Human Lens #87: Let's Talk About 'The Outpost'
The Bad Batch is doing some special things this season
While I will most likely have a full review for season two of Disney+’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch, I really wanted to break down last Wednesday’s episode, The Outpost — possibly the most well written Star Wars episode ever produced. The show, taking place after the events of Revenge of the Sith, is now exploring the second year of the reign of the Empire. So far in this second season, as the regime’s grip grows tighter across the galaxy, they find their grip on their typically loyal clone troopers beginning to wane. This, combined with their advanced aging, in foresight, building to a problem they’ll have to solve eventually. The subjugation of the galaxy is continuing with the passing of the Defense Recruitment Bill, ushering in the rise of the stormtrooper. It is convincing citizens to willingly sign up for the policing of their own peers and neighbors through propaganda and nationalism that facilitates and rationalizes the oppressive nature of any government of power.
In the opening of The Outpost, after the mission with Commander Cody in which the concerns about the future of the clones was initially discussed, Crosshair finds himself on his own once more. He witnesses three of his brothers beg a superior officer for answers as to why they’re being decommissioned and what they’re supposed to do now, while said officer gives them little attention. The clone troopers that were bred for battle, knowing nothing else in their short lives, are being shown that their purpose and loyalty has lead them to no reward.
Crosshair’s new commanding officer arrives, Lieutenant Nolan, is a by the book, no combat experience, pushover that has an outright disgust for the clones. He tells Crosshair he’s out of uniform for having his helmet off and during the briefing, spells out his disgust for clone troopers and their involvement on his mission, specifically calling them “used equipment.” In the long history of evil imperial officers in Star Wars, this man is up there as most vile.
Crosshair’s group arrives on the snowy world of Barton-4. Their assignment is to protect cargo from local insurgents that have been giving the sitting battalion problems for months. Crosshair and Nolan approach the facility, the shadow of a native bird flying overhead. As they begin their investigation, they meet Commander Mayday, a battle weary clone with a somewhat sarcastic demeanor that comes from his combat experience and annoyance of the situation he’s in. Despite being a Commander, Nolan still talks down to the clone, even after he asserts his rank over him. Being the better man, Mayday ignores the taunts and chastising of failed orders, which can be assumed that he’s dealt with this kind of talk before. He’s more interested in Crosshair, a brother.
In the shadow of belittlement and under-appreciation, groups of people come together in a shared bond that is oddly strong despite not being too close. In this case though, Crosshair and Mayday are technically brothers, as Mayday comes to remind our solitary clone, Crosshair, throughout the episode. For the first time since his separation from the Clone Force 99, the Bad Batch, Crosshair’s callsign isn’t accepted as a name, with Mayday wanting to know who the actual person is he’s sharing a mission with. Wiping away who you are is dehumanizing, and Mayday hasn't;t been subjected to the brainwashing Crosshair has.
As Mayday gives Crosshair the lay of the land, the insurgents make another strike against the cargo. Crosshair finds a crows nest to take out the perpetrators from above, peering down his sights at the moment a ship explodes, causing a flash through his visor that temporarily blinds him. The helmet is a manifestation of the brainwashing of the Empire, with Crosshairs removal of it acting as foreshadowing for what the rest of the episode has in store for his character arc.
After the insurgents get away, Mayday honors his fallen comrades from the attack by placing their helmets in a row. Crosshair’s helmet remains off for Lieutenant Nolan’s chastising of the way the situation was handled, scoffing at Mayday for his inaction after the insurgents got away with crates. Mayday’s consistent recounting of the lack of proper equipment and manpower for his post, along with the continual ignorance towards any replenishments for this, means nothing to Nolan, who cares only about his personal accolades and using the clones as expendable assets to achieve them.
Getting forced to recover the crates, Crosshair and Mayday head out towards the insurgents last known location. Running into the dead body of a man that Crosshair shot during the raid, Mayday comments on how his brothers left him behind. When Crosshair seems to be fine with this, claiming that a body would just be extra weight, Mayday asks him to make sure he never dies “on his watch.” A few moments later, Crosshair steps on a pressure mine. As Mayday starts to disarm it, he’s reminded about how he didn’t always used to know how to do it, reminiscing about how they all had to learn to adapt on the fly during the war — a further emphasis on the idea of individuality that is lost when people are given a number and scarcely appreciated.
Some time later, the two finally catch up with the insurgents, mounting an assault against the thieves that ends with a literal bang, sending the debris of the stolen crates spraying across the snowy landscape. Inside the crates is not what they expected… stormtrooper armor. The clones, that have given their all under the harsh circumstances and constant degradation from their superiors of this new Empire, have been willingly protecting the assets of the people that are slowly replacing them. A cycle of violence.
As they examine the contents, there’s an avalanche, with Mayday pushing Crosshair out of the way of a giant rock as they’re running for their lives. When Crosshair comes to, he finds that Mayday has been messed up by the rock pretty bad, unable to move on without help. Crosshair, in desperation to hold onto the one friend he’s made in a long time, picks him up and carries him across the tundra back to base, proving that his earlier statement about helping fallen soldiers wasn’t who he truly was. We’re reaching the end of Crosshair’s blinded loyalty.
After a long journey back to base, the two finally arrive to see the reinforcements to extract the crates have finally arrived; stormtroopers loading up cargo onto shuttles in a mad rush to get off the planet, mirroring their regimes want to leave the clones behind as well, as their return seems to be of little importance to them. Lieutenant Nolan sees the two clones approaching and goes to meet them, calling the two failures as Crosshair begs him to help the fallen clone.
Claiming helping Mayday would be a waste of the Empire’s resources, Nolan reassures Crosshair that he served his purpose with the coldest insincerity in his voice. As Mayday draws one last breath, Nolan puts the final nail in the coffin, calling the two clones expendable. Crosshair has finally had enough. In his desperation for things to remain they way they were before the war ended, he didn’t see this future, where he would truly be alone in a universe that doesn’t want him. The native bird’s shadow passes over Crosshair’s face, signaling the clone finally breaking free from the Empire’s grip. Standing with confidence, Crosshair calls out Nolan’s rank of lieutenant with disgust, shooting him when the Lieutenant turns around.
The Outpost is the most well conceived and well written episode of Star Wars television we’ve ever seen. Executive producer and head writer Jennifer Corbett delivers a screenplay that challenges the expectations of a viewer of animation. What I plan on discussing in my full season review is how this show is written with a bigger focus on its adult audience than The Mandalorian is, which is a turn from the way Lucasfilm usually structures their animation; this episode being a prime example of how the producers at the company are trying to find ways to tell their stories differently, taking chances on fresh voices in the writers room to add tantalizing context to ill explored eras of the Star Wars universe.