The Bad Batch begins as Order 66 is being executed. While in battle, the clone troopers turn against their Jedi leaders, while the members of the Bad Batch are confused as to what is going on. All of the members except for one: Crosshair. Crosshair joins the rest of the clone troopers in attacking the Jedi. After allowing Padawan Caleb (Kanan Jarrus from Rebels) to survive, the Batch return to their home base of Kamino. With Order 66 executed, the Clone Wars come to an abrupt end. Back on Kamino, the Batch discover how quickly the galaxy has changed. The Galactic Empire has already infiltrated Kamino, taking over the headquarters of the clone factory. The Empire is suspicious of the Batch's subordination of Order 66, and sends them on a mission to see how well they follow orders. The Batch fail their mission, choosing not to execute women and children affiliated with members of Saw Gerrera's missionary group, sending them on the run from the Empire. As they exit Kamino, they are joined by a young girl named Omega, who is also a clone.
The Bad Batch are a group of genetically imperfect clone troopers. Also known as Clone Force 99, they are maverick clone troopers, following their own orders and generally working separately from the Jedi or any military leader. The Bad Batch is not a show that I would consider essential Star Wars watching. They had a 3 or 4 episode story arc in the Clone Wars animated series, but otherwise most viewers are unlikely familiar with the group. Also, since the main protagonist is a group of people instead of one person, main character development is mostly absent (aside from Omega). However, that is not to say the show is bad. I will buy anything Dave Filloni is selling when it comes to Star Wars. The art and visualization on the show is spectacular. It also shows how quickly the Empire take over after the Clone Wars end, which to me has been the most interesting part of the show. For the first several episodes, the show wanders a bit as the Batch are now lost without having battles to fight or a home to go to. It is difficult to know the actual objectives of the show. However, as Omega's character develops and it becomes clear that she is valuable to the Kaminoans for her genetic material (she is a pure clone of Jango Fett, just like Boba), the Batch have a very clear objective: protect Omega.
As the show progresses through season 1, a bit of a repetitive theme occurs: The Batch are forced to take jobs in order to make ends meet. Most of the jobs are high risk, and opportunities present to the Batch to help people who are in need. Most of the Batch don't want to take additional risk, but with minimal arm twisting by Omega, the group reluctantly decides to help, even if the reward isn't really worth the risk. This presentation of the plot got a bit tiresome as the season went on.
Overall, I enjoyed The Bad Batch, despite never becoming attached to any of the individual characters or really to the group. While nothing hugely important seemed to happen, the most interesting part of the show to me was the storytelling on how quickly the Empire was able to take over the galaxy after the Clone Wars. This is similar to the book Catalyst. Visually, the show looked great. As season 1 ends, we witness the Empire destroy the clone research facility on Kamino, with the Batch barely surviving the attack. We are left with the cliff hanger that the Empire now has Nala Se working for them, a story that will for sure be further developed in season 2.
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