The stage was set in the 72 minute epic opener that was released on Star Wars day earlier this week. But now we follow The Bad Batch on the first stop of their mission to get off the grid. We’ll keep this spoiler-free, so fear not!

Clone Force 99, accompanied by new teammate, Omega, visit an old friend with experience in evading the Republic, now known as the Empire, which is basically the same except the veiled fascism and inherent evil undertones are… less subtle. But, as with many episodes of The Bad Batch’s predecessor The Clone Wars, the smaller pieces of the overarching story are much more interesting here than the ‘A Plot’ of the episode as Hunter learns what it means to be a parent.

“Children will always find ways of getting into trouble, Hunter. It’s what they do. Protecting them is what we do.” – Suu Lawquane

Things are starting to fall into place for the familiar ‘found family’ trope, and whilst it could seem a little stale to retell the reluctant father narrative that we’ve seen one or two times before *cough* Obi-Wan/Anakin, Anakin/Ahsoka, Mando/Grogu, Kanan/Ezra *cough*, that isn’t a criticism. It’s arguably one of the central themes within the Star Wars saga, and each time it’s told, there’s a fresh perspective and angle at play. This time, it seems to be The Expendables meets Three Men And A Baby – again, not a criticism, we’re here for it!

However, this episode does veer into the territory of referencing something that casual Star Wars fans might not be familiar with (at least not without falling into a Wookiepedia hole), and whilst Gursimran Sandhu’s script does an okay job of trying to catch you up with some quippy remarks from The Bad Batch’s resident exposition engine, Tech, there’s still a lot of story left on the table for fans who haven’t seen certain episodes of The Clone Wars.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch can be found weekly on Disney+. Read our review of episode one here.

Star Wars is back on our small screens in a big way with Star Wars: The Bad Batch! Not that it’s really been gone for long since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, but the steady flow of content from the House of Mouse hasn’t been without its ups and downs in terms of critical response. We’re pleased to report, however, that the first solo outing of the experimental unit ‘Clone Force 99’ will certainly be counted as one of the ups.

 Having first appeared as a rag-tag team of misfit defects in the long-awaited seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars last year, and quickly becoming fan favourites, The Bad Batch is one of the most anticipated new shows after Lucasfilm teased the spin-off last summer – and it delivers on all accounts.

 Written by certified Star Wars veterans in Dave Filoni (who is considered George Lucas’ creative successor) and Jennifer Corbett of Star Wars: Resistance with Matt Michnovetz of Clone Wars, Rebels, and the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order as story editor, it’s no surprise that the first episode (which comes in at a whopping 72 minutes!) effortlessly embodies that ethereal ‘Star Wars’ feeling with a healthy dose of The A-Team thrown into the mix. This is a spoiler-free review, so we’ll tread lightly here, but The Bad Batch’s debut episode tells the befitting tale of our outcast heroes at the outset of a major galactic shift as the new Empire rises from the ashes of the Republic.

As you might expect of a show where the central characters are all clones, the voice cast is heavily reliant on one actor basically talking to himself. In this case, that actor is Dee Bradley Baker who, fortunately for us, has had plenty of practice having voiced the troopers in over 100 episodes across The Clone Wars and Rebels. Baker has often been praised for his voice work in Star Wars as he managed to carve out subtle traits and personalities where others might have struggled and it’s no different here. His job is considerably easier this time around though, given the distinct differences and unique qualities the Bad Batch display.

Visually, The Bad Batch does not disappoint. Maintaining The Clone Wars’ style, but implementing the vast array of improvements to animation since its sister show’s debut in 2008, we’re left with some dazzling sequences and shots that we’re sure will quickly be saved as digital wallpapers on the phones and computer screens of Star Wars fans everywhere.

Despite the first episode being called ‘Aftermath’, this really is just the beginning of an exciting new entry into the enthralling world of Star Wars. The stage is set, and by all measures, it looks like we’re in for a great show.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch premiers on Disney+ on 4 May