Yep, I loved that, too! He's only the second Nosaurian to appear in onscreen canon after Clegg Holdfast and it was a lot of fun revisiting another Episode I species.
Spoilers Bad Batch Season 2 - This Fall
- Thread starter Tuskin38
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Yep, I loved that, too! He's only the second Nosaurian to appear in onscreen canon after Clegg Holdfast and it was a lot of fun revisiting another Episode I species.
Not a great episode, but I loved it that Tech got to be the hero by being smart and calculating when everyone else was telling him it was the wrong approach. You usually see it going the other way in fiction. (E.g. "Use the Force, Luke!")
I could've sworn it was P.J. Byrne (Bolin from The Legend of Korra). I've just been rewatching Korra, and the droid had the exact same speech rhythm and witty delivery as Byrne. I figured the difference in the voice timbre was just the electronic processing.
But then, I also failed to recognize Ernie Hudson as Cid's Dowutin nemesis. I believe this makes Hudson the first live-action Ghostbuster to do a Star Wars role, though The Real Ghostbusters' Frank Welker did voices in Star Wars Resistance, and he and Maurice LaMarche did voices for SW video games. (I could've sworn I remembered that Dan Aykroyd had a bit part as a technician or something in an early Star Wars movie, but I can't find a reference to it, so I must be thinking of something else.)
I could've sworn it was P.J. Byrne (Bolin from The Legend of Korra). I've just been rewatching Korra, and the droid had the exact same speech rhythm and witty delivery as Byrne. I figured the difference in the voice timbre was just the electronic processing.
But then, I also failed to recognize Ernie Hudson as Cid's Dowutin nemesis. I believe this makes Hudson the first live-action Ghostbuster to do a Star Wars role, though The Real Ghostbusters' Frank Welker did voices in Star Wars Resistance, and he and Maurice LaMarche did voices for SW video games. (I could've sworn I remembered that Dan Aykroyd had a bit part as a technician or something in an early Star Wars movie, but I can't find a reference to it, so I must be thinking of something else.)
@Christopher -- could you be thinking of Dan Aykroyd's appearance in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?
Maybe. But I have this mental image of someone in a room full of consoles. It may be that I'm thinking of someone other than Aykroyd.
Yep. Putting this under will never watch again, throw away episode. Especially after what we got last week.
I've enjoyed every episode in this series so far.
Some people really need to lighten up. It was a fun and legitimately funny episode with some surprisingly dark humour. We had a celebrity diva droid get obliterated, put back together, and then run over with his dying words "I regret nothing!" We had an audience member get *shot in the chest* by stray blaster fire, and nobody around him even cared!
We had a fun, legitimately thrilling racing sequence with some appropriately pulse-pounding music. We had Tech front and centre in an episode for a change, showing there's more to him than providing exposition and missing social cues.
From the sound design to the action, to the commentator's dialogue; they clearly had fun making it, and I had fun watching it. Not everything needs to be lore heavy or advancing the meta-plot, but this episode did that too anyway by hinting at Syd's even-shadier-than-she-makes-out past. What does that mean? Who did she betray? We know she had been an informant for the Jedi before the war; did some fleeing Padawan come to her after Order 66 only for her to turn them in for the bounty?
We had a fun, legitimately thrilling racing sequence with some appropriately pulse-pounding music. We had Tech front and centre in an episode for a change, showing there's more to him than providing exposition and missing social cues.
From the sound design to the action, to the commentator's dialogue; they clearly had fun making it, and I had fun watching it. Not everything needs to be lore heavy or advancing the meta-plot, but this episode did that too anyway by hinting at Syd's even-shadier-than-she-makes-out past. What does that mean? Who did she betray? We know she had been an informant for the Jedi before the war; did some fleeing Padawan come to her after Order 66 only for her to turn them in for the bounty?
Oh, I'm all for fun throw away episodes, but this one, as I said earlier, was just really predictable. Of course the hot shot racer would get knocked out of the race and one of the Batch would have to step in. Considering it was only Tech and Wrecker in this episode, it seemed more obvious Tech would be the new racer and would apply his intellect to win. And as soon as they started talking about avoid the left tunnel as it's a death trap, it's not hard to reason out that by the episode's climax, the left tunnel would be used and be the key to victory. Ultimately, I just found the whole thing meh and predictable.
Though, yeah, that was a good scene where the guy in the audience gets killed and everyone around him just shrugs it off.
Though, yeah, that was a good scene where the guy in the audience gets killed and everyone around him just shrugs it off.
I see what you mean with regard to most of your points, but I still think the predictable way to tell the story would have been for Tech to realize that he couldn't rely on calculation alone and had to learn to Trust His Feelings, because that's the usual kind of moral you see in American TV, which has always had a strong anti-intellectual strain. The fact that this episode actually celebrated Tech's neurodiversity, rather than treating it as a handicap he needed to overcome in order to think more like a "normal" person, was the opposite of the predictable approach.
I wouldn't hold my breath.
I actually enjoyed this episode a lot. They are finally making Cid a character rather than just window dressing, Tech actually got to be badass, and Tay-0 was great.
But, more importantly, this was a thematic bookend with last week's Crosshair story. Tech, like Crosshair, thinks of himself in one particular way. His view is slightly more flexible than Crosshair, but he still sees the world through the lens of being a soldier first and foremost. But now he's getting a chance to see other paths, and beginning to realize that he doesn't have to change WHO HE IS, only HOW HE SEES HIMSELF. Tech can still be Tech, all analysis and facts and figures but he can be that Tech in different kinds of situations than he's used to putting himself in. This as opposed to Crosshair, who is trapped in the vary narrow box of how he defines himself and is letting how he sees himself change who he is, and not for the better.
Pair that with Hunter and Echo's evolving concepts of what their roles should be in the galaxy moving forward, and we're seeing a strong push towards Clone Force 99 being forced to confront just who they want to be and what they want to be doing. Something they've never had to meaningfully do before, given the very structured nature of their lives in the GAR and their origins. The first season was quite focused on the sense of brotherhood within the team, and then collectively extended to their brother clones (and sister clone). This season seems to be much more individually focused, with the members of the team coming to grips with who they can be in this new life they are building. I'm curious how far they'll push that.
But, more importantly, this was a thematic bookend with last week's Crosshair story. Tech, like Crosshair, thinks of himself in one particular way. His view is slightly more flexible than Crosshair, but he still sees the world through the lens of being a soldier first and foremost. But now he's getting a chance to see other paths, and beginning to realize that he doesn't have to change WHO HE IS, only HOW HE SEES HIMSELF. Tech can still be Tech, all analysis and facts and figures but he can be that Tech in different kinds of situations than he's used to putting himself in. This as opposed to Crosshair, who is trapped in the vary narrow box of how he defines himself and is letting how he sees himself change who he is, and not for the better.
Pair that with Hunter and Echo's evolving concepts of what their roles should be in the galaxy moving forward, and we're seeing a strong push towards Clone Force 99 being forced to confront just who they want to be and what they want to be doing. Something they've never had to meaningfully do before, given the very structured nature of their lives in the GAR and their origins. The first season was quite focused on the sense of brotherhood within the team, and then collectively extended to their brother clones (and sister clone). This season seems to be much more individually focused, with the members of the team coming to grips with who they can be in this new life they are building. I'm curious how far they'll push that.
Since when are plot twists and unconventional story beats necessary for something to be entertaining and worthwhile? They're not trying to keep the audience guessing with this one, it's just a simple story, well told. Hell the whole plot and respective character arcs for the episode were all laid out in the very first scene; Tech complaining that these tasks are not suited to their skillset, and Wrecker trying to make a double or nothing bet over his dejarik game with Omega. It's all right there.
And it's not a "throwaway episode" or "filler" so long as you're entertained by it, because that's the point of a show after all: to entertain the audience, not to provide content for youtube channels that specialise on easter eggs and fan theories.
Plus as has been repeatedly pointed out we got an advancement of Cid's story with foreshadowing of more to come, and some further development of Tech's character with him discovering there's potentially more to his life and the application of his skills than just mercenary soldiering. So it's hardly lacking in substance.
Side note: anyone remember that totally throwaway episode of Rebels with the space whales!? Boy was that ever a waste of time. Yup, none of that ever came into play later on down the line. Such a total filler episode . . .
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I thought this one was pretty fun.
It was nice to get a bit more background on Cid.
I'm glad someone mentioned that Danny Glover voiced Cid's rival, his voice sounded familiar the whole time he was on screen, but I couldn't figure out why.
Tay-0 was hilarious.
It gave us some character development for Tech, which was nice.
It was nice to get a bit more background on Cid.
I'm glad someone mentioned that Danny Glover voiced Cid's rival, his voice sounded familiar the whole time he was on screen, but I couldn't figure out why.
Tay-0 was hilarious.
It gave us some character development for Tech, which was nice.
Not Danny Glover, but Ernie Hudson from the Ghostbusters franchise. Other than that I'm in total agreement.
I wasn't to enthused by this episode, but knowing Dave, it was made for a reason, and it does mean something. Not going to like every episode of every series. 
