Omega (Michelle Ang), Crosshair, Wrecker and Hunter (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) are finally reunited in “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” Season 3: Episode 5 “The Return.” But will Crosshair be welcome back?
He is, but there’s notable tension between him and Hunter, who still doesn’t trust him and rightfully so. Crosshair betrayed their unit to work for the Empire — he even spent most of Season 1 hunting his former comrades down. And Crosshair only came back when the Empire betrayed him, making his motives still inherently selfish. With that being said, he is able to fit back into his old unit and work as a team to accomplish this episode’s mission, which is to break into an abandoned imperial base in order to unlock the encryption on Nala Se’s space iPad.
Crosshair has the perfect location, as he has the group visit the abandoned frozen imperial outpost where he was sent to die in Season 2: Episode 12. It’s buried in snow and almost powerless, with its remaining energy being directed to beacons that emit a frequency that drives off a snow beast.
Said beast becomes a problem when they direct power from the beacon to a terminal that can decrypt the tablet. Crosshair and Hunter find themselves having to lure the beast away before the rest can turn the beacons back on; otherwise they’d be stuck with the beast at the base.
Crosshair and Hunter come to something of an understanding, but there is clearly unresolved issues. Crosshair is clearly not ready to tell the group the whole truth about what happened at that base and he still hasn’t taken personal accountability for betraying his family. Likewise, Hunter isn’t ready to admit how much Crosshair’s betrayal hurt him and it’s clear that he’s not ready to forgive him fully, but is willing to put their differences aside for the greater good.
I did expect a little more, but I understand why the showrunners chose to go this route; both have still-fresh emotional wounds and both are too proud to show weakness.
After this episode, I think Crosshair might be the next Bad Batch member to die, especially after this halfhearted makeup. Like Tech, he has trouble expressing his feeling and I think we’re headed towards a heroic self-sacrifice to illustrate how much he actually cares for his family. His teaching of Omega this episode of how to be a sniper I think also signals that she will eventually fill his spot on the squad.
The best part of this episode comes when Crosshair finds Commander Meyday’s helmet on the floor and honors it. It’s a subtle but impressive scene that needs no words to get its point across. Maybe in a future episode, Crosshair will feel comfortable telling his story.
“Star Wars: The Bad Batch” Season 3: Episode 5 gets a 7/10
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