Fourteen and a half hours later and my frustration over the bullshit that was the “season finale” of the Bad Batch burns hotter than ever. I posted a warning last night for people to use filters because this post is going to be anti-Omega and severely critical of the Bad Batch writing.

Scroll by now if you somehow didn’t heed that warning…

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Filler.

That’s what this episodes was. Thirty minutes of no stakes, no consequences, no emotional impacts or investment in the outcome (because you could telegraph they were all going to survive), little actual drama, and a massive copout in the end (which I predicted weeks ago).

There’s no build into season two (yay more of the sane aimlessly plodding along and working for Cid shit we have gotten all this season), no hook to keep us interested (Nala Se working for the Empire was predicted back during Fives arc), the characters learned nothing and are essentially left as they were in the beginning of the season.

We got tweets hyping the hell out of this episode…

And that’s all it was: hype.

From episode one the characters of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and especially Crosshair have been de-characterized, pushed aside for a child character that makes no sense (and who was also hyped up and fallen flatter than a pancake), sent on missions which were really cameo appearances to lead to Rebels (hyping that disaster in hopes of getting more people to watch it), wasted time on things that went nowhere (Omega being hunted as a prime example), and rehashed and repeated plotlines from other shows and movies.

Bad Batch did nothing but flatter the egos of Dave Filoni and Jennifer Corbett by highlighting characters from Clone Wars and Rebels. Characters that were unnecessary and best held for season two or three of BB to have worked in the larger scheme of things.

Rex was all but wasted in his few appearances. His only real purpose was the first of many glaring plot holes the show suffers from: the inhibitor chips.

Gregor and Howzer both were also wasted. Chekhov’s Gun, folks…. “details within a story or play should contribute to the overall narrative.” The purpose of this is to keep writers from making false promises by including details, events or characters that do not play a crucial role in the outcome of the story.

Cody, Wolffe, even Kix were kicked aside for the Martez Sisters, Hera and her parents, and the also wasted Cad Bane (who was bested by a child).

Cody especially should have been included in this show at some point since a) he was kriffin Marshal Commander and b) had a connection to Clone Force 99.

Folks, I’ve read over a thousand pieces of fan fiction in my time on the internet. I’ve seen better from the worst fan fic writers than what we got in Bad Batch. Those writers have passion for their fandom and the characters.

The writers of Bad Batch produced a soulless, aimless, plot-hole riddled mess that left me empty, cold, and unsatisfied by seasons end.

No big questions were asked or answered.

No big moments of revelations that changed lives occured.

No development of any of the characters.

No epic battles.

What we got was lied too.

The Bad Batch wasn’t about The Bad Batch.

It wasn’t even about the clones.

It was about one character and one character only: Omega.

The child created before the Bad Batch but who nobody, least of all Clone Force 99 saw until their magical return to Kamino following Order 66.

Omega who saved the day not once this episode but three times.

Omega who clearly wasn’t part of the original plans for the show and who was painfully shoehorned in just to pacify the Couch Warriors.

Omega who took up episode space and scenes needed to develop and cultivate an actual plot.

Omega who knows everything, can do everything, is loved by everyone she meets, has no flaws, is a pure genetic copy of Jango, learned no real lessons (outside of what dirt feels like) or experienced any real growth in sixteen episodes.

Omega who has thicker plot armor than even Ashoka Tano (who was also shoehorned into many episodes and arcs she wasn’t needed in).

When you remove Omega, the show flows in a way that almost makes it work. The finale would have functioned better if she wasn’t involved because it would have forced the BB and Crosshair into a higher stake situation. The element of fear about their survival actually comes into play and there’s an emotional investment built to see them find a way out of their predicament.

AZ was also a copout. It was the one character defining moment this show had to give Omega something to actually grow and learn from next season. Instead, he’s saved and the BB fly off Kamino in the midst of sunshine while leaving Crosshair behind (again).

Speaking of, a stronger finale would have had Crosshair go with them. Why? Because their struggles to overcome their differences, Crosshair struggling with his chip and choosing his brothers or the Empire sets up season two.

Lazy, inconsistent writing.

That’s all this season has been.

I will continue to say it despite the hate it inspires.

We got robbed, folks.

Again and again and again.

We should be blasting dear ole Dave and all the writers on Twitter for lying to us. They promised us Bad Batch, hyped up epic moments that’d leave us in tears and gave us a show that was anything but.

Spoilers Ahead

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Again, there's been a disservice to Crosshair. This could be-would be-shoulder be spectacular sniper.

He's been left behind by his team in exchange for Omega Sue.

He's been burned.

Forgotten about.

Discarded like Empire scum.

Hunter cannot bear to leave Omega behind and the plot is ALWAYS about saving her before the flip and switch of her saving the day every.

Single.

Time.

But Hunter can't be bothered about Crosshair?

His teammate. Someone he was responsible for. His BROTHER. He can't be bothered to try on any occasion to save him?

I get the excuses about they need money, they need to protect Omega Sue (who continually dues ex machina's her way through everything), but at this point, this is not the show promised.

We were told Bad Batch.

We were not told the Omega Sue show.

We've lost out on Echo's development. Hunter's development. Wrecker has been dumbed down. Tech's thrown to the wayside. Rex was all but a ghost just to get us hyped.

And all along we've got MAYBE five minutes of Crosshair (and that's being generous). Not only has his team forgotten he exists more or less, but so have the writers. They can't be bothered by him. They turn a blind eye unless it comes to Omega. They don't want to write what's going on in the Empire because they don't care. They have no plot for the Empire bits, and what they do have will continue to focus and revolve around their little sunspot, Omega Sue.

Making Crosshair nothing more than a plot device whenever it's convenient.

That is the worst writing ever. The writers have abandoned every last character from The Bad Batch, especially Crosshair, in order to promote this waste of space Godling.

What a pathetic excuse for writing.

We deserve better.

Crosshair deserves better.

Bruh hes just some stock character from a weird ass episode from the clone wars with like 1 personality trait.

Dont shit on other characters or the shows narrative cus u are obsessed with a character thats less important than jarr jarr binks

If he's a stock character with one personality trait from some weird-ass episode why are you watching this show?

Since, yano, Crosshair was actually part of the Bad Batch.

Not Omega Sue.

I will, however, repeat what I said in the post (if it had been read in its entirety), just to clarify this is not solely about Crosshair, but he is being shafted the most:

In this episode of the Omega Sue show…

Oh, look, we got ten seconds of bandaged Crosshair… I’m shocked. I mean, truly. I wasn’t expecting any follow-up given how Omega was kidnapped and we all know how she’s much more important than anything (like story and development).

Why are Hunter’s bandages nowhere near where he was shot??

Lama Su (like most Kaminoans) is an ass but I’m with him at this point: get rid of Omega. She’s hindering the story at this point, not helping it. Only way to fix things is by getting rid of her.

Oh, look, it’s Taun We! Haven’t seen her since Attack of the Clones! She’s gonna die, I’m predicting it. No other reason to trot her out than to kill her.

“Abduct Palpatine”— okay, this made me laugh because we all know that when Palps was bored he decided to screw with everyone by orchestrating his own kidnappings 🤣

Shocker!! Omega Sue has pure first-gen Fett DNA! And I notice we retconned Alpha-17 by changing him to Boba… guess Alpha didn’t have enough face wrinkles to be counted as a first-generation clone…

Welp, bye Taun We (called that one…)

So, Fennec Shand basically outguns/smarts Cad Bane? Lmao right…

Creepy aliens in tubes… that’s actually interesting. I’d like to know why the Kaminoans have clones of themselves in tubes. This would have made a compelling story arc if there was any interest in creating compelling story arcs. As it is, the tubes are merely a plot convenience for Omega to escape Shand.

Why exactly did Not-A-Sue need the BB to rescue her? She pretty much saved herself. Oh, right, needed them to pick her up… my bad.

Yep, she’s more valuable than all of them! She’s just that special! I mean her DNA and Boba’s is the same but since Boba would shoot them before giving them a sample…

Look, this episode was purely wasted on a character built-up as something more important than she really is (she’s not Grogu who was essential to the narrative of the Mandalorian). Lama Su ordering her termination and Nala Se calling off Shand pretty much turned this big reveal into a bust. This was all for nothing really when you look at it. Just a way to do an entire episode about Omega. The big “reveal” about her pure Jango DNA? Could have come last episode and her “termination orders” could have been wrapped into Crosshair’s orders to terminate the Bad Batch. It would have amped up the emotional stakes of the chase scene and given Crosshairs character a lot more fleshing out (and yanno, additional screen-time).

This episode should have been about them running from a wounded Crosshair while having to deal with the knowledge that not only are they in danger, but so is Omega because she’s been ordered to be terminated (which is kriffin bantha poodoo but whatever).

Also, the inconsistency with her knowledge level is wearing on my last nerve. One minute she’s Miss Know-It-All and the next she’s dumber than a rock. She knew she has no inhibitor chip, she had to know she was a pure clone, too. She’s noisy and had access to the computers and AZI-3 who definitely would have had knowledge of her enhancements and all.

The fact Cad Bane was dumbed down and beaten by an inexperienced Shand rankles as much as our ten second glimpse of Crosshair. Cad Bane is the best of the best at this point. Jango would have been his closest equal (and Boba but not quite yet since he’s only 14-15 at this point) until his death. Cad Bane commands the highest fees. He is hired for the most exclusive bounties. He’s the bounty hunter of the elite. He would have defeated Shand in a heartbeat. Was their fight cool? Sure. Was it bantha poodoo she so easily fought him, besting him even? Yes.

In closing, this was a disappointing episode because it failed to create any real suspense or provide any real stakes. It was another rehashed Mandalorian plot with the exception of Omega saving herself because she’s just so kriffin fantastic.

I’m going to leave this post with this video where someone takes another Mary Sue in the Star Wars franchise and explains how to fix her to make the character a) likable and b) improve the overall story:

Another week, another Ballad, and this one is my angriest yet because of the audacity of Jennifer Corbett (the writer of Battle Scars) and Dave Filoni.

This is warning that spoilers are ahead for Bad Batch episode 1x07, Battle Scars.

This is also warning that:

You have been warned heh

It’s one thing to completely screw the Bad Batch so as to pimp your new character, but when you screw your most popular one just so your precious can be in the spotlight?

You deserve a kriffin boot to the head.

I am pissed at how Rex got treated this episode. Pissed. And if you’re a fan of his? You should be too. We got robbed of the Rex content we deserved. Were promised even. His only purpose here was to a) save Omega when Wrecker snapped and b) to get rid of the inhibitor chips. You literally could replace him with another character that has knowledge of the chips and it come out the same. That was a serious disservice to Rex. He should have had more of a part in things, especially in relation to Crosshair and the Empire.

Oh, and I guess we just are supposed to forget about him and Echo being close? I guess that picture of Rex, Echo, Cody and Fives is nothing?

And what Rex went through to save Echo from the Seppies just him being a good Captain?

We all know Fives got punked because Filoni was upset that he was his wife’s favorite clone… but Rex was supposedly his favorite. Guess that ended when he created his new Godling because Rex sure took a backseat to her.

Here are my notes as I watched the episode:

So now Wrecker is terrified of lizards? Like, since when? The only thing this big guy has ever shown fear about is heights. The dumb of this makes my head hurt as much as the repeated poundings his have taken in order to create the telegraphed moment when his chip activates and he tries to kill his teammates.

Wrecker and Omega having a tradition is sorta cute, if I didn’t want a blaster bolt put in her. See, if the kriffin show wasn’t about her, I might actually like her. As is it, and after this clusterkriff? Nope. My boys got punked for her and I’m over it.

So, Rex was the one the Martez sisters contacted (not a shock). Instead of any meaningful conversation between them about what happened, the brothers lost (like, yanno, Jesse? Fives?) we get a gloss over and straight to the fawning of Omega. Because, of course, she is the center of the universe and everything revolves around her.

Am I surprised Rex immediately becomes enamored with Omega? Nope! Everyone is enamored with her! She’s loved by all she meets! She’s the smurtest, brightest, bestest eva!

^^^ this is the definition of a Mary Sue, folks. Omega Sue has no real flaws, she has no real struggles, everyone loves her (even less than savory sorts). Fennec Shand took to her. Omega is the Rey of the Bad Batch. She’s a poorly constructed and executed character who is built as perfect at the expense of established characters. You cannot fight me on this and you cannot sway my opinion because the material supports my stance.

Omega knows Rex is a gen one because of the lines on his face? Lmfao get the kriff outta here, you little shit. You don’t know dick. Also, @caerulea-divilu wrote an excellent post here about the show and the episode in particular:

https://caerulea-divilu.tumblr.com/post/653703015561396224/fyi-spoilers-ahead-so-i-know-people-are

She has researched the clones as much as I have and our research all says Rex is NOT a first generation clone. But hey, Filoni, you can’t keep your own shit straight and prove every episode what a hack you are by telephoning shit in just so your sparkly Princess can shine.

Of course the BB found out about the chips from Omega… she knows everything, after all!

Oh, and she doesn’t have an inhibitor chip… this just gets better and better!

LoL Rex saying to Tech do you want to use the facility on Kamino and Tech changing tune was fantastic. Best line and moment of the episode.

Why the kriff are we listening to some snot-nosed brat about what’s best for adults?!? Sit the kriff down and shut the kriff up!

“Somethings not right…” no kriffin shit, kid! He has a time-bomb in his head! But worry only about you. Please. Not like Rex doesn’t know what he’s doing here or anything. Isn’t like Tech and them aren’t superior trained soldiers or have advanced intelligence. We must listen to you because you are all that matters. Not like Wrecker could DIE as TUP (remember him, Filoni?!) did when his chip malfunctioned!

Am I shocked Omega needed saving? Nope! Rinse and repeat! Every episode switching between her saving them or them saving her!

And we get no convo between Echo and Rex while waiting for Wrecker to wake up. Nope, we are only focused on Omega… again.

And of course the ending has the scrappers finding them and choosing to alert the Empire. Not a rip-off there of another storyline… *coughs*

Every week, I hope the show will find its footing and start building a story that is deep, engaging, and consistent.

Every week, I am left frustrated, angry and bitterly disappointed.

This is by far the most egregious affront. An episode that could have been expanded into a bigger story and given us quality content was watered down for one character: Omega.

Flaming kriffin Sue.

The folks calling this episode fantastic need brain-scans. This wasn’t a phenomenal episode. It wasn’t even exceptional. It was more of the rinse-and-repeat bullshit we’ve been given since episode two.

“We have Omega to think about…” kriff her and kriff Dave Filoni at this point. He’s not the savior people think he is. He’s not capable of being original or innovative. To do that requires knowing your characters, lore and especially your audience. He rips off material from other games and movies, and repeats the same tired tropes and plots because he doesn’t know how to tell a competent and compelling Star Wars story to save his life.

I might only be a fan fiction writer but I am leaps and bounds above this.

Why?

Because I actually care.

They only care about one thing: money.

And we’re all suffering because of it.

This so much: "Omega knows Rex is a gen one because of the lines on his face? Lmfao get the kriff outta here, you little shit. You don't know dick."

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy we finally saw him. But I had such high hopes 😭

Echo S1E1

echooooooooo