The final season of the Star Wars animated series The Bad Batch has now come to an end. While the series has had its ups and downs, writer Jennifer Corbett and supervising director Brad Rau may have just stuck the landing to deliver one of the best seasons of animated Star Wars, ever.
All Gucci, No Muchi
Season 3 ups the ante from the disappointing Season 2 in every way. The stakes are much higher, the plots are more interesting, and they cut out all of the fat. We never grind to a halt to do a racing side quest this season which was a relief for sure. I personally prefer this style of plot for this franchise and it’s always thrilling to see the stakes get higher and higher with each episode.
Picturesque Pabu
The animation this go around was superb. Almost every jaw-dropping landscape shot could be a painting. It’s almost a little jarring to have these almost photo-real outdoor shots with the heavily stylized character designs on occasion, but it’s never enough to really ruin the experience. The action was always top notch as well with some great directed sequences, especially in the finale.
The Good Group
Some of the characters, most notably Hunter and Wrecker, unfortunately don’t get much in terms of character arcs or developments this season. Luckily, Crosshair gets a nice well rounded arc and is easily the most interesting character of the titular Bad Batch. Omega is less of a naive kid this time around which was a breath of fresh air for the character who, in the past, has been written a little too trigger-happy for my tastes.
The performances have been about what you’d expect from these shows at this point, everyone is working at the highest level and I’d argue that there isn’t one bad performance here. Dee Bradley Baker’s ability to make each member of the Batch distinct still never ceases to amaze me. Jimmi Simpson’s Dr. Hemlock is deliciously evil in this and certainly serves as the most memorable antagonist of the entire series.
Overall this season easily cemented itself as the best of the series, and ranks up there as one of the best seasons of Star Wars animation.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 is now streaming on Disney+. It stars Dee Bradley Baker and Michelle Ang and was written by Jennifer Corbett with Brad Rau serving as supervising director. The series was also executive produced by Dave Filoni.
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