The final season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch kicks off this week and after watching the first 8 episodes, it’s definitely wrapping things up in an impressive way.
Hard to believe, but The Bad Batch is finally back for its final season. The animated series which served as a spin-off of The Clone Wars has done an impressive job of setting itself apart from its predecessor, while retaining the heart and spirit fans loved.
The first two seasons did a solid job of hooking us into this motley crew of “defective” clones as they traversed a galaxy that had change suddenly. There’s been no shortage of action to go around, and touching character moments, but there’s also been a sprinkling of various mysteries which mostly surrounded Omega’s existence and place in everything. The mystery only deepened as the season two finale ended on a cliffhanger with Omega captured and whisked away to Mount Tantiss.
As season three begins, some time has obviously passed. While Hunter and Wrecker vowed to bring Omega back home, finding a super secret Imperial research facility (that even a lot of Imperials aren’t aware of). As such, we catch with an Omega who’s more or less settled into the routine of her “captivity.” She’s once again serving (under duress) as Lama Su’s assistant and going about daily tasks, all while trying to find a way to escape…with Crosshair.
That’s right, she hasn’t given up on Crosshair, who continues to be experimented on by the diabolical Dr. Hemlock. While I won’t go into any spoilers here, I will say the dynamic between Omega and Crosshair ended up being one of my favorite parts of this new season (much like her interactions with Tech in the last season).
The pair form an unexpected bond that manages to hit upon a number of emotional moments in the episodes I watched. More than providing a “redemption” of sorts for Crosshair, it continues to show Omega’s kind nature and capacity for empathy even as her initial naivete goes away.
It’s kind of tough to discuss the series generally speaking without diving into spoilers. Mostly because a couple important plot lines ended up resolved in ways I wasn’t expecting and far earlier. Thus, the overall story of the season is completely different from what I was expecting. That’s not a bad thing…at all. In fact, it opened up the door for even more interesting storytelling options that connect to some deep lore in both the new canon and old legends material.
By and large, this season is much darker in tone than the previous ones (which managed to get grim at some points). While I hate to add to the “darker=better” narrative some online have latched onto with stories, for The Bad Batch, it absolutely works. As the Emperor’s evil plans grow closer to bearing fruit and the plight of the remaining Clones grows ever worse, the story pretty much has to lean darker at this point.
Beyond the more serious tone, however, the overall pacing of the story feels more streamline. I mean, this season isn’t fucking around. It hits the ground running from the first episode and doesn’t let up. For those who’ve complained about “filler episodes” from previous seasons (which I never really saw them as filler, but that’s a completely different conversation), I can’t think of any episode I watched that would come even close to that description.
Everything is moving full blast towards a specific point and looking absolutely gorgeous while doing so. The animation in the series has always been impressive, and yet the team continues to outdo themselves. From the way characters move, the flow of action, and emotion conveyed on their faces, The Bad Batch has never looked better. Combined with insanely good looking backgrounds and such (i.e. a new starfighter I’m in love with), and each episode is just a delight for the eyeballs.
In keeping things as vague as possible, let me put it this way. For the previous seasons (which I greatly enjoyed), when I got early screeners, I’d watch a couple episodes at a time with a day or so break in between. Binge watching shows has never been a thing for me.
That said, I watched all eight episodes sent to me of season three, in a single sitting. I simply couldn’t stop watching and needed to see what came next. I’m jonesing for the rest of the season and can’t wait to be able to start discussing certain plot/lore points with other fans as they release.
If the back half of the season is as good as this first half, The Bad Batch will cement its place as the best Star Wars animated series around. As someone who wasn’t all that ‘woohoo’ about the show when it was first announced, that’s pretty crazy to think.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch premieres with three episodes on February 21, 2024 exclusively on Disney+.
