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

[Reverend]

The next time you re-watch Cut and Run, note how attentively Omega is watching everything Tech does when he's forging the chain codes.

Oh I noticed; pretty much any scene where she's not a part of a conversation, they always have her examining something or someone. She was even looking very closely at the internal construction of Suu and Cut's homestead Like I said, she's very attentive!
Plus I didn't miss that line about her "inspecting every corner of the ship". I wouldn't be surprise if that comes back sooner or later.

 

[CorporalClegg]

So I watched all three episodes this morning. I was a little ho hum initially because I found the episodes in TCW to be a bit of a slog. But admittedly am liking the show a lot more than I thought I would.

Clearly, personal agency is the main theme of the show - set against the backdrop of a society that literally reduces its citizens to numbers. I was thinking that maybe Omega's 'ability' is that she is like a manifestation of the chips - like the function was hard coded into her DNA. So her mimicking of Hunter was completely subconscious and out of her control. (Like her bond with him created a sort of mental marionette string.)

It's also worth noting that the omega symbol was often used in a lot of Vietnam 'draft dodging' literature. So there's real-world historic relevance to omega being used in opposition to military conscription.

 

[Tuskin38]

Project War Mantle in this episode was one of the projects mentioned all the way back in Rogue One, when Jyn was listing off projects on Scarif.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Project_War_Mantle

I doubt the story group knew what it was going to be when they wrote it into the script, but you never know.

 

[KennyB]

I don't think I've ever been a fan of a kid introduced into a cartoon......The Scrappy Doo Syndrome......but Omega is growing on me.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I don't think I've ever been a fan of a kid introduced into a cartoon......The Scrappy Doo Syndrome......but Omega is growing on me.

Kid characters Ahsoka in Star Wars and Nog in Star Trek both started off as characters I didn't think I would like, and yet both morphed into one of the best developed characters with more fully-realized arcs than just about any other character in their respective franchises. Omega is growing on me a lot faster than either of them did.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Not much to say about this episode but I'm continuing to love Omega's growth and how the Bad Batch are accepting her. Creating her own little space aboard the ship was very sweet of Wrecker.

I'm also curious to see how Crosshair continues to go down the dark path...but also still appears to be conflicted like he appeared to be before Tarkin manipulated his inhibitor chip.

Project War Mantle in this episode was one of the projects mentioned all the way back in Rogue One, when Jyn was listing off projects on Scarif.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Project_War_Mantle

I doubt the story group knew what it was going to be when they wrote it into the script, but you never know.

Oh, that's a cool touch. That went completely over my head.

 

[The Wormhole]

Good episode. I like the paralleling they're doing in regards to the character development for the two story arcs, the rest of the Batch missing Crosshair and trying to move on without him, and Crosshair missing the rest of the Batch and trying to move on without them.

And strange as it may sound, I think I'm developing an attachment to the Batch's Gonk droid.

 

[JD]

It was nice to see Omega get her own room.
Having Crosshair put in charge of recruited soldiers was unexpected.
So it sounds like the Kaminoans are wanting to create new clones from The Bad Batch. Making clones from clones, who already had mutations, just seems like a bad idea. Wouldn't that pretty much just guarantee that you're going to get even more, stronger, and stranger mutations?

 

[Turtletrekker]

It was nice to see Omega get her own room.
Having Crosshair put in charge of recruited soldiers was unexpected.
So it sounds like the Kaminoans are wanting to create new clones from The Bad Batch. Making clones from clones, who already had mutations, just seems like a bad idea. Wouldn't that pretty much just guarantee that you're going to get even more, stronger, and stranger mutations?

That might be what they want. Remember what Cut said to Hunter-- "The Kaminoans never create without a purpose." I'm sure there are levels to this of which we are yet unaware.

 

[kitik]

Loved this episode. Very dark. For some reason I got a really strong Blade Runner vibe in that scene at the end with Crosshairs heading into the quarters. Perhaps it was the music.

Like others, Omega has grown on me very fast.

So it sounds like the Kaminoans are wanting to create new clones from The Bad Batch.

That might be what they want.

I think they want Omega. She can acquire any skill. And every skill. (Except Wrecker's strength I guess.)

I mean, they even named her Omega. She's the last one they'll ever need.

 

[Reverend]

Don't have a huge amount to say about this one, except to say that I was a bit shocked at just how mature it seems to be skewing for what is still a Disney animated show. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's gratuitous or crossing any lines, nor am I saying that Clone Wars (which I consider this an extension of) was any stranger to violence or brutality.
Just that there were two moments in this show that had me wondering what that age rating was all of a sudden; those being the implied execution (and incineration!) of unarmed civilians, and Omega picking up a pistol.

That second one may seem like an odd thing to raise a flag over since we've already seen her grab a rifle. I know. However that was a heat of the moment incident and it was over before we knew it'd even happened. This felt different to me. More deliberate and thought out. Plus of course for anyone with children of their own, or just of that age in the immediate family; there's just something fundamentally disquieting about that image of a child with a gun.
I guess I'm mostly shocked it made it past Disney's lawyers.

 

[The Wormhole]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's gratuitous or crossing any lines, nor am I saying that Clone Wars (which I consider this an extension of) was any stranger to violence or brutality.

Indeed. Clone Wars could be very mature when it wanted to be, though admittedly, when it wanted to, it could also swing the pendulum the other way too. Though I always found Rebels to also be a very mature show pretty much right from beginning to end. If anything, Resistance was the outlier being strictly a kid-friendly series all along. Can't be a coincidence that was also the weakest of the bunch.

 

[Saul]

Good episode. I like they are exploring the creation of Storm Troopers. I like that we now have an A story and a B story but it's weird that half of the episode was pretty dark with innocent civilians getting executed and then the other half having Omega run around being cute and saving the day. Yes, Omega is not growing on me.
I think there will be a twist where we all expect Crosshair to have his chip removed but instead of becoming good he's still just the same person because that's who he always was. I think he is too far gone.

Plus of course for anyone with children of their own, or just of that age in the immediate family; there's just something fundamentally disquieting about that image of a child with a gun.

I think how they could get away with it was because it's a laser gun and doesn't shoot bullets.

 

[Tuskin38]

I'm guessing Wrecker's chip might activate, or partly activate after that wack on his head

I think how they could get away with it was because it's a laser gun and doesn't shoot bullets.

Yep, been that way since the late 90s. Look at the DCAU, Batman TAS in the early 90s had bullet firing guns, but by the time Justice League came around, it was all laser guns IIRC.

Speaking of dark, Clone Wars had them using flamethrowers to burn Geonosians alive, I'm guessing they were able to get away with that because they weren't human.

For a lot of dark Clone (and Mandalorian) deaths, they had their helmets on, further dehumanizing them.

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah, Star Wars always had the dark. Never shied away from brutality.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Yeah, Star Wars always had the dark. Never shied away from brutality.

Indeed. The images of the smoldering corpses of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru made quite an impression on my 10 year-old head back in the day.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I'm guessing Wrecker's chip might activate, or partly activate after that wack.

I have an early guess that pretty much all of the BB will end up with active chips, except one.
Hunter is the obvious last one standing option, but willing to be surprised.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I have an early guess that pretty much all of the BB will end up with active chips, except one.
Hunter is the obvious last one standing option, but willing to be surprised.

I can see this being where Rex comes into the story.

 

[JD]

I'm guessing Wrecker's chip might activate, or partly activate after that wack on his head

I was wondering if that might end up being important. It seemed like a fairly minor incident at first, but they kept bring it back up like they wanted to make sure we remembered it happened.

 

[Mach5]

What I liked: The War Mantle B-plot. Gradual dismantling of the last remnants of the old Republic is what I was hoping to see in this show since the day it was announced. And I loved how dark it was.

What I didn't care for: We're on episode 3 and Filoni and Co. already don't know what to do with the actual Bad Batch, so we're treated to what's basically a filler A-plot. The character moments were nice and mostly make up for it. I like Omega and I trust Filoni has big plans for her.

More focus on the Empire, please. I love Tarkin and I think it's time we've seen him interact directly with the Emperor for a change. Did he and Palpatine have any scenes together in TCW? I honestly can't remember.