IR TV Review: STAR WARS - CLONE WARS - FINAL SEASON - EPISODE 1 ("The Bad Batch") [Disney+]

The re-emergence of "The Clone Wars" points of a stream of consciousness that perhaps Dave Filoni, who also helped create "The Mandalorian", understood. The idea that he explored later with "Rebels" specifically spoke to an idea of where lawlessness gained a foothold in the galaxy. His original thoughts were fully realized (though some of the concept art that he released years ago gave a concept of might be possible). The influences and the ideas of those glitches in the Republic system come to bear with the introduction in "The Bad Batch". It is not the most dynamic of episodes but it moves to re-establish the strain of consciousness within the Clone Wars. Warriors get tired and tend to take the law into their own hands. The fact that the team that is recruited for a special op (they have been seen before) is called 99 which is the ironic reversal of General Order 66 by which the Emperor himself ends the conflict by a hidden fail-safe.In the years since the last episode of the original "Clone Wars" series, the animation process has gotten better so by progression, the lines of the characters look sharper but also the subtleness of the emotions. Whereas Kenobi is less readable, Anakin's frustration seems interestingly enough to come much more through. Whether it is the conflicting emotions or the dragging on of the war (or even more specifically the darkness creeping up on him after the slaughter of the clan of Sandmen in "Attack Of The Clones"), the brimming points seems to be becoming more defined. The crux of "The Clone Wars" always rests in the reliability of the clones, say versus a droid army. The re-emergence in a way of Echo as a harbinger or betrayer much like Judas in the disciples' midst is an interesting metaphor to bring back into the fold. It however depends how the story moves towards its conclusion in the bigger mythology that Filoni has built.B-

By Tim Wassberg