Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Replacements Review

TBB "Replacements"

What if in The Force Awakens, FN-2187 was executed on the spot by Captain Phasma for not firing on the Tuanul village civilians on Jakku? That is a question indirectly raised by The Bad Batch episode "Replacements". Crosshair is put in charge of a group of "elite squad" stormtroopers who are again sent to Onderon to eliminate Saw Gerrera's forces. Finding a contingent of Saw's Partisan fighters escorting refugees off-world, Crosshair orders all parties slaughtered. When one of the troopers objects, Crosshair crosses him off too. It's a brutal moment in a subplot that gives the episode a dark character.

The rest of the Bad Batch (including the ever-proactive Omega) crash on a moon and must regain a vital ship part from a local ordo dragon. It's a familiar-feeling story that ends up as a sidelight when the episode provides such juicy world-building material about the transition from Republic to Empire.

To Admiral Rampart, that transition should take the form of one between Republic clone troopers and Imperial stormtroopers, codenamed Project War Mantle. These villain scenes on Kamino and Onderon are generally the most distinctive scenes in the episode. Interestingly, one must stretch to find a sympathetic anchor within them. Crosshair would fulfill that function... if he wasn't brainwashed to be a chilling murder machine. In the Kamino scenes, the closest thing is Lama Su, who fears a transition to enlisted troops would financially imperil the Kaminoan cloning operation.

Meanwhile on the unnamed moon, the setup of the oxygen masks and critters freaking people out on the windshield can't help but recall the mynocks in the Exogorth from The Empire Strikes Back. From that same movie, the dragon has certain biological similarities with a tauntaun.

There's further development in the parental bond between Hunter and Omega, as she defies him to save the day. Of course, Wrecker gets in on the surrogate family action too by building Omega her own room on their shuttle. But again, the episode's flavor, bitter as it is, lies in the brutal villain scenes on Kamino and Onderon. 6/10.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Cut and Run Review

TBB "Cut and Run"

Are Hunter and Omega getting a Din Djarin and Grogu arc? It's a thought that arises in "Cut and Run", a decent second installment of the show in which the villain is bureaucracy, old Clone Wars guest stars return, and (found) familial bonds are forged.

When Clone Force 99 lands on Saleucami, Omega greets the sun and dirt of the new world with wonder. After all, neither sun nor dirt are in evidence on Kamino. Her reaction is reminiscent of Rey's "I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy" when going from Jakku to Takodana in The Force Awakens.

The Bad Batch are there to meet with Suu and Cut Lawquane, the latter of whom is a deserter clone trooper. Both characters appeared in The Clone Wars. At this stage in galactic history, other clone troopers are being used by the Empire, exactly as stormtroopers soon will be. And they're enforcing a new registration drive for citizens to get mandatory chain codes. (Read: DMV Real IDs.) So the villain in this episode is bureaucracy.

The Lawquanes are determined to leave Saleucami with their children, and Hunter deems their family the best place for Omega - at least until she chooses to stay with our heroes. But to get off-planet the Lawquanes need chain codes, a problem Tech and Echo set out to fix. That duo's scene together brings to mind the arguably redundant nature of having two "techie" characters, in the fine tradition of, say, Tej and Ramsey in the Fast and Furious series.

So what we end up with is a Mission: Impossible setup where one group of characters has to walk casually through a checkpoint while another frantically hacks into the system to establish their credentials. The Lawquanes make it off planet, and the Bad Batch shoot their way out of the spaceport to fight another day. "Cut and Run" is a fine statement for the surrogate father/daughter bond developing between Hunter and Omega, and for the state of this galaxy in transition. 6/10.

Stray observations:

- It should be noted that the Imperial officer pushing chain codes in a public holo message is one Vice Admiral Rampart. Why is this significant? He has a Black Series figure, so you can bet that the toys have tipped the show's hand and he's got a bigger role to play as the show goes on.

- Echo's right arm has a servo that interfaces with computer terminals exactly like R2-D2's arm.

- Wrecker gets a classic Ralph McQuarrie poncho, and continues his Gonk droid exercise routine.

- Two connections to Solo: the boot on the impounded ship is like that on Lando and L3's Millennium Falcon, and the Imperial check-in station with tray for item exchange is straight out of Coronet Spaceport on Corellia.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch - Aftermath Review

TBB "Aftermath"

"The Clone War may have ended, but a Civil War is about to begin."

As The Clone Wars logo burns away into that of The Bad Batch (literalizing this show's status as a sequel/spinoff), we find ourselves once again in that rich time period during and around Revenge of the Sith, with Order 66 playing out across the galaxy. But Clone Squad 99 is immune to such slavish programming. The experimental special forces team of Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, Crosshair, and Echo were introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars and crucially for this show, they already have a successful group dynamic. The distinct personalities are fun to watch play off of each other, such as the running bit where Tech needles Wrecker about how he loves blowing stuff up just because he was programmed that way.

But it's not all banter and brotherhood, as there is conflict within the team. Crosshair is presented initially as the Raphael of the group, if you will, aggressively questioning Hunter's (read: Leonardo's) leadership. Eventually it's revealed that Crosshair's chip is slightly more receptive to Order 66, a vulnerability that the Empire and the Kaminoans exploit. I wish that the conflict was a genuine disagreement; this development quantifies Crosshair's dissension, making it literal and tech-based. But in any case, Crosshair is now an agent of the Empire, throwing a wrench in the team dynamic already.

The source of Hunter and Crosshair's argument is the former's inability to follow through on Order 66 and kill young Caleb Dume, padawan to Depa Billaba. In events that don't seem to comport with the incident as portrayed in the Kanan: The Last Padawan comic series, Hunter lets Caleb go on his fugitive way, to eventually take the new name Kanan Jarrus. (And Caleb is still voiced by Kanan actor Freddie Prinze Jr.!) 

The episode depicts the Bad Batch's rough transition from serving the Republic to questioning and abandoning the Empire. Their disillusionment is helped along by a token appearance from Saw Gerrera, voiced by original actor Andrew Kishino - this time with a bit of Forest Whitaker inflection in the performance. Of course, to be heroes in this show the Bad Batch must reject the Empire, and another motivating factor presents itself in the form of the girl Omega, who is another defective clone. By episode's end the Squad minus Crosshair spirits Omega away from Kamino (not before she shows a latent talent for sharpshooting herself), her first jump to lightspeed scored beautifully by Kevin Kiner.

Appearances from Admiral Tarkin, Kaminoan Prime Minister Lama Su, and someone who appears to be Taun We fill out further connections to the established canon. Not to mention an animated take on Palpatine's big Senate speech announcing the Empire (Ian McDiarmid is credited, and to my ears this doesn't sound like the exact audio from Revenge of the Sith). The most chilling moment of the episode comes when the "regular" clone troopers follow their previously dormant fascist programming and cheer Palpatine. The Bad Batch do well to reject all that. 7/10.

Stray observations:

- There's a new Disney+ Star Wars logo treatment, this time a helmet montage specific to the animated shows.

- More of Revenge of the Sith gets the official animated treatment, specifically General Grievous' escape from the Invisible Hand.

- Kiner busts out the Imperial March during Palpatine's big speech.

- Echo is described as "more machine than man", echoing (heh) Obi-Wan's description of Darth Vader as "more machine now than man" in Return of the Jedi.