SPOILER Bad Batch Season 2

The animation and the overall look is beautiful. I would agree that it seems to be evolving, especially the details in the background and scenery. I loved how they opened on a tropical beach setting seeing as the Squad didn't get much sunlight in season 1.

Dooku was a nice name drop, and it also helps to get an idea how the Empire grew so fast. It makes sense that Dooku, who was basically a warlord, would have such a massive warchest. I was a bit surprised with the timeline though... At this point hasn't he been dead for a while? How weren't those bones picked clean by this time? Anyway... I enjoyed the underlying themes about Omega never enjoying a childhood, and the old man stating that BB was no better than the Empire in regards to looting the treasure. As far as their role in the Galaxy going forward, I hope they find a way to work them into the fight against the Empire, and I'm curious about their aging and how that will factor in. I didn't mind the absence of Crosshair, although I am eager to see how he dealt with being left for dead by the Empire. At the end of ep.2 Rampart was adamant that CF99 was dead after Kamino, so that means either he doesn't know that Crosshair survived, OR, Crosshair didn't tell anyone that the others had escaped when he was rescued. Also of note, Rampart referred to Governor Tarkin, when he was still Admiral at the end of season 1.

 

I have seen both episodes, and like the first season (that I was not hyped nor interested) surprised me as well in a very good way.
I thought season 1 would be boring with more Clone Wars era stuff but it was the opposite.
And I think this new season started better.
Loved the second episode. Its darkness, its seriousness, the sense of mistery/adventure mission, dialogs and worldbuilding, subtle but so well introduced (Dooku's arcs, Empire, clones, the new planet and their habitants).
The final was brutal. I had some Andor vibes with that evil Empire General.

Although the character movements are quite the same (still not flowing enough for me) I have to agree some backgrounds are really great and character definitions have significant improvements.

The music, as in Clone Wars, is absolutely brilliant for being an animated series. It helps to make the show better.

Can't wait to see more and finally know something about Empire cloning thing.

 

I really love getting such an insight into the transition from Republic to Empire - gonna sting when they make the clones obsolete

 

This! I always craved to lean about those dark times, before a glimpse of hope returned. At the moment it’s Clone Troopers representing the Empire 99% of the time, but even in S01 we saw the first next gen Stormtroopers in an older armor type, as well as in the last trailer for S02. I’m curious if they will show us the complete decommissioning of the clones in this show. Also, I’m a big a fan that they show a real evolution in armor design that accompanies this transition process.

 

This! ^^^^

And This! ^^^^

I immediately recognized the voice of Phee Genoa as comedian Wanda Sykes. In this particular case, I wondered if the animated version she played in TBB was a sign that the same character as an old woman (played by Wanda) might appear in one of Favreau and Filoni's upcoming live-action shows

 

Episode 3 was my favorite yet of the entire series. Sooooo much CW vibe. And the cinematography was outstanding. Really can't say enough about the quality of Ep. 3. Plus I didn't feel like, at the end of the episode, I was longing for more. That sometimes happens with these 30-40 minute installments (for me). No this time! An overall excellent offering.

 

Episode 3 The Solitary Clone
This episode I thought to be very, very good. Heavy and dark, it skipped the subtle messaging of the first two episodes. Crosshair got to balance out the screen time he missed out on previously, and to my memory, this was the first episode of The Bad Batch without Omega and the boys, focusing solely on Crosshair and his Imperial cohorts. I guess the "big deal" was the return of Cody, which is fairly meh to me personally, although I did like his arc as it was contained in this episode. I like where they seem to be going with the Clones in regards to their loyalty and conscience. Is their programming wearing out and malfunctioning, or is it a matter of them actually developing free will and awareness?

I'm also digging the tragic stories of these more peaceful Separatist planets that have gone from opposing the Republic's taxes and restrictions to all of a sudden being occupied, oppressed and slaughtered by the Empire. They were in a lose/lose situation. It goes to answer a lot of questions and further show how the numerous Rebel Factions start to form across the Galaxy. One of the big ambiguous issues of Andor revolved around the crashed ship on Kenari. The crew wore Separatist insignia, but Maarva and Clem referred to them as The Republic. Bottom line is, to them, the "little people" of the Galaxy, all of those entities were the same. They were oppressive governmental organizations fighting for power and control. To much of the Galaxy, the Empire was just a slightly more evil, heavy-handed version of the Republic. Exploitation is exploitation whether it's being done by a facist Empire or by a democratic Republic. To some simple citizens, the Good Guys are bad and the Bad Guys are even worse.

 

Spoiler

#CODYLIVES

This made me incredibly happy.

 

Really liked first three and its worldbuilding and had a story that really moved forward.

The fourth one seemed to me out of place. Just an excuse.to introduce a new kind of race, nothing to do with the actual story. Although can seem pretty cool and this and that, it is completly filler for me.

 

Yes, it seemed very out of place. Very much like an early Resistance episode- silly and pointless. I understand the need for a bit of levity after the first three episodes were so heavy and serious, but for me, they went a bit too far the other way. Something else I noticed, I like the occasional Kenner Action Figure cameo, but they seem to be using the same background creatures over and over. Always a Hammerhead, Walrus Man, Greedo, Snaggletooth and a Twi'lek and a Goatel goat-man thingy.

As for positives, I do like how they're splitting the Batch up and focusing on them individually. I can't say I've necessarily missed Hunter the past two weeks... I like getting a bit of fleshing out Cid and her underworld dealings. I feel like Omega and the boys are having more of a positive influence on her than she is having a negative influence on them. With Wanda Sykes' character and the crime boss guy from this week, it seems like there's gonna be some drama around Cid later this season to occupy the team.

 

The character development is what I especially appreciate this season, I enjoyed observing another side of Tech. Also savored the vast array of scum villainy on the seedy Ord Mantell including the droids.

 

I love these shows but why so short? Not like they have to pay actors.

 

Good point. I guess 'pointless' was a bit harsh, and I agree, there is no way to know the value of anything yet. I do think this episode is building up to a tension point with Cid later in the season and we will see Millegi, the crime boss again.

 

I work with 2 casual Star Wars fans who stated they could not continue watching The ANDOR Star Wars series on Disney+ after the first episode, because it was boring to them.

It did not give them any pleasure at all, it was dull, and didn't feel like the Star Wars they know.

I advised them to continue to watch it, it will get better as the series progresses, but they didn't believe me at all.

They both said, the Mandalorian is a great Star Wars series, and they can't wait to watch that, of course, they also don't watch TBB.

 

One of them actually rolled their eyes , like dude, I'm not wasting my time on that, so I didn't continue to tell them, you will invest in the characters, it gets really good further down the line.

Anyway, they love the action packed fighting scenes in the Mandalorian. The slow pace of ANDOR put them to sleep. Which I truly enjoyed, sort of like reading a novel... but I'm an elder guy who still reads books... hehe. Does this generation still read??? Audiobooks books, maybe... ahahaha.

Also, I've heard film pundits say, Disney+ was wise to release the first 3 episodes of ANDOR, because if they had released only the first one, they would have lost allot of viewers.

 

I've just always seen that as part of being a "superfan". I will instinctively watch anything SW and probably find good in it. But there are some people who will NOT watch something just because it's SW. My sister grew up with two brothers who watched the OT excessively. When we weren't watching it, we were playing it outside or with our action figures... She has a knee-jerk reaction to avoid SW, even now as her 8 year old son is obsessed with it. Over the holidays, I talked her into giving Andor a chance, and she got hooked. But I know there is 0% chance she would sit through a single episode of BB. But that's the beauty of where SW is now and seems to be headed- a broad range of styles and stories to widen the audience.