Star Wars: The Bad Batch gets dark, and I love it. Welcome to another edition of Free Talk Friday, the weekly column where I, Cam Clark, one of the Senior Editors at LRM Online, waxes lyrical about whatever is on my mind. Today, what’s on my mind is The Bad Batch.
I’m going to be getting into SPOILERS for The Bad Batch Episode 3 ‘Replacements’ below, Therefore, if you have not yet watched this week’s episode and want to avoid SPOILERS, come back later. Final warning!
**The Bad Batch Episode 3 SPOILERS Below!**
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The Bad Batch gets dark this week folks and I love Star Wars when it goes a little bit dark. There are two threads running through this week’s episode. One thread follows the Bad Batch themselves as they crash land on a planet and Omega has to step up to the plate to save them all. Honestly, that part of the story was the minor side story this week. The Main focus, as per the tile was instead on Crosshair and his time with the Empire. My hope is that we will continue to follow Crosshair and see how the Empire evolves from what was the Republic. Because it’s fantastic.
My interest so far in The Bad Batch has been piqued by the story of the Empire itself more than the runaway Clones. This week we start to see how the Empire goes from growing Clones to recruiting standard troops. Crosshair is given the task of running some newly recruited soldiers through their paces. Admiral Rampart ensures Tarkin that these recruits can be taught to follow orders just like the Clones with their inhibitor chips, but at a fraction of the cost. Lama Su of course isn’t too keen on the idea and says privately that they need to push on with their advanced Clone project. However they will need someone back, and I think we all know that someone is Omega.
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Tarkin is keen, but he needs a demonstration. Therefore he sends Crosshair and new soldiers to take down Saw Gerrera’s group. The task that caused The Bad Batch to revolt in the first place. What I loved about this whole thing was how dark it all gets. One of the recruits who is all talk is unwilling to go through with executing civilians. Therefore, Crosshair, hindered by his inhibitor chip kills him on the spot. The remaining new troops are given a choice, follow orders or suffer the consequences. The shot cuts away to Crosshair as we hear the blaster fire off screen. Yep, they executed those people. As Crosshair says again, good soldiers follow orders.
The Final Word
I can’t say for certain where The Bad Batch will go, but I love it when Star Wars gets dark, as I said above. With previous animated shows The Clone Wars and Rebels, it took too long to get dark. The first seasons were far too kid friendly and saccharine for this fan. However, with only three episodes gone so far, The Bad Batch has gone to some dark places and that’s why this show is hooking me. It feels like The Bad Batch is starting about Season 2 instead of Season 1 and the writers have already found their feet and their confidence.
I just hope this fine line continues to be tread as Season 1 progresses. I want to keep seeing more of Crosshair, forced to do the Empire’s bidding at no fault of his own. That story of how we went from Clones to conscripts is a story I’ve long wondered about in Star Wars. The Bad Batch is so far scratching that itch for me big time.
What do you think of The Bad Batch so far? Like me are you happy The Bad Batch gets dark so quickly? Leave any thoughts about the show below as always.
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