The Bad Batch Premiere Review · 7:59pm Jun 1st, 2021

So I do wanna cover the entire series, but since it's only doing an episode a week thing, I figure I'd just talk about the premiere itself. This was a series I was waiting for ever since it was announced, and I gotta say, it did not disappoint. And I'm gonna say this now, there's going to be some slight spoilers here, I won't give everything away, but there's gonna be some in talking about the premiere itself.

So if you don't wanna keep reading, just ignore this post. If you still want to, then come on down!

Without wasting any time, this is the Bad Batch Premiere!

So the Bad Batch follows, of course, the Bad Batch; AKA Clone Force 99. For those who don't know, Clone Force 99 is a group of defect clones who are unorthodox, but they get the job done 100% of the time. At first, it looks as if it's going to follow them during the Clone Wars, but something goes wrong on their current mission. Suddenly, every 'reg' starts acting weirder than usual, and a mysterious message under the term 'Execute Order 66' is declared. The Bad Batch don't know what it means, and suddenly they're called back to Coruscant as the Republic starts to make changes. Because now... the Empire is born.

So right off the bat, I was excited. Mostly cause it meant were going to continue the sort of 'Clone-Wars'-esque adventures, just in a new time period. And I gotta say, this premiere did not disappoint.

First off, the story itself is one that I didn't even know I wanted. We finally get to see what things are like smack-dab after Order 66 is declared, after the initial Jedi Purge. Sure we saw a bit of that in Revenge of the Sith, but that was just following Obi-Wan and the other main characters. Here? Not only do we see Order 66 from another angle which is always fine by me, I love seeing different areas that experience Order 66, but we finally get to see the initial rise of the Empire. We see how things change through the eyes of the Bad Batch, and I think it's interesting to see the turns that the former Republic is being taken in. From little things like heightened security, or even the fact that all the clones on Kamino? All the same. No different haircuts, no dyed hair, no tattoos, nada. They're all the same. (now it could be argued that they're just the newest troopers who have not gotten any real experience with any battalions, which is fair, but it's another point).

Not only that, but the Bad Batch themselves are a load of fun. I love these individual clones, while they might be simplistic in identity, they're still fun to watch and they're still likable characters where you still want to see them come out of this situation alive and okay.

And I especially love that Echo is among the group. I am very glad that one of the primary clones from the Clone Wars is still sticking around to be part of the team, and that he manages to evade Order 66 just like the Bad Batch. Well, most of 'em... you'll understand if you've seen or read the spoilers.

And you know something else? I'm genuinely surprised (though in retrospect, I shouldn't, it's made by Dave Filoni) but this show actually made the newest character Omega a very likable character!

I love this kid, I love her interactions with the Bad Batch, and she's just the sweetest thing. She is so delightfully wholesome and I love it. This is a kid character done right, and I am very eager to learn more information about her, I know for a fact there's some details about her we have yet to figure out. And something that I had worried about, turned out it wasn't a problem. I thought she was going to steal the spotlight from them, or be overpowered or whatnot, but no. She's a very normal character (well normal as in Star Wars normal) and she fits in just fine! So great job Dave Filoni, you did good.

Once again, Clone Wars animation updated is still great. I love the animation style, it looks smooth as hell, all the characters are expressive and act natural, the only complaint about the animation is maybe a few janky movements during the mess hall fight, but aside from that, it's still great. Hell, some of the shots in this episode are amazing.

And oddly, the comedic moments... they're all handled well. They put them in during the appropriate moments and they don't ruin any seriousness or dramatics during some scenes. Unlike Resistance which sucks out any tension or seriousness by being over the top with it's 'comedy'. But still, the comedy in this premiere works. My favorite scene has to be the mess hall fight; the Bad Batch get picked on by the regs, until Omega sticks up for them... and then everyone just goes full out food fight

I also wanna point out is the continuity. Continuity is handled gracefully, and there's a lot of fun Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the premiere. From characters, to worlds, species, its all done well. ~~And thankfully we do not have any of those boring bloated potatoes and snout-face blobs from the poor excuse for Las Vegas~~

Last thing I'll talk about is there were a few twists and turns the story took that I enjoyed. Some I should have seen right away, but regardless they were handled well, and there were some that caught me by surprise.

All in all, I am very excited to continue this series. Bad Batch has won me over, and especially for going into an interesting line for the story. I don't recall many stories being smack-dab during the actual start of the Empire's rise, so to see this series taking place during that is honestly pretty nice. I'm still gonna be checking out the rest of the series, and if there are any Clone Wars fans out there that want more Clone-Wars esque stories, I recommend this.

I give the Bad Batch premiere an 8 out of 10.

Thanks for reading, and hope you all have a wonderful day