Spoilers The Bad Batch - Season 1 Discussion [cue A-Team theme music]

[Skywalker]

I feel like they decided to have Crosshair be forced into betraying his squad, rather than making the decision on his own, so that he can be redeemed later in the series (presumably by getting his chip removed).

I really enjoyed this. I was also one of those who found TCW's Bad Batch arc to be merely "okay," and I was only interested in it to find out what happened to Echo. I wasn't all that into the Bad Batch themselves; they all seemed to be either too cliched (Wrecker) or just kind of boring (Hunter). But this episode went a long way toward correcting that problem. I was especially invested in Hunter's storyline, how he tried to help Caleb (awesome cameo, by the way!) and how that affected his relationship with Omega afterward.

I'm so excited to see how this show develops. We've seen plenty of stories set between the PT and the OT, but very little of them have started directly after ROTS and focused so specifically on what it looks like when the Republic transitions into the Empire. This was a very promising start, and I can't wait for more.

 

[Xerxes82]

I feel like they decided to have Crosshair be forced into betraying his squad, rather than making the decision on his own, so that he can be redeemed later in the series (presumably by getting his chip removed).

At the least, so that the rest of the Batch can make the attempt to rescue him. I suppose we'll see how that works out when we get there.

 

[Shawnster]

...How does Order 66 work exactly? We have seen it from a couple of points of view now, and both "its contents are already hardwired into the obedience chips" and "it's something Palpatine needs to spell out but the chip makes the Clones unquestionably execute it at once" are possible, depending on whether we postulate well-placed cuts or not.

I've not read any tie-in publications, so I'm only going by what I have seen "on screen." I've never taken Palpatine's words as "needs to spell out." I've taken his actual verbalization of the contents of Order 66 to be an emotional outburst or utterance. Unnecessary but still expressed.

 

[Reverend]

Just had a quick look back at those brief shots from RotS they recreated for the intro and either someone on the production team is VERY dedicated to details or they actually re-used original assets from the movie! Weird thing though it's not consistent. The Invisible Hand's bridge set just looks like a rough approximation; close enough but clearly a recreations. The corridor's background looks like they took the pre-rendered element (that whole thing was greenscreen; none of those sets really existed) and ran it through some painterly type filter. The inside of the escape pod however looks like they got the original mesh, UV maps and all. It's pretty exact.

Honestly I'm impressed they got even that. Software and hardware standards change so fast that using old digital files of this sort from even five years ago (never mind a decade and a half!) can be like an archaeological dig. More so for LF & ILM I imagine since they're always pushing the bleeding edge.

 

[CaptainWacky]

I liked that they chose to recreate General Grievous's iconic finger movement.

 

[Tuskin38]

Just had a quick look back at those brief shots from RotS they recreated for the intro and either someone on the production team is VERY dedicated to details or they actually re-used original assets from the movie! Weird thing though it's not consistent. The Invisible Hand's bridge set just looks like a rough approximation; close enough but clearly a recreations. The corridor's background looks like they took the pre-rendered element (that whole thing was greenscreen; none of those sets really existed) and ran it through some painterly type filter. The inside of the escape pod however looks like they got the original mesh, UV maps and all. It's pretty exact.

Honestly I'm impressed they got even that. Software and hardware standards change so fast that using old digital files of this sort from even five years ago (never mind a decade and a half!) can be like an archaeological dig. More so for LF & ILM I imagine since they're always pushing the bleeding edge.

It's hard to tell. the backgrounds look like painted 2d art, or they might be the plates as you said, maybe with a arty filter

 

[Reverend]

It's hard to tell. the backgrounds look like painted 2d art, or they might be the plates as you said, maybe with a arty filter

Compare them to the original plate. You can tell the corridor is just the same element put through a filter (even the shadows match!)

Conversely you can see the pod interior appears correct in every detail, just rendered with different shaders and lighting rig (even Grevious's animation seems to be very close, making me wonder if they imported the skeleton keyframing as well.)

While the bridge only has a passable resemblance to the original, making me wonder if they couldn't find this asset, or it just wasn't suitable and they had to mock up their own version from scratch.

Also note how in the original show, the magnaguard's severed arm is still gripping the pole, while the show does not.

 

[Tuskin38]

I think we've seen the bridge of a Providence-class in Clone Wars before, so it could have been from that.

But I see what you mean.

 

[JD]

StarWars.com has revealed the first The Bad Batch LEGO set, Bad Batch: Attack Shuttle. It's their ship, along with two speeders, and minifigures of the 5 Bad Batch members.

 

[Timo]

I wonder if they'll give us different examples of how exactly the Empire is so evil in every episode. First they betray the Jedi and the Clones. Now they register people! The horror...

They have also Small Universe nicely built in from the outset. Of course these fugitives will revisit familiar places and people in their quest for safety, exactly like the Mandalorian... doesn't. But nobody said Clones would be smart. (Well, except when they mention Tech.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Reverend]

It was a nice breather of an episode after such a packed premier. I liked seeing Omega's reaction to setting foot on a planet that wasn't made of sterile metal corridors and rain soaked turbulent oceans in a perpetual overcast gloom. Much more credible than Rey's reaction to "green" (I mean come on, she's from a desert planet and there's a giant lake right there!)

Also nice to have some explanation as to where chain-codes suddenly came from in 'The Mandalorian' (pretty sure I heard "bounty pucks" mentioned too, in passing) and it would make sense that a totalitarian regime would want people tagged. Much easier to track, control and surveil...or at least make people *feel* like they could be being surveilled at any given moment. Typically that works just as well to keep most cases behaving like good and loyal citizens. Kinda troubling (though not altogether surprising) that the New Republic kept up with it. I know I've mentioned 'THX-1138' already but I really think that's the intended model for how GL thought life within the Empire would be, at least for those that are part of the system if not the proles.

Not shocked to see Cut again, it's a logical thread from CW to pick up at that point and equally logically it seems it was also Rex's first stop after parting ways with Ahsoka. Clearly there's some untold story there about how Cut and The Batch ran into each other, though I'm sure some comic will get to it sooner or later. Though honestly I'd rather know Suu's backstory. Who was the father of Shaeeah & Jek? Where did she learn to shoot like that? I'm guessing retired bounty hunter.

ETA: One question that's been at the back of my mind since the first episode is; how old is Omega? Often tricky to judge on an animated show at the best of times, but I get the feeling they're playing her as being around 10 or 11-ish. Of course being a strand-cast she could be half that age in reality...or less! I mean she wasn't following Nala Se around earlier in TCW, so being her lab assistant seems like a recent development. It's possible she's only very recently been decanted.

 

[KennyB]

Definitely more character building and less action this episode. Will be looking forward to next Friday to see what we do next.

 

[Tuskin38]

Bad Batch Episode 1 Episode Guide
https://www.starwars.com/series/the-bad-batch/aftermath-episode-guide

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I loved seeing Cut, Suu, and their kids again! I didn't expect that. I'm glad the show took the time to recognize and explore the idea of a child, no matter how smart or skilled she might be, could fit in with the Bad Batch. Hunter's attempt to give Omega a safe and comfortable home with a loving family is admirable but he made one major mistake: He didn't talk to Omega about what she wanted and how see would feel about such an arrangement. Aside from being one of the core cast, I wasn't surprised Omega rejected the opportunity to leave with Cut and his family and rejoin the Bad Batch. Like she said at the end of the episode, she chose to leave Kamino to be with them specifically.

It was a nice breather of an episode after such a packed premier. I liked seeing Omega's reaction to setting foot on a planet that wasn't made of sterile metal corridors and rain soaked turbulent oceans in a perpetual overcast gloom. Much more credible than Rey's reaction to "green" (I mean come on, she's from a desert planet and there's a giant lake right there!)

Yes, I really loved that moment with Omega, too. That was a running thread throughout the episode, Omega's sheltered life is suddenly overwhelmed with new sensations, societal norms, and cultural identities. I hope that remains a reoccurring theme for Omega throughout the series. She might be book smart but she's unintentionally naïve about everyday life in the greater galaxy beyond Kamino.

Not shocked to see Cut again, it's a logical thread from CW to pick up at that point and equally logically it seems it was also Rex's first stop after parting ways with Ahsoka. Clearly there's some untold story there about how Cut and The Batch ran into each other, though I'm sure some comic will get to it sooner or later. Though honestly I'd rather know Suu's backstory. Who was the father of Shaeeah & Jek? Where did she learn to shoot like that? I'm guessing retired bounty hunter.

Yeah, I wondered the same. I hope we'll get to see them again at some point and we'll learn more about her history. Also, it was great that Cara Pifko came back to voice her.

ETA: One question that's been at the back of my mind since the first episode is; how old is Omega? Often tricky to judge on an animated show at the best of times, but I get the feeling they're playing her as being around 10 or 11-ish. Of course being a strand-cast she could be half that age in reality...or less! I mean she wasn't following Nala Se around earlier in TCW, so being her lab assistant seems like a recent development. It's possible she's only very recently been decanted.

Physically, I agree she appears to be about 10ish but I think you're also right she may have only existed for a much shorter time.

 

[Tuskin38]

Hm according to the Episode Guide concept art gallery, Depa Billaba's model and lightsaber (including blade colour) were originally designed for Production code '601' of Clone Wars, which would have been "A Death on Utapau" according to Wookieepedia.

She's not in the animatics though IIRC.

 

[Reverend]

Hm according to the Episode Guide concept art gallery, Depa Billaba's model and lightsaber (including blade colour) were originally designed for Production code '601' of Clone Wars, which would have been "A Death on Utapau" according to Wookieepedia.

She's not in the animatics though IIRC.

The way I see it there's two possible explanations for that. 1) there was a scene with her that was cut from the episode earlier in the production pipeline. 2) She was originally going to be the Master who'd death they were investigating, but she got substituted for Tu-Anh for some reason.

My initial instinct was inclined towards the former, but looking at asset they used for the body, it does look like a hastily altered Deppa, so maybe there's something to the latter.

 

[JD]

This was nice character building episode after the big action premiere.
Like @Reverend said, it makes sense that Cut would be their first stop since he's the only Clone deserter anybody is aware of at this point.
It was nice to see Omega experience life off Kamino, and learn how to be a normal kid.
Not at all surprised that Omega showed back up at the end, I knew there was no way they were getting rid of her this early, since they seem to be setting the question of why she was created up as one of the big mysteries of the season.

 

[Reverend]

Minor sidenote: going through the concept art for the first episode, i just noticed that while most of it seems to be marked "Cookies" (presumably the show's production code name), the concept for "Clone Captain Grey" is marked "Twins", the code name for CW Season 7. At first I just assumed they designed him to show up as a hologram alongside Deppa and Caleb and just dropped him, but the produciton number of that episode was 109, and the art is marked 101 specifically. Could there have originally considered putting him in TCW's 'The Bad Batch' arc for some reason? Seems odd...

 

[Turtletrekker]

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[The Wormhole]

Fun episode, don't really have much more to say. Though, seeing Wrecker weightlifting the Gonk Droid sure brought a smile to my face.