“Star Wars” it’s a franchise almost synonymous with the very genre of sci-fi itself. Created back in 1977 by George Lucas, it’s been going strong ever since with an ever-changing list of overseers and writers, for better or worse. And this of course brings us to “The Bad Batch.”
The “Bad Batch,” which finished its run on May 1, tells the tale of the titular group, also known as Clone Force 99, a group of genetically mutated or defective clones. The season picks up shortly after the events of the second season, the Batch is short a brother with Tech having sacrificed himself at the end of season two. Omega has been captured by an Imperial scientific task force, seeking to subvert the Force to their own insidious ends and the Batch have been betrayed by one they thought to be a friend. While the Batch are clearly down they are far from out. As the chance to both avenge their fallen brother and free other clones from the Empire’s grasp is coming, though in order to survive to have that opportunity the Batch will have to unite with friends old and new in order to decide the very fate of the clones.
The series stars Dee Bradley Baker, known for doing voices in various shows such as “Codename: Kids Next Door,” “Teen Titans,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” etc. playing the part of the Batch leader Hunter whose mutation makes him an expert tracker with a Rambo-esque look to him, Wrecker the big dumb lovable goof of the bunch whose mutation makes him superhumanly strong. Echo, who rather than being a kind of mutant clone, was an ARC trooper who after being captured by the Separatists during the Clone Wars was converted into a cyborg and after being rescued joined the Batch. Then there’s Crosshairs, the team’s resident sniper, his mutation making him a great sniper to an almost superhuman degree, and like the biblical prodigal son in the last two seasons, he had very much been team empire only to now align with his true family to set things right. Baker also voices almost every male adult clone shown in the season, including fan favorites such as Captain Rex, Commander Wolffe and Captain Howzer. Also starring is Michelle Ang, known best for her role as Lori Lee in “Neighbours” as the voice of Omega, a young female clone and ward of the Batch being somewhere of a mix between younger sister and surrogate daughter figure to the group. Also along for the ride is Gwendoline Yeo, known for playing the likes of Lady Shiva in “Young Justice” and Domino in “Wolverine and the X-Men.” Yeo plays the part of Nala Se, the Kaminoan who in addition to being in charge of the normal cloning process also created Omega and is being forced by the Empire to work on their shady Project Necromancer overseen by the Imperial Advanced Science Division. Keisha Castle-Hughs, known for roles in the likes of “Game of Thrones” and “The Almighty Johnson,” lends her voice to the role of Emerie Karr, another female clone who works as a scientist for the A.S.D. Noshir Dalal is known for having parts in the likes of “Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty” and “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” an Imperial Vice Admiral Rampart a former enemy of the Batch turned ally in a classic example of the age-old ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ trope. Jimmi Simpson is best known for playing parts in the likes of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and “Star Trek: Prodigy” in the role of Dr. Royce Hemlock the head of Project Necromancer and big bad of the season.
Now what to say of this season? It was great! The action, character building, all of it I loved all of it. The build-up is phenomenal, as is the finale leaving it open for some of the characters to appear again. Though if I have any problem it would have to be what they did to my boy Scorch, they took a badass Clone Commando and made him into an Imperial lackey. Though that’s less of a legitimate criticism and more of my inner fan coming out and internally ranting about “Republic Commando.” Also, there are one or two characters whose stories just aren’t finished, namely because they don’t appear this season. That being said, it is a phenomenal way to go out. I give this show 8.5 torches out of 10. You gotta watch this!
