the galaxy have been hunting down targets with high M-counts, Hunter and Wrecker decide to make contact with one of the few hunters they are on (somewhat) friendly terms on, Fennec Shand.

There’s never a direct answer in Star Wars shows. Major plot reveals or even important missions are often proceeded by at least an episode or two of stage setting or logistical problem solving. While sometimes this leads to some solid installments of television like The Mandalorian’s season two standout “The Believer,” it’s hard not to wish that we could get to the point a bit quicker.

This is what watching “Bad Territory” feels like. It’s by no means a poor episode and is sometimes very fun, but it can’t help but feel like narrative wheel spinning. It’s not quite what some would call “filler,” but it instead feels like an unnecessary twenty minute detour when there wasn’t really anything preventing us from taking a more direct route.

I do love space Louisiana though. One thing that’s been a joy about the Star Wars animated shows is that they allow the design team to find new ideas for exotic worlds and locales that would not necessarily fit into live-action storytelling. Having Hunter, Wrecker, and Fennec hunt down a giant praying mantis criminal through a space bayou while occasionally wrestling alligators (and they are really just space alligators) is the sort of playful, almost campy storytelling I’ve come to enjoy from this series when it is diving into some of its more dramatic storytelling.

It is also always a pleasure to get more Fennec Shand. Even if my enthusiasm for her character has waned a little after the absolute dud that was The Book of Boba Fett, Ming-Na Wen is just a stellar performer and I’m always excited to see her bring her talents to the galaxy far, far away.

I guess, somewhat unsurprisingly, it’s Crosshair and Omega who end up stealing the show once again. Even when the two are relegated to a rather quite B-Plot, these two are still the most compelling characters in this series. Watching Omega walk a frustrated Crosshair through his shaking hands and uneasy aim marks another wonderfully tender turn for these two. For a character that has for so long resisted the kindness and compassion of others, it’s been a joy to see Crosshair open up to a child who he was previously so antagonistic towards. Great stuff.

Anyways, I think we all know who Fennec was chatting to on that hologram. We may be getting a certain former Nightsister/Sith/Jedi turned bounty hunter in our very near future.

Score: B

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TALES OF THE EMPIRE | May 4th, 2024

"Just be glad you're not a Jedi anymore."

#OH NO OUR GIRL IS GOING THROUGH IT

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Ventress 1 - The Bad Batch 0

#for science

Wow we’re going to finally get Barriss’s story and maybe make Morgan Elsbeth an actual character? What a world

I apologize for the review delays! I've been really swamped with real life stuff these last few weeks and haven't had time to sit down and write them. Hopefully I'll be caught up soon! Thanks so much again for your patience!

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