Bad Batch Ep. 1 - "Aftermath"

 Bad Batch Ep. 1 - "Aftermath", written by Jennifer Corbett and Dave Filoni, directed by Steward Lee, Saul Ruiz, and Nathaniel Villanueva

What a way to start with a bang!! I thought this episode really packed a punch with action, humor, heart, intrigue, and surprise. How exciting that the first episode was 75 minutes long!!! So much content was presented to us and I couldn't be more thankful. Also, unlike The Clone Wars movie which began the TV show of the same name, this episode flowed right into the next and built a continuous story with plot points that were even revisited in later episodes. With The Clone Wars, it was more a separate storyline all on its own that never really connected to anything down the line. (Don't get me wrong, "The Clone Wars" TV show is my absolute favorite animated show of all time, but the connection between the opening movie and the show itself is ambiguous.) So overall, I am definitely pleased with how this episode of the new series "Bad Batch" started us on our post-fall of the Republic journey!!

Just for a quick bit of context, this episode takes place immediately after Anakin and Obi-Wan rescue Palpatine from the Invisible Hand and goes through Order 66 and then to the...well, aftermath.

To start, I LOVED the burning away of "The Clone Wars" logo to reveal "The Bad Batch" logo beneath (see above). That was a bada** way to start things off as well as a great representation of the new era forcing its way through the wreckage of the old. Then we get Tom Kane's fabulous narrator rundown as a prelude to the episode and I thought I had gone to heaven! ...except I really died when I heard "Kaller" and I started saying out loud, "We're gonna see Kanan! We're gonna see Kanan!" and lo and behold...Caleb Dume and Depa Billaba are on the scene. And, well...Order 66 happens and that's where the real story begins. (See the end of the review for a note on canon inconsistencies with this scene.)

Crosshair turns out to be affected by the Order 66 chip, but nobody else in Clone Force 99, including Echo, even knows what in the world the order is at first. They are beyond confused about what is going on and Tech keeps making predictions and assessments of the situation in an attempt to bring some light to what's happening.

After Kaller, Clone Force 99 (the Bad Batch) returns to Kamino, but everything is different and more regimented and the only one out of the group who takes to it immediately is Crosshair...everybody else is super uncomfortable and feels incredibly out of place. Along the way, the group meets Omega--a very mysterious young girl who has a similar accent and facial features to the clones (see image below). I, personally, think she's a female clone of Jango, especially since a med droid says she's an altered clone just like Wrecker, Hunter, Crosshair, and Tech! Her alteration being that she's female. But then there's also the possibility that she's Force-sensitive...a female Force-sensitive clone of Jango would be so freaking cool!!

And then TARKIN appears on Kamino!!! He's testing the clones to see how they might compare to conscripted (and therefore monetarily-free) soldiers. He even uses live rounds against Clone Force 99 leading to Wrecker getting shot...and the discovery that he has a stuffed Tooka doll named Lula (see first image below)!!! I AM SO IN LOVE WITH HIM!!! <3 The real kicker is when Tarkin sends them off on a mission to deal with insurgents and, although expecting droids, they run into a band of Republic soldiers and civilians led by Saw Gerrera who simply refuse to believe what the Empire's selling them. It's the Rebellion before the Rebellion had even been considered!! Only Crosshair is willing to attack and once they return to Kamino, Tarkin sics Crosshair on his Clone Force 99 brothers in an epic showdown (see second image below).  

So now that I've praised the awesomeness of this episode, it's time to talk about canon inconsistency... Well, the Kanan short-run comic series told the story of Order 66 being issued on Kaller in an entirely different way. First off, the Separatist general, Kleeve, decides his forces are no match for the Jedi (Depa Billaba and her Padawan Caleb Dume a.k.a. Kanan Jarrus) and so he retreats and leaves Kaller to the Republic. It isn't until after the Separatist forces have therefore been defeated that Order 66 is issued. And, Caleb is right next to Depa when the shooting begins. He runs away from the situation, escaping with his life. There's no Clone Force 99. There's no continued fighting with the Separatists as Order 66 is issued. And Caleb is being hunted down by a ton of clones, not just a few. I don't know which version I like better. Perhaps the "Bad Batch" version contains more edge-of-your seat-ness, but if that is canon then Caleb and Depa never had their heart-to-heart about a person's role in life and the ever-evolving purpose of a Jedi. It is a truly wonderful conversation and speaks to Kanan's perspective on the world. Unfortunately, there's really no way to reconcile the two different scenarios for what happened on Kaller. I'm assuming the TV show version is now the actual canon version, but if that's the case then what becomes of the Kanan comic version? Inconsistencies that cause great story points to be relegated to Legends after getting their time in the Canon spotlight just makes me really sad. But what can you do? Filoni has a plan and I will trust in him...

Regardless of the canon inconsistencies, I am so happy with how this show is starting off!! It's pretty much everything I could've hoped for and that definitely puts a huge smile on my face. Be on the lookout Wednesday for my review of Episode 2 and Friday for my review of Episode 3!

-Marie E. Wilson a.k.a. @AliaMorgaine on Twitter