Bad Batch Season 2 & Mandalorian Season 3

Two more seasons of new Star Wars content wrapped up on Disney+ recently, and I wanted to jot down some thoughts on each one.

Bad Batch Season 2

I really enjoyed the first season of this show, and the second one didn't disappoint either. In fact, the one criticism I had in season one, that nobody but Hunter seemed to receive much characterisation, was addressed this time around, with Tech and Echo in particular getting a lot more screen time than before.

While the Batch continued to have their adventures of the week each episode (which I thought were, on average, more interesting than those in season one), the larger story showed things under the Empire getting worse in different ways, from Crosshair realising too late that the status quo he was fighting so hard to defend actively wanted to eliminate him (insert analogy to real life politics of your choice here), to other clones increasingly being "retired" in unceremonious ways. Against this backdrop, Clone Squad 99 continues to struggle to find its purpose, with mercenary work for Cid clearly not being a good long-term fit, and different incentives pulling them towards wanting to seek a quiet retirement versus opposing the Empire more actively.

It was honestly pretty well-written, and I enjoyed the weekly discussions about each episode on my guild's Discord. On the matter of Cid for example, the writers quite deftly dropped hints that her loyalties could go in either direction, and different people had different opinions on what would end up happening in the end. The episode in which the Batch and senator Jennifer Hale work to reveal the truth about what happened on Kamino was also wrapped up in a very clever way. Basically, it was good stuff all around.

The ending raised a lot of questions and I'm looking forward to season three, even if I'm a bit disappointed that it's already supposed to be the final one. With how slow of a burn the clones' overall character development has been, I feel like this show could have had material for many years to come. I also wonder how they can wrap things up in a satisfying manner - on the one hand it feels like the remaining members of the Batch should really join the burgeoning rebellion, but on the other hand it's been pointed out many times that Omega is just a child and that forcing her to essentially live life as a child soldier is hardly ideal. We'll see what the writers come up with.

Mandalorian Season 3

If I had to sum up Mandalorian season three in one word, it would be "weird". The way season two ended there wasn't an obvious hook to work with other than the Darksaber, and that wasn't much to go on (in my opinion). Then they had Baby Yoda Grogu come back in Book of Boba Fett of course, which seemed like a kind of important detail to confine to a spin-off, but okay...

Those things aside, the first episode seemed like a decent start to me, setting up several plot points that I figured were hinting at what was to become the focus of the season. However, then all those things were pretty much resolved in the next episode, and from then on it was basically a crazy ride that made me feel like I had no idea where things were going to go from one week to the next. Looking around at various reviews, I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one who felt like this, though I wouldn't necessarily agree with the level of negativity that seemed to suffuse many people's opinions, because even though I had no idea where things were going, it was still a fun ride for me personally.

Actually, I would say that even considering some of the stranger episodes (the one with Lizzo, OMG), overall season three continued to be "on brand" in the sense that the plot didn't always make sense, but you're so engrossed in what's happening to Din Djarin and Grogu that you let it go.

In fact, and I know this may sound weird to some, but this season actually made me like Din as a character more. People were apparently complaining that there was too much focus on Bo-Katan instead of him, but I honestly thought the way he was supporting her when she was doubting herself was actually very sweet. Plus they generally had great chemistry and the interactions between them were fun to watch.

Once again the way the season wraps up would make for a great ending for the show as a whole, but apparently season four is already in the works. I guess seeing Grogu and his dad live the good life and maybe deal with some smaller problems for a change could be nice, but knowing this show's track record for over-the-top fan service, I guess I probably shouldn't hold my breath for the stakes going down instead of up.