“Cornered” opens with the Havoc Marauder cruising across space. Inside, looking at a star map, Hunter points out Idaflor as the planet they need to hide out on. Omega wants to explore, but Tech says they out of fuel and rations. This is something that I wondered since they no longer have the help of Kamino. Echo then tells them that the ship is on a wanted list. Tech says he can scramble the ship’s signature. He says that the planet they need to re-supply and fix the signature is Pantora in the Outer Rim. This is a planet seen in The Clone Wars episode “Sphere of Influence” (2010). The Pantorans were first seen in Revenge of the Sith (2005) with the blue-skinned Papanoida (George Lucas) at the Coruscant opera. The others leave, but Omega looks at wonder at the star chart.
The Havoc Marauder reaches Pantora, it lands at a city, Ro Station?, this was not seen before. The city is on a flat plain with swirls of domes. The ship’s landing gets the attention of Sullustan depot manager, Raspar Six (Taran Killam). He is slightly balding and with heavy jowls. Sullustans are the species first seen in the form of Nien Nunb. Killam is known as a performer for Saturday Night Live. Wrecker is of course starving and the depot manager interrupts him and Tech. He threatens Raspar Six from scanning the ship who then asks for a bribe, Tech hands over three credit sticks, and then some more. I like that the Bad Batch are not familiar with civilian life. The depot manager goes to make a communication, it is picked up a ship, and the pilot is Fennec Shand! She was introduced in The Mandalorian episode, “The Gunslinger.” We of course have seen her in the Bad Batch trailer, but she is a welcome surprise and challenge for the squad.
Raspar Six notes that she may be looking for a modified Omicron-class attack shuttle. Fennec (Ming-Na Wen) says she will pay the shifty depot manager and puts up a hologram of Omega! Nala Se’s plan to get back Omega? Hunter and his group have collected explosives to sell for their supplies. Wrecker compains while he has work with Tech on the ship repairs. The group for the supply run are Hunter, Omega, and Echo. Half-cyborg, Echo has completed a droid disguise with a mask, Star Wars cosplay! The group walks into the busy Pantoran market and see the citizens cheer for the clone troopers. Hunter explains to Omega that they are celebrating the end of the Clone Wars. Echo points out Vice Admiral Rampart’s hologram about chain codes. The happy Pantoran citizens remind me of Star Trek’s Andorians with blue skin and white hair. The handy Gonk droid is nearby as Tech points out the parts of the ship that Wrecker happily rips out.
Hunter has a Gran merchant (Bobby Moynihan), the three-eyed alien first seen as Ree Yees in Return of the Jedi, Moynihan is also a SNL vet and voiced Orka in Star Wars: Resistance. The merchant doesn’t want to buy explosives, but is interested in Hunter’s droid. Echo checks on the clone trooper doll examined by Omega. She is intrigued by barking voorpaks, the balls of fur were a design seen in the form of Buggles, the pet of Torra Doza in Star Wars: Resistance. It snatches Omega’s clone trooper doll and she has chase after it. As a parent, Hunter really needs to tell her to stay close in a new environment, and not leave the area. Omega’s chase, the voorpak tosses the doll, ends with her lost. She is found by Fennec Shand! There also has to be parenting lesson about strangers, don’t trust strangers!, Omega is too innocent.
The merchant takes Echo to the back room with droids, he meets the protocol droid, CG-67 (Grey Griffin), who usually leads the droids. The talented voice artist, Griffin provided many voices including Asaaj Ventress in the first Clone Wars animated series. I like the astro droid, CG-67 calls Clink, he has the astrodroid shape, but has crinkly pipe-like arms! His model may be the LE-series like LE-12 in Star Wars: Resistance. Hunter finds the fallen clone trooper doll and continues after Omega’s trail. Omega tells Fennec that she is hungry and the bounty hunter collides with a vendor carrying a basket of fruits. They start collecting the dropped fruits and Fennec drops a few in her helmet, bad influence! Omega notices her blaster and she questions the bounty hunter. We don’t get if she was trained as a soldier, her origin is still mysterious, then Hunter calls out Omega’s name! Fennec puts on her helmet. Hunter is about to draw his vibroblade and Fennec faces off with her blaster, very cool. Fennec puts up a good fight against almost all of the Bad Batch. The only bounty hunter that is that level of deadly is Cad Bane from Clone Wars. Echo has to lead the droids to help repair the ship. “Cornerned” has great moments with the Bad Batch, more of Omega’s journey, and Fennec Shand!
Five Vibro Blades out of Five!
#BadBatch, #Cornered, #MingNaWen, #BobbyMoynihan, #GreyGriffin
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