The 2008 animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” was a touchstone for the franchise, as well as a base point for most other “Star Wars” shows to spring-off of. Whether it be live action shows like “The Mandalorian”, or further animated shows like “Rebels”, just about all of them are tied into that 2008 series in some form. The closest series to directly springboard from that original animated show is the 2021 animated series “Star Wars: The Bad Batch”, which continues right where “The Clone Wars” concluded, brings back established characters from the series, and gives us a unique, first-person perspective of the changing order of the galaxy at large, after a decade long war. The titular Bad Batch are a group of genetically mutated clone troopers, each with their own special capabilities, and distinct personalities. They were originally introduced in the final season of “The Clone Wars”, and now they take the rains as the main characters of their own story.
The series begins with a special hour-long premiere episode titled “Aftermath”, and to get right to the point, this is currently my favorite premiere episode of any “Star Wars” program I’ve seen thus far. In the final hours of the Clone Wars, our team of mutated heroes, The Bad Batch have just won a battle along with their fellow Jedi ... one of them being a young Kanan, setting up his character for the animated “Star Wars: Rebels” series, which was a cool addition. Unfortunately, the time has come for the evil Emperor Palpatine to make his control of the galaxy known, as he executes order 66, forcing all the Clone Troopers to betray and murder their Jedi commanders.
The only ones unaffected by this are the Bad Batch themselves, as their mutations make them immune to the Emperor’s immediate control. They let the young Jedi Kanan escape, don’t approve of the changes taking shape around them, rebel against Admiral Tarkin, and gradually make themselves enemies of the new Empire. It’s a rock-solid opening, and got me excited to see where their journey will go next. Shortly after, the team meet a new mutated clone, who comes in the form of a small girl named Omega. She too has unique enhancements, as well as special blood vital to the Empires secret experiments, making her a valuable target. The team end-up taking the girl as their own surrogate daughter, and together, they venture out into the galaxy to try and make a life for themselves, do good where they can, and all while avoiding the long arm of the growing Empire.
Unlike many other “Star Wars” programs, this isn’t about making a difference to the galaxy at large, and has a tighter narrative focus on the characters, and how their lives are frequently challenged by this new order. The characters themselves are familiar archetypes, but are fairly likable, and make for decent company to go on new adventures with … even though none of them will be ranking among my favorite characters in the franchise. Dee Bradley Baker returns to voice all the clone troopers, and by extend is practically a one-man cast voicing all the members of the Bad Batch. He really flexes his vocal talents and theatrics, giving each character a distinct feel and presence. Hunter is the stoic, yet sympathetic team leader, who’s probably the least interesting of the bunch, but does his job fine. Wrecker is the muscle of the group, short on intellect, but is the most combat efficient, and has a big heart. Tech lives up to his name as the smart, calculating member of the team, yet shows less emotion. Next is Echo, who was once a regular clone, but after nearly dying in battle has now become a cyborg, with mechanical limbs.
The last and best of all the Bad Batch members is Crosshair, who has the most layered character journey of any member. He was the cold, no nonsense member of the team, as well as a skilled sniper, and was always a little at odds with his brothers. At the start of the show, he’s the only one willing to remain loyal to the Empire, making him a dangerous enemy to the Bad Batch. However, as he continues his personal journey, we see him become more and more repulsed by his ruthless masters, and eventually returns to his brothers as a welcome member of both the team and family. He’s a great character who always kept me guising what he’ll do next, and watching his journey unfold was absolutely a bright spot for the series. Rounding up the main characters is the little girl Omega, who’s the mandatory child character to star in these animated “Star Wars” programs, and brought to life with a great deal of vocal charisma by actress Michelle Ang. She too is a likable presence at the start, and goes on her own journey of personal growth, becoming yet another well-rounded character in the process.
One minor reservation I had with this series is that it failed to present a fun rouges gallery of exciting villains for our heroes to face. Part of the appeal of previous animated “Star Wars” programs like “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” is that they had a great roaster of both new villains and hold over foes for their respected heroes to regularly combat. Occasionally, “The Bad Batch” would feature a classic franchise villain like Emperor Palpatine, or bounty hunters like Cad Bane, but they were sparingly used, and the new villains, while functional, were just too small in numbers.
There’s a ruthless Admiral named Rampart, voiced by Noshir Dalal, who’s the Imperial figure head of the show, and is okay, but nothing special. The main villain is a nasty scientist named Dr. Hemlock, voiced by Jimmi Simpson, who’s dead set on using the team as subjects for his twisted experiments. Once again, he’s a perfectly serviceable foe, and quite dislikable, but he just didn’t have the same staying power of other memorable “Star Wars” series villains. Lastly, Stephen Stanton returns to his signature role as the voice of Admiral Tarkin, who functions as the main, reoccurring franchise villain of the series. He’s always a welcome presence, and it’s cool that, even though his character died in the very first “Star Wars” movie, “A New Hope”, he’s still made just as many appearances in other media as any classic villain from the original trilogy.
The make-or-break deal for this show is how much you enjoy being with these characters, the simple adventures they regularly go on, and watching them change over the course of the series. To be very straight forward, this isn’t a mandatory series to watch, and it won’t leave any lasting impact on the franchise as a whole, but it can still be enjoyed by its own standards, and quality presentation. I’d actually argue that, while this show doesn’t break any new ground, it is more consistent with its own levels of quality than most other shows in the franchise. It’s a very simple, formula-based series, but is mature enough in its presentation to appeal to older viewers. Just like “The Clone Wars” before it, this series can appeal to kids, but despite being animated, it’s mainly for older viewers, with themes and content that isn’t commonly marked toured the little kids demographic. The animation once again is sensational, and after the more kid-friendly aesthetic of shows like “Rebels”, this series was a welcome return to “The Clone Wars” animation design, and quality.
Lastly, this show isn’t reliant on established “Star Wars” characters to sell itself, and while I admittedly miss the novelty of seeing familiar faces, I also applaud this show for avoiding the conventional fan service that other shows have fallen into.
Occasionally they’ll be an appearance from a hold-over franchise character, but they’re not main-stream icons, and serve their purpose in the narrative without becoming distracting. Captain Rex for example is one of my favorite characters from “The Clone Wars” series, but the show wisely keeps his appearances to a minimum, with only one big crossover per season.
The Bounty Hunter Fennec Shand, who was introduced in the live-action series “The Mandalorian”, also makes some welcome appearances throughout this show, with Ming-Na Wen reprising her signature role. The show ran for three seasons, and had a total of 47 episodes, which was the perfect run-time, as it made for a welcome offering, without overstaying its welcome. From this point, I’ll keep things simple by ranking my own personal Top 10 favorite episodes of “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” … excluding the piolet episode as I already discussed that one.
#10 “Pabu” (Season 2 – Episode 29)
After two seasons of being on the run from the Empire, the Batch finally find an island sanctuary called Pabu, on a remote ocean planet. This will become their home base for the duration of the show’s run, and this first episode affectively lets our heroes subtle-in, make friends with the community, and the location itself is a great design, with a very comforting atmosphere.
Unfortunately, there’s always going to be trouble in paradise, and for this outing it comes in the form of a freak tsunami, which is strong enough to destroy most of the city. Omega gets separated in the cause, while the other team members race to help the locals weather the storm. It’s a refreshing change-up for the show to see our heroes battling the elements of nature for once, as opposed to more troopers or another giant monster. It’s also very refreshing to see them as local heroes for a community during a time of crises. While “Pabu” is a fairly simple episode, it makes for a great respite for the team, and an exciting disaster venture.
#9 “The Harbinger” (Season 3 – Episode 41)
Back when “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” was originally cancelled, many important story arcs never saw the light of day, and by extent, many of the main characters vanished without proper closure. This presented an opportunity for “The Bad Batch” to tie-up some loose ends, and bring back characters who were left on the shelf. The former Sith apprentice turned bounty hunter known as Asajj Ventress, was one of the shows best characters, and while she had a scripted arc called “Dark Disciple” (which was re-worked into a decent novel), it never felt as satisfying as actually seeing what happened to her in animation form.
In this show, she’s back to business as both bounty hunter, and shady anti-hero, with Nika Futterman once again supplying her voice. For this outing, Ventress arrives on Pabu to test Omega, and determine whether she’s strong with the force. It’s another quiet episode, but with great character interactions, and a killer sea-monster as a cherry on top. This marked Ventress only appearance in the show, and could very obviously be written off as a backdoor piolet, but it was still a cool appearance, and it’s good to know that one of my favorite characters still has some lives left.
#8 “Return to Kamino” & “Kamino Lost” (Season 1 – Episodes 15 & 16)
For the season one finale, our heroes return to their home planet of Kamino, to rescue their leader Hunter, who was taken prisoner in a previous episode. Naturally, it was all a trap set-up by Admiral Tarkin, who orders the entire city destroyed, with a fleet commencing orbital bombardment, and all while the batch is trapped inside. Thus, one of the franchises most memorable locations sinks to the bottom of the sea, with our heroes desperately trying to escape the wreckage.
To make the situation more interesting, the batches angry brother Crosshair is also caught in the ruble with them, making him a wild card who will either aid our heroes in their escape, or take his vengeance on them while they’re vulnerable. It’s very reminiscent of “The Poseidon Adventure”, with claustrophobic action and building tension. It’s also a fitting end for the first season, to spend the final hours in a place that was once home for the Clone Troopers, before it’s gone for good. It makes for another exciting ocean adventure, and a strong send-off for the show’s first season.
#7 “Shadows of Tantiss” (Season 3 – Episode 35)
In the aftermath of Season 2, Omega was taken by the evil Doctor Hemlock to Mount Tantiss, where clones are used for several mysterious experiments. This marks her long-awaited reunion with her brother Crosshair, who’s finally willing to listen, and make amends for his past mistakes. Both Omega and Crosshair were my two favorite characters in this series, and the strength of this venture is seeing them bond and work together to escape the facility.
This episode also marked the last appearance of Emperor Palpatine in the show, as he and Hemlock are seen working on a mysterious “Project Necromancer”, which may tie into events seen in the 2019 movie “The Rise of Skywalker”. I personally wasn’t a fan of that film’s premise, but at least this show is making Palpatine’s return seem less random, which is commendable. The Emperor also looks great in this show, and with Ian McDiarmid reprising his role from the movies, you can’t go wrong.
#6 “Devil's Deal” & “Rescue on Ryloth” (Season 1 – Episodes 11 & 12)
While I liked our lead heroes well enough, my favorite episodes looked at the larger changes of the galaxy, following after the war. For this two-part venture, the planet Ryloth undergoes a devastating change, in which their clone protectors are turned into a lethal military occupation, who are slowly taking over the populous, and removing all local weapons. Freedom fighter Cham Syndulla is framed for an assassination attempt on a senator, allowing the Empire to put the squeeze on the locals.
We meet a young Hera Syndulla, who enlists the aid of Omega and the Bad Batch to liberate her people and rescue her family. While Hera and her robot chopper would become lead characters in the series “Star Wars: Rebels”, there’s so much more to this pair of episodes then simple fan service. The mounting tension, character dynamics, and thrilling action all make for a gripping experience, and one of the show’s finest offerings.
#5 “Reunion” & “Bounty Lost” (Season 1 – Episodes 8 & 9)
As our heroes gather supplies from a junk yard, they have their first reunion with their traitorous brother Crosshair, who is loyal to the empire, and ready to take lethal action against the team.
This alone would have been enough to make for a good episode, but things escalate when a third party arrives on the seen … the ruthless bounty hunter Cad Bane, who bests Hunter in a tense gun duel, and takes Omega hostage. Just like with Ventress, Cade Bane was one of my favorite characters from “The Clone Wars”, whose fate was left up in the air. To see him suddenly back in action after over a decade of being absent (with his robot Toto too) and proving once again to be the deadliest gunslinger in the galaxy was an absolute thrill.
In the following episode, Omega attempts to escape, while Bane finds himself locked in hand-to-hand combat with rivel hunter Fennec Shand, making for a riveting cat and mouse game in the process. While both hunters would appear again after this, their joined venture in this two-parter was their most exciting and rewarding as along time fan.
#4 “The Cavalry Has Arrived” (Season 3 – Episode 47)
In the special, one-hour long series finale, the team make one last visit to
Mount Tantiss, with Omega liberating a group of abducted children, while the
Batch aim to rescue all the other prisoners, and put a stop to Doctor Hemlock’s
twisted experiments … maybe even before “The Rise of Skywalker” gets
green-lit … well, no, there not that lucky. Still, what we get is a decent
send-off to a decent series, and keeps it’s focus on the main characters,
rather than any changing events on the universe at large. While I prefer those
larger stories, this was the right note for this series to end on, with plenty
of suspenseful action, the villains getting their satisfying comeuppances, and
a peaceful ending that left me feeling pleased I shared this experience with
these characters.
#3 “The Outpost” (Season 2 - Episode 28)
As stated
above, Crosshair arguably had the most layered journey of any main character in
this show, and his arc peaks in this exceptional episode. On a remote, snowy
Imperial outpost, Crosshair see’s firsthand how his superiors treat his fellow
troopers like expendable tools, and are ready to discard them for a new line-up
of canon fire. After many losses and sacrifices un-mourned, Crosshair is
finally ready to stick it to the Empire, even at the cost of his own freedom. Everything
in this episode is perfect, from the pacing, to the voice acting, to the
imagery, to the writing … it’s a solid piece of work, and an important reminder
of how adult, and even inspired animated “Star Wars” can be.
#2 “The Summit” & “Plan 99” (Season 2 - Episodes 31 & 32)
Season 2 of “The Bad Batch”, I felt had the weakest start of any season, and really took a minute to maintain my interest. Thankfully, when this season found its footing, it delivered some of my favorite episodes of the whole show, including my favorite season finale. While Admiral Tarkin holds a special, top-secret mission among fellow, high ranking Imperial officers (including a nicely placed cameo from Director Krennic, the villain from “Rouge One: A Star Wars Story”), the Batch take this opportunity to learn more about their enemies, and maybe discover where many of their clone bothers have been imprisoned.
Unfortunately, their plan goes south, and the team find themselves trapped on a railcar. In order to escape, one of the team members has to make a noble sacrifice in order for his brothers and Omega to live and fight another day. Even more devastating hits come to our heroes, as their sold-out by one of their allies, Omega is taken away by Doctor Hemlock, leaving our team physically and emotionally more broken than ever before. This is the season closer that just seemed to have the highest stakes, the most emotional context, and left me more excited than ever before about what this show was going to deliver next.
Before I reveal my number one favorite, here are some quick
Honorable Mentions …
“The Solitary Clone” (Season 2)
“Point of No Return” (Season 3)
“Identity Crisis” (Season 3)
“Battle Scars” (Season 1)
“Tribe” (Season 2)
#1 “The Clone Conspiracy” & “Truth and Consequences” (Season 2 - Episodes 23 & 24)
Like I said earlier, while this show had a decent cast of characters to follow, I still preferred the episodes that focused on the larger story surrounding the galactic changes of the galaxy. For me, the show absolutely peaked with this, two-part, mid-season event from season 2. Following after the devastation of Kamino at the end of season one, Senator Chuchi and my favorite trooper Captain Rex, team up with the Batch on a dangerous mission to retrieve data tapes, that will expose to the whole galaxy the truth … that the Empire committed their first act of global genocide.
After many thrilling encounters, our heroes seem on the right path of victory, only to fall into a larger trap laide out by Emperor Palpatine, who uses the truth as a means to strengthen his galactic control, and annex the Clone Troopers in favor of his new Stormtroopers. It further highlights what a deadly mastermind the Emperor is, and how he can use a victory from our heroes as a means for his own goals. Aside from that, this is just a thrilling pair of episodes, with atmospheric tension, larger stakes, thrilling action, twist reveals, great guest characters returning from “The Clone Wars” series, and it just felt like the biggest event for the series to impact the franchises cannon. For me, this was the high mark of the show, and one worth recommending to longtime fans.
In the end, I was quite satisfied with “Star Wars: The Bad Batch”, as it was mostly consistent with its own stamp of quality, it had enough highlights, and likable characters to make the experience a good one. In general, I have more feelings for animated “Star Wars” than I do live-action, at least when it comes to their shows, as there’s something rewarding about weekly adventures with this kind of presentation.
Personally, I prefer my live action “Star Wars” in the theater, as it just feels more special that way. I can’t say that “The Bad Batch” is required viewing for all fans, but it’s certainly recommendable to fans of “Star Wars” animation. I wouldn’t put it on the same high pedestal as either “The Clone Wars” or “Rebels”, but there were certainly enough merits to the experience to make it feel like more than just another animated offering from the franchise, and I look forward to seeing where animated “Star Wars” will go next.
Thanks for reading my review of the animated series “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” … and continue to enjoy the shows you Love!
No comments:
Post a Comment