The Mosley Review: Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Season 2)
To tell you the truth, I wasn't looking forward to watching this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first season and the journey of Clone Force 99 and how they stayed together despite the betrayal of the new Empire and one of their own team members. I just felt the series fell into the trap of being a few too many episodes and kind of was loosing the magic that the preceding series, The Clone Wars series, had each week. It followed the same formula of adventure of the week and it would eventually show the reactions of planets as Imperial rule was being implemented. That and the team becoming a family and how they survived together was the core of the show and for the most part it was good. By the end, I ended up enjoying it. Now comes this new season and its more of the same, but the tone has shifted into something more bleak and the rapidly growing shadow of the Empire grows as the team tries to make a living in this new era. I actually waited for all 16 episodes to be finished and binged them and it was much better that way for me. There were some really fun episode arcs that were there to entertain and the really heavy ones were evenly distributed this season. I truly enjoyed that we got to see how the lives of the clones became expendable and how they were treated as equipment instead of like human beings by the Empire. The parallels between how the clone rights and benefits are being fought for to the horror stories about the Department of Veteran's Affairs in our world was eerie and sad. The amount of character depth in this show has truly evolved past the fact that it is meant for kids and carries on the deeper themes of life after war, entry into civilian life and so much more. I was shocked by how much I loved this season.
Dee Bradley Baker continues do the heavy lifting of amazing acting and storytelling as Clone Force 99 and many more clones that cameo along the way. As Hunter, you get to see the weight of his decisions come to the forefront. He is trying to be the steadfast leader, but even he is starting to see how the life they're trying to live away from Imperials and doing side jobs, won't last long. As Wrecker, he becomes more of the big brother and less the sometimes comic relief. I liked that he has a small, but relevant emotional journey. As Echo, he shows the level of commitment and love for the cause of defending his brothers and sister against everything. He even tends to be the voice of reason and empathy in many great moments. As Tech, he takes the very logical character to a new and subtle depth emotionally. He may be so data driven and accurately blunt most of the time, but there is a heart behind that datapad and we get to see it towards the last half of the season. He was truly the standout this season. As Crosshair, you get to see his realization that turning on his brothers to serve the Empire was beneficial for a time, but futile. Once he truly sees how his commanding officers treat his clone brethren and eventually himself, you see him truly question that so called loyalty he has toward following orders. His arc was the second best part of the series. Michelle Ang was wonderful once again as Omega and I loved that she leaned into her training and became on par with The Bad Batch. She could handle herself and she was smarter this time around and I loved her chemistry with everyone. She really completes the family dynamic of the team and I loved her connection with Echo and Tech the most. Rhea Perlman was even more despicable and mean as Cid. She truly shows why she is the worst business partner to have in this ever changing world. She was fantastic in her performance and truly was the most untrustworthy character I've ever seen in Star Wars history. Now the award for the creepiest character I have ever experienced in Star Wars, goes to the outstanding Jimmi Simpson as the Imperial Doctor Royce Hemlock. His presence was so shrouded in secrecy and darkness and you truly get see the evil experimentation side of the Empire through his workshop of horrors. He just oozes villainy in his voice and how he carries himself in every scene. I'm half convinced that he's not even human. He is definitely become one of my new favorite villains.
The amazing Kevin Kiner returns to grace us with his magnificent score. It is epic in the best way and very much influenced by the grand maestro John Williams in so many ways. Even listening to it now as I type this review, I can visualize the scenes. The best scored episodes of this season for me are "The Outpost" and the season finale "Plan 99". The range of emotions throughout those stunning episodes were expertly scored by this man. Visually this season was on par with the last season, but had more of an exotic look to it in the first half and a more grey smoky look to it in the second half. The dichotomy between the hopeful outlook and the dark and dreary future was astounding to see in animation. Once again this show has surprised me on how great the storytelling is with a group that I didn't know I would care about this much. It was great to see the turmoil of the clones and the politicians fighting for their rights. I still feel that the show needs to be more focused on the main plot and not deviate so much into the adventure of the week since we're getting close to that point where the Empire takes over everything. This was a great season in the end and I cannot wait to see what happens to the rest of The Bad Batch in the next season and how they recover from the events of the finale. Let me know what you thought of this season or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
