“The two-part mid-season finale of Star Wars: The Bad Batch has me excited for the rest of the season. I don’t care if the rest of the episodes are self-contained stories. I got what I wanted from this show” says Max Nocerino
One of my few complaints about The Bad Batch Season 2 is that the show is doing too many self-contained adventures with Clone Force 99. Episodes that don’t have any consequences or plot growth for the characters. The mid-season finale blew my misgivings out of the water. “The Clone Conspiracy” doesn’t even start with The Bad Batch. It begins in a bar on Coruscant where two clones named Slip and Cade are talking about what they were forced to do on Kamino. Admiral Rampart (under Tarkin’s orders) completely destroyed all the cities on Kamino in addition to the cloning facilities to make way for his new Defense Bill that would build a new non-clone army.
The Senators are split on this decision. Yet good eggs like Bail Organa do not support the bill, and we are reintroduced to Senator Chuchi, a Pantoran senator who argues that the clones (who are slated to be discarded as obsolete) should have representation in the Senate. And most importantly have rights like all other sentient beings.
SENATOR CHUCHI RETURNS
Senator Chuchi is the type of Senator that we could use on Earth right about now (given the state of our government) as she truly cares about others. Her accent, her bravery, her blue skin – for some reason I feel this attraction to her. And before you call me weird, this is the guy who had a crush on Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yeah. So for me, my focus was on Chuchi as she tries to help Slips (who is trying to flee Coruscant after Cade is killed), and must fight for her own life.
This is because Vice Admiral Rampart is trying to silence all those who would question what happened on Kamino. The Senate was informed that the cities were wiped out by a cataclysmic storm. But that doesn’t track with Chucci or Organa (who proves himself to be a secret ally) as the cities on Kamino have weathered storms for thousands of years.
BAIL ORGANA
This is a little unrelated, but Bail Organa’s accent sounds Jamaican. So it was a little hard to juxtapose him with his life-action Jimmy Smits counterpart in my head. But that’s just acoustics aesthetics. Slip’s contact to get off-world happens to be an ultra-familiar face. And the second episode is a mission that finds The Bad Batch being recruited to get the data from Rampart’s ship log proving Kamino was destroyed intentionally.
EMPEROR PALPATINE STRIKES BACK!
I was thrilled that we finally got to see what I wanted in Andor. Emperor Palpatine addressing the Imperial Senate. I’m not sure if Ian McDiarmid lent his voice to Palpatine, but it certainly had that chilling effect nonetheless. Palpatine shows deviousness and political maneuvering on the scale of how he created The Clone Wars. I wonder how crafty and resourceful this evil Sith Lord truly is after this episode.
I could not have liked this double episode anymore if I tried. And I am now totally invigorated and excited for the rest of the season. I don’t care if the rest of the episodes are self-contained stories. I got what I wanted from this show. There is a slight change in the dynamic of the Clone Force 99 but I won’t spoil it for watchers. Yet it did take me by surprise. I hope to see more of Senator Chuchi in the future as she is a fantastic character. One that many fans have yearned to see again. So it was great to see her back!
VERDICT
I want to end on the note that I got to see the “silent” foil of two characters who could not be on more opposite sides of the morality spectrum. We have the sweet, caring, and loving Omega in the same room as the cruel, manipulative, and nefarious Emperor Palpatine. And while it’s likely they will never meet, it makes my head explode just trying to imagine them together.
This episode gets an A+. Perfection!
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 is streaming on Disney Plus NOW!
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Author
Max Nocerino is a regular Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. He is a passionate Star Wars fan and loves the literature of the galaxy far, far away. Follow him on Twitter where he shares his love of the Force frequently!
