The Separatists start getting ahead of Republic forces; Rex realizes the enemy is preempting battle plans he made with Echo (who is presumed dead). Rex, Cody, Kix, and Jesse team up with “The Bad Batch,” a group of clones who developed with “desirable mutations,” and form a special ops unit to find the source of the leak. After some initial friction, the clones learn to trust one another and fight their way through to the Separatist command center. There are lots and lots of explosions.

What I Loved

“The Bad Batch” is the first new episode of The Clone Wars since 2014, and you’d think the show never went off the air. The sensibility is exactly the same as it was, as are the relationships, the suspense… and did I mention the explosions?

The only thing that’s changed is the technology used to create the show, and though Dave Filoni has chosen to keep the more angular style (as opposed to switching to the more rounded, semirealistic curves of Star Wars Rebels), the character movements are far more smooth and everyone definitely has more of an idea of what to do with their arms when they’re not shooting, swinging a lightsaber, or crossing said arms in annoyance.

What really caught me, however, was the range of colors and lighting effects the artists used just in this first 24 minutes of the season. In a word, the episode was exquisite. The artist in me was as excited as the Star Wars fan.

As always, I was absolutely gobsmacked by Dee Bradley Baker’s ability to use his voice to create distinct personalities for each clone. Twitter user Melissa Thomas (@MeltyArtz) said it best when she posted, “Essentially the new episode was @deebradleybaker having a conversation with himself and I love that.”

We also got a glimpse of Matt Lanter’s Anakin Skywalker, very gently asking Rex if, perhaps, there wasn’t something the clone captain wanted to tell him. That brief moment reminded me of how little I cared about Anakin as a character prior to watching the The Clone Wars and how much I’ve cared about him since. Watching him fall is going to hurt a lot more this time around. And while we’re on the subject, every time Cody and Rex do a thing, I think about how Cody is going to do the thing, and my heart falls out of my chest and squishes of its own accord.

I Had Questions About

Um… not much, actually. I would have liked some Ahsoka action but I’m okay with parallel storylines like in the olden days of 2011. See also: Obi-Wan sass.

Are we going to get the Dark Disciple episodes? Because I would really like that. I mean, I would also hate it and cry a lot but also really like it because that’s how it is with these characters in this timeframe.

That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll have more to say as the season progresses. May the Force be with us.