Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 1 Review - 8 Ups & 2 Downs
9. Heavy-Handed Fan Service
By far the biggest issue with The Bad Batch lies in its overindulgence in fan pleasing call-backs to the rest of the Star Wars franchise.
Whilst fan service is a far from a bad concept, it's something that needs to handled with care in order to not interfere with the story being told. Unfortunately, the Batch fails to completely pull this off, and inexplicably finds the squad interacting with almost every character who go on to play a major role in Star Wars Rebels.
In only sixteen episodes, the squad meet and aid Caleb Dume (soon-to-be Kanan Jarus), Hera Syndulla and her trusted droid Chopper, the rebel clones Rex and Gregor, and clash with the likes of Cad Bane, Fennec Shand and Grand Moff Tarkin.
They aid in the rebellion on Ryloth, team-up with scavenger sisters Trace and Rafa, and even meet up with future rebel leader Saw Gerrera.
Though seeing these characters again is a joy for long-time fans, the way the Batch happen to cross paths with them feels incredibly convenient and unnatural, and sometimes feels like a cheap ploy to remind fans of other characters in the canon.