– Spoiler Review –
The Bad Batch’s second season provides us with its next two-parter, “The Clone Conspiracy” & “Truth and Consequences,” which sees Imperial Senate debating Admiral Rampart’s plans for conscription recruitments as the truth of his destruction of Kamino threatens to become public. Combined, these are the best episodes of the season so far, even over “The Solitary Clone,” as this glimpse at the larger story and the rest of the galaxy brings some much appreciated elevated stakes, drama, and thrust for the final half of the season.
I’ve quite enjoyed the last several episodes and would never call them the “filler” buzzword, as they often allow us to see how the galaxy is adjusting to the Empire’s new rule or provide tons of fun with their premise and ideas. If there’s something I’d level at them, it’s how the characters don’t often change or grow, maybe learning a lesson here or there, but by the next episode they don’t seem much different, if at all. One of season two’s biggest potential for character change is the debate between Echo and Hunter about doing more for the galaxy, which is where they find themselves in the episode 8 “Truth of Consequences,” picked by Rex to help a Senator present the clones’ case to the galaxy so they aren’t as easily discarded as the Empire, and Rampart, are planning. While this debate was getting a little rote at this point in the show, making Echo even more like his namesake, I figured it would factor into Hunter and Omega’s relationship as well once the decision would be made. After Rex tells Echo how little he’s been able to help clones wake up from what the Empire is doing, it seemed clear to me the debate would rage again soon, if not this episode. So imagine my surprise, since we spent most of the Hunter and Echo screen time this season on them debating it, the episode ends with the decision already made and Echo is leaving, the rest of Clone Force 99 carrying on as is. There’s no way we won’t delve into how Omega reacts as the season continues, as the last shot of her is hugging her doll after crying and hugging Echo moments before, but will it affect her and Hunter? How will the rest of the Batch react? Will it help push them into joining with Echo/Rex/the rebellion at some point? Regardless of those answers, I wish we’d gotten a scene of Hunter and Echo discussing this, considering how often they’ve talked about it so far, as I guarantee Echo tried to convince Hunter to bring the whole Batch to join him. In the end, between the music and Omega’s reaction, I got a little emotional as Echo left the team, but I will say it was often hard to discern him from Tech beyond just wanting to be amongst the “regs” more/helping the galaxy more, so there as aspects I won’t miss while he’s gone.
The debates raging in the Senate felt a bit topical, considering it discussed funding more war-related aspects of the government at the sake of caring for those war has already affected. Be it the lack of funding for both first responders to 9/11 attacks or setting up more avenues to help soldiers reacclimate and be taken care of after their service, yet the spending amounts on military don’t abate in the name of “safety and security” when some of the biggest threats are home-grown terrorism, it’s unfortunate but important to realize which side the show is equating one’s government in the real world with over the other. Andor‘s first season did an excellent job, without even truly being the main intention, of being topical, and while The Bad Batch hasn’t always, this is the closest its gotten to such pointed and necessary metaphors.
Rampart’s main goal since joining the series has been to paint the clones as obsolete, turning the Empire’s dependence away from the clones and allowing those costs to go towards anything and everything else. With Kamino gone and the ability to make more clones crushed, he’s now taking his recruitment/conscription bill to the Senate, but it’s Senator Chuchi of Pantora, with a little backup from Bail Organa, that stands up for the clones, her impassioned plea enough to bring a halt to the voting. When visiting the clone bar on Coruscant, she hears how the clones feel, but when they’ve never been programmed to think beyond fighting, she awakens them to the idea and ends up in a full-night session learning what clones might want, including a pension. It doesn’t sound particularly exciting, but it actually is from the way the show frames it and the urgency of getting their voices heard, while being fans of The Clone Wars and other related material where clones have featured in storylines helps make this a problem we all want to see resolved. After all, we all know clones end up remaining in service, so what do they get out of it, and does it help them consider staying in service? But Chuchi’s good intentions run into the reveal there’s more going on under the surface, as Slip, a friend of a clone Rampart had killed after they threatened to go public with his destruction of Kamino, passes on the information of Rampart’s actions. She finds herself working with Bail Organa in the shadows, where he begins to recruit her to his circle of Senators willing to stand up to the Empire, and she does her best to gather all the information necessary to make the galaxy listen. She finds herself the next target of Rampart’s new assassin, but is saved by Rex, which is where Clone Force 99 comes in after she shares the necessary evidence to help the clones’ cause can only be found on Rampart’s ship’s bridge. I loved seeing Chuchi again and having her in such an active role, fighting passionately for the clone troopers, and even despite the chilling ending that reminds everyone of the stakes and difficulty of their fight, how she’s willing to solider on for the clones. Like other aspects, her part and her fight are ones I hope The Bad Batch can return to, but I feel like it won’t given the ending, but we can always hope.
The opening episode, “The Clone Conspiracy,” doesn’t feature Clone Force 99 at all and it’s still a thrilling episode. There’s some action with the assassin, later revealed to be a fanatical clone who prefers suicide to talking to Rex after they capture him, but overall the political intrigue in these two episodes is what keeps viewers on the edges of their seats. “Truth and Consequences” is when the action picks up as the Batch gets involved, the big sequence of them sneaking into Rampart’s ship as it’s being retrofitted, as well as their escape-pod filled escape, are highly entertaining. Regardless, the political intrigue doesn’t let up, as the stakes raise for Rampart and the time gets close on the Batch bringing Chuchi the info she needs, culminating a less than happy ending. Successful in getting the data to Chuchi in time, as the destruction of Kamino blasts through the Senate chambers while Rampart does his best to save face, an ominous tone sounds and the music switches to something dark, as out of the middle rises Emperor Palpatine on his podium! He starts with a shocking statement, admitting this was the truth, and then immediately turns it against Rampart, tearing him down as a traitor and using it as an excuse to paint the clones in a bad light, claiming recruits wouldn’t so mindlessly go along with such orders (knowing full well he made sure the clones did go along with specific orders). It’s a brutal scene, compounded not only by the chilling music, but also Ian McDiarmid’s performance, as while those in animation before him have done stellar jobs in the role, there’s nothing quite like the original, who delivers the lines with the sweet taste of malice behind his kind old grandfather shtick. It leaves Clone Force 99 feeling defeated, as well as Chuchi, knowing Palpatine is once again several steps ahead of them, with their work, regardless if they succeeded or not, playing into his plans. It’s what likely helps push Echo to leave the group, seeing how much tougher the fight is, and it’ll probably push Hunter further away from helping out more for the time being, seeing how useless their work was. Could this be where Omega and Hunter will start to clash, her identifying more like Echo’s viewpoint on their own plans for the future? I’ll be interesting to see how much this all impacts the group in the episodes going forward.
Hunter and Wrecker looked better compared to the other clones in this episode, but Tech and for sure Echo, and even Omega, remain a problem that doesn’t undo the need for the #UnwhitewashTBB campaign. You can read more up on the campaign via their Carrd, and this great article on Gizmodo, but it’s simply pointing out how the special clones of a character played by a Māori actor are whiter than any other clone, unintentionally implying superiority and uniqueness are inherent in those who are white versus their darker-skinned brethren. I find it hard to cover this show without mentioning it each episode, as not acknowledging it would be ignoring the problem. They’ve reportedly darkened the characters, but it’s still not been enough to fix the issue, so hopefully by the show’s eventual third season they can maybe get it right.
Here are a few other things:
- Did you recognize Senator Pamlo, the Black woman in the white outfit? She’s amongst the leaders of the Alliance to Restore the Republic as seen in Rogue One! Bonus points that the actress, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, came back and voiced the role for the show!
- Believe it or not, we are halfway through the season! We’re also three weeks away from The Mandalorian’s third season premiere, but you can continue to expect my reviews for TBB to continue…they might be a bit delayed due to doing both this, Din Djarin’s adventures, the comics, and more training for my new role at my job. As always, if there’s any interest out there to cover some of these things, feel free to reach out via the details at the Manor’s Submissions page!
- Clone voice actor extraordinaire Dee Bradley Baker took to the official site to hype of the show and the remainder of the season. Here’s hoping we get a trailer for the second half as well!
The Bad Batch’s mid-season two-parter of “The Clone Conspiracy” & “Truth and Consequences” raises the stakes by exploring the consequences of everyone’s actions against the larger Imperial machine, leading to some surprising but not so surprising developments.
+ Political intrigue opening our view of the galaxy
+ Palpatine’s ability to go with the flow
+ Echo’s decision seems to promise consequences
– Unwhitewash the Bad Batch
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.
THE BAD BATCH REVIEWS
Season Two: 1.1/1.2 Spoils of War & Ruins of War | 1.3 The Solitary Clone | 1.4 Faster | 1.5 Entombed | 1.6 Tribe
Season One: 1.1 Aftermath | 1.2 Cut and Run | 1.3 Replacements | 1.4 Cornered | 1.5 Rampage | 1.6 Decommissioned | 1.7 Battle Scars | 1.8 Reunion | 1.9 Bounty Lost | 1.10 Common Ground | 1.11 Devil’s Deal | 1.12 Rescue on Ryloth | 1.13 Infested | 1.14 War-Mantle | 1.15 Return to Kamino | 1.16 Kamino Lost