The Bad Batch mission is complete, and to celebrate the end of the three season series, StarWars.com caught up with executive producers Brad Rau and Jennifer Corbett to discuss many elements if the series and ask questions – lots of questions, including this one about Omega’s escape plan from the Vault.
StarWars.com: Was Omega’s escape plan, secretly creating a hole in her cell wall, a nod to Shawshank Redemption?
Brad Rau: We talked about it, for sure. The thing that we really wanted to do, and maybe this segues into a bigger discussion, is we always knew — and we talked about it with Dee and Michelle a lot, too — that once Omega is taken back there, as tragic as that is in the back of your head, we did, like you’re saying, Jen, want the audience to feel like, “Come on, Omega, get in there. You’ve got to help these kids out.” So that once she’s in that role, she’s now the “Hunter” of this group. She became Hunter-Omega. We’ve seen versions of her imitating her brothers or showing the skills that she’s learned from her brothers. But here she really becomes, just short of the bandana, Hunter to these kids. And even the way Michelle performed — it’s a terrible situation but she’s very calm, planning things out, keeping the kids calm, and in charge of the group. It was really, really cool.
Jennifer Corbett: And it’s a bit of a parallel to the pilot episode where Omega is not at all trained and they go and rescue her, but are confined and have to find a way out, and it’s really the Batch that’s leading the charge on how to figure this out. Whereas now, Omega, when she goes back to Tantiss, doesn’t have time to wallow or worry because once she sees these kids, it’s like, “Oh, this is not about me. I have to look out for these young children and figure a way out of this mess.”
Brad Rau: Which was the other thing that we wanted to show. That yes, her brothers show up, but she gets the kids out. She rescued them herself. It’s pretty cool.
StarWars.com also spoke with Michelle Ang and Dee Bradley Baker about that final episode and saying goodbye to their characters.
Taking a page from Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which both incorporated an epilogue to give fans a hint at the future of their favorite characters from the series, the final scene flashes forward in time to find a grizzled Hunter and a grown-up Omega saying goodbye.
“The Bad Batch has a spectacular finish, as you would expect from Star Wars, but it has a particularly beautiful and affecting epilogue,” Baker says. “It’s really a beautiful moment that plays out.”
The final recording session was an emotional last day for the assembled cast and crew, saying goodbye to each other and the characters they had helped to create and shepherd through a tumultuous story. For Omega to come out the other side resilient and ready to continue the fight was deeply affecting for Ang, who used something closer to her normal voice for the final lines of dialogue.
“That epilogue really hit me in the feels,” Ang says. But it was the perfect way to send off her character. “This idea of Omega starting a new chapter that she’s so ready for, that she feels compelled and drawn to, that everything has been leading up to, has resonance for me. This whole experience was so new for me. Working with the Star Wars family, working as a voice actor, doing things remotely, holding space with [Dee] when we get to do Celebrations and conventions. And now, having this character realized and grown up, I feel like my personal journey has mirrored Omega’s in some way.”
That final episode was not only packed with action and plot but plenty of emotion, and actors Michelle Ang and Dee Bradley Baker shared some memorable momentd as the show completed its run.
Our final episode review of The Bad Batch will be with us early next week, after the full-on madness of May the 4th weekend, but we do heartily recommend doing one thing; go right back to the debut episode and watch Clone Force 99 traverse the galaxy with Omega once again.
- Hardcover Book
- Córdova, Zoraida (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 336 Pages - 08/27/2024 (Publication Date) - Random House/Star Wars (Publisher)
