Growing Up Skywalker

And we’re back! We return from our holiday hiatus with a brand new phase for the podcast, a brand-new series, and a brand-new galaxy for our heroes to survive.

The 70-minute pilot episode of The Bad Batch, “Aftermath,” smash-opens with another view of Order 66 (like we needed to suffer this pain again). Then we follow the Bad Batch as they navigate a changing galaxy — one that isn’t exactly giving them cakes and wishing them a fine day...

Good soldiers follow orders, but we’re just following the Bad Batch (with heart eyes) as we continue our Season 1 recap!

“Cut and Run” and “Replacements” (The Bad Batch S1, Ep. 2–3) continue to illuminate a changing galaxy. The Empire is rolling out chain codes to register and track citizens, sending elite forces to wipe out insurrectionists, and scheming to make the former Republic’s clone troopers obsolete...

We cackled our way through a recap of “Cornered” and “Rampage” (The Bad Batch S1, Ep. 4–5) because the Bad Batch is FUN, y’all.

This week, we talk about the new reality the Bad Batch faces: no snacks, no gas, no summer job. And also, their ship is on a watchlist and there’s a smoky-eyed bounty hunter after Omega.

The Bad Batch has to play hot potato with their young protege across the entire city of Pantora (!!) and also take a job from the sassiest Trandoshan who ever sassed...

The Bad Batch is officially a show about parenting and we’re okay with that.

In “Decommissioned” and “Battle Scars” (The Bad Batch Season 1, Episodes 6–7) we get the good, the bad, and the unintentional, as far as parenting goes. Good: Hunter rescuing Omega from a lava-fired slag pit in a droid decommissioning factory. Bad: Wrecker’s inhibitor chip finally snapping him into an Order 66-fueled fugue state...

The Bad Batch is officially a show about parenting and we’re okay with that.

In “Decommissioned” and “Battle Scars” (The Bad Batch Season 1, Episodes 6–7) we get the good, the bad, and the unintentional, as far as parenting goes. Good: Hunter rescuing Omega from a lava-fired slag pit in a droid decommissioning factory. Bad: Wrecker’s inhibitor chip finally snapping him into an Order 66-fueled fugue state...

Once you hit the middle of Season 1 of The Bad Batch (“Reunion” and “Bounty Lost,” episodes 8–9) the hits start coming and they don’t stop coming. We get revelations about Omega’s origins, a terrible run-in with a former friend, and a knock-down, drag-out fight between two legendary bounty hunters.

The stakes are high, but we laughed a LOT and loved these episodes for their drama, their cinematic mastery, and deft callbacks to about a million Clone Wars references...

This week, we're excited to bring you a Crossover Connection special. Instead of us, this week you can listen to the phenomenal FSF Popcast interview of Anna Graves (aka Duchess Satine from The Clone Wars). We are obsessed with Anna Graves and we are obsessed with the FSF Popcast: your one-stop shop for all things nerdy (and never dirty).

Notes from The FSF Popcast:

Episode 31 - The Duchess of Mangalore ft...

The Bad Batch becomes the Syndulla Show in mid-to-late S1 and that is fantastic and we are fangirling so hard.

“Common Ground” and “Devil’s Deal” (The Bd Batch Season 1, Episodes 10–11) are mirror images of each other, each giving us a front row seat to the Empire taking over the galaxy. But coups, curfews, military occupation, civilian disarmament, and forcible manipulation of political figures all take a backseat to the real stars of the show: Cham, Eleni, and Hera Syndulla (!!!)...

We said “Reunion” was the best episode of S1 of The Bad Batch. Then we said it about “Devil’s Deal.” And now we’re saying it again about “Rescue on Ryloth” (S1, Episode 12) because holy shiznibblets!!

This week, we’re recapping “Rescue on Ryloth” and “Infested,” which is pretty unfair to “Infested,” tbh. (But it does have some thoughts on trust fund babies, which are always appreciated...

The first two episodes of the Bad Batch Season 1 finale (“War-Mantle” and “Return to Kamino,” Episodes 14–15) are just as thrilling as you might expect. What you might not expect is to be a little heartbroken by their revelations.

These episodes pit Hunter and Crosshair together like two magnetic poles, each fighting for the direction the Bad Batch will go. We see a new kind of Imperial army forming—this one filled with voluntary recruits...