Bad Batch (Spoilers)

General Discussion
#61

I enjoyed this episode a lot, but there was something that bugged me (pardon the pun).

They should’ve just burned Cid and been done with it. For clone commandos, they’re pretty soft. Sure, she’s a “friend,” but not a very good one. She’s also a liability at this stage, and to take her job they’d risk angering the Pykes. They would have, too, if the crates had split open and spilled the spice everywhere.
I’m no murderhobo, but in this case, their best move would’ve been to burn Cid (and possibly the other two, depending on what they knew) and find a place to lay low, not get involved in something that doesn’t involve them. Especially as they were just complaining about Cid not telling them everything. What could she have been withholding in that scenario? Even aside from the bugs.
And on top of all that, she isn’t the greatest of people.
Yes, I know this is a Disney show, but still. These boys are a bit too soft.

Secondly, compliments to them on introducing a new character this time. As soon as I saw the thumbnail, I thought this was going to end up being Cikatro Vizago’s backstory, but luckily it was not. And I know it wasn’t because they chopped off the wrong horn. Early on, my fears were assuaged. But then were they had the knife, I feared I would have to take it back. Fortunately, wrong horn.

Nicknames so far:
Tiny
Goggles
Bandana
Muscles
Not sure if there’s one for Echo yet.

#62

Of course, mileage varies on what is “unnecessary” or “overdone.”

Otherwise, may as well just file off the serial numbers and make it an “original” Netflix project. Y’know…like Zack Snyder’s doing with his rejected Star Wars pitch.

#63

Excellent episode, not much more to say than that, besides:

I like the proto-stormtrooper armor. It bears an interesting resemblance to the “patrol stormtrooper” armor seen in Solo.
Also, either that was Scorch in the elevator fight scene, or someone who looked a lot like him. Very interesting.

1 Like
#64

Both Star Wars Explained and Eckhart’s Ladder have pegged that as Scorch.

#65

Latest ep had the best music. Very Star Wars-y. Made me and my fam squirm with excitement.

#66

The stormtrooper armor looks a lot like the stormtroopers in Star Wars the force unleashed. I found that cool.

#67

Well…after that finale, my Rebellion era Kamino planet sheet definitely needs some revision…

#68

Is your old version now a Bad Batch?

#69

I enjoyed the finale, but I don’t have a whole lot more to say specifically about it than that.
(Though I did find it odd that AZI was waterproof. Life on Kamino, I guess.)

As for a retrospective on the series, the first thing that sticks out to me is the darker tones of the series. No, not in content, but actual colors.
The darker colors engender a conception of darker themes, yet said themes were hardly touched upon. Indeed, they in many ways sanitized what could have been far darker themes, like the Kaminoans. The Kaminoans were much more serious and weighty in previous iterations, be that Legends or even the canon Clone Wars.
Additionally, they only brushed with certain themes regarding the Empire and its relationship with the clone troopers, such as what happens to them when they’re decommissioned, whether some like Howzer are able to resist their chips (or the effects are wearing off, or defective), etc.

Finally, the darkness makes it really hard to watch sometimes, because I can’t see anything that’s going on. Especially in the last episode, where most of the time I could see their glow rods and that was it.
In fact, it was so dark that at first I thought Wrecker shot Crosshair before I realized that the flash from Crosshair’s chest had come from his rifle. I had no idea there was even anything chasing AZI and thought he was about to shoot one of the other members of Bad Batch.
If I had been watching in pitch-black, perhaps it would not have been so bad. But it wasn’t all that bright either.

A more general comment, applicable to a few things but prompted by AZI: It takes away the emotional impact of a last stand or heroic self-sacrifice if the character doesn’t actually die. So we get “yay, the character was willing to die” but that’s it. I think it would’ve been far better for AZI to actually “die.”
As I watched it, I had no suspense and felt no stakes, because I did not believe in the slightest that AZI was going to die. It takes all of the punch out of what could have been a powerful scene. Especially if you throw in some line about “It’s okay, Omega. I am just a droid,” something that can be readily contrasted against the frequent perception of clones as “wet droids” and the oft-said “I’m a clone! This is what I was born to do!”

Sacrifices like Hevy, Hardcase, Keeli, Thorn, 99, and Gregor (before Rebels) really hit you. They could’ve had that, to some extent at least, for AZI.

#70

Rumor has it that season 2 has been confirmed.

I sure hope Omega kills someone because of one of her “Rescue Rants” and we don’t have the “Small Galaxy Syndrome”

EDIT: Found an article that backs up my rumor.