Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 Review: Dave Filoni’s ‘Clone Wars’ Spinoff is Light on Plot But Delivers On the Franchise’s Grand Spectacle (LatestLY Exclusive)

Star Wars - The Bad Batch Season 2: Going into season two of Star Wars: The Bad Batch right after The Tales of Jedi, there was certainly a nice sense of continuity felt and I was excited to see what next the animation side of this universe had to offer. With Dave Filoni’s signature style of writing being showcased here, the Bad Batch, a mutated bunch of Clones who have defected from the Empire return in a new season that delivers on the epic scale of the franchise, however, can’t escape the limitations of its previous outings. Tales of the Jedi Series Review: Dave Filoni’s ‘Star Wars’ Shorts Provides Fun Backstories For Count Dooku and Ahsoka! (LatestLY Exclusive).

Picking up right after the ending of the first season, we see our defected Clones pull off a new score while being chased by a bunch of crab-like creatures. Successful in it, they are tasked with a new one that involves them breaking into Count Dooku’s castle and stealing the spoils of the war that were left behind. One bad mission later, they are back in the sights of the Empire, and this is what fuels their journey for the season.

What helps immediately get you back into the groove of the Star Wars: The Bad Batch is actually dynamic of the team itself. The initial concept of Bad Batch was so interesting in Star Wars: The Clone Wars that it does get carried forward in season two. With them taking on the role of a teacher and a guardian towards Omega (Michelle Ang), the female clone introduced in the first season, there is a certain breath of fresh air as these rejects just try to do what’s right.

Dee Bradley Baker should immediately be put into the Hall of Fame for Star Wars as he continues to provide great voicework for all the clones present here. Effectively voicing at least 60% of the cast here, Baker continues to breathe so much of the personality into these clones. The gruffness of Hunter, the strength of Wrecker and the intelligence of Tech – no character feels similar even if they have the same voice.

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Michelle Ang’s Omega does get a lot to do as well, and her character does have quite the few twists and turns attached that make for a compelling watch. Trying to come into her own while living alongside this ragtag group, there is a nice coming-of-age element attached that will definitely speak to you. Overall, the main cast does a great job in conveying this story, sadly it’s the overarching plot though that lets it down at many of the times. Having seen the first 14 episodes out of the sixteen now, the season takes quite the while to get started here.

Running into the same issues as the first season, the plot at times is wrapped up in filler content that takes a while to really form itself. For example, the first episode focusing on the heist at Dooku’s castle, could have effectively been wrapped up in one episode, but rather the show takes a longer approach and dictates a whole another episode to it which certainly creates for a thin plot.

A bone with hardly any meat on it, the beginning of the season definitely feels like that where it scrambles to find meaningful things to latch on to. Crosshairs for example, has a whole episode attached to him showcasing his loyalty to the Empire after betraying the Bad Batch, and yet those moments are very few. The show will be hard for newcomers to get into as well, because so much of its worlbuilding is regulated to the viewer relying on the knowledge of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, that following the plot can get a bit harder.

Thankfully, the second half does pick up in its surprises where the Bad Batch shines in many of its moments. Topped off with the quality of animation that we have come to expect, Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season Two does very much deliver on its promise of the grand spectacle that you might expect from it that is filled with large action sequences and tense chases. Andor Review: Diego Luna’s 'Rogue One' Spinoff Series Revels In Providing Refreshing and Intimate Take on the Star Wars Saga! (LatestLY Exclusive).

Bringing forth an interesting take that helps propel the story of the Bad Batch further too, the group feels more compelling than ever, and I am waiting for the final two episodes to see just what the finale packs in.

Yay!

Dee Bradley Baker’s Performance

Development of the Bad Batch

Nay!

Plot Takes a While to Get Started

Final Thoughts

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season Two certainly doesn’t set the world on fire, yet it provides for a fun side-watch that carries forward the legacy of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. With the dynamic of the group better than ever and it delivering some twists and turns in the second half of its season, the series surely makes for an enjoyable time. Star Wars: The Bad Batch is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar right now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2023 01:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).