Bad Batch Season 1

I love Star Wars Rebels, Clone Wars and the Mandalorian. Bad Batch doesn't come out as strong and I think I see why.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The series follows on the heels of Clone Wars and explains some things about the somewhat hazy transition from the Republic and the Empire. Specifically how the clones are slowly phased out in favor trained recruits. The main problem I have with the series is the lack of interest it seems to have in developing most of its leads. Right now they all have pretty basic characterization, I've seen the core four guys referred to TMNT in terms of their basic personalities and I tend to agree. Beyond that we don't we get very much.

Hunter: While he gets more attention because of his bond with Omega his growth still feels very minuscule. He's learning to be part of a family and not just a solider but we never get a moment where the development is directed at anyone besides Omega. His struggle with Crosshair could have been promising but fell flat.

Echo:  He had development in Clone Wars but not much here. A bit of an outsider as he's the only Reg of the group and joined fairly recently when the show opens up. His history with Rex comes up a bit and he's responsible for Gregor escaping. I did like the small bit where he needed to pretend to be a droid to get money for his crew but otherwise not much.

Wreaker: Gets some plot with his chip malfunctioning and tiny glimpses into his relationships with Tech and Crosshair. He's mostly a sweetheart towards Omega and the strong guy.

Crosshair: Despite becoming the antagonist of the story (at least the most personal one) he didn't factor in as predominantly as he should have. I think his chip was recovered after he was burnt? The show doesn't really explain his motivation that well at the end. Why does he think the Empire will want him back? Why did he decide to stay behind when there wasn't an apparent way off planet except with his fellow clones?

Tech: He doesn't get a lot of emotional responses. Likes explaining things and logic although that doesn't make him a good leader (see part 1 of season 1 finale.) I've seen people guess that his eagerness to explain things stem from his need to be useful (when he pushes Hunter and Echo aside to try to explain what Sids' telling them) but the show it's self doesn't present much charaterzation.

Omega: I like her personality but I hate how she's used. Remember how everyone used to think Ahsoka was a Mary Sue? I didn't get that in Clone Wars but I really get that with Omega. Even Crosshair was baffled why she calls the shots.

They just so happen to know everyone: Personally I found the side characters and guest appearances far more interesting than the leads. People like Rex turning up make sense as that relationship was already developed. Bounty Hunters make sense. Oh they also know the deserter Rex met that became a family man. Odd but okay. Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume gets his comic Kanan the Last Padawan series retconned and makes for a less interesting sidenote in someone else's story. Hera and Chopper also show up with Hera looking older than Caleb? Are we going to get baby Ezra too? What about toddler Sabine and Honor Guard Zeb?

Unanswered Questions?: How did Gregor survive being blown up? How does Rex actually know him?

Why are are the Bad Batch so dense when it comes to order 66? They witness it go down. They know something is off about Crosshair and suspect they need to get their chips removed. Tech works on a device related to it that to the best of my knowledge never gets used or mentioned again. It takes Rex showing up for them to finally get it done because for some reason they didn't think it was important enough. And despite knowing the triggers they openly discuss it when Wreaker is struggling. (It's also weird to think that their telling Rex about the padawan that escaped that he'll meet that struggles with working with him because of said the incident their talking about.)

Why do they constantly need to be saved? Usually by Omega. She saves them from Crosshair despite having no training. From slavers. Gets them out of debt with Sid. Somehow despite Sid explaining Omega struggling to aim due to her lack of arm muscles she able to aim perfectly not long after apparently because she can ignore distractions. Ahsoka and Ezra had reasons for tagging along on missions. Ahsoka was trained by the Jedi most of her life before she became Anakins' Padawan during a war. Ezra survived on the streets with only the force to guide him for seven years, lived on the Ghost during the start of the rebellion and trained as a Padawan himself. They were both fourteen when they start fighting in real combat situations. Omega lived on the same planet for most of her life.

For all the grief fans gave Rebels it had far better character development in season 1. Take the Imperial Rampart from Bad Batch and compare him to Agent Kallus for example. Kallus is easily more memorable and while we don't have the full scope of his story in season 1 we get great insight on him. He takes pride in his work, is brave and skilled enough to fight the enemy on his own. Keep in mind he fights against enemies that are usually considered too much for standard Imperials to face, Zeb and Kanan, a Jedi. The most memorable thing Rampart does (without his superiors orders) is frame someone for murder. 

Both Bad Batch and Rebels are about the leads being family yet the latter comes across far stronger showcasing not just the core relationships (Omega and Hunter, Ezra and Kanan) but how the entire crew look after each other. I can only how BB improves because so far it has a ways to go to match the storytelling in the other shows.