Star Wars: The Bad Batch

I think my qualms with the first season are still here with the second. There seems to be some anomaly with this show; some episodes are absolutely fantastic (episodes with Crosshair and The Empire) and others are just like why does this exist? If I do a rewatch, I'll be skipping 40% of the episodes lol.

The highs of season 2 exceeded season 1, I will say that. The ending was fantastic. The best parts of the season were: the exploration of the clones and their supposed defectiveness, the scheming Empire, the cloning intrigue, and certain parts of Clone Force 99.

Omega has improved, but she still isn't my favorite. She has matured a lot though, and will be huge for season 3.

Overall, more people need to watch this show, and season 2 improved upon season 1.

This series is incredibly formulaic. Not exactly original but that doesn't mean it's bad. A good formula executed well can still equal a great show, which is what this is. It really speaks to how effective certain tropes are when even after seeing slight variations of the same things time and time again, still elicits feelings of satisfaction in the hearts of the audience.

For instance, the villain is someone that we've seen countless times before, but it's pulled off so well in such perfect form that it just works because he's who we want him to be. Our heroes also conform to such typical stereotypes but again, done so well that we don't mind and even welcome it. It can be argued that the uninspired roles they fill with personalities to match are reasoned away in the larger context of what it means to be a clone, but that's just another convenient variation of a theme that we're comfortable with. The entire show is filled with things like this, such as Omega being somehow special and needs to be guarded, but her guardians also recognize her as a full member of the team so that's different enough to accept as something fresh. Or how we see old characters make an appearance for arguably little more than nostalgia, yet as transparent as this is it's briefly explained away via story and we just accept it because we want to. This continues all the way through until the finish. The way things end up is exactly as expected. Outside of one event that the writers shockingly committed to, nothing else was surprising in the slightest and there's nothing wrong with that.

Now combine all of the above with superb animation, excellent lighting and atmosphere, A+ voice work, great scene composition, good pacing / transition and you end up with something fantastic.

I only have one complaint, and that's the inclusion of fillers. There may have been fillers in the original clone wars series, but that had far more episodes than this one and could allow for it. The ones present here would have benefited from being a little more focused and less freeform.

I really enjoyed The Bad Batch. If you were a fan of the series that came before it this is a must watch. Or if you simply like good storytelling, for which this is an excellent example of.

My favourite part of The Bad Batch is whenever the episodes aren't focused on them. I wholeheartedly believe that if the series focused more on the morality of the clones and the ethical dilemma that they present it would be far greater than it already is. By far the most interesting and mature theme of the show is seeing the clones get cast aside for the new Stormtroopers. As well as seeing the development of the Empire. Seeing how they are mistreated and abused is so heartbreaking and thought provoking it's the PERFECT theme for the show. I just wish the theme was consistent across the series. But the gems that do touch on this subject is what makes this and 8/10 for me.

This show is really good. I understand why people don't like it, and they have some fair points that I agree with. I don't mind filler episodes if they are done well. Sometimes they're done well, other times, not so much. The plot centric episodes are really good though, and the characters are good, with crosshair being the show stealer in terms of writing, and the animation is incredible. Not all characters worked well. I feel like echo got sidelined, but he had his fair amount of development in the clone wars. This show's greatest strength is the world building. Seeing the Republic's transition to the empire from the clones point of view was great. Overall, it's the best first season out of any star wars animated show, but not one of the great ones YET. It's like a 7.8/10 for me.

Yes there are filler episodes, but I urge you to remember The Clone Wars. Quit making excuses and watch The Bad Batch. What are you waiting for?