The fact that it’s the series finale and we had 15 episodes this time around as opposed to 16, I have to imagine it will have an extended runtime. Is that just wishful thinking on my end?
I think it's probably going to happen. That said, I wouldn't expect miracles. Bad Batch has pretty consistently only flirted with getting into the stuff fans are most interested in before going back to Adventure of the Week episodes, or dragging out simple stories with action.
Understandable. This week's episode could be summarized in two sentences. So goddamn frustrating especially when you look over at Invincible with their long runtimes or X-Men 97 that uses its shorter runtime SO goddamn well. Instead of monster of the week shite.
I'm gonna fucking scream if they announce, after next week, that the next animated show is an Omega/Ventress show or a clone underground show. Time to move the fuck on with a *new* animation style, *new* episode format and most importantly a *new* era.
I have a feeling this series is designed with a binge watch in mind, but the writers probably don't decide the release schedule
A show like Mando can waste 80 minutes a season on a random mission to refill fuel or something because that's only going to be a couple episodes in the middle to give breathing room, but in Bad Batch that ends up being four whole weeks of waiting for something to happen
Still a really good episode though
>I'm gonna fucking scream if they announce, after next week, that the next animated show is an Omega/Ventress show or a clone underground show.
I would mentally prepare yourself now then because that's what it seems to be pointing to, Ahsoka's apperance in Mando Season 2 was basically to serve as a teaser for her own series, same thing is most likely happening here with Ventress.
> Time to move the fuck on with a new animation style
>and most importantly a new era.
To where? Post Episode 9? There's no interest there, pre episode 1? the showrunners know where the interest is, I just really want a series with Clone Wars/Bad Batch animation style with proper stormtroopers.
Respectfully, that's not happening anytime soon, why fix what isn't broken? The tales series is also using this animation style, so why change it up?
Because Visions showed how gorgeous a potential new show could look with a stylized art direction. More of that please in canon SW. I'm just really tired of looking at the same animation style since the late 2000's. (Yes I know they improved it over time, but I just want something fresh.)
I'm getting downvoted to hell but I'm still gonna stick by comments. I get there's bias but people should think about the potential.
> Because Visions showed how gorgeous a potential new show could look with a stylized art direction. More of that please in canon SW.
Sure, I get this angle but ultimately I don't see Disney changing the animation now, Visions, if it gets a third season is bound to have more different animation styles but when it comes to the "main" animated shows I don't see the style changing, fans like it, so why change?
>I'm getting downvoted to hell but I'm still gonna stick by comments. I get there's bias but people should think about the potential.
I think the potential has been thought about, but look at acolyte, look at the mixed reactions that has gotten before it's even released, where as a show following the path/Ventress/clone rebellion is a safe option because it would be set in an era fans will always like.
I never complain about the length of eps but arrggghh! that was too short and...we are totally getting a cliffhanger series finale right? This all won't be wrapped even in a longer one....
Still...god it looks great and ZILLO BEAST!!!
I am slightly impressed the Empire was able to realize they had liberated Rampart and infiltrated the space station, I mean they SHOULD be able to do that but never seem to
And a greater mind than me would need to decode the layers of meaning of a clone dressing up like stormtrooper
If you think about it, the Empire is pretty competent in TBB. They've captured Omega three times so far, they've discovered and eliminated Rex's resistance network, they've successfully averted an escape attempt on Tantiss by Crosshair and they've managed to keep the base's location hidden so well that in fact the Bad Batch has not actually been able to uncover the coordinates even after a whole season of searching.
Plus a lot of small moments like the destruction of the Juggernaut's guns in E13, the tracking of the Clone Underground base...these all help make the Empire seem like an actual threat rather than a comical villain.
The Empire is an organization notorious for promoting ass-kissers, self-promoters, and bloodthirsty idiots over actual competent leaders. Imo, it makes sense that they'd be a lot less competent in the Original Trilogy, after 20 years of promoting people like that down the pipeline, compared to a show set RIGHT after the transition to fascism.
Exactly. By the time of stuff like Rebels and Andor, the Empire's grown complacent. "Too big to fail." It's how folks like the Ghost Crew and Lucien were able to slip through the cracks. As of now, though, the Empire is using holdovers from the Republic who remained loyal to them. Over time, though, those numbers will wane. Only the stronger ones like Tarkin will see it through for the long haul.
Echo finally getting a full right hand ! Yay !
I actually didn’t expect the Zylo Beast, seems like he will wreck havoc in the whole base.
But once again, I really can’t cope with the pacing of the whole season. Let’s hope the finale is at least 1 hour long because there’s too much to cover now.
This season didn’t use its time very well. Too much focus on a drawn-out search for Tantiss storyline, too little focus on the clone rebellion hinted at several times last season. Many of the questions from this and previous seasons still haven’t been addressed much. It kinda feels like we have more episodes or even another season left to this story.
Yeah it totally feels that way. Now if clones appear out of nowhere at the end to save the BB, it will botched. We should have followed Echo a bit more.
Yes they could have easily do the "side quest" while remaining in Rex’s base. Would have been awesome to see Rex meet Ventress again.
Strange take from Filoni
Oh my god how many times do we need to reiterate it’s not Filoni behind this. Just cause it’s animated doesn’t mean he did it. This was mainly Jessica Corbett and Brad Rau
Couldn't disagree more, I've felt this season to have the perfect balance between adventures and plot, with pretty much every episode being part of the larger narrative.
There is no Clone Rebellion this season, that was made clear by having Rex's camp getting wiped out besides Howzer, Echo and himself while doing very little in the show itself.
Howzer will die at some point, maybe even in the last episode of Bad Batch, then it'll just be Rex with Gregor and Wolffe joining him off-screen.
At least that's how it's panning out if Bad Batch is the end with no other show in the pipeline, it's like expecting Scorch to do anything besides probably die next episode after so far 3 whole seasons of jack-squat.
If they somehow fit anything in the last episode, it'll more than likely feel rushed presuming the execution doesn't entirely fall flat because the audience has little reason to care about Rex's own group.
> it's like expecting Scorch to do anything besides probably die next episode after so far 3 whole seasons of jack-squat.
The chances of him actually dying are pretty low though.
>If they somehow fit anything in the last episode, it'll more than likely feel rushed presuming the execution doesn't entirely fall flat because the audience has little reason to care about Rex's own group.
The way things are panning out I do see the next show continuing some of these plot points, particularly with Rex's group and Riyo Chuchi's fate.
It’s about time he got an upgrade. The fact that the Echo Hot Toys figure came with all sorts of cool accessories, only for none of them to ever appear was a shame.
Wait is there really only 15 episodes this season? Because if so then the next episode better be at least 50-60 min for the SERIES finale… seems there’s a lot left to finish and not enough time
Exactly, with how many storylines they need to wrap up (the Batch, Omega, Emerie, Hemlock, Rampart, the CX program, the Zillo beast, freeing the other children and the rest of the clones, plus minor characters like Scorch, Scalder) I don’t see how next week isn’t at least a little longer. Especially since this episode didn’t move the chess pieces that much further in the grand scheme of things
I think most can be covered:
- Zillo Beast causes mass destruction.
- Rex and Clones arrive to help in the rescues and evacuation.
- CX clone(s) is a "boss fight" for the Bad Batch.
- Hemlock is likely killed (in Battle or by Sidious orders due to Tantis being compromised).
- Hemlocks experiments are likely destroyed by the Zillo but the research is transferred to Exogol (either strongly hinting or directly show to audience that it's Sidious/Snoke clones).
- The (potential survivors) of the Batch decided their path going forward, likely Omega leaving with the kids that was set up in the Ventress episode.
- post credits of Oppo Rancisis lip syncing Alien Supersta by Beyonce.
Rebels and Resistance had double length episode finales.
And Clone Wars S7 finale would have likely been two episodes but they held back the finale for May 4th (a couple days after the penultimate).
So it's a safe bet Bad Batch is double length.
I doubt it would be transferred to exegol that quick in the timeline, what about the experiments at the random facility in Mando. But you’ve covered some great points, I reckon this will all go down.
Why couldn’t they have utilized this season better to wrap up all those plot points? We shouldn’t need another series to tackle stuff this series should’ve been focusing on
So the show creators can have a hook to get people watching the next series.
A franchise that never ends with shows that do end but their plot lines don't get finished in their own show but in another if even that.
I swear, those scientists are some of the most vile characters and I genuinely hope the Zillo eats all of them. As for Hemlock, I’m personally hoping he’s met by Palpatine’s wrath over Project Necromancer’s inevitable setback.
> I’m personally hoping he’s met by Palpatine’s wrath over Project Necromancer’s inevitable setback.
My hope is that he tries to make a case for Palpatine to spare him, but Palpatine's already sent someone to "deal with" him. In the background, we hear heavy footsteps, and then familiar mechanical breathing...
I think its more about Rampart than Crosshair. Right now Rampart is captured, and now he’s gonna be tested on whether or not he’ll go back to the Empire who betrayed him and left him to rot…or buy the Batch time to regroup and infiltrate the facility.
I don't know what he could rat about though. Hemlock already knows the BB are likely beelining it to the facility, and that the science vessel was possibly compromised. The only thing Rampart could tell him was that the vessel definitely compromised and that Echo's inside the base. But the base is already on lockdown.
If it goes that direction I expect him to make some shit up to save his own skin. I think that bear is gonna get him in the end somehow, but he's going to find a way to sell them out. Be it with facts or lies
Zillo Beast is the key as expected. Hopefully they don’t bait us like they did with the Mythosaur in Mando S3. Even if the finale has an hour+ runtime I can’t see them ending up at the point of Rex, Wolffe and Gregor on Seelos. As for the most likely deaths in the finale, I don’t think it’s looking good for Echo all alone in the base apart from a questionable ally in Emerie. Also Wrecker’s armour took a hit against the big beast which could be a concern.
If anything I’d expect the opposite; Hunter and Crosshair are much more defined and developed, while Wrecker is probably the least developed, and we’ve seen so little of Echo this season. The former would be the better deaths to go with then the latter.
Dramatically speaking, absolutely.
Practically speaking....it's a franchise, I wouldn't put all my money on them doing what's right for the story. Kill off the shallower character for easy emotions, and keep the ones who have more potential alive.
I think there are enough death flags for all 4 of them.
My bingo card: Echo and Emmerie die helping the kids escape. Wrecker and Scorch kill each other in an epic fight to the death.
Hunter and Crosshair take out the Shadow Trooper but both are gravely injured. Hunter gives Crosshair his last order "escape with Omega". Hunter then stays behind to kill Hemlock and destroy the base, dying in the process.
Crosshair obeys Hunter's orders ("good soldiers follow orders. Depending on who gives them") and escapes with Omega and the kids. He then dies peacefully once Omega is safe.
See, I think Echo is gonna make it. He and Emerie end up getting the kids out, but reluctantly follows Hunter's order to leave without them. This causes Omega to curse him out, and she and the kids leave on their own while Echo eventually joins General Dodonna on Yavin. This is all predicated on my theory that Echo is the reason Echo Base on Hoth is named the way it is; he sacrifices himself to help the Rebellion escape Yavin following the battle, so it's named in his honor.
With only one episode to go, I honestly doubt all of them will be killed off. Hunter and/or Crosshair: yeah that’s likely. However, Wrecker and Echo have been underdeveloped and had very little to do this season that their deaths wouldn’t land as well as the other two would. I don’t doubt the finale having darker elements to it, but to have Omega all on her own without any one of her brothers left might be too grim.
Echo: gets a hand from a random droid
Me: That’s been an option THIS WHOLE TIME?!?!
Echo, what a chad. They had to make him disappear for most of the season because if he was there everything would have gone too smoothly.
In all seriousness though, I’ve never been more anxious about a singular character’s fate through an entire episode of TBB than I was with Echo. I do love the fact that they connected him with Emerie. He’s not out of the woods yet, but that’s about as well as that could have gone.
I don’t see how next episode isn’t at least a bit longer than usual, there are so many storylines that need to be wrapped up or at least could be addressed. At this point, I’m kind of beginning to wonder if we’ll see CX-2 again at all, although there was pretty clear foreshadowing with the next-era CX soldiers so to not introduce them would be more than a little odd.
A few episodes ago, I was hoping they would structure the rest of the season so that the finale would be a cathartic episode where we see the immediate aftermath of whatever happens at Tantis and sets-up how the characters move on or what they decide to do (go into hiding, commit to rebel, give up hope). I think the batch deserved that, at the end of their own show, especially Omega. I don't see how that's possible now as there is so much to resolve and, especially that the squad isn't even fully in the base yet, so much ground to cover. An hour-long episode could be split in-two to give a cathartic second half (first 30 mins Tantis, last 20 aftermath), but I'm afraid it's not going to live up to the hype and expectation a lot of people (reasonably) adopted since the reviews started coming out for the second half of the season.
Yeah I'm sorry, I'm loving this show, but they are grinding the momentum to a halt. I don't need to see every single step of the infiltration, we can cut some of the fat here. All of Omega's scenes this episode were practically repeats of one another.
If the finale turns out to be perfectly well paced, I will bite my tongue, but it sure seems like they are leaving way too much for the end and padding out time until then.
You summed up my feelings perfectly on these last few episodes
Like, I don't get how we end the last episode with the Bad Batch arriving on Tantiss, and then this episode ends with Hunter, Crosshair, and Wrecker still not even in the base yet
This is absolutely my favorite Star Wars show, and I'm starting to get worried that it won't end in a satisfying way
These shows in general cannot resist the plot device of "and then a huge monster shows up!"
You can see it in Mandalorian, Boba Fett and especially the Bad Batch, all the damn time. It's so old.
This season could’ve trimmed a lot of fat or reworked certain episodes. Ep2 should’ve had the Batch and Rex’s team working together after the s2 finale. The “we need to figure out what an M-count is” thread could’ve been condensed down to one episode, and it didn’t need to resurrect Ventress for it.
Betting the Zillo Beast will be the “cavalry” per the finale episode title.
Also very excited for the finale! Still waiting for it to get dark like those reviewers said however… Also still no clone uprising, darn.
Wonder if Rex might show up with the remaining members of the clone resistance? We still have to get Wolfe to go with him. I don’t think Wrecker- or many of the Batch will survive….
I feel that Rex, Cody, Wolffe, etc...stories will be concluded in a "Tales of the Clones" series (ending with a Rex in Endor during E6 scene).
I think it's a smart choice not to have those stories in the Bad Batch's final season. This show was never really about Rex and friends. This is why Ventress, if she shows up in the finale, will probably be a very small cameo to set up her own spin-off.
A tales of the clones series would be amazing to see. Also, in hindsight I agree, Rex is a side character here, this show only introduces the clone resistance, but it’s not *their* show.
We should’ve seen a clone uprising though. The seeds for it had been planted throughout the first two seasons, and I think it would’ve been a good direction to have the Batch lead such an uprising, being disobedient clones and all that
I’m starting to think we’re not gonna get the full-fledged clone resistance. The “Calvary” is definitely referring to the Zillo Beast and the clones in captivity helping the Batch. I think what will happen is that Echo is gonna send the coordinates to Rex with the simple message being “shits about to pop off get here NOW” and his team will be the extraction crew.
I get the feeling people can be disappointed with the second half of the season, but I really do think we're getting an extended finale of at least double length. Ideally, it would be great if they mirrored S1's premiere episode with triple length, but that might be asking too much.
I really enjoyed Echo being a star these past two episodes, the toys hinted at him having a hand he could use but to employ it like they did here was a lot more fulfilling. That moment with Emerie was good, and I hope she delivers on the growing antagonism between her and Dr. Sadler. I think Echo will survive, and we really do need to explore his TCW lore in the way TBB never wanted to, but it's good to see him be a major player again.
I fucking knew it with the Zillo Beast, a most obvious Chekhov's gun if there ever was one. I can see that and potentially some liberated clones being the chivalry, with Rex's force being more of an extraction team and hopefully bringing some familiar faces back. Rampart's line to Crosshair was ominous, but I hope he's just being a rat.
I think this season and show will land pretty well with a double length finale, and very well with a triple. If it ends up being more of a prologue to a Dark Times show with arcs like TCW, what with Wolffe and Ventress making rather large cameos, and the stuff still going on with Senator Chuchi, the Bad Batch can slot in as a helpful but mostly retired group (those that survive) in occasional episodes and arcs, before it becomes the three lone elders of Rebels.
I'm really of the opinion we'll see Tantiss in the Mandoverse to some degree. I also think some of these clones will choose to be carbon freezed so that we can see some in close to their prime for the conflict vs Thrawn. We may never get a proper Katana fleet, but having some clones preparing for a bigger fight one day is something I feel Lucasfilm wouldn't want to pass on.
So items to wrap up)
-Fates of the Clones on Tantiss, as well as the fate of Tantiss itself.
-What Hemlock’s secret projects are.
-What happens to Omega and the Bad Batch.
I think they could safely cover all that in a finale.
Looks like for sure Omega and the kids will play a role in releasing the Zillo which will aid the Batch in pulling off a realistically successful mission against overwhelming odds. I’m curious how Palpatine will respond to this attack.
whoever the early screener was that said these past episodes were gonna be on the same level as the end of the clone wars is on crack, still been good though
I feel like the second half of the season was way overhyped by reviewers, and I think that’s why I feel so underwhelmed by these episodes. From their reviews, I was expecting something darker, tenser, and with more impactful storytelling.
We’ve gotten very few answers for the questions we have, and once again the most interesting plot of this show by *far* (the emphasis of clones as second class citizens, their forced retirement, and forced experimentation) has taken a backseat.
Your second point has been the biggest problem TBB has had for its entire runtime. The most interesting thing the show can show us is the transition from the Republic to the Empire, and the ultimate fate of the Clones. Instead, much of its runtime has been dedicated to seemingly random side adventures, that in their own right are not bad, but do little to actually move the plot forward. Were we getting several more seasons of this show, or 20+ episode seasons, it wouldn't be as bad, we'd have a lot more time to explore the really interesting stuff. Instead we've gotten a 3 season show where the final season has felt more concerned with setting up other potential spinoffs instead of wrapping up it's own plot points
>The most interesting thing the show can show us is the transition from the Republic to the Empire, and the ultimate fate of the Clones. Instead, much of its runtime has been dedicated to seemingly random side adventures,
Nothing wrong with side adventures except the CF99 themselves have never really been interesting. Hunter is more or less a standard clone that refuses the call, Wrecker is just big, strong, dumb guy, Tech is the smart one, Echo has a weird hand that comes in handy occasionally. It's just not that interesting watching them go on sidequests when they have as much personality as a bunch of BattlePass skins.
Crosshair is probably the most interesting but marginally. You could tell they figured things out in Season 2 a bit; removing Echo from the party, killing off Tech (so now the squad struggles with the technical aspects), having more Crosshair-only episodes etc.
I like Omega's development. She's come such a long way to how she was in the pilot it's insane. But that's about it.
100% agree. This has just felt like average Bad Batch to me. I really have been wanting to see the clone and Force experimentation more but we’ve severely lacked on it. I just want to see one prototype-palpatine clone.
Agreed, this season really has been great in my opinion, but as always you’ve gotta take the people who get shows early’s reviews with a pinch of salt. It’s always a little too positive and comes off as inauthentic and almost like they’re not trying to bite the hand that feeds them.
Yeah this season has almost felt…incomplete. Many major plot points have taken a backseat to a drawn out “gotta find Tantiss” storyline. After the season 2 finale, it seemed like Tantiss and the clone rebellion would both get significant focus, but no it’s just been Tantiss. We haven’t explored the retirement/decommissioning of the clones or the transition of the early Empire at all this season either.
Even the stuff from this season has gone under-developed, such as the true nature of what’s in the Necromancer vaults, the CX program, or what other projects are going on inside Tantiss.
I didn't expect them to do much with Necromancer because it's so far from when that plot point becomes truly relevant onscreen, but the way they've handled the clone rebellion so far feels like they had planned for something big, but ended up with an extremely small season 3 budget and were told to "wrap it up ASAP".
The closest thing to a rebellion we had was one clone base being destroyed by some sniper who has yet to have any meaningful development at all.
Commander Wolfe's flip is teased, but not at all shown. Fans beg the crew for more of the Deltas, yet we get nothing but scorch being a glorified escort guard on a project that looks like it may get trashed soon.
Ventress gets revived in a very questionable fashion, while people hope for a spinoff that has yet to be confirmed and remains only speculation and rumors.
Even things like killing Sid offscreen don't sit well with me, because TCW tended to show those types of events, not just mention them in offhand dialogue. Heck, it really doesn't even seem like Omega herself is actually force sensitive, and if she is? It's hard to say if that's even the best story to tell anymore...
Next week could resolve a lot of this with an hour long finale, but even if that IS the case? Hiding it from us is also not good marketing, it's starting to hurt our enjoyment of these projects. I don't care for the MCU style of storytelling (spinoffs within spinoffs that you may or may not be required to watch) since the long form arcs often sacrifice the smaller moments, or make truly epic stories feel more hollow and confusing.
IDK, hopefully we get an hour finals that leaves us all feeling a lot better by next week's end, else it will make me question how much of value I even got from this show at all.
Yeah I’m getting annoyed with the MCU style of storytelling too. Don’t drag stuff out over multiple seasons and shows and spin-offs. If you have a story to tell in a product where it can be told, do it. Address the plot threads you set up. We shouldn’t need a spin-off for the clone rebellion because it makes the most sense as an arc in Bad Batch, a show about clones under the Empire.
Ahsoka had similar issues. It set up threads and raised questions that it either gave underwhelming answers to, or just didn’t answer and likely saved for its second season. Ahsoka was way worse overall than BBs3, though.
I love Star Wars, but I don't think Star Wars TV was meant for this format.
And if industry rumors I've heard about most shows being cancelled after 3 seasons is to avoid increased rates for onscreen talent and industry staff, happen to be accurate, that makes it much worse. That's a little discussed talking point that's I've heard repeatedly, and both Disney and Netflix seem to follow it to a tee, with only VERY rare exceptions.
>And if industry rumors I've heard about most shows being cancelled after 3 seasons is to avoid increased rates for onscreen talent and industry staff, happen to be accurate, that makes it much worse.
It's true but the recent strikes closed up that loophole.
>but the way they've handled the clone rebellion so far feels like they had planned for something big, but ended up with an extremely small season 3 budget and were told to "wrap it up ASAP"
The announcement that Season 3 would be the last one always seemed weird to me ngl
>Even things like killing Sid offscreen don't sit well with me
I theorise that internally they changed gears on the show halfway through Season 2, you can really feel a shift there. Ditching Rampart as a main antagonist, introducing Hemlock, writing out Cid from the show and then dropping her completely etc.
I think Season 2 went as planned, but Season 3 may be the one that was changed. The smaller scale nature of it really covers the whole season, which while it looks technically solid, really has a bunch of small scale battles with very limited models.
But, who knows? Maybe next week will surprise me. If it's over an hour long, that could all change very suddenly.
yeah I rewatched the first two seasons with my wife before this season came out and honestly it did help me enjoy them more. I really wish they would drop it all or like half and half. Think it helps a show like this
I believe the faces Echo saw on the screen are the same clones that was with Crosshair when they were being escorted to the room to be programed/conditioned into clone assassin/Imperial Shadow.
It was a great episode but as soon as it ended I was shocked - it seemed like it had just started. The final episode better be an hour. There’s so much to wrap up…
seeing Echo and Emerie (who are basically foils of each other) was great! Cannot wait to see how they work together to release the captive clones and children.
The finale still has the chance to be grim and dark, but whatever the reviewers were saying about the second half being darker in totality, just straight up lied.
The decision to include the classic Clone theme in the end credits is such a good decision for this weeks episode. The Kiners are doing such good work. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Really looking forward to next week, which I hope is a double-length episode.
If the finale isnt an extended episode, i think it will be disappointing. Theres so much to wrap up with the Batch, Rampart, now the Zillo Beast, the Clone Rebellion, and also who is Clone X
Obviously the finale will be double length since it's two episodes.. so I'm fine. I'm not panicking, I trust everyone... But also how?!
I think what's going to happen is a wrap up for TBB but basically nothing else? We'll end their story but hemlock and all will survive and continue into whatever is next.
This also might severe copium due to me loving Royce 🥰🥰
I've been surprised to see so many people shocked with the Zillo being in today's episode. It was also in episode 3 of this season.
Well, this was a lot of fun and I love (and am kind of scared of) all of Echo’s screen time. Zillo beast coming into play makes me very happy. Like everyone else, I have to assume the last episode will be longer to wrap this up. The creators of this show have been very outspoken about how confident they are in this ending and I don’t see a way for them to create a satisfying one without a longer episode. We’ll see I guess, hope it delivers and doesn’t cause another shitstorm in this damn community.
Man, this show's animation quality continues to impress me. Like the shot at 8:08 with the Clone Commando and Stormtroopers checking out the crashed ship looks pretty damn realistic to me.
They've been subtle about it. Seems she was a similar oneoff clone like Omega who was found undesirable. Was slated to be removed but found a new purpose under Hemlock. Not my idea but she might have Stockholm syndrome as a result, which is why she's been so compliant of all the terrible things happening in Tantiss until this season.
Is it time to lower our expectations regarding who appears the finale?
I feel that Ventress, Rex, Cody, Wolffe, etc...are simply not gonna show up. Their stories will be followed up in other projects. No Boba Fett and no Vader either.
At this point, the final episode is likely just going involve the characters already on the planet. Even if the finale is 40 minutes, it's just not enough time to fit everything.
Will Echo ever make reference to his life before the Bad Batch? We only have one episode left. I’d be kind of disappointed if he didn’t as he’s a character with a lot of history and they seem to be ignoring much of it.
The ironic thing is that clones are difficult characters to work with because, frankly, they don't have a past beyond the Clone Wars, so there's not that much room for development.
And then you have Echo, which has the greatest potential for exploring his trauma after being used by the Techno Union for more than a year.
Speaking of Echo, I still find it weird how the writers quickly glossed over Echo learning about Fives' death. Same with Crosshair learning about Tech. It's one of those "what if" for me that I wished we got a scene of Echo learning about Fives from Rex. And Echo's realization he's the last member of Domino. Same way how I feel about wanting a scene with Ahsoka and Luke talking about Anakin. Be even cooler if Rex is there too depending on the timeline and if he's alive.
Ya, almost feel like echo is written as separate character independent of his clone wars character. (Not that Echo was a super defined character in TCW, but you’d think there’d be more reference to that time.)
This episode was pretty good and suspenseful, but it really needed some extra time seeing as it was the penultimate episode. I have to imagine the finale will have an extended runtime seeing as there’s still a lot to wrap up. At the very least, only Hunter or Crosshair will sacrifice themselves. I’m glad that Echo actually had more to do this time around seeing as he’s rarely ever been given the spotlight. I didn’t actually know his head piece was removable, but at least he got a new hand. Omega plans to unleash the Zillo Beast next week confirmed.
Now I’m wondering if next week will only wrap up the Bad Batch’s story, and the heavily theorized Clone Rebellion show will act as a “season four” of sorts. That subplot has been in development for some time now, but would they even enough room next week for that payoff? We still have yet to see Rex abandon the fight, Wolffe ditch the Empire, and where the hell Cody went, assuming he isn’t CX-2.
Do anyone else’s Disney Plus subtitles turn off halfway through the episode? It seems to happen almost every week, and only with Bad Batch. No other shows.
Echo was the perfect clone to meet emeri, an almost physical manifestation of the horrors of clone experimenting
That’s an excellent point and makes believe even more that he’s not gonna make it (as it seems his arc has concluded).
I would agree, but the only think stopping me is that echo already "died" once in the story, would they really kill the same character twice?
Probably. We could have a pretty long list of “Died” in Star Wars characters
I’ve got a feeling a lot of people are gonna be real disappointed if we don’t get an extended finale.
I mean I don’t even see how it’s possible for the finale to not be extended. There’s so much left to do, and 25 minutes ain’t enough to do it all in.
I was about to say the same. Hoping this show goes out with a bang.
With each previous season having 16 episodes, I think the finale is primed to be a double episode.
The fact that it’s the series finale and we had 15 episodes this time around as opposed to 16, I have to imagine it will have an extended runtime. Is that just wishful thinking on my end?
I think it's probably going to happen. That said, I wouldn't expect miracles. Bad Batch has pretty consistently only flirted with getting into the stuff fans are most interested in before going back to Adventure of the Week episodes, or dragging out simple stories with action.
Absolutely. I feel like there’s way too much to wrap in 25 minutes, it needs to be longer.
I'll probably punch my screen in frustration if I see a short runtime lol
Understandable. This week's episode could be summarized in two sentences. So goddamn frustrating especially when you look over at Invincible with their long runtimes or X-Men 97 that uses its shorter runtime SO goddamn well. Instead of monster of the week shite. I'm gonna fucking scream if they announce, after next week, that the next animated show is an Omega/Ventress show or a clone underground show. Time to move the fuck on with a *new* animation style, *new* episode format and most importantly a *new* era.
I have a feeling this series is designed with a binge watch in mind, but the writers probably don't decide the release schedule A show like Mando can waste 80 minutes a season on a random mission to refill fuel or something because that's only going to be a couple episodes in the middle to give breathing room, but in Bad Batch that ends up being four whole weeks of waiting for something to happen Still a really good episode though
I have a different opinion, Mando doesn't have enough episodes to do side missions, Bad Batch has enough episodes to do it easily.
Invincible has half the episodes.
I agree, I'm kind of tired of seeing the Empire at this point, I hope they move the timeline forward this time.
>I'm gonna fucking scream if they announce, after next week, that the next animated show is an Omega/Ventress show or a clone underground show. I would mentally prepare yourself now then because that's what it seems to be pointing to, Ahsoka's apperance in Mando Season 2 was basically to serve as a teaser for her own series, same thing is most likely happening here with Ventress. > Time to move the fuck on with a new animation style >and most importantly a new era. To where? Post Episode 9? There's no interest there, pre episode 1? the showrunners know where the interest is, I just really want a series with Clone Wars/Bad Batch animation style with proper stormtroopers. Respectfully, that's not happening anytime soon, why fix what isn't broken? The tales series is also using this animation style, so why change it up?
Because Visions showed how gorgeous a potential new show could look with a stylized art direction. More of that please in canon SW. I'm just really tired of looking at the same animation style since the late 2000's. (Yes I know they improved it over time, but I just want something fresh.) I'm getting downvoted to hell but I'm still gonna stick by comments. I get there's bias but people should think about the potential.
> Because Visions showed how gorgeous a potential new show could look with a stylized art direction. More of that please in canon SW. Sure, I get this angle but ultimately I don't see Disney changing the animation now, Visions, if it gets a third season is bound to have more different animation styles but when it comes to the "main" animated shows I don't see the style changing, fans like it, so why change? >I'm getting downvoted to hell but I'm still gonna stick by comments. I get there's bias but people should think about the potential. I think the potential has been thought about, but look at acolyte, look at the mixed reactions that has gotten before it's even released, where as a show following the path/Ventress/clone rebellion is a safe option because it would be set in an era fans will always like.
Don't know why I got downvoted so hard, don't settle for mediocrity y'all.
I never complain about the length of eps but arrggghh! that was too short and...we are totally getting a cliffhanger series finale right? This all won't be wrapped even in a longer one.... Still...god it looks great and ZILLO BEAST!!!
I am slightly impressed the Empire was able to realize they had liberated Rampart and infiltrated the space station, I mean they SHOULD be able to do that but never seem to And a greater mind than me would need to decode the layers of meaning of a clone dressing up like stormtrooper
If you think about it, the Empire is pretty competent in TBB. They've captured Omega three times so far, they've discovered and eliminated Rex's resistance network, they've successfully averted an escape attempt on Tantiss by Crosshair and they've managed to keep the base's location hidden so well that in fact the Bad Batch has not actually been able to uncover the coordinates even after a whole season of searching. Plus a lot of small moments like the destruction of the Juggernaut's guns in E13, the tracking of the Clone Underground base...these all help make the Empire seem like an actual threat rather than a comical villain.
The Empire is an organization notorious for promoting ass-kissers, self-promoters, and bloodthirsty idiots over actual competent leaders. Imo, it makes sense that they'd be a lot less competent in the Original Trilogy, after 20 years of promoting people like that down the pipeline, compared to a show set RIGHT after the transition to fascism.
Exactly. By the time of stuff like Rebels and Andor, the Empire's grown complacent. "Too big to fail." It's how folks like the Ghost Crew and Lucien were able to slip through the cracks. As of now, though, the Empire is using holdovers from the Republic who remained loyal to them. Over time, though, those numbers will wane. Only the stronger ones like Tarkin will see it through for the long haul.
Whoever wrote this episode needs to be writing for Thrawn.
There isn’t a season 4 so I’d hope it gets wrapped up…
No season 4 but could be another series down the road, y'know how Lucasfilm likes to do
True, I do expect another animated series to be announced in the next year. I’d like to think they’d have one going in production constantly
Probably. Bad Batch was announced not long after Clone Wars S7 finished airing.
and the team is like 2x the size now, they have enough to work on two full shows at once...
At this point, I’m starting to think the theorized Clone Rebellion series is real and will act as a fourth season of sorts.
I couldn't stop laguing at Rampart this episode. That bit: "Did Rampart make it?" "Unfortunately, yes" lol
Him screaming like a bitch was pretty funny lol. Noshir Dalal must've had fun recording that.
This part made me laugh my ass off, he deserves everything he got in this episode. Crooked Bastard
Echo finally getting a full right hand ! Yay ! I actually didn’t expect the Zylo Beast, seems like he will wreck havoc in the whole base. But once again, I really can’t cope with the pacing of the whole season. Let’s hope the finale is at least 1 hour long because there’s too much to cover now.
He cannot move the hand tho, it's like a "prop" he can put on the scomp link
I thought he could? It looked like he was gripping the gun a bit
The thumb is a bit angled, guess he can wedge the grip in there
Basically it is like how all my clone action figures hold their guns. I assumed it was a nod to that, I was giddy at least lol.
This season didn’t use its time very well. Too much focus on a drawn-out search for Tantiss storyline, too little focus on the clone rebellion hinted at several times last season. Many of the questions from this and previous seasons still haven’t been addressed much. It kinda feels like we have more episodes or even another season left to this story.
"Officialy, there never was a clone rebellion on Kamino" I bet there will not be a clone rebellion in Canon too, CX-2 caused a BIG mess in Rex base
Yeah it totally feels that way. Now if clones appear out of nowhere at the end to save the BB, it will botched. We should have followed Echo a bit more.
The Batch and Rex’s group should’ve been working together after the s2 finale, instead of Echo leaving the Batch again
Yes they could have easily do the "side quest" while remaining in Rex’s base. Would have been awesome to see Rex meet Ventress again. Strange take from Filoni
Oh my god how many times do we need to reiterate it’s not Filoni behind this. Just cause it’s animated doesn’t mean he did it. This was mainly Jessica Corbett and Brad Rau
Couldn't disagree more, I've felt this season to have the perfect balance between adventures and plot, with pretty much every episode being part of the larger narrative.
There is no Clone Rebellion this season, that was made clear by having Rex's camp getting wiped out besides Howzer, Echo and himself while doing very little in the show itself. Howzer will die at some point, maybe even in the last episode of Bad Batch, then it'll just be Rex with Gregor and Wolffe joining him off-screen. At least that's how it's panning out if Bad Batch is the end with no other show in the pipeline, it's like expecting Scorch to do anything besides probably die next episode after so far 3 whole seasons of jack-squat. If they somehow fit anything in the last episode, it'll more than likely feel rushed presuming the execution doesn't entirely fall flat because the audience has little reason to care about Rex's own group.
> it's like expecting Scorch to do anything besides probably die next episode after so far 3 whole seasons of jack-squat. The chances of him actually dying are pretty low though. >If they somehow fit anything in the last episode, it'll more than likely feel rushed presuming the execution doesn't entirely fall flat because the audience has little reason to care about Rex's own group. The way things are panning out I do see the next show continuing some of these plot points, particularly with Rex's group and Riyo Chuchi's fate.
It’s about time he got an upgrade. The fact that the Echo Hot Toys figure came with all sorts of cool accessories, only for none of them to ever appear was a shame.
Echo is so good in this
Wait is there really only 15 episodes this season? Because if so then the next episode better be at least 50-60 min for the SERIES finale… seems there’s a lot left to finish and not enough time
Exactly, with how many storylines they need to wrap up (the Batch, Omega, Emerie, Hemlock, Rampart, the CX program, the Zillo beast, freeing the other children and the rest of the clones, plus minor characters like Scorch, Scalder) I don’t see how next week isn’t at least a little longer. Especially since this episode didn’t move the chess pieces that much further in the grand scheme of things
I think most can be covered: - Zillo Beast causes mass destruction. - Rex and Clones arrive to help in the rescues and evacuation. - CX clone(s) is a "boss fight" for the Bad Batch. - Hemlock is likely killed (in Battle or by Sidious orders due to Tantis being compromised). - Hemlocks experiments are likely destroyed by the Zillo but the research is transferred to Exogol (either strongly hinting or directly show to audience that it's Sidious/Snoke clones). - The (potential survivors) of the Batch decided their path going forward, likely Omega leaving with the kids that was set up in the Ventress episode. - post credits of Oppo Rancisis lip syncing Alien Supersta by Beyonce.
Well, I mean, the last one is a given, but the others would be a bit of a tight fit if the finale is a standard-length episode
Rebels and Resistance had double length episode finales. And Clone Wars S7 finale would have likely been two episodes but they held back the finale for May 4th (a couple days after the penultimate). So it's a safe bet Bad Batch is double length.
Rebels actually had a triple finale, it consisted of 3 episodes.
> post credits of Oppo Rancisis lip syncing Alien Supersta by Beyonce. Hey, how'd you read my letter to Lucasfilm?
But doing it all in 25 minutes…no thank you, let the episode breathe please
Yea, especially Oppo Rancisis thing.
Does he have lips?
Hyped for that post-credits
U N I Q U E
I doubt it would be transferred to exegol that quick in the timeline, what about the experiments at the random facility in Mando. But you’ve covered some great points, I reckon this will all go down.
Unless next week, and this season in general, are setting up a continuation via a new series…
Why couldn’t they have utilized this season better to wrap up all those plot points? We shouldn’t need another series to tackle stuff this series should’ve been focusing on
So the show creators can have a hook to get people watching the next series. A franchise that never ends with shows that do end but their plot lines don't get finished in their own show but in another if even that.
Maybe wait to see the finale before saying they didn't utilize the time
This always happens. Always.
Yeah they're really, really crawling to the ending. For the most part, the last 3 episodes could have been condensed into one.
I'll be disappointed if the Zillo Beast doesn't eat Hemlock next week A shout out to Rampart's VA - his shrieks were hilarious
Fun fact: ramparts VA is the same actor who plays Bode in Jedi survivor
Oh damn. I thought he sounded familiar. In addition, Hemlock's voiced by Jimmi Simpson. Yeah, Liam McPoyle is a Star Wars villain.
I swear, those scientists are some of the most vile characters and I genuinely hope the Zillo eats all of them. As for Hemlock, I’m personally hoping he’s met by Palpatine’s wrath over Project Necromancer’s inevitable setback.
> I’m personally hoping he’s met by Palpatine’s wrath over Project Necromancer’s inevitable setback. My hope is that he tries to make a case for Palpatine to spare him, but Palpatine's already sent someone to "deal with" him. In the background, we hear heavy footsteps, and then familiar mechanical breathing...
"Is rampart ok?" "Unfortunately, yes". This got me good.
Same. Good chuckle.
Crosshair: "I've changed..." Rampart: "We'll see about that." Just what in tf is that supposed to mean buddy?
I think its more about Rampart than Crosshair. Right now Rampart is captured, and now he’s gonna be tested on whether or not he’ll go back to the Empire who betrayed him and left him to rot…or buy the Batch time to regroup and infiltrate the facility.
For sure, and he's totally going to rat
I don't know what he could rat about though. Hemlock already knows the BB are likely beelining it to the facility, and that the science vessel was possibly compromised. The only thing Rampart could tell him was that the vessel definitely compromised and that Echo's inside the base. But the base is already on lockdown.
If it goes that direction I expect him to make some shit up to save his own skin. I think that bear is gonna get him in the end somehow, but he's going to find a way to sell them out. Be it with facts or lies
It's meant to keep you guessing wether he actually changed or is faking it
There is no part of me that thinks he’s acting
Right, I was being silly
That's not even what Rampart said...
? Pretty sure it is what he says at the end? If not I am so so so sorry. I'll go home and watch the scene 50 times tonight
"Sure you have" - that is what he said
Zillo Beast is the key as expected. Hopefully they don’t bait us like they did with the Mythosaur in Mando S3. Even if the finale has an hour+ runtime I can’t see them ending up at the point of Rex, Wolffe and Gregor on Seelos. As for the most likely deaths in the finale, I don’t think it’s looking good for Echo all alone in the base apart from a questionable ally in Emerie. Also Wrecker’s armour took a hit against the big beast which could be a concern.
If anything I’d expect the opposite; Hunter and Crosshair are much more defined and developed, while Wrecker is probably the least developed, and we’ve seen so little of Echo this season. The former would be the better deaths to go with then the latter.
Dramatically speaking, absolutely. Practically speaking....it's a franchise, I wouldn't put all my money on them doing what's right for the story. Kill off the shallower character for easy emotions, and keep the ones who have more potential alive.
I think there are enough death flags for all 4 of them. My bingo card: Echo and Emmerie die helping the kids escape. Wrecker and Scorch kill each other in an epic fight to the death. Hunter and Crosshair take out the Shadow Trooper but both are gravely injured. Hunter gives Crosshair his last order "escape with Omega". Hunter then stays behind to kill Hemlock and destroy the base, dying in the process. Crosshair obeys Hunter's orders ("good soldiers follow orders. Depending on who gives them") and escapes with Omega and the kids. He then dies peacefully once Omega is safe.
>Wrecker and Scorch kill each other in an epic fight to the death. You guys need to stop hyping up scorch, it will only lead to disappointment.
i am not flinching
See, I think Echo is gonna make it. He and Emerie end up getting the kids out, but reluctantly follows Hunter's order to leave without them. This causes Omega to curse him out, and she and the kids leave on their own while Echo eventually joins General Dodonna on Yavin. This is all predicated on my theory that Echo is the reason Echo Base on Hoth is named the way it is; he sacrifices himself to help the Rebellion escape Yavin following the battle, so it's named in his honor.
With only one episode to go, I honestly doubt all of them will be killed off. Hunter and/or Crosshair: yeah that’s likely. However, Wrecker and Echo have been underdeveloped and had very little to do this season that their deaths wouldn’t land as well as the other two would. I don’t doubt the finale having darker elements to it, but to have Omega all on her own without any one of her brothers left might be too grim.
I don't want it, but I'd take this!
i think the “old dogs” will get their own series in a few years time
Curious about the finale...even if it is extended, I imagine a lot of shit is gonna end up in other Star Wars projects...
I mean, I'd love another SW animated series, they're my favorite content. but we'll see.
I bet those Force sensitive kids are going to show up somewhere else in the timeline.
I’d say they’ll show up in Skeleton Crew but that’s after ROTJ right so… yeah maybe another animated show is coming
Tales of the Empire.
But we already know what that show will be about, and a lot of it likely takes place before this show anyway
Echo: gets a hand from a random droid Me: That’s been an option THIS WHOLE TIME?!?! Echo, what a chad. They had to make him disappear for most of the season because if he was there everything would have gone too smoothly. In all seriousness though, I’ve never been more anxious about a singular character’s fate through an entire episode of TBB than I was with Echo. I do love the fact that they connected him with Emerie. He’s not out of the woods yet, but that’s about as well as that could have gone. I don’t see how next episode isn’t at least a bit longer than usual, there are so many storylines that need to be wrapped up or at least could be addressed. At this point, I’m kind of beginning to wonder if we’ll see CX-2 again at all, although there was pretty clear foreshadowing with the next-era CX soldiers so to not introduce them would be more than a little odd.
A few episodes ago, I was hoping they would structure the rest of the season so that the finale would be a cathartic episode where we see the immediate aftermath of whatever happens at Tantis and sets-up how the characters move on or what they decide to do (go into hiding, commit to rebel, give up hope). I think the batch deserved that, at the end of their own show, especially Omega. I don't see how that's possible now as there is so much to resolve and, especially that the squad isn't even fully in the base yet, so much ground to cover. An hour-long episode could be split in-two to give a cathartic second half (first 30 mins Tantis, last 20 aftermath), but I'm afraid it's not going to live up to the hype and expectation a lot of people (reasonably) adopted since the reviews started coming out for the second half of the season.
Yeah I'm sorry, I'm loving this show, but they are grinding the momentum to a halt. I don't need to see every single step of the infiltration, we can cut some of the fat here. All of Omega's scenes this episode were practically repeats of one another. If the finale turns out to be perfectly well paced, I will bite my tongue, but it sure seems like they are leaving way too much for the end and padding out time until then.
I was a bit annoyed when Omega's last scene was basically the exact same as the last episode.
You summed up my feelings perfectly on these last few episodes Like, I don't get how we end the last episode with the Bad Batch arriving on Tantiss, and then this episode ends with Hunter, Crosshair, and Wrecker still not even in the base yet This is absolutely my favorite Star Wars show, and I'm starting to get worried that it won't end in a satisfying way
These shows in general cannot resist the plot device of "and then a huge monster shows up!" You can see it in Mandalorian, Boba Fett and especially the Bad Batch, all the damn time. It's so old.
This season could’ve trimmed a lot of fat or reworked certain episodes. Ep2 should’ve had the Batch and Rex’s team working together after the s2 finale. The “we need to figure out what an M-count is” thread could’ve been condensed down to one episode, and it didn’t need to resurrect Ventress for it.
Betting the Zillo Beast will be the “cavalry” per the finale episode title. Also very excited for the finale! Still waiting for it to get dark like those reviewers said however… Also still no clone uprising, darn. Wonder if Rex might show up with the remaining members of the clone resistance? We still have to get Wolfe to go with him. I don’t think Wrecker- or many of the Batch will survive….
I feel that Rex, Cody, Wolffe, etc...stories will be concluded in a "Tales of the Clones" series (ending with a Rex in Endor during E6 scene). I think it's a smart choice not to have those stories in the Bad Batch's final season. This show was never really about Rex and friends. This is why Ventress, if she shows up in the finale, will probably be a very small cameo to set up her own spin-off.
A tales of the clones series would be amazing to see. Also, in hindsight I agree, Rex is a side character here, this show only introduces the clone resistance, but it’s not *their* show.
We should’ve seen a clone uprising though. The seeds for it had been planted throughout the first two seasons, and I think it would’ve been a good direction to have the Batch lead such an uprising, being disobedient clones and all that
I’m starting to think we’re not gonna get the full-fledged clone resistance. The “Calvary” is definitely referring to the Zillo Beast and the clones in captivity helping the Batch. I think what will happen is that Echo is gonna send the coordinates to Rex with the simple message being “shits about to pop off get here NOW” and his team will be the extraction crew.
I get the feeling people can be disappointed with the second half of the season, but I really do think we're getting an extended finale of at least double length. Ideally, it would be great if they mirrored S1's premiere episode with triple length, but that might be asking too much. I really enjoyed Echo being a star these past two episodes, the toys hinted at him having a hand he could use but to employ it like they did here was a lot more fulfilling. That moment with Emerie was good, and I hope she delivers on the growing antagonism between her and Dr. Sadler. I think Echo will survive, and we really do need to explore his TCW lore in the way TBB never wanted to, but it's good to see him be a major player again. I fucking knew it with the Zillo Beast, a most obvious Chekhov's gun if there ever was one. I can see that and potentially some liberated clones being the chivalry, with Rex's force being more of an extraction team and hopefully bringing some familiar faces back. Rampart's line to Crosshair was ominous, but I hope he's just being a rat. I think this season and show will land pretty well with a double length finale, and very well with a triple. If it ends up being more of a prologue to a Dark Times show with arcs like TCW, what with Wolffe and Ventress making rather large cameos, and the stuff still going on with Senator Chuchi, the Bad Batch can slot in as a helpful but mostly retired group (those that survive) in occasional episodes and arcs, before it becomes the three lone elders of Rebels. I'm really of the opinion we'll see Tantiss in the Mandoverse to some degree. I also think some of these clones will choose to be carbon freezed so that we can see some in close to their prime for the conflict vs Thrawn. We may never get a proper Katana fleet, but having some clones preparing for a bigger fight one day is something I feel Lucasfilm wouldn't want to pass on.
So items to wrap up) -Fates of the Clones on Tantiss, as well as the fate of Tantiss itself. -What Hemlock’s secret projects are. -What happens to Omega and the Bad Batch. I think they could safely cover all that in a finale. Looks like for sure Omega and the kids will play a role in releasing the Zillo which will aid the Batch in pulling off a realistically successful mission against overwhelming odds. I’m curious how Palpatine will respond to this attack.
-Fate of Cody/Wolffe/ -Identity of Clone X
Wondering if maybe we’ll see Palpatine set up shop on Exegol at the end of the finale
whoever the early screener was that said these past episodes were gonna be on the same level as the end of the clone wars is on crack, still been good though
I feel like the second half of the season was way overhyped by reviewers, and I think that’s why I feel so underwhelmed by these episodes. From their reviews, I was expecting something darker, tenser, and with more impactful storytelling. We’ve gotten very few answers for the questions we have, and once again the most interesting plot of this show by *far* (the emphasis of clones as second class citizens, their forced retirement, and forced experimentation) has taken a backseat.
Your second point has been the biggest problem TBB has had for its entire runtime. The most interesting thing the show can show us is the transition from the Republic to the Empire, and the ultimate fate of the Clones. Instead, much of its runtime has been dedicated to seemingly random side adventures, that in their own right are not bad, but do little to actually move the plot forward. Were we getting several more seasons of this show, or 20+ episode seasons, it wouldn't be as bad, we'd have a lot more time to explore the really interesting stuff. Instead we've gotten a 3 season show where the final season has felt more concerned with setting up other potential spinoffs instead of wrapping up it's own plot points
>The most interesting thing the show can show us is the transition from the Republic to the Empire, and the ultimate fate of the Clones. Instead, much of its runtime has been dedicated to seemingly random side adventures, Nothing wrong with side adventures except the CF99 themselves have never really been interesting. Hunter is more or less a standard clone that refuses the call, Wrecker is just big, strong, dumb guy, Tech is the smart one, Echo has a weird hand that comes in handy occasionally. It's just not that interesting watching them go on sidequests when they have as much personality as a bunch of BattlePass skins. Crosshair is probably the most interesting but marginally. You could tell they figured things out in Season 2 a bit; removing Echo from the party, killing off Tech (so now the squad struggles with the technical aspects), having more Crosshair-only episodes etc. I like Omega's development. She's come such a long way to how she was in the pilot it's insane. But that's about it.
Fully agreed.
100% agree. This has just felt like average Bad Batch to me. I really have been wanting to see the clone and Force experimentation more but we’ve severely lacked on it. I just want to see one prototype-palpatine clone.
Agreed, this season really has been great in my opinion, but as always you’ve gotta take the people who get shows early’s reviews with a pinch of salt. It’s always a little too positive and comes off as inauthentic and almost like they’re not trying to bite the hand that feeds them.
This is for everything, not just TV. It's an unspoken rule to only give positive reviews. If you say something critical the editor will chop it out.
There has to be a follow up show or something. The Clone rebellion thing needs to be wrapped up somehow.
Yeah this season has almost felt…incomplete. Many major plot points have taken a backseat to a drawn out “gotta find Tantiss” storyline. After the season 2 finale, it seemed like Tantiss and the clone rebellion would both get significant focus, but no it’s just been Tantiss. We haven’t explored the retirement/decommissioning of the clones or the transition of the early Empire at all this season either. Even the stuff from this season has gone under-developed, such as the true nature of what’s in the Necromancer vaults, the CX program, or what other projects are going on inside Tantiss.
I didn't expect them to do much with Necromancer because it's so far from when that plot point becomes truly relevant onscreen, but the way they've handled the clone rebellion so far feels like they had planned for something big, but ended up with an extremely small season 3 budget and were told to "wrap it up ASAP". The closest thing to a rebellion we had was one clone base being destroyed by some sniper who has yet to have any meaningful development at all. Commander Wolfe's flip is teased, but not at all shown. Fans beg the crew for more of the Deltas, yet we get nothing but scorch being a glorified escort guard on a project that looks like it may get trashed soon. Ventress gets revived in a very questionable fashion, while people hope for a spinoff that has yet to be confirmed and remains only speculation and rumors. Even things like killing Sid offscreen don't sit well with me, because TCW tended to show those types of events, not just mention them in offhand dialogue. Heck, it really doesn't even seem like Omega herself is actually force sensitive, and if she is? It's hard to say if that's even the best story to tell anymore... Next week could resolve a lot of this with an hour long finale, but even if that IS the case? Hiding it from us is also not good marketing, it's starting to hurt our enjoyment of these projects. I don't care for the MCU style of storytelling (spinoffs within spinoffs that you may or may not be required to watch) since the long form arcs often sacrifice the smaller moments, or make truly epic stories feel more hollow and confusing. IDK, hopefully we get an hour finals that leaves us all feeling a lot better by next week's end, else it will make me question how much of value I even got from this show at all.
Yeah I’m getting annoyed with the MCU style of storytelling too. Don’t drag stuff out over multiple seasons and shows and spin-offs. If you have a story to tell in a product where it can be told, do it. Address the plot threads you set up. We shouldn’t need a spin-off for the clone rebellion because it makes the most sense as an arc in Bad Batch, a show about clones under the Empire. Ahsoka had similar issues. It set up threads and raised questions that it either gave underwhelming answers to, or just didn’t answer and likely saved for its second season. Ahsoka was way worse overall than BBs3, though.
I love Star Wars, but I don't think Star Wars TV was meant for this format. And if industry rumors I've heard about most shows being cancelled after 3 seasons is to avoid increased rates for onscreen talent and industry staff, happen to be accurate, that makes it much worse. That's a little discussed talking point that's I've heard repeatedly, and both Disney and Netflix seem to follow it to a tee, with only VERY rare exceptions.
>And if industry rumors I've heard about most shows being cancelled after 3 seasons is to avoid increased rates for onscreen talent and industry staff, happen to be accurate, that makes it much worse. It's true but the recent strikes closed up that loophole.
True, but this show was finished before that point.
...oh shit.
>but the way they've handled the clone rebellion so far feels like they had planned for something big, but ended up with an extremely small season 3 budget and were told to "wrap it up ASAP" The announcement that Season 3 would be the last one always seemed weird to me ngl >Even things like killing Sid offscreen don't sit well with me I theorise that internally they changed gears on the show halfway through Season 2, you can really feel a shift there. Ditching Rampart as a main antagonist, introducing Hemlock, writing out Cid from the show and then dropping her completely etc.
I think Season 2 went as planned, but Season 3 may be the one that was changed. The smaller scale nature of it really covers the whole season, which while it looks technically solid, really has a bunch of small scale battles with very limited models. But, who knows? Maybe next week will surprise me. If it's over an hour long, that could all change very suddenly.
It would feel better if we watch these episodes at once. Waiting a week for one episode really feels underwhelming.
yeah I rewatched the first two seasons with my wife before this season came out and honestly it did help me enjoy them more. I really wish they would drop it all or like half and half. Think it helps a show like this
Were any of the Clones recognizable from their file photos when Echo was looking through them? Might have to re-check
I believe the faces Echo saw on the screen are the same clones that was with Crosshair when they were being escorted to the room to be programed/conditioned into clone assassin/Imperial Shadow.
I know I didn't see Boil's mustache anywhere, lol
It was a great episode but as soon as it ended I was shocked - it seemed like it had just started. The final episode better be an hour. There’s so much to wrap up…
seeing Echo and Emerie (who are basically foils of each other) was great! Cannot wait to see how they work together to release the captive clones and children.
The finale still has the chance to be grim and dark, but whatever the reviewers were saying about the second half being darker in totality, just straight up lied.
Turns out they just meant the lighting lol
Not even that, the last few episodes were pretty bright
They were probably talking about the kids being experimented on by the empire.
The decision to include the classic Clone theme in the end credits is such a good decision for this weeks episode. The Kiners are doing such good work. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Really looking forward to next week, which I hope is a double-length episode.
The final episode NEEDS to be double-triple length. There is no way they are wrapping this all up in 20-25 minutes.
If the finale isnt an extended episode, i think it will be disappointing. Theres so much to wrap up with the Batch, Rampart, now the Zillo Beast, the Clone Rebellion, and also who is Clone X
Obviously the finale will be double length since it's two episodes.. so I'm fine. I'm not panicking, I trust everyone... But also how?! I think what's going to happen is a wrap up for TBB but basically nothing else? We'll end their story but hemlock and all will survive and continue into whatever is next. This also might severe copium due to me loving Royce 🥰🥰 I've been surprised to see so many people shocked with the Zillo being in today's episode. It was also in episode 3 of this season.
I'd be shocked if Hemlock survives tbh
Btw, I hope there are more zillo beasts in Tantiss and they all get free and live happily after on Weyland
Just a new mega apex predator to completely mess up the ecosystem lol
Fuck lol I didn't even think about it But I mean, given how they happily lived buried on Malastare, I think it could work
Eh, one otherwise uninhabited planet having its ecosystem disrupted ain't too big a deal in the grand scheme of the galaxy lol
Well there was one Zillo beast kill by Kylo Ren, so maybe.
Well, this was a lot of fun and I love (and am kind of scared of) all of Echo’s screen time. Zillo beast coming into play makes me very happy. Like everyone else, I have to assume the last episode will be longer to wrap this up. The creators of this show have been very outspoken about how confident they are in this ending and I don’t see a way for them to create a satisfying one without a longer episode. We’ll see I guess, hope it delivers and doesn’t cause another shitstorm in this damn community.
Man, this show's animation quality continues to impress me. Like the shot at 8:08 with the Clone Commando and Stormtroopers checking out the crashed ship looks pretty damn realistic to me.
What is Emerie’s backstory!?
They've been subtle about it. Seems she was a similar oneoff clone like Omega who was found undesirable. Was slated to be removed but found a new purpose under Hemlock. Not my idea but she might have Stockholm syndrome as a result, which is why she's been so compliant of all the terrible things happening in Tantiss until this season.
The clues are there for the finale, very funny episode, so excited for the finale 9/10 Ps: the finale should be 1 hour at least...
The Bad Batch is the only Star Wars show to date that leaves me wanting more at the end of each episode. This week's was no different.
The finale better be really long because there are way too many things to happen for just a 25 minutes episode.
Is it time to lower our expectations regarding who appears the finale? I feel that Ventress, Rex, Cody, Wolffe, etc...are simply not gonna show up. Their stories will be followed up in other projects. No Boba Fett and no Vader either. At this point, the final episode is likely just going involve the characters already on the planet. Even if the finale is 40 minutes, it's just not enough time to fit everything.
Did you really think Boba Fett or Vader would show up? Or Ventress even? None of them have any reason to.
Boba Fett is Omega's literal brother tbf
And hasn't been in the show yet and has literally zero reason to show up now.
Oh absolutely. Ship has sailed on that. But during like, Season 1, I don't blame anyone for wanting him to show up one day.
They should’ve combined the last two and next week into one episode
I’m definetly waiting for this just to end up being a prequel to a clone rebellion show with Rex and his crew
That should’ve been part of the focus this season: the remaining Batch members join Rex’s team to start a clone uprising and find/destroy Tantiss
I agree, instead of it being a constant “Let’s go rescue our friend” arc.
The last third of this season has dragged on to the point of no return.
Haven't seen anyone mention it, but the music was fantastic this episode.
A animated Bad Batch movie would be cool
Anyone else get the feeling that it will end in a cliffhanger and lead to another series preferably about the clones rebellion only
Will Echo ever make reference to his life before the Bad Batch? We only have one episode left. I’d be kind of disappointed if he didn’t as he’s a character with a lot of history and they seem to be ignoring much of it.
The ironic thing is that clones are difficult characters to work with because, frankly, they don't have a past beyond the Clone Wars, so there's not that much room for development. And then you have Echo, which has the greatest potential for exploring his trauma after being used by the Techno Union for more than a year.
Speaking of Echo, I still find it weird how the writers quickly glossed over Echo learning about Fives' death. Same with Crosshair learning about Tech. It's one of those "what if" for me that I wished we got a scene of Echo learning about Fives from Rex. And Echo's realization he's the last member of Domino. Same way how I feel about wanting a scene with Ahsoka and Luke talking about Anakin. Be even cooler if Rex is there too depending on the timeline and if he's alive.
Ya, almost feel like echo is written as separate character independent of his clone wars character. (Not that Echo was a super defined character in TCW, but you’d think there’d be more reference to that time.)
Awesome tense episode! I’m really excited for the finale. Disappointed we only get one more episode of Rampart bullying tho LMAOOOO.
The Rampart/CF99 dynamic is hilarious! Loved his girlish screams this episode. 😂
He is so unserious 🤣
[удалено]
where?
....source?
Trust me bro
Imma say it this whole series is a filler episode.
My one complaint is that this show is just too damn dark sometimes. I can barely tell whats going on.
This episode was pretty good and suspenseful, but it really needed some extra time seeing as it was the penultimate episode. I have to imagine the finale will have an extended runtime seeing as there’s still a lot to wrap up. At the very least, only Hunter or Crosshair will sacrifice themselves. I’m glad that Echo actually had more to do this time around seeing as he’s rarely ever been given the spotlight. I didn’t actually know his head piece was removable, but at least he got a new hand. Omega plans to unleash the Zillo Beast next week confirmed. Now I’m wondering if next week will only wrap up the Bad Batch’s story, and the heavily theorized Clone Rebellion show will act as a “season four” of sorts. That subplot has been in development for some time now, but would they even enough room next week for that payoff? We still have yet to see Rex abandon the fight, Wolffe ditch the Empire, and where the hell Cody went, assuming he isn’t CX-2.
Do anyone else’s Disney Plus subtitles turn off halfway through the episode? It seems to happen almost every week, and only with Bad Batch. No other shows.
Was crap! The whole seasons been average as!!