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Finally, Disney+’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch has its priorities sorted.
The first two seasons’ cameo-heavy Mission of the Week format quickly grew stale, but as creator Dave Filoni, supervising director Brad Rau and head writer Jennifer Corbett disappeared deeper into their Disney-sponsored sandbox, it became clear that this wasn’t merely a graveyard of shameless walk-backs or desperate reinforcements of messy canon. The Bad Batch was always about underdogs, about displaced war heroes struggling to survive in a galaxy that has no need for them.
Now, with the series finale, we don’t simply see that. We feel it.
The finale, rousingly titled “The Cavalry Has Arrived,” is as action-packed as it reflective, juggling chaos and quiet while keeping its only true constant — the characters — firmly at its center. Yes, this is the grand send-off. A last hurrah for its titular Jango Fett mutants. There are twists, turns and casualties aplenty, but they never feel like the point. Its unwavering focus, coupled with gorgeous animation and an inspired score, elevate this show in ways I thought impossible before the season premiere.
From the get-go, The Bad Batch has sustained a bleakness worthy of its “the sky has already fallen” hellscape. The Emperor tightens his stranglehold on the galaxy, foregoing clones for the conscripted lackeys present throughout the remainder of the Skywalker saga. As Clone Force 99 (all voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) rushes to save their sister Omega (Michelle Ang) from the dastardly Hemlock (Jimmi Simpson), it becomes increasingly clear that loyalty is their only recourse. For Clone Force 99, it isn’t about sticking it to the Emperor or taking some big, gutsy, pointed stand against Imperial oppression. It’s about sticking together, doing what’s right, and staying loyal, especially when turning on your peeps is proven to be the easier (and safer) thing to do.
“The Cavalry Has Arrived” spends its bloated runtime well. Omega and her fellow captives quickly accomplish the objective teased last week, while Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair resume their rescue mission. What easily could have been a 15-episode apology for The Rise of Skywalker‘s cloning BS ends up boasting some of the tightest writing Star Wars has seen in years.
The Bad Batch is far from perfect, and likely won’t age with Clone Wars-caliber grace, but its heart is big and its intentions are pure, and that does count for something. “The Cavalry Has Arrived” becomes what The Bad Batch has always wanted to be: a heartfelt survival story about people we couldn’t fathom caring about (at least prior to Clone Wars) showing up and proving they’re far more than they were made to be.
With its series finale, The Bad Batch both honors and subverts post-acquisition Lucasfilm’s perpetually frustrating M.O.: serve up flashy action, lofty stakes and lovable characters, but don’t do too much of those things! Nearly every recent piece of Star Wars media has felt more like the product of an earnings call than a creatively unfettered expansion of a boundless universe. (For instance, what could this season have looked like if it wasn’t trying to explain Palpatine’s cloning? Where might it have gone?) The logic is deeply flawed yet fiercely adhered to: “We need them to want more. If they’re totally satisfied, they won’t come back!” It’s a confounding line of thinking, but it has guided so much of Disney/Lucasfilm’s output that it’s usually pointless to expect better.
Disney Dilution is real, but in its final hour, The Bad Batch cements itself as an earnest, if imperfect, entry in Star Wars mythos.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: A better season finale than it is a series finale, “The Cavalry Has Arrived” finds The Bad Batch at its darkest, bleakest and, somehow, most hopeful.
I do wish we had seen a bit more Wrecker – he was always such a big bro of a little bro to Omega that it felt wrong to exclude him from the goodbye – but I otherwise loved it, and Star Wars Day better include an announcement of where we see Omega next!
rise of skywalker = best sw movie ever!!!!!!!!!
From the start I’ve had a few problems with this show,
first of all since Star Wars was Disneyfied with Rebels, the franchise has lost the carefree attitude of the lighthearted swashbuckling Flash Gordon knockoff it should have never ceased to be.
Second, there is a technical issue, being a show about black ops, many scenes taking place in the dark, that’s fine, except that I constantly had to adjust the contrast on my screen in order to see anything that was going on. Think THAT GOT episode, 90% of the time.
Lastly I’m sorry to say for voice actors that I’m sure are fine generally, but that heavy New Zealand accent for Omega is a bad casting choice and gets me out of it every time. Makes no sense at all.
All in all a decent watchable show, at least better that snoozefests Andor and Ob-Wan, not to mention the latest big-screen disasters.
bound to happen as SW disney dwells in the dark period of the saga where the emperor, vader and the empire reign supreme.
I wish we had finally been privvy to how and why we suddenly have female clones. We start the series with the impression that Omega is both an anomaly and completely planned by Nala Se. We are later introduced to Emerie another female clone this time “fully aged up”.that unlike the male clones is not played by the same actress as Omega. While the finale had a good number of elements that were good, some even great, the fact that we still are left with so many threads left unanswered. And that is just with Omega, and we arent even talking about the recently resurrected Ventriss.
It was a good season and I thought they stuck the landing. I’d have liked to have known more about the CX commandos but oh well.
BTW, nitpick alert: it’s “Cavalry”, which appears a few times in this piece. “Calvary” was the place Jesus was crucified. Now THAT would have been a dark episode!
Want another season please