Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 4 review: ‘Faster’
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2 episode 4 “Faster”
Not every episode of a TV series can be advancing the main plot lines, push our expectations, or even be stupendously fascinating. In the instance of “Faster” we have a solid episode that finally gives Tech his time to shine while providing a fun take on what we all know Pod Racing ought to be.
In many ways, “Faster” is a nod toward Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, and the excitement that the podracing scene instills in the fans. Bad Batch’s newest episode does bring a little bit more of the deadly favor, adding weapons and shielding to an already fatal mix that was dangerous tracks and high-speed racing. Most of the racers are droids, even Cid’s more than slightly annoying racer Tay-O. In The Phantom Menace, we hear Qui-Jon comment that you need Jedi reflexes to be able to compete as a human in Pod Racing. While Tech may be a genius he certainly doesn’t have Jedi Abilities, but at least that could explain why most people are using droids. That and not wanting to die horribly painful deaths.
Beyond Pod Racing we do get a few key insights into the growth of the team. First and Foremost, Tech is finally getting a piece of the action, and not just as the “guy in the chair.” We can also see Tech making decisions to go on the defensive, and that instinct to be defensive seems to be one of Tech’s patterns. We also see the loyalty of the Bad Batch, but when even gangsters are warning you that Cid can not be trusted, perhaps you shouldn’t. We still don’t know much about Cid’s past, but it seems that some of the skeletons in Cid’s closet may come to haunt the Bad Batch sooner rather than later.
In terms of how the episode fits into the show as a whole, this would seem to be what most people would call a filler episode. I do not think that this episode did nothing for the plot, but unfortunately, the progress it makes is glacial. We get a sentence worth of warning about Cid, and Tech gets his day in the limelight. Neither of these things is bad, but on their own, it reflects some of the slower episodes we saw in season one of The Bad Batch. The storytelling is well done, and the new species are interesting, but it seems like this episode could have just done a little bit more in terms of delivering more of the long-term storylines.
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