After two very consequential episodes, The Bad Batch finally cooled down a bit, but not without taking the chance to continue moving its plot forward across the Star Wars galaxy. However, despite lacking the tense moments, non-stop action, and important revelations seen in the show's recent episodes, during this week's "Common Ground" the Batch continues to stroll along nicely to show what the world looks like under the rule of the Galactic Empire.
In doing so, The Bad Batch (like Loki) presents more of the political landscape that now affects the many nations and planets in the galaxy as they deal with the fallout from Order 66 and to do so it starts off with a somewhat familiar Nazi balcony shot in the planet of Raxus, showing Empire ambassador Captian Bragg given the people a quick rundown of how things are going to be working on the planet from now on under the new authoritarian rule. Of course, Bragg needs a little bit of local support so she and her Stormtroopers coerce senator Avi Singh to give out a speech approving the Empire's occupation policy, something that the senator heroically refuses to do.
It's here where Clone Force 99 comes in, as now that the squad is back on Old Mantell, Cid is quick to remind them that they still owe her a lot of money for her "hospitality" and that a brand new business opportunity has just come up thanks to some recent unrest in Raxus. Before the party is briefed on that matter, right when they're returning to the hideout, there's a scene with Omega and Wrecker against enjoying their usual Mantell Mix but most importantly a few lines of dialogue from Hunter where he tells Omega that her recent exploits in episode nine have made her a prime target for many people in the galaxy, meaning it would perhaps be wise if she kept a low profile and skipped a couple of mission by staying with the ever-charming.
Naturally, like any kid who gets told they can't ride the attractions meant for the big people, Omega is immediately annoyed by this order, but it's not like she has many options as no matter how capable she's proven to be in the past four episodes, she is still just a kid. Omega still does get a lot of screen time on this episode to further solidify the idea that not only can she hold her own at a given time, but also that she can be incredibly useful for the rest of the Batch.
As The Bad Batch is dispatched on to their next mission, they learn that the person they're supposed to rescue in Rexus, Avi Singh, happens to be a separatist senator. While most of the crew quickly swallows their soldier pride, Echo is the one who's most visibly annoyed by this since, after all, as former clone soldiers of the Republic they had pretty much spent their whole lives fighting against such forces, something that really helps to drive the notion that the post-Republic era in the Star Wars galaxy is filled with many shades of grey, rather than just black or white, at least as far as political allegiances are concerned.
The entire mission also highlights just how non-existent the rebellion is at this point and how it was possible for the Palpatine's Empire to seize power so quickly after dismantling the Jedi due to the frail nature of the Republic. Regardless of that, Cid must be paid and The Bad Batch lands on Raxus only to be greeted by senator Singh's droid confidant, which only adds further insult to injury in Echo's eyes for the whole purpose of the mission.
From then on, the Batch's mission goes quite smoothly with the standout elements from Rexus being the more colorful environments that contrast so deeply with the downtrodden places where the squad has been to. The Bad Batch still finds time to give fans a sweet Star Wars easter egg in the form of an Empire interrogation drone, exactly like the one seen during Leia's questioning in A New Hope, but aside from that, the mission is quite unspectacular when compared to having Cad Bane and Fennec Shand go at each other, or Crosshair nearly get burned to death.
The real main event here is Omega absolutely cleaning the house, both literally and figuratively, as after getting assigned some morally questionable cleaning duties by Cid, she quickly finds out that our prodigious clone girl is incredibly talented when it comes to playing Dejarik (Star Wars chess). Omega then goes full-on Queen's Gambit mode prompting Cid to leverage her skills to take on potential challengers with more money than skills at intergalactic holochess, disposing of challengers from all races species up until the last Pantoran to get beaten right when the rest of the Bad Batch returns from their assignment.
Although Hunter is annoyed by Cid getting all this attention from strangers on Omega, she tells him that he ought to be thankful to her and Omega since the little girl managed to clear the team's whole debt in one day, meaning the Batch is now free to move on from the bar and Old Mantell to resume their adventures. The episode then ends with Omega and Hunter sitting down for a game of holochess, as both wager the chance for Omega to no longer be excluded from missions, so it's safe to assume Omega wins the game.
The Bad Batch's last three episodes were hard acts to follow, yet this one succeeds in pulling away from past events to carry the entire squad to their next task. Even if the mission-based approach does mean the series falls back on its less exciting traits, now that the Batch is free from Cid there's should be little reason to return to this recurring Star Wars flavored theme and moves on to bigger things and expand the show's planet geography as The Bad Batch approaches its finale.