“Unfinished Business” has concluded the Bad Batch story arc and now it’s all open game. From now on, we are going to see chiefly new content previously not released in any form.
But before that comes, let us first review the first S7 story arc in its entirety.
The Dark Side of Clone Wars
The Bad Batch had everything a good, classic Clone Wars story should have. It had clones, it had action, but more importantly, it had the troubling elements that come with war.
And yes, it was overall fairly dark – with Echo becoming a cyborg, the overall theme of the value of a clone’s life, or in the last episode, Anakin’s very Dark-Sided act of slaughtering Admiral Trench (but what an atmospheric moment that was!).
It was not as dark as some clone-centered stories in previous seasons (such as the one with Order 66 chips). However, just like everything in TCW, it becomes much heavier load once you stop to think that those characters are going to live the events of Revenge of the Sith. The moment you see the Bad Batch and their beautifully independent spirit, you also have to imagine their independence crushed under the inevitability of Order 66. And the same goes for poor Echo. Did he get saved from a terrible mechanical half-life only to become a pawn in the Sith endgame against the Jedi?
Everyone’s In Business
“Unfinished Business” itself was just the right conclusion to the story. Once again, I much appreciated the visuals that have been updated since S6, making even moments such as cinematic zooms and camera panning on rising gunships remarkable.
The chance to show – however briefly – Master Windu (ever-chill) and Kenobi (ever-sassy) in action was well used. Overall the Jedi got a little more space, but not at the expense of the clones. Each of the Bad Batch got their chance to shine – especially Crosshair and Wrecker with their stunts. We really got to understand why they are the elite.
The same goes for Echo, who pulls some amazing feats while slicing the Separatist control hub. The suspense as we fear that he may not disconnect in time is also well-served. Only the uncertainity about Echo’s loyalty seemed somewhat underwhelming as a theme: it sort of came out of nowhere and the trust was never at stake in any meaningful, impactful way. It was a nice instrument, however, to show Rex’s faith in Echo – which in turn made Echo’s departure in the end the more sad.
Finished!
And I have already mentioned Anakin, who in this arc alone has about 350% more characterisation than in RotS. (I am not saying that as a complaint against RotS however, the film simply had to decide what to do with its time.) His decision to interrogate Trench recalls similar moments in early seasons when Anakin sometimes snapped and threatened or Force choked prisoners. The final, ruthless kill accompanied by the Imperial March playing in the background was possibly the best moment of the episode. Trench definitely served his purpose as a recurring villain, so that his death could become such a remarkable moment.
“Unfinished Business” was amptly named in many ways. It not only brought a closure to a well-made clone war story arc. It was also a remake of its unfinished, story reel version from 2015. This revival was well-executed, and we can only hope that any future Season 7 episodes – be they remakes of earlier ideas or completely new – are going to reach at least the same quality, if not better.
