The Bad Batch might not be for you, and that’s OK

Star Wars fans love to talk about the Star Wars things they hate. We’re not going to get into all the potential reasons why, because that’s not the point of this conversation. It’s time to talk about The Bad Batch and why not liking it is … fine. Really, you’re doing nothing wrong by disliking it.

The Star Wars universe is vast and ever-growing. We’re getting to the point where there is almost — almost — too much for all of us to consume everything all at once. If you’re a Star Wars TV watcher, you might feel obligated to view everything. That’s fine, too. But this should come with the expectation and acceptance that you’re not going to love everything you see. And not every disappointing episode of a TV show requires your public outcry.

You are not going to like every piece of Star Wars that becomes available to you. There’s too much Star Wars; it’s virtually impossible to like, at the very least consume all of it. To expect every story to satisfy you doesn’t make sense. You don’t like every book, movie, or TV show ever made. Just because it’s set in the Star Wars universe doesn’t mean you have to like it.

And just because you don’t love it doesn’t mean it isn’t good for someone else. Your opinion of a Star Wars project is not fact. “I did not like it” does not mean “it was poorly made.” This applies to a lot of Star Wars, but especially to shows such as The Bad Batch. It does not seem interested in telling a big story. Maybe you don’t like that. That doesn’t mean the show is bad.

The measure of a well-made show is, after all, whether or not it accomplishes what it originally set out to accomplish. From the start, the show has been about a group of clones trying to figure out where they fit in the galaxy now that the war is over and the Empire is in charge.

The show never promised that Clone Force 99 would lead some kind of major rebellion against the Empire. It never advertised that it would follow in the footsteps of The Clone Wars, Resistance, or Rebels.

It is its own separate project with its own quiet agenda.

Instead of comparing the show to its predecessors — or faulting it for not meeting your expectations — spend your time enjoying the ride. The episodes are short and fun. There isn’t always a deeper meaning to draw from. If that’s not the kind of Star Wars you’re interested in watching, then don’t watch it.

But save your criticisms for more consequential things. Not liking a show is valid. Tearing it apart because you expected something you were never promised seems like a waste of energy, really.

New episodes of The Bad Batch drop Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+.

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