- Created by Dave Filoni
- Developed by Dave Filoni and Jennifer Corbett
- Directed by Brad Rau (Supervising)
- Based on Star Wars created by George Lucas
- May 4, 2021 to Present
- Disney+
Starring
- Cut Lawquane, Captain Rex, Captain Howzer, Captain Wilco, Commander Cody, Commander Mayday, Commander Wolffe, Gregor, Scorch, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, Crosshair, Barton Coburn-Dee Bradley Baker
- Omega-Michelle Ang
- Nala Se-Gwendoline Yeo
- Doctor Royce Hemlock-Jimmi Simpson
- Emerie Karr-Keisha Castle-Hughes
- Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious-Ian McDiarmid
- Lady Isa Durand-Anjelica Huston
- Mox-Daniel Logan
- Asajj Ventress-Nika Futterman
- Captain Mann-Harry Lloyd
- Fennec Shand-Ming-Na Wen
A group of clone troopers on the run with genetic mutations that help them resist Order 66 take on mercenary missions in the aftermath of the Clone Wars.
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Into the Breach
- Directed by Saul Ruiz
- Written by Brad Rau
- April 17, 2024
Into the Breach has a little bit tighter of a story than some of the midpoint episodes have been. Given how much happens in this and that it’s always moving I’m almost certain there was an effort to stretch out this final season to an arbitrary number of episodes. But I’m getting off track…
Desperate to get Omega back Clone Force 99 comes up with a very Star Wars-esque plan to get to the planet of Tantiss. And the action just doesn’t stop. I’m not talking explosions and battles, but just something is always happening here. The story is always moving.
Rampart is a jerk. He’s reluctantly part of this plot and in this episode knows he’s just stuck. He’s the arrogant elitist who’s been knocked down more than a few pegs but isn’t so stupid that he thinks he’s in a better position than he actually is. If anything he comes off as upset he’s not in as good of a position as he thinks he deserves.
Despite being connected to the previous episodes the story of Into the Breach is also pretty self-contained. You do not need to know much about the series because enough that is germane to the episode’s story is recapped that you’re not lost if you happen to drop in at this point which goes to the skill of the people behind this.
One thing that gets me is that nobody on Tantiss seems to be very concerned about Omega sneaking away again. She did it once so why wouldn’t she be able to do it again? She is allowed to interact relatively unmonitored with these kids that are special.
Omega quickly establishes herself as a leader in the group of captured children. Not through any contest or anything but she’s able to get these characters who are completely unfamiliar with her or mostly unfamiliar with her to get on board with her plot to escape.
But what Into the Breach does best is make you hungry for the next episode. I can’t wait to see how this proceeds, but I also don’t want to because I’m going to be sad that it’s all over. Happy that I got to watch it but sad that it ended.
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Flash Strike
- Directed by Nate Villanueva
- Written by Brad Rau
- April 24, 2024
Maybe it’s just me, but there seems to be a real character change in Omega that is rather abrupt. She seems like much more of a leader and capable individual than before. She was no lump on a log but all the sudden she seems much more capable of functioning on her own and taking care of things than she has ever before.
Even with the predictable assistance of Emery helping Echo Flash Strike didn’t feel as big as it should. And I say predictable because she clearly realized she was in over her head and was regretting her decision to get even more deeply involved in Project Necromancer.
Rampart is more jerk than dangerous. I’m not sure how he’s going to play into things in the end, but I certainly see him as being a problem to some extent for the goals of Clone Force 99 rather than much assistance. The thing is he should feel like a potential villain and not just some asshole. Then again writers today confuse being mean or a jerk or an asshole with pure evil or enough evil to be dangerous and they may have done that here.
Yet as I said before being the episode before the final episode things don’t feel as precarious as they probably should. I wasn’t left with a cliffhanger feeling. No big sensation of trying to figure out how this will all end. When you know that it’s your final episode that’s something you need to go for. I really wanted a feeling that everything was precarious. A level of uncertainty about how bad or good things could go, but that didn’t come. It feels dangerous, but not uncertain.
Still Flash Strike is a good next-to-last episode and is nothing that makes one lose interest. I am looking forward to seeing how this story does end.
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The Cavalry Has Arrived
- Directed by Steward Lee, Saul Ruiz, and Brad Rau
- Written by Jennifer Corbett
- May 1, 2024
So we’ve come to the end of the line. The final episode of The Bad Batch. A bittersweet moment yet one that manages to be very satisfying.
It’s dark and exciting with twist and turns and plenty of Star Wars-esque moments. And by the end it all connects firmly into previously done work without feeling shoehorned in.
The Zillo Beast first seen in Clone Wars plays a very important role in all of this. Not only does it automatically allow for the rescue of Omega but effective deals with Project Necromancer in a way Clone Force 99 could not. Plus, it’s really awesome to watch some mindless destruction by something that is ultimately a misunderstood monster caught in the middle of things. And the visuals are absolutely fantastic. They are big and bold and epic in a way that makes this grand. With a show that has been three years running you couldn’t simply go out quietly.
There is some heartbreak, but also some poetic comeuppance-more or less. Hemlock gets what he deserves which is a little disappointing. He was a very good villain, but his ultimate disposition makes it hard for him to come back. Then again we all thought Darth Maul was done for good but that was a lie. Hemlock while dark and the central villain seemed to go up several notches here. And much like Thrawn was supposed to be in Ahsoka Hemlock genuinely was smart and one step ahead often of his opponents. He was an actual threat that looked like he could succeed.
Though I had faith the heroes would succeed in some way the threat of failure hung in the air throughout this episode. You could see a path to failure. And we get some emotional punch not only in the episode conclusion but in the series epilogue.
The Cavalry Has Arrived in perfect fashion closes out the entire series. It leaves you satisfied without wanting more. You don’t feel as if there’s anything really left hanging or unanswered.
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The final season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch was fantastic. Not perfect, but better than many of their live recent live action offerings. Aside from a few midpoint episodes that lagged it was a great story and a joy to watch. While it couldn’t have gone on forever, I wish it had gone on just a little bit longer. Call me greedy.
What The Bad Batch did is what all good spinoff shows should do. It took the basics of the mythology in the universe in which it was set and built its own mythology. It set itself apart yet effectively connected to the rest. It had its own distinct flavor and feel yet was not completely foreign to everything else.
It was a unique creation that was not connected to Star Wars in name only. The shows that are capable of such a thing are very few. It is a show that will be missed because not only did it provide exciting and unique stories it enriched the overall Star Wars mythology by adding new material and expanding upon pre-existing mythos as well.
Warren Watched A Movie 