Star Wars: The Bad Batch | Disney+ | Final Season premieres February 21st!

[Eric Atreides]

 

[Darth Lehnsherr]

No surprise but glad it's coming out next year. Don't like waiting for more than a year between seasons. 

[Porthos]

Spoiler

 

Yeaaaaah, I have to say I expected that.  Crosshair is quite right to feel bitter about how things went down.

 

The only complaint I would have is that the season didn't quite explicitly set up Hunter and co deciding to forego trying to get Crosshair back and it sorta just happened.  Personally I would have beefed up the reasoning mid-season rather than Hunter, correctly it must be said, pointing out "you tried to kill us" on Braca.

 

Still, character faults (and collectively this is a biggie) are a welcome change from Always Doing The Right Thing Heroes.  Just could have been set up a bit more forcefully.

 

Though, then again, if they did that they might as well have a giant flashing neon sign saying "Crosshair's gonna be PISSED when we next see him."

 

I suppose there is something to "Show Not Tell", but on the other hand, it pays to be more specific at times.

 

Aside from that, this episode hit every beat.  Including Hunter deciding to rescue Crosshair this time.

 

Shame it doesn't appear we'll be getting the Kaminoan Uprising (unless it happens offworld), but that was a bit of a long shot, if one I hoped for.

 

Actually kinda surprised by just how much this one episode addressed things.  Makes me wonder what is gonna go down in the season finale.  More of the actual Kaminoan stuff, I suppose. Along with what's up with where all those Clone Troopers went off to.

 

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by Porthos

[4815162342]

If they could drop a triple episode length for the premiere they could've dropped a double episode today *rants*

[Menor the Destroyer]

The ending got me. Man that was a beautifully animated, written, and scored episode. I also wonder what will happen in the actual finale, this episode felt like a season finale.

[Jamiem]

I remember seeing the trailer for season 3 or 4 of Clone Wars and being amazed by the animation, but the opening to this season finale is just Lucasfilm flexing! The animation looks on a Pixar level it's wild. 

 

Show has been better than I had hoped for so super interested in a Season 2. 

[Porthos]

That was...

 

That was surprisingly realistic.

 

Spoiler

On an emotional level, that is.  I could just feel the waves of bitterness coming off of Crosshair.

 

And the conflict.  Oh yes, and the conflict.  Amazing job of animation there.

 

I don't think Crosshair's emotional arc is done.  Not by a long shot.  Pretty obvious he's going to be reduced to supplemental/occasional character once again in S2, but it's gonna be innnnnnteresting to see where his character arc heads.

 

Coz I can guarantee one thing: It ain't gonna be all Peaches and Cream for Crosshair and his Empire.  

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Porthos

[Porthos]

Entering tonight's season finale I was set to give this season a solid "B".  There hasn't been any actual bad episodes, or even "meh" ones. But I do think it lost its directional focus a tad in the back half of the season, which surprised me a bit.

 

But this three part season finale makes me think I'll raise it to B+.  While it's almost blindingly obvious that future plot points were being set up in the episodes directly after the Cad Bane mid-season appearance, I do think they could have tightened up the meta-plot a bit more to make it flow a bit more smoothly.

 

On the other hand, when this season sang, it sang.  Enough so to raise it to B+.  What stops it from being in the A tier is that I do think that the main characters are a bit too reactive at times.  Hunter in particular doesn't actually seem to have a plan/purpose for what he actually wants to do in his life.  I realize that's his character arc (finding a purpose), but it does mean the Bad Batch is a reactive team sometimes, which can be... Oh, how do I want to put it?  Challenging when it comes to long form story telling.

 

I realize that Din Djarin from The Mandalorian is also a pretty reactive hero, but at least he had A Quest in Season 2.  Even had one of a sort in Season 1 (protect Baby Yoda at all costs).  I think having some sort of goal is the one thing that is needed to kick this series in to the next gear.  Or at least a series of short term goals.  

 

I'm not even really criticizing here, but more critiquing, if that makes sense.  Not even entirely sure that this really is a problem going forward, as I'm always down for an Adventure of the Week/Arc type show, which TCW pulled off so brilliantly.  Just an observation that struck me a little while ago about that missing je nais se quois that I couldn't quite figure out.  Think it more bugged me on the back half of the season than the front, as in the front half there was a clear goal in front of Clone Force 99.

 

Anyway, a 10/10 three part season finale.  Most interested to see where this goes next year.

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Porthos

[4815162342]

The finale itself is fine. I felt like they could have cut it in half and tacked it onto last week's episode.

[Darth Lehnsherr]

I'll agree and said while the second half alot of the episodes individually I enjoy the show did feel like it was spinning its wheels after Omega was rescued from Cad Bane. But the final three episodes brought the show back to the main story so overall I still think this season is the best start to an animated show out of TCW, Rebels and Resistance. 

 

My main improvements for next season is more development for Tech, Wrecker and especially Echo who had very little to do this season. That's something Rebels did very well with the Ghost Crew. 

[Porthos]

10 minutes ago, Darth Lehnsherr said:

That's something Rebels did very well with the Ghost Crew. 

 

It's interesting that Sabine had very little development until S3 beyond an episode here and there touching her past (that old friend of hers she used to run with, for instance).  But when she did, it went into overdrive. Hope it doesn't take as long for Clone Force 99, but it wouldn't surprise me to see a long game being played here as well.

[Menor the Destroyer]

Fantastic finale. Don't understand why it has gotten such a mixed reaction at least online. I also give season 1 a B+, around the same grade as the first season of all four SW shows I have watched. It really shined in the visuals and also in some really creative action sequences (the second part isn't praised enough imo). There were many really nice character and story moments but it did feel unfocused at times and the side plots were not consistently interesting (Common Ground and Infested being the worst offenders) that said I'm still quite invested for season 2. 

[Menor the Destroyer]

Spoiler

Choosing to end the season on Nala Se probably means some kind of Omega genetics subplot or maybe even Palpatine cloning stuff...

 

 

 

 

But, it would also be the perfect time to bring back the Zillo Beast...

 

[Cap]

I won't front, the lack of a really compelling adult female character was huge miss for me.  Omega is interesting, but still very much a child. 

[Porthos]

58 minutes ago, Cap said:

Omega is interesting, but still very much a child. 

 

It is interesting you bring this up as it makes me think of a compare/contrast between Omega and, oh say, Ahsoka of S1 of TCW.

 

While TCW S1 Ahsoka has some clear defense mechanisms in play which hint at her insecurities, she still is very much of a warrior, if a Try Hard one at times.

 

Omega, on the other hand, might be the most clear cut actual honest-to-goodness child that SW has ever done on the TV/film side as a major/viewpoint character, with the possible exception of Anakin in TPM.

 

NOTE:  "Baby Yoda" has been played as just that, so I'm not counting him.  Not presently at least.

 

But, with all due apologies to Rhea Perlman's character, there does seem to be a clear lack of consistent adult women in the show. Having more of Fennec Shand here would help, I think, even as a foil.  

 

That being said, wouldn't surprise me to see this show be just as much about "Omega Growing Up" as TCW was (partially) about Ahsoka Growing Up and Rebels was absolutely about Ezra and Sabine Growing Up.  Makes me wonder if there will be any sort of time-shift in S2, allowing a bit of an age up for Omega, or if they might wait for some sort of S3 for that, ala Rebels.

 

I can see that already as I compare Omega at the end of S1 to even the Omega of the beginning of S1.  She's already grown up somewhat this series, even if she still is very much a child, as you rightfully point out.

 

Might just be that the show lacks a Team Mom or even a Big Sis at the moment (Rhea Perlman's character is more the Naughty Aunt who plays the ponies if we want to go into archetypes here ).  Be interesting to see if anyone steps into that void or if it is just one of those things the show will ultimately lack.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Porthos

[Inceptionzq]

 

[Porthos]

Now you see, this is why SW should do more of those location placards that Rogue One had.  People would have lost their shit if they saw something like "Mount Tantiss Research Facility" or "Wayland - Outer Rim" or something along those lines.

 

I suppose, if they had wanted to, they could have said "Welcome to Mount Tantiss, Dr. Se" so I suppose they could have made this clearer if they wanted an OMG WHAM SHOT discussion.   I can actually kinda-sorta see the point of not making it super obvious as that discussion would surely overshadow much of what came previously.

 

Still, on balance, I think they missed a trick by not making it clearer.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Porthos

[Porthos]

 

So, not really sure how to feel about this. 

[Inceptionzq]

1 minute ago, Porthos said:

 

So, not really sure how to feel about this. 

That interaction is hilarious 😂. Just imagining Bob saying “good one, Elon!” like Elon made the meme even though it’s such an old one is so funny to me.

[tarakant]

I'm looking forward to it very much. It's probably my favorite movie ever. So is Apex Legends. I just love them. I could watch and play it all day long. And the game according to the website https://overboost.pro/apex-legends/achievement-boosting . I ordered a rank upgrade from them a long time ago. I have a pretty good account. So I'll watch the movie 24/7 as well.

Edited October 1, 2021 by tarakant