The perspective shift here made for surprisingly compelling storytelling, I found myself totally wrapped up in this. Plus we got some welcome faces returning! It's good to see that not all clones have become brainwashed killing machines and at least one here seems to still have his personality and sense of right/wrong.
This I didn't expect but I really enjoyed Hera and Chopper and the whole Ryloth arch in general. I said it before, I love seing those stages where the empire takes over piece by piece and where you can see the seeds of the Rebellion already forming. That's what I was hoping to see and so far the show delivered.
Paint me like one of your Ryloth girls.
Why, god, why can’t they just stick to continuing the show. Why can’t they just make a story and not a bunch of useless filler episodes. This one peeved me off even more than the usual fillers because it’s not even about the bad batch. I assume next episode we’ll have them saving Hera but christ, can’t we just get a show about bad batch being anything else than just hired guns doing things that are honestly so unrelated to anything. We barely get to see Crosshair, we don’t have interactions of the bad batch fighting against the empire or something. Or in general having any kind of goal. We’re more than halfway through the season and I’m not really having much fun. Bonus hate points because I couldn’t stand Rebels unlike most people and having this be a Rebels prequel episode just is so much worse for me personally.
It speaks volumes about the show if the best episode (so far, admittedly) is one where the eponymous bad patch plays no noteworthy role.
So this is the tie-in to Rebels and Hera's origin. The bad batch's pretty much sidelined here.
And it's good to see that not every clone was brainwashed entirely - this should be emphasized more in my opinion. So far the ordinary clones are nothing more than canonfodder, but it would be nice to see someone try to view them as victims and get the chip out of them. It's not their fault they aren't enhanced or were otherwise rescued...
If you want to make another anthology show Filoni you can just make one. It’s okay
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-10T02:54:22Z
[7.8/10] This episode is really more of a prequel to Rebels, or even a sequel to The Clone Wars than a full-fledged installment of The Bad Batch, but that’s okay! One of the nice things about TCW is that it was an anthology series, giving us the opportunity to put different characters in the spotlight and explore the depth and breadth of the Star Wars Galaxy. I’m not sure I’d want this show to indulge in this sort of perspective shift every week, but I appreciate it here.
So hey! Welcome back Hera Syndulla! And Chopper! And Papa Cham! And Uncle Gobi! And that fat Twi’lek Senator from the Prequels! And even Ryloth itself! This episode is catnip to anyone who’s been following the adventures of the Syndula family and the fighters of Ryloth since the days of the Clone Wars.
Some of that invites a little cheese. We see hera yearning to get away from her home planet, wanting to join the budding resistance movement, and dreaming of being a pilot, all hopes that would be at issue in Rebels. She’s mainly a miniature, less-experienced version of the same character we’d come to know later in the timeline, which is endearing enough for fans of the animated corner of this universe, but doesn’t really give us a lot of insight into who she is now versus who she became.
The part I really like here, though, is Cham. He fought valiantly in the Clone Wars, and he doesn’t really trust the Empire. But what he fought for is the chance to bring peace to his world. Now he has it and wants to give it a chance, even if it’s imperfect, even if it requires some compromises. That’s a really interesting tack to take, and one we don’t see enough of in a franchise with “war” in the title. Cham is a soldier who wants his children to be farmers rather than warriors. He doesn’t like the Empire, but he’s willing to work with them, to lay down his arms and prop them up, if it means keeping the peace.
Until, of course, they accuse his daughter of treason -- for helping to transport weapons delivered by the Bad Batch, no less. The Empire has crossed a line, threatened the family he’s making those compromises to protect, and it turns him back into the Freedom Fighter he was in the throes of war, and would become again.
Oh yeah, and we meet Hera’s mom for the first time as well! She doesn’t get as much focus as her husband, but it’s neat to round out more of the Syndulla family, and get to see the other major influence in Hera’s life. She’s less certain and tolerant of the Empire than Cham, for good reason, and she’s just as handy in a combat situation.
That combat situation is pretty darn cool! The Bad Batch continues to put together some impressive sequences. The Syndullas’ assault on the prison convoy carrying their daughter and brother is no exception. The show creates tension as our heroes have to outsmart and outwork the stormtroopers on speeder bikes protecting it, and makes for some exciting sequences.
We also get a bit of palace intrigue, with Orn the Fat Twi’lek senator fearing Cham’s influence, and Rampart playing both sides to come out ahead. Plus, we see a little more of Crosshair (who seems to have healed somewhat) playing the bad guy as he tracks Gobi’s resistance and snipes Orn at Rampart’s behest.
Overall, this is a change of pace for The Bad Batch, one that goes full continuity smorgasbord for longtime watchers, but which also asks some thought-provoking questions about what a warrior will do to maintain peace in his land, and what he’ll do when he can tolerate no more.