With only 3 episodes left before the season 1 (or potentially the series) finale, "Infestation" felt like a bit of a let down. Following the brilliant Ryloth 2-part arch, and Crosshair's vendetta seemingly on the verge of coming to a head, it feels like a step backwards to drop such a standalone episode into this slot in the season. That's not to say the episode itself is bad, it's fine, but in context with the rest of the season it certainly feels out of place. But I suppose that's nothing new with Star Wars animation as they've struggled with season long pacing since the beginning of 'The Clone Wars'. "Infestation", sees the squad return to Cid's parlour to find she's been ousted by a wannabee crime boss, and with a little persuading from Omega, they workout a plan with Cid to wrestle back control. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned as they get entangled with the Pykes. Like I said, it's fine. Oh, and no Rachel this week as she's on vacation, so it's a Julian solo show, enjoy!

‘The Bad Batch' returns to Ryloth this week, picking up not long after the shocking events that lead to Cham being framed and arrested. However, the show returns to a more traditional structure after somewhat breaking the mold last episode. Hera calls for help from her new friend Omega and her brothers, which results in an exciting, action packed, rescue mission. But it's the crises of conscious going on with our newest favourite clone, Howzer, that is most compelling. His actions may have wider reaching repercussions for the clone army than maybe anyone expected. Julian and Rachel discuss this and much more as they break down the episode scene by scene.

What a delightful surprise! 'The Bad Batch' turned its formula on its head this week and basically ignored the titular characters in exchange for a compelling political drama on Ryloth. A changeup that delivers one of, if not the best episode of the season yet. Not having seen the Ryloth or the Twi'lek since 'The Clone Wars', we return to the planet as the corpulent senator Orn Free Taa, and General Cham Syndulla, along with his family (hey it's Hera and Chopper!), help to sheppard in an age of peace with The Empire. But as the title of the episode suggests, the cost for peace may be too high. This episode also introduces us to a new clone, Captain Howzer, who is immediately likable and reminiscent of clones pre-order-66, which is a fascinating inclusion and raises many questions that Julian and Rachel ponder in this week's recap/review.

After three amazing episodes that took our heroes through an emotional wringer, 'The Bad Batch' switches gears and takes the squad to the planet Raxus, the former home of the Separatist Senate, now an Imperial outpost. The episode feels in many ways like the more politically charged episodes of 'The Clone Wars'. In fact, it takes us back to the same planet as one of those episodes, "Heroes on Both Sides". "Common Ground" tries to touch on some of the similar themes, such as working with your "enemy", but it's only very surface level. This leaves this episode feeling like a bit of a letdown despite the fun walker action sequence and gorgeous visual upgrade to Raxus since we first saw it all those years ago. Plus, it's still interesting, if somewhat less exciting, to see how the separatist planets were handled by the Empire following the Clone Wars.

Picking up only moments after the conclusion of last week's epic episode, "Reunion", we follow a wounded Bad Batch as they track Omega, who's in the custody of the notorious bounty hunter, Cad Bane! This week's episode continues the streak of absolutely stunning visuals as we're transported to an abandoned cloning facility in the clouds. Lucasfilm Animation is really outdoing themselves with this series, and the action sequences in the cloudy, sunset lit, hallways of Bora Vio are just a delight to watch. All that being said, and despite some valuable character growth for Omega, it would have been nice to have her capture last longer than one episode.

This show just continues to impress. Coming off an emotional high last week with the return of Captain Rex, 'The Bad Batch' one-ups itself with episode 8, "Reunion". As the episode title suggests, Crosshair is back, and he's hunting our squad with ruthless abandon. Having a villain that knows the heroes so intimately makes for an extremely compelling 26 minutes of television. Plus, add in some really inventive camera work and cinematography and we're talking about top tier Star Wars storytelling. If that wasn't enough though, a surprise appearance from a fan favourite character really ups the ante and takes this episode, and really the show as a whole, to the next level. This is must watch Star Wars.

It's all business this week for 'The Bad Batch', as it wraps up a few lingering plot threads as we move into the second act of the season. Captain Rex also makes a return this week, with a fresh battle scar all his own, as he helps the squad remove their inhibitor chips with a visit to a familiar planet. You might wonder, how much more can they really mine from Order 66? And the answer seems to be, quite a bit actually. This episode uses the backdrop of order 66 to frame it an a whole new way as we get to live out a version of the horrifying moment through the eyes of Omega. It also nicely sets the stage for the return of Crosshair, making it easily one of the best episodes of the season so far.

This week’s episode of ‘The Bad Batch’ brings us back to the good old days of clones vs clankers… in a way. The squad is given a new mission from Cid, and then heads to Corellia to hunt down a decommissioned Tactical Droid. Plus, a surprise appearance of a pair of characters from ‘Clone Wars’ season 7. Though someone might argue that their inclusion, at all, is somewhat problematic. Julian and Rachel break it all down.

We pick up with the Bad Batch as they attempt to gather intel on why Omega has a bounty hunter on her tail. The plan is to meet with an old Jedi informant to try to ID who was chasing them. The plan, unsurprisingly, goes sideways when they are recruited by the informant to do a "rescue" mission in exchange for the information. It's another step into the underworld for our squad, but also the introduction of a fascinating new character in Cid, as well as some fun connections to 'Return of the Jedi'. Listen as Julian and Rachel break it all down!

The picture of what ‘The Bad Batch’ will be like week-to-week is becoming more clear. This week’s episode “Cornered”, brings a fan favorite character to animation for the first time, but more importantly, it established that this show is not interested in slowing down, and in fact seems to be speeding up, despite there still being 12 episodes left. The pacing here is relentless but never feels rushed, even with only a 22 minute runtime, and the they are finding clever ways to blend the truly spectacular action (some of, if not the best, non-lightsaber action in recent memory) with some tender character moments. Plus, the show is apparently not afraid of getting dark as this week episode continues to prove. I’ll say it again, this is top tier Star Wars. Listen as Julian and Rachel recap the full episode right here!