It's not so much May the 4th today, but it's still Revenge of the 5th, so let's talk about some Star Wars. Today, we go into Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which premiered on Disney+ yesterday. As far as new Star Wars shows, I didn't know what to expect from it. I was pretty much over the whole Clone Wars era and I remember not being overly impressed with the Bad Batch's debut in the Clone Wars' final season last year. Imagine my surprise when I caught the 60+ minute premiere and thought... hey, this is pretty damn good.
The story's simple enough. The Bad Batch has been the Clone Troopers' wild cards. They're the "imperfect" clones, who each have some sort of mutation that makes them unlike the normal clones of Jango Fett. So it would stand to reason that their imperfections would somehow mess with their programming to the point that they're immune to the Order 66 call from Emperor Palpatine. Well... almost all of them, but I won't get into spoiler territory here.
As much as Clone Wars tried to get into the Bad Batch's backstory, there was too much going on with the ongoing conflict to really get to know who they are. They were more of a plot device than anything else. Here, with the Separatist War over, there's more time to breathe and get to learn who they are, especially the Rambo-looking Hunter. Viewers get to understand what makes the Bad Batch both a brotherhood and a bunch of misfits who don't belong. They're worth watching because they're outcasts, which is also what draws Omega to them. The mystery behind Omega is going to be a big part of what drives The Bad Batch's first season and it'll be intersting to see how this show develops and how they manage to seamlessly fit it into the larger Star Wars canon. Although if the first 10 minutes is any indication, they won't have too much trouble tying it into the grander Star Wars mythos.
Even if you're not necessarily hungry for more of the Clone Wars period, The Bad Batch is worth a watch. It's unlike a lot of what we've seen in Star Wars to this point. Think of it like the television equivaluent of Republic Commando. Check it out and enjoy.
