The Bad Batch S2 Finale deals a crushing blow.
Steady episodic storytelling pays emotional dividends.
The Short Take:
As tense as it was heartbreaking from start to finish. A testament to the slow and steady storytelling all season long. I despair the turn of events, but I respect it as a storytelling choice.
[SPOILER WARNING: I managed to dodge spoilers, and I’m so glad I did. I will mention the biggest spoiler immediately after this warning, so get out while you can.]
The Long Take:
I have to go for the jugular, just as this two-part finale did.
…
Tech is dead.
As soon as Phee came sauntering up to the Marauder to say goodbye to Tech, I started to get a sinking feeling in my stomach. The promise of happiness on the other side of a mission always has the potential of turning into tragedy, and as much as I like theorizing or predicting, and as much as I like being right, this was not a time I wanted to be right. To have members of The Bad Batch come and go like Crosshair and Echo is one thing. To kill off a member is another thing entirely. They wouldn’t. Would they?
But they went there. While the fan in me is heartbroken that Tech is gone, the critic in me is really impressed that Jennifer Corbitt and Brad Rau had the guts to infuse real loss into this story which, at least this season, has been trending darker and more mature the more we explore The Empire’s chokehold on the Galaxy.
There is an argument to be made that Tech may still be alive. I would not have entertained that possibility until Doctor Hemlock tossed Tech’s broken goggles in front of Hunter. The fact that Hemlock found Tech and took just his goggles is a classic “but we didn’t see a body” move. And I’ll bet that if Tech had any life left in him at all, Hemlock would have snatched him right up and brought him to the lab for testing.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Omega discover Tech in the lab next season. Her overjoyed reaction that he’s not actually gone might be worth the take-back. And the idea of an Omega, Tech, and Crosshair team-up to take down Hemlock from the inside sounds like a very Bad Batch storyline.
Then again, that would undermine the stakes that I applauded the show for raising just moments ago. Star Wars is now notorious for undoing dramatic deaths after the fact (see Darth Maul). And I often wonder at what point does taking back a death that seemed final undermine the potency of the death in the first place? I am actually okay with Darth Maul’s return because it allowed the creators (and the insanely talented voice actor, Sam Witwer) to add so much more depth to his character. I would never trade away the duel he has with Ahsoka at the end of The Clone Wars Season 7, for example.
I distinctly remember experiencing this cheapened feeling when watching The Rise of Skywalker, however. When Rey thinks Chewbacca has been captured, she uses a Force pull to try to keep the ship from escaping, and inadvertently destroys it in the process. She and we by proxy must grieve Chewbacca intensely for maybe 5 minutes (at least that’s how I remember it) before we see that he’s fine. Just kidding! We put everything back the way you like it! I get that we don’t want to sacrifice a legend like Chewbacca, but this fake-out felt cowardly. So perhaps I will be more okay with Tech’s return if Season 3 makes us wait a while for it?
If this is indeed the last we’ve seen of Tech, he went out in the best way possible. His self-sacrifice so the rest of the squad can survive was noble, and, to me, reflects a consistent follow-through of his progression this season. He has stepped into more of a leadership position during missions, proving that he’s not just a talking datapad. He’s grown closer to Omega. And we have learned that he may not always express his emotions in a conventional way, but that does not mean that his feelings run any less deep.
In thinking back to his farewell scene with Phee, I think she knew that he wouldn’t really respond in kind. To me, his contemplative look at the end told me that he felt so much more but just didn’t express it in what many would call a neurotypical fashion. And I think Phee gets that too, which is why she’s a good match for him. Keep in mind that while Sid always calls Tech, “Goggles,” Phee calls him “Brown Eyes.” Most people who meet Tech may only see his, for lack of a better word, technical exterior — his goggles. Phee can see much more underneath — his eyes.
And so, considering all that, this final act, which can speak much louder than his non-emotive words, seems like a fitting way for him to essentially say, “I love you” to his family. And that’s beautiful.
Image Credit: StarWars.com
On a more superficial level, Tech’s death scene was just some straight-up cool action hero stuff. The way he says, “When have we ever followed orders?” right before he shoots at the hinge and drops from sight into the fog had the swagger, gravitas, and dramatic timing worthy of stars like Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, or even some of the best James Bonds. I didn’t want to say goodbye, but if we have to, I’m glad he got this final moment to shine. Greg Cass
on The Rebel Base Card Podcast made an astute observation this week about the line itself: it creates an ideological counterpoint to the phrase Crosshair and other Order 66-ed clones have used throughout the series, “Good soldiers follow orders.”Tech’s invocation of the code “Plan 99” adds even more depth to his final moments because, only the week before, Crosshair referenced “Plan 88” in his warning to the Batch. These are both big moments of self-endangerment for the sake of the whole squad’s safety. I also think that the 88/99 pairing here may nudge me more into the theory that Crosshair and Tech will join forces with Omega to not only escape but take down amount Tantiss and free all its clone lab rats.
I will admit I had to look this up, but the history behind Plan 99 and the use of the number 99 in Clone Force 99 supports this idea of self-sacrifice. Clone 99 was an actual clone first introduced in Season 3 of The Clone Wars. He suffered numerous genetic “defects” during the cloning process and had been relegated to a janitorial position on Kamino. When Separatists invaded Kamino, however, Clone 99 lost his life trying to help his brothers. Clone Force 99, also considered “defective,” were named in Clone 99’s honor. Tech, then, is following in the tradition of 99 in death.
Image Credit: StarWars.com
Finales are always at the top of their game when they feel like the natural conclusion to stories that have been unfolding all season. That’s how I felt watching these last two episodes, even if I was super stressed out and eventually gutted by what happened. Back in the early episodes, I predicted that even the seemingly standalone mission episodes would gradually chip away at sculpting a full and fulfilling story. I’d like to cash in that “I told you so” now, thanks.
Thank you for writing this coverage of the series. I don't have Disney Plus, but I love reading recaps of shows I can't see. The S2 finale looks pretty cool so I hope to catch it in the future.