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The Bad Batch The Bad Batch 2.05 - Entombed - Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Discussion in 'Star Wars TV- Current and Future Shows' started by Todd the Jedi , Jan 24, 2023.

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Grade the Episode

Poll closed Feb 1, 2023.
  1. 10

    1.5%
  2. 9

    7.6%
  3. 8

    10.6%
  4. 7

    30.3%
  5. 6

    19.7%
  6. 5

    16.7%
  7. 4

    4.5%
  8. 3

    4.5%
  9. 2

    3.0%
  10. 1

    1.5%
  1. godisawesome

    godisawesome Skywalker Saga Undersheriff star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2010
    I liked the episode, but that’s because I liked what it became at the end - a showcase for the visual artists and composer.

    Bad Batch has this habit of making the more episodic entires more conundrum-based than character based, which can sometimes backfire if the conundrum isn’t dazzling enough.
     
  2. The Chalk Jedi

    The Chalk Jedi Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2019
    I agree -- although so slowly that it's a bit of a stretch to use the word "building" here. More like some drivers are slowly collecting week to week, but this week to week approach isn't great at building narrative momentum or direction.

    I also agree the show is more of a co-protagonist structure, and I use the term in a large sense that applies to the entire team. The team could have a shared yearning that creates more substantial action and energy, and this shared action could begin from the influence from one or more characters who feel really strongly about what to do.

    Currently, as you observe, the characters have disparate interests and this adds to the loose weekly episodic plot and random feel of the missions.

    My biggest critique of the approach so far is that there could be a better balance between the episodic approach and a more traditional cause and effect plot. For instance, the last two episodes could have briefly returned to the Empire to keep that narrative thread and energy alive. When you drop such threads for more than an episode, that contributes to the momentum problem I've been discussing.

    I also agree that it's likely the second half of the season will have more narrative focus, but the question is why wait until the second half of the season to build momentum when it can be maintained from beginning to end?
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2023
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  3. clonegeek

    clonegeek Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2022
    Bad Batch should have been an anthology about rogue clones in the vain of the Clone Wars with the titular Bad Batch having their own arcs, have a whole arc focused solely on Cut Lawquine and give him more depth. Put Rex in a James Bond style arc. Hell maybe even set up the idea that the clones ended fathering millions of childern during the war. The show has so much potental it merely lacks the scope.
     
  4. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    In my opinion, The Bad Batch is like this because this is the same style slow buildup The Mandalorian has that is the main narrative style for The Bad Batch. But it's The Mandalorian remix for TCW fans. That's why it's so episodic. The Clone Wars' awesome anthology, snapshot style which fans get a little taste of because each episode goes somewhere different like Season 1 of The Clone Wars. That's what they are trying to go for.

    The Clone Wars had gaps between episodes and arcs. It didn't spoon-feed us anything. I always felt like it wanted me to connect the dots on what was happening between episodes. There were many things The Clone Wars just never came back to. The Bad Batch wants me to connect these drivers in the episodes. Presumably, Crosshair's story is moving on when we leave that porthole. When we see him again. It's not going to tell us what happened in between. That's what The Clone Wars did.

    Meanwhile, The Bad Batch is the same five characters in most episodes like Rebels. It's only in season 2 they have started splitting them up. I can understand why they went with an episodic style instead of a traditional perfectly linear narrative where the whole season is like one big movie. It does allow The Bad Batch to jump around. Go to many different planets and interact with different characters every episode. They can even easily move the narration to Crosshair at will, or someone else entirely like Hera. Yet, there are still plot nuggets dropping.

    It's not perfect, it's messy because it's trying the emulate three different shows including a live-action show all at once. One reason to wait to the back half for more narrative, though I don't think that's what's going to happen. I think there will be more important episodes sooner than that. Is to set aside episodes to give characters more focus which is what they are trying to do here in season 2. Echo and Tech were in the background largely in season 1. Now each has gotten some focus. That's a good thing.

    This episode decided to develop Phee for a reason. Let's see what they do with her. I'm really hoping Phee knows Hondo and he'll finally pop in for an episode. There isn't going to be a bad episode with Hondo in it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2023
  5. Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid

    Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2014
    I really miss how you didn’t know what the Clone Wars would focus on. It was clear fairly early on the show was not going to be Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka every week. Dooku or Ventress could be the focus. Yoda and clones. Jar Jar and Toydarians. One odd Jedi. Or just some clones. Even in the later multipart arc episodes the focus could change within the arc.

    I’d love to see Bad Batch episodes focused on Tarkin or Rampart, Gregor, even Vader and the Emperor.

    The Clone Wars encompassed so much as a title. And in the end I think the series lived up to that time. We saw how one huge galactic conflict was made up of many wars.

    Does naming the series The Bad Batch limit the focus of the show to being about the Bad Batch or directly Bad Batch adjacent?
     
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  6. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    It doesn't. Just like the narrative shift to Crosshair or last season, it went to Hera with an episodic show like this they can put the narrative on anyone. The Bad Batch adventure into anybody or alternatively have anyone adventure into them.

    I'm not going to say much more about this. I'm on like seven posts on the same subject in this poor thread vs my usual self-imposed 2-3 posts in a row rule on the same subject.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2023
  7. Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid

    Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2014
    I need to rewatch season 1. I forgot all about Hera and Cham.
     
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  8. theorenwulf

    theorenwulf Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2015
    I mean I did make a pretty detailed post about why I think it's bad but that was not the point of this one.
    The point was more I didn't dislike this episode because it was a side adventure.
     
  9. DannyD

    DannyD Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2017
    Yeah, that made the whole "solve these puzzles" excitement pointless and added to the episode's poor dialogue, and derivative story and plot. On reflection, I think maybe the traps weren't traps, but merely the internal mechanisms of the mech causing rock falls. Still doesn't make it terribly exciting though. Another issue: Why would re-inserting the crystal thing make it explode? Weird. Did Tech do it wrong?

    As far as characters go, nothing substantially changed, except Omega seemed to regress a bit!

    On a positive note, I thought the animation looked great and there was some more lovely music.

    In comparison to last week's episode - another standalone - I feel this was poorly written. TBB is still in the Saturday-morning cartoon vibe which is how I generally see the series anyway so I'm perhaps not as underwhelmed as others.

    i'm sure plot reveals and connectivity with other stories are on the way.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2023
  10. Force Nexus

    Force Nexus Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Jun 22, 2022
    Well that's not entirely fair. Crosshair was a member of the Bad Batch, so it isn't truly a narrative shift. Crosshair was present and played a big part in those Ryloth episodes in S1.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2023
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  11. Jordan1Kenobi

    Jordan1Kenobi SWC Jedi Draft Champion star 6 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    Am I the only one who absolutely loved this episode??
    It felt like a crossover between Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Horizon Zero Dawn. It was a fun treasure hunting adventure with an epic sci fi spectacle to end it off.
    Visually the last part was some of the strongest work to date in SW animation. And the soundtrack REALLY stood out this episode. So technically it was right up there.
     
  12. Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid

    Jedi_Sith_Smuggler_Droid Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 13, 2014
    I rewatched Entombed.

    I must have been half asleep watching this yesterday morning,

    The character work was good with the main focus on Omega, Hunter, and Phee. Hunter is wary of Phee while Omega is energized by the idea of a treasure hunt. Omega’s enthusiasm and awe was a highlight of the episodes.

    There is a dynamic here where it’s like Hunter is the parent reluctantly taking their child to an activity the parent isn’t into at all but the child really is. It was endearing.

    What really stood out in the episode is the music and the atmospheric animation - with lighting in particular.

    The flashlights effects were excellent and made the episode, The different hallways were interesting. When the machine turned on we had interesting lines of light.

    And the big machine was well done too. This animation style was inspired by 1960s marionette children’s adventure shows like The Thunderbirds and Stingray,


    I think we get that with the giant walker. Maybe even a Godzilla type miniature. The point is the walker had a gravity to that felt real.

    Lastly we had the monster in this episode. It was good to see the IndoRaptor from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom getting more work.
     
  13. Todd the Jedi

    Todd the Jedi Mod and Loving Tyrant of SWTV, Lit, & Collecting star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2008
    [​IMG]

    But for real, look around the web, plenty of people enjoyed it.
     
  14. Fin McCool

    Fin McCool Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 18, 2015
    Because that's what happens to big scary weapons in SW. Tech did fine, just couldn't overcome the trope.
     
  15. starfish

    starfish Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2003
    maybe instead of filler

    we call them stocking stuffers
     
  16. Jedi Knight Fett

    Jedi Knight Fett Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2014
  17. Swashbucklingjedi

    Swashbucklingjedi Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2010
    Ouch this was filler that was probably the worst episode of the series for me. The problem was that nothing in episode makes sense in the end, it was written like Phee Genoa's stories, made up a story as they went along without any thought given to what the heck it was supposed to be in the first place. I loved the idea of ancient mech hidden in the mountain and stuff, but does it make any sense to hide a destructive weapon that cannot be controlled (but can be activated once) and it destroys everything behind puzzles on planet where there is nothing left to destroy... There was such a great opportunity to create deep ancient pre-republic lore and they busted it by making it stereotypical video game side quest except that in games there is often much more internal logic to things. Oh well.

    Pros and cons:
    + Such a great idea, but that's about it, great idea done poorly...
    + I liked how Phee Genoa talks about stuff that no one has heard about, would be wonderful if all those stories would be nonsense and star systems and legends invented. Sure she was like diet Hondo in some ways, but I was not bothered by that as much as I was bothered by senselessness of the plot.

    - I am disappointed in how their design look like rip-off from Horizon games as many have noted. Some originality please...
    - Way how tunnel went around the traps made it look like someone was there before, but apparently nobody was... so I dunno but it felt like Tech, Wrecker and Echo cheated in video game quest there :D
    - No reference to Rakata, Gree, Ancient Sith, Ancient Jedi or Zeffo or anything while there was great opportunity to use them in this story. Jedi were mentioned though. And no new culture was invented and we probably never return to this unnamed planet anymore to hear more about why there was war machine hidden in the mountain in the first place.... just wasted opportunity for an actually interesting story. Could've easily been my favorite episode, but it was probably my least favorite so far.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2023
  18. Ancient Whills

    Ancient Whills Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2011
    It definitively felt like a video game. I liked it overall but I can safely say the treasure hunting part was much more interesting than the mecha monster at the end. Some world building about ancient civilizations on uncharted planets is a cool concept and I would like more of it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2023
  19. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    Yes, Howard Shore and John Williams are great composers.
     
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  20. starfish

    starfish Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 9, 2003
    I generally like treasure hunt stories, especially set in Star Wars, so for that alone I enjoyed the episode

    I do think it was a bit simplistic though, like give us some cool lore or story about this tomb they are exploring, if it’s meant to be Zeffo related then give us some neat story about them, have Phee tell some cool lore or information that she’s heard about them, maybe she doesn’t even know their name but just knows some history about them, stuff like that is always fun, but it was a bit thin here, get one of the people who worked on Andor to write some better dialogue and expand a little better on this tomb and it would have worked a lot better for me
     
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  21. Cos Palpatine

    Cos Palpatine Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2022
    "You can't win 'em all" pretty much sums up my opinion of this episode.

    Animation continues to be spectacular. Particularly the lighting, which I've mentioned before; in this episode I loved how the characters passed through light and shadows as they walked under the trees approaching the mountain, just wow.

    Please don't tempt fate ;)
     
  22. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    It's wishful thinking anyways. The purpose of focusing on Phee seems to be to start her relationship with Hunter.
     
  23. clonegeek

    clonegeek Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2022
    Its going to turn out that she is Hondo's ex wife or something
     
  24. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Oh boy... Image this drama.
     
  25. Leoluca Randisi

    Leoluca Randisi Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2014
    I totally agree I immediately got the Indiana Jones connection even had Indiana Jones music! I mean I feel it was a filler episode but it was a lot of fun injoyed it a lot!

    Kiner does the score!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 26, 2023
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