The ‘Bad Batch’ of elite and experimental clones make their way through an ever-changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars.

Just watchered the first episode of this new animated series. With approximately 1:11 h it was considerably longer than a normal cartoon show. I’ve downloaded the second epísode as well but not looked at it yet, so I can’t tell how long BB episodes are gonna be. As usual with series pilot episodes do tend to be twice as long as normal episodes, no? In so far 71 minutes seems an odd length. We shall see about that in the future.

Let’s talk about the show. The very brief synopsis tells us nothing … and it didn’t need to. All there is to know we know after watching the show for 5 minutes. The pretty one-dimensional characters of our batch don’t leave much room for imagination. Their names are more or less their main character attributes, so this is wysiwig on basic level. Let’s hope for some more variation as the plot unfolds. How fitting that all guys of the Bad Batch are voiced by the talented Dee Bradley Baker, who does a wonderful job. I didn’t notice it was the same guy all the time. But it shows how much little value Lucasfilm puts into each member of the Batch.

A nice trope of all Star Wars spin-offs is the re-introduction of figures we know from the live-action movies or other animated series. Here in Epi I we get to see a young Saw Gerrera, Admiral Tarkin (not a moff yet) and of course the inevitable Imperator Palpatine. The Batch Batch series starts during the execution of Order 66, which tells us we’re witnessing the forced transition from the Old Republic to The Galactic Empire. We’re in the thick of it, amidst the coup.

And as we know it already from later seasons of The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels the CGI animation is gorgeous and becoming visibly better from series to series. At least when it’s about technical stuff and world building. Human characters are still looking clunky and rather ruff n ready, with concrete hairstyles and polygonal noses. It’s a weird mix I noticed first in Japanese anime shows some years ago. The world looks totally hyper realistic but is inhabitated by cartoon figures. If you’re coming from the Clone Wars or the charming Rebels you know the style and won’t be put off too badly.

First episode wasn’t too convincing yet but all in all I’m pleased with The Bad Batch and wanna see how the plot unfolds from here on out. And how the characters will develop. Come on Dave, reducing every soldier in your gang to his function in the squad is the cheapest way. We’re gonna spend some extended time with these guys and need something deeper! Rebels at least had a crew of 3 very diverse boys and 2 girls, which gave us some more interesting points and was responsible for the show’s charme. BB seems like a step back in that regard. 😐

And introducing an outsider into this tight-knit squad might be a good idea. But why does it have to be a kid, a little girl? Careful Mr. Filoni, not to slip into Disney/Lucas’ kiddiefilm territory. 😮

Hey kidz, have you watched The Bad Batch yet? What’s your verdict, or is it still too early for a conclusion?