‘The Bad Batch’ Episode 2 Review: Treading Too Familiar Ground

It’s only been a couple of days since The Bad Batch Episode 1 “Aftermath” premiered, and already we’re getting more Star Wars. It’s the best time! Clone Force 99 gets their feet back under them in episode two of The Bad Batch: “Cut and Run”. We meet with clone trooper deserter Cut Lawquance, who we last saw in the “The Deserter” episode of The Clone Wars. Hunter’s goal in mind with this trip, to figure out how to stay off The Empire’s radar. Cut’s got a different goal in mind, getting off the planet with his family’s safety.

This episode tracks back over familiar Clone Wars territory and trusts the audience knows where we are. The running issue, is we have a total of now 6 episodes (counting Clone Wars) with the Bad Batch, we’re still getting to know them, what they stand for, and how they’ve managed to build a relationship with everyone and their mother. It feels inorganic, very similar to Hunter’s relationship with Omega. Star Wars has played on the unwitting father figure role in The Mandalorian and now in The Bad Batch. As a result, it just feels too much of a matching beat for beat.

Ultimately, it’s only been two episodes. And most of what these two episodes offer is pretty great. The introduction of Imperial chain codes was interesting, though I have a feeling there’s more to the tale of those. The music by Kevin Kiner is absolutely stunning, the overall theme is just perfect. This is one soundtrack I am very excited to get after the season is over.

The animation and cinematography are highly superb. It is very nice to see that they stuck with The Clone Wars animation style, and didn’t move in a different direction. Despite this, the white-leaning coloring of the clones is problematic, given Temuera Morrison’s heritage as a Maori of New Zealand. Also, why is Omega so important?

Overall, The Bad Batch had a decent second episode. While I am glad it didn’t lead in with a narrator at the start again, it still feels a little too familiar. With 14 episodes to go, there’s a lot of ground the show can traverse. I can’t wait to see where the Star Wars mythology leads next. – Katie Rentschler

Grade: 7.5/10

The Bad Batch is streaming on Disney+, with new episodes every Friday.