Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Entombed
January 25, 2023 3:21 AM - Season 2, Episode 5 - Subscribe

The Bad Batch searches for an ancient treasure that stirs up a shocking surprise.
posted by EndsOfInvention (12 comments total)
 
Big Indiana Jones vibes.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:31 AM on January 25, 2023 [3 favorites]


An artefact that shows you were the treasure is.
A puzzle involving a collapsing floor.
A relic that causes everything to collapse when you pick it up.
Turns out you were on a spaceship all along! Or maybe a Tallneck.

With some added Lord of the Rings and Fifth Element flavours to the treasure.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:47 AM on January 25, 2023 [1 favorite]


I know Clone Wars and Rebels had their share of filler episodes, but those were both multi-season shows. Has TBB even been renewed for a third season? I feel like this episode and last week's are a wasted opportunity to advance the main plot.

Or, possibly, Andor has entirely ruined pew-pew Star Wars for me. I hope that's not the case.
posted by orrnyereg at 5:31 AM on January 25, 2023 [1 favorite]


I didn't mind too much about missing out on "the main plot" in this episode, but what did disappoint (and perhaps isn't surprising given the short episode length) is that they had zero explanation/background on why there was a giant buried laser-bot powered by the arkenstone. What was that monster? Was it guarding the laser-bot or just some wildlife? Was it just trying to say "hi why are you trying to activate the laser-bot, it's really dangerous?" and the Batch just started shooting? I'm pretty sure it didn't attack first. It felt like there was supposed to be another 20 minutes of "oooh you were trying to warn us"/"yes I am the remnant of an advanced civilisation which destroyed itself with laser-bots, I'm supposed to make sure no-one removes the failsafe stone" that didn't fit into one episode.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:10 AM on January 26, 2023 [3 favorites]


Wait, this is on again? I guess I thought this wasn't out until March
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:47 AM on January 26, 2023


I've been thinking a bit about this episode, and how it might fit into whatever direction the series might be headed. I too was anticipating that the "monster" might actually be the tomb guardian, but with the twist that they were trying to guard potential tomb raiders from the tomb, because the tomb was really LaserBot Maximus. But that's more of a Star Trek-type twist; more likely, it was just an indigenous predator who had learned that occasionally tasty critters dropped by that area trying to discover the secrets of LBM. And LBM was just another leftover from some unthinkably ancient war, the way that there are still tons of unexploded ordnance in the former battlefields of World War I. Someday, the evolved cockroaches that are exploring the peculiar terrain of what another species used to call "Belgium" will start hammering on an old shell because there was some legend that it contained the Wailing Wand of Whizbang, and BOOM.

As for the bigger picture, it seems like this season so far has been defining the show's direction by delineating the negative space of what it isn't. Are they going to pull heists? That didn't work out for them. Are they going to do XTREEM racing? Nope, although they managed OK with one. Are they going to raid tombs? Probably not. Even Crosshair's episode, although he managed to complete the mission, doesn't really seem to point toward his getting his own Anti-Bad-Batch Squad or anything like that. So what does that leave? Puppet shows at kids' parties? I don't think that there really is a rebellion yet, but there will be, eventually. Who starts it?
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:56 AM on January 26, 2023 [1 favorite]


Hunter's day drinking at the start of the episode and uncharacteristically bad-tempered throughout. I wonder if he's restless, or bored, or just what.
posted by orrnyereg at 11:34 AM on January 26, 2023 [1 favorite]


As with Rebels, the filler episodes tend to come back around in some way or another. Most famously (for me?) was the episode which introduced the space whales and Ezra's connection with them, which ended up playing a significant role in the series finale. How this comes back? I'm guessing it will either have to do with the Arkenstone (better name, tbh) or the killing machine...which it turned off?

I agree, there were a number of questions that were just floating out there. The monster was just there, it seemed at first to add a little extra layer of danger to the tunnel exploration, and then to add a little more chaos to the team trying to turn off the machine. It seemed a strange setup for the removal of a magical stone/tech to turn something on, and then, when it turned off, it resulted in explosions which seemed to render the machine unusable in the future. Another possible angle might be the laser on the machine, who knows, maybe it will help play a role in Project Celestial Power (i.e., the kyber crystal death star project).

Then again, the junk worlds, might connect somehow to something else. In recent history, Star Wars has liked junk worlds - Jakku, Ferrix, and the place from last season (is that the same from Jedi Fallen Order? I think it is?).

I don't know if there was really much in character development other than the negative reactions to the treasure seeking venture. It helped center an episode on Phee - who, I actually find distracting because Wanda Sykes has such a distinctive voice.

In the end, it was just...let's go on an adventure type of thing, which I know, somehow, will get a call back to later in this season. How. Where. I've not a clue. It did setup that the Bad Batch are having to look for scraps to keep their ship running, I suppose.

I enjoy the show, but it also remains probably the Lucasfilm animated show I like least.
posted by Atreides at 12:13 PM on January 26, 2023


Oh look, they had to leave the treasure behind again. ...Actually, I'm not sure they did, because turning off the mecha like that broke it pretty good? Also, seems like the coordinates of an uncharted planet with breathable atmosphere should be worth something to someone.

I was also expecting some explanation for the monster's presence on what had been established as a dead planet, and maybe some explanation of the mecha, but I guess they are not anthropologists. I liked Phee and the episode was pretty fun, so I am not actually complaining.
posted by mersen at 6:26 PM on January 26, 2023 [1 favorite]


In the end, it was just...let's go on an adventure type of thing, which I know, somehow, will get a call back to later in this season. How. Where. I've not a clue. It did setup that the Bad Batch are having to look for scraps to keep their ship running, I suppose.

That and reinforcing the possibly-evolving thread of "these guys are quite ill-equipped to be surrogate parents for Omega." They may be setting up some fairly serious internal conflict down the road, which would make sense, given that Crosshair may not appear again for awhile.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:46 AM on January 27, 2023 [1 favorite]



Oh look, they had to leave the treasure behind again.


there's a thriving junk industry: why didn't they consider scavenging the monster for scrap? There are parts that are probably worth a lot, given its age...
posted by suelac at 12:30 PM on January 28, 2023 [1 favorite]


why didn't they consider scavenging the monster for scrap?

I'm guessing that there's not a lot of firms that would do that kind of salvaging, and negotiating for the finder's fee would not only be outside of the Beebs' own skill set but also potentially alert the Empire of their location; remember that they're wanted for desertion and probably treason. Their general need to keep their location and activities covert is probably also the reason why they don't form their own racing team, even though Tech was incredibly successful at it with no prior experience. Anything that they set up that isn't a very quick and low-profile job would have to be set up through Cid, and I don't think that it was an accident that her former partner/racing rival gave them a warning about her.

If I had to guess how the rest of the season will go, I think that they'll try doing more jobs with Phee, and find out that interstellar piracy isn't all about finding cool and valuable artifacts that no one living has any claim on anymore. When you think about it, the overall character arc for the Beebs is that they are adapting to post-Republic life, and learning to do all the things for themselves that the Republic used to do for them (housing, food, medicine, etc.). Crosshair is where they used to be; does he even know how to prepare a meal? Even if he wanted to go rogue himself and become a freelance hitman, he'd be in trouble going up against the likes of Cad Bane or Fennec Shand.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:55 AM on January 30, 2023 [2 favorites]


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