But that isn’t to say the new season is totally sanitized, and the wonderful animation does an extraordinary amount of heavy lifting when it comes to creating richness and depth in the various environments, settings, and set pieces. But it remains the characters rather than the plot that really pushes The Bad Batch forwards and gives it some real value, especially since its for-kids sensibility means that it doesn’t have much interest in digging into the setting’s moral quandaries in the same way something like Andor did. It remains at its strongest when Omega is learning at the feet of Clone Force 99, growing into herself, shedding the idealistic, child-like naivete, and inspiring others to see the world more like she does.Ī new character, Cid’s associate Phee ( Wanda Sykes), helps to frame the usual mission-of-the-week structure, but there’s an overarching narrative involving high-ranking officials in the Empire and their pursuit of the team that provides more consistent continuity. If the first season was all about survival, then, this one is about growth, about these defective clones figuring out their place within the team, as surrogate parents to Omega, and in the context of a totalitarian regime that continues to brutalize and oppress people very much like them. READ: Will there be a Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3? Some of the problems still seem to be there, certainly, but there’s a familiarity and a rhythm here that benefits from all of the hard work done in the first season. There’s something undeniably charming about this mismatched group of mutated outcasts, all voiced by the extremely talented Dee Bradley Baker, and their surrogate daughter Omega ( Michelle Ang), whose role in this season is integral and nicely expanded. After a mixed-bag first outing, it’s hard to say the anticipation was off the charts for this one.Īnd yet it’s hard not to be reunited with the members of Clone Force 99 without a smile on your face.

This second season is, in fact, bridging the gap between the truly phenomenal Andor and the highly anticipated third season of The Mandalorian. From its backdoor pilot and all throughout its first season run, it has seemed like something of a low-stakes palate cleanser, something for die-hard fans to enjoy in the long wait between live-action fare like The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian. It’s animated, like The Clone Wars and Rebels (and Resistance, though we’re mostly just pretending that didn’t happen), but it doesn’t have the connection to beloved characters like Anakin, Ahsoka, and Vader.

The Bad Batch is a strange show in the Star Wars continuity.

Bad batch aftermath review