Review Tuesday: THE BAD BATCH, Season One

 

THE BAD BATCH

Season One

After the execution of order 66, as the Republic transitions into the Galactic Empire, Clone Force 99, aka The Bad Batch, tries to figure out where they fit into this new political climate. 

I am not going to lie. I had hardly watched any of the Star Wars related animated series, specifically The Clone Wars and Rebels. I have never had cable television and hardly had any time for viewing anyway. But I always regretted not having seen any of it. Those two series did an important job of answering many of the unanswered question that fans had. Despite that, there was this gaping hole that tons of questions got dumped down into for years, yielding all sorts of fan theories and even more unanswered questions. I'll get back to this specific point later. 

 

The Bad Batch is a team of enhanced clones. Same basic DNA, but this group had extra alterations to make each one special in his own way. They were first introduced during The Clone Wars. Clone Force 99 was one of the final clone teams put into service and had an impressive reputation for getting jobs done. The show starts off at the Execution of Order 66. Other clone troopers around them opened fire on the Jedi at hand, while the Bad Batch were at a loss as to what was going on around them. 

The season was about this team, along with another clone named Omega, trying to survive in a rapidly changing galaxy. Allies have turned into enemies. Enemies are allies. It's very confusing and difficult to make this adjustment. To do so, they had to become mercenaries and carry out missions so they can pay for food and supplies. 

 

In many ways, this show is very much like THE MANDALORIAN. Rough and tough dude(s) reluctantly becomes a father figure to a cute youngster, mayhem and adventure ensues. 

 

The more important aspect of the show is that it's been filling in a bunch of the answer to questions fans have been posing for years. For instance, they have put to rest that the Stormtroopers are also Clones. Nope. They are human recruits. They even show the earliest enlisted troopers. To me, that was one of the biggest questions that needed an answer. We also get to see how the Empire was able to tighten its grip on the galaxy. Of course, with the iron fist of tyranny, we see the birth of the Rebellion. How the Confederate Planets transitioned into the opposing forces. We also see Tarkin rising in the ranks. 

 

This show starts at the point of Order 66 and the following weeks / months. We get introduced to characters from both The Clone Wars and Rebels. In that way, this show ties those others together. There were several cameos, but none of it was gratuitous. They all worked with the general storyline.

 

I quite enjoyed this show. The episodes were mostly around a half hour, so the time invested isn't that much. Disney+ dropped new episodes weekly. The pace was fine. Animation was great. With a little Star Wars knowledge you will be doing fine. Even without Star Wars experience, this show could be very enjoyable to new fans. Don't get too caught up in this being animated. It's pretty serious and even dark at times. I call this show a lot of fun and worthwhile to watch, especially for fans of STAR WARS.

 

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