“Bad Batch” finished its final season last year on this very day. After the previous season’s strong and impactful finale, a lot of hype and intrigue was riding on the conclusion to the series. Did it pay off? Let’s find out. 

***Be warned, this is not a spoiler free review.***

In the first episode, the “Bad Batch” starts on a somber note due to the tragic finale of season two. After the heartbreaking loss of Tech, one of the original members of the Bad Batch, and Omega’s capture, the surviving team members go home and lick their wounds.

A core theme that the show champions is the concept of found families. For those who are unfamiliar, a found family is when you grow so close with a group of people that you consider them family. However, “Bad Batch” takes that to the extreme when you remember they’re all clones of the same person (with the Bad Batch specifically having some differences from your standard clone).

Every clone is considered family to the main cast, and the show does a great job of highlighting that as even when they have to fight their “brothers”, they almost always go non-lethal, barring the rare exception where they’re simply too far gone.

Speaking of clones, the effort to showcase the ethical implications of a clone army and the consequences of creating people to serve only as soldiers is incredibly well done. Certain episodes, like episode six showcase the danger of erasing all that a person is and converting them into a killing machine.

Going back to the first episode, it also switches to Omega’s perspective as she struggles to survive her newfound confinement. This particular episode’s atmosphere is elite as eerie but soft music plays throughout it with little dialogue to break the uncomfortable silence. A monotonous vibe starts to form as Omega slowly loses her hope as days go by without any sign of her team coming to save her.

What really pushes the first episode to the top, is how it ends. Despite her capture, Omega has hope and clings to a toy she made that sort of represents it. It reminds her of her team as it’s a replica of a toy they gave her. However, the toy is confiscated at the end, leaving her with nothing but her thoughts and little to hope for. That is…until someone passes it back to her.

Now if it were just some stranger, that would be intriguing, but not particularly impactful (or sensical to be honest). However, it was none other than a clone very similar to Omega, named Emerie. In fact, it was the same clone that has been experimenting on her at the command of the show’s primary villain, Dr. Hemlock.

There’s a tragic irony in a clone experimenting on their own, and the show is not afraid to say so. Focusing back on the first episode, Omega is hit with a surprise inspection led by Emerie, who up to this point, Omega was trying to be kind to. As a result, her toy is found and confiscated, and Omega feels hopeless. However, not long after, Emerie returns the toy, signifying a change.

Speaking of change, a similar story arc is given to one of the original Bad Batch members, Crosshair, turned traitor in the earlier seasons as he comes to terms with his choice. After fighting his former brothers at every turn and committing atrocities in the Empire’s name, Crosshair reaches a breaking point in season two, leading to his imprisonment.

Realizing that the Empire sees him as nothing more than a tool to eventually be discarded, Crosshair gives up out of guilt for his betrayal and the heinous actions he enacted for an organization that abandoned him. Fortunately, thanks to Omega’s encouragement, Crosshair takes a chance to atone. This is no easy feat as the rest of the team still harbors a grudge against him.

The show takes the time to showcase the effort these characters go through to change as people, and it’s clearly not easy. While Crosshair has to earn his comrade’s trust again, Emerie begins to doubt the cause she trusts as she sees unprovoked and unchecked cruelty enacted on the innocent.

Moving away from the themes of the show, there’s something to be appreciated about the writing in another way. If you’re a Star Wars fan, no doubt you’re familiar with the sequels and the cloning of Emperor Palpatine. In the movies, this plot point was widely criticized for being nonsensical and out of left field.

Fortunately, media like the “Bad Batch” and the “Mandalorian” have worked to tackle these critiques by centering their plots around it in order to bridge the continuity gap. This is a difficult undertaking of course, but it has proved fruitful. 

After all, many of the conflicting story beats in the sequels were because of a lack of unity behind the scenes between Rian Johnson and J.J. Abrams, and of course Disney’s incredible incompetence. Despite the films being massive financial successes (this is no surprise, it’s “Star Wars”), the movies aren’t looked on fondly by most. Except for “The Force Awakens”, that one’s pretty good.

Though these films and their story beats were poorly planned, the “Star Wars” TV series have done a good job of making them seem planned from the beginning. However, no matter how much the TV series try to fix retroactively, the truth is that these are attempts at damage control. Simply put, it’s not exactly a good idea to plan plot holes to repair years later in follow up material.

Focusing back on the “Bad Batch”, the show isn’t perfect either. From rehashing the Omega capture plot a second time later on in the season to not truly following up on Tech’s death at the end of season two, season three rushes in some areas, which hurts its emotional impact a tad.

While not egregious nor even close to being the worst critique, Scorch’s death was not only unceremonious, but also felt random and even ignored.

After playing a minor role in the original “Clone Wars” series and having an all-star role in this one, he died like any old grunt without any focus on it. No death grunt, no camera focus, no commentary by any allies or enemies, and not even any last words (which isn’t always a minus, but in this case it is).

If the point was that he died like any other side character, that would be a poignant message to add on to the already anti-authoritarian theme of the franchise, but none of the trademarks for that message really show themselves. Scorch merely dies like he’s cannon fodder that has had no character throughout both this series and its predecessor at all.

Despite this nitpick, season three definitely hit its mark and serves as a great ending for a beloved chapter in the “Star Wars” franchise. 

As always, May the Fourth be with you.