The Star Wars ranking team is excited to have a new batch of content to discuss. We’re reviewing season one of The Bad Batch! Is Omega meant to conclude something bigger than herself? Do you prefer clones or recruits? Was this show really needed? Tune in to get the numbers and hear our superb voice acting skills (or at least our funny attempts).
“I don’t know if it was a good batch.” - Brody
This first episode of The Bad Batch was not spared any critical assessment from the Duel of the Ranks team. We weren’t all that impressed with the long episode’s pilot story. Sure, we all enjoyed seeing Order 66 carried out through the clones’ eyes. That’s probably because we’re all millennials who loved watching the prequel trilogy. However, other than introducing Omega, there wasn’t much (yet) that got us excited about watching the next episodes. Caleb Dume’s voice seemed way out of place. It was like an adult man for a younger boy. That could’ve easily been solved with a higher pitch. Wrecker was quite annoying, having the same line twice in one episode: “I like that kid!” Amanda did enjoy the return of Tom Kane’s intro narration, but even Brody had a problem with that. He was never a fan of the Clone Wars narration (gasp). Heretic! Tom Kane’s voice reminds Tim of the announcer for the movie UP, which does sound very similar.
“Was it necessary?” - Amanda
I think the idea of a Bad Batch show sounds cooler than the actual show. We get a typical five-guy team each with specialized skill sets that are all used at the right time and place. Though, one of those guys (Crosshair) starts to follow orders instead and is replaced with a mysterious clone (Omega), but you catch our drift. It copied The Clone Wars style, which wasn’t risky. Some of us like that though. We know what we’re getting into, which is nice, unlike Rebels and The Book of Boba Fett that had us guessing every step of the way. Sometimes Star Wars fans want something different when they really don’t. The Bad Batch is comfort food for The Clone Wars fans.
“I think this show is already so much more interesting than Clone Wars when it started out.” - Brody
Speaking of comfort food, we had some cool cameos kick off this season. Prime minister Lama Su, Saw Gerrara, Depa Billaba, and Tarkin all found their way into this one. Tarkin’s appearance was interesting to think about. He was there in the shadows (during Order 66) while there was still a Republic. He was immediately ready to serve in deciding the fate of the Empire’s military. It’s an interesting question he raises too: clones or recruits? I think the more that is explored, the better off the show is.
Hot Takes:
The inhibitor chip is a lazy cop-out.
The Bad Batch S1/E1 is better than The Clone Wars S1/E1.
Tim debuts with a great take. The inhibitor chip takes away some of the clones’ ruthlessness and poses them more as robots. We know they can be ferocious as seen in The Clone Wars. Does this undermine their individuality? What’s a better method? Tim and I say they should Winter-Soldier this whole thing and condition these clones to go kill-mode with a set of trigger words. It would’ve made it more compelling for the clones who committed treason by not carrying out Order 66. And for Brody’s take: Yes, they know what they’re doing right out the gate with The Bad Batch. The Bad Batch is self-aware, knowing what kind of show it should be whereas The Clone Wars did not at the time of it’s premier. The Clone Wars was the first of its kind, whereas The Bad Batch copies it’s style because it’s carried by the success of the Clone Wars.
“I’m always going to love seeing stuff on Kamino.” - Christian
Don’t get us wrong, we enjoyed some cool things introduced in this first episode. Why is she named Omega? What is she the end of? Jango’s line? She’s the type of character we want. We’re trying to figure out how she’s going to be used throughout the show. She’s special, and it’s fun to see a character like that in a show like this. It was also cool seeing the Coruscant guard, the V-wings, and hearing the Imperial March playing during Palpatine’s speech. We’re all quoting his famous speech as he goes. Of the five categories, the technical aspects ranked the highest for this season premier. It looked good. The beginning action sequences were awesome for the battle. The cinematography made it feel like a bigger world as opposed to a show focused on a small town or a small group of characters. Tim gave it the highest score, praising the art and animation style since it reminds him of an oil-based painting.
“Even though it was pretty bad overall, it’s still Star Wars to me.” - Tim
Part of what makes Star Wars awesome is its rewatchability. For us, this first episode doesn’t quite do it for us; it was a bit too long. The Bad Batch is geared towards the adult audience of The Clone Wars. With it being a show that has a more focused purpose than The Clone Wars, we hope to get a concise and enjoyable arc. Use the Bad Batch wisely as a vehicle to tell that story.
