When I first watched tbb my main complaint was that there were quite a few times the episodes just straight up copied Mandalorian plot points and I was so mad bc I loved the Mandalorian and I was bitter that it was getting ripped off.
The way people act like Rex and Cody should wear āyouāre not like those other clonesā as a badge of honor is just incredibly irritating to me bc they respect their men and would absolutely be protective of them in front of other people who question their effectiveness or worth. Hell, if Rex ever told Cody that he was ābetter than those other 212 clonesā he would smack the shit out of him bc itās disrespectful.
I actually was watching a video by a therapist this morning and she said something that I think is relevant here (I am paraphrasing): if itās not happening to meā¦ then I just wonāt look. Which is, I think, something the writers end up doing whether they intend to or not. Because, truthfully, the only time Hunter in particular is invested in anything related to the Empire or saving/protecting the clones is when it involves Omega. Hell, he ignored the Crosshair situation pretty much the whole time because thatās what he does. He looks away. And this could be interesting if they ever really challenged it.
Do I think the message they were trying to send is: itās okay to ignore your evil fascist government and only focus on yourself because thatās what you want to do and thatās the right choice actually. You should forgive everyone who has done unspeakable things even if itās not your place to do so.
No, I donāt, I think what they were going for was the Hunter and Omega show about them getting to escape the Empire and live in peace and not have to be soldiersā¦. And then thereās these other guys here. Which, like, if youāre going to do an ensemble cast I kind of expect you to give development to each of them. Wrecker just gets ignored for the most part.
I do think that especially in this time and what many of us are going through it is alright and should be encouraged to look at the messages on our screens in very critical ways. Not only bc it is fun for me but because it is healthy for us to question what we are being told.
I also have a very big Echo bias and it definitely informs my opinions but I also have a very particular set of life experiences and preferences and opinions on real life things that make up my whole messy view on everything, as everyone does. So a story about finding your way to live out your days in peace away from the fight just does not really speak to me. And it not speaking to me is, like, fine, ya know, not everything will. Iām just much more inclined to want to watch Rex and Echo and hopefully one day Cody (pls) do their best in the fight to free the clones from the Empire because that is the heartwarming, interesting, and inspiring story Iād like to see. Which is not the show tbb set out to be (and I know that before anyone gets uppity about it). But Iām going to talk about it and the way the writers treat the clones and people can be mad about it and thatās their problem tbh.
They kind of throw this fight against the Empire to free the clones in the background almost entirely, because they do have those episodes where they get that information to the senate, to get rid of the character that is currently causing the most tension for Hunterās worldview. Echo leaving just lets that view go unchallenged and with all the teasing they did about this disagreement between them they really phoned it in. I LOVE disagreement and tension and conflicting opinions and wants and I was so psyched to see it but then they kind of just talk about it once and then Echo leaves and when they talk about it again they rush that conversation, too.
I actually think the person who gets challenged the most about their beliefs is Crosshair, a character who gets less screen time than a lot of other characters but ends up in focus a lot. And thatās part of why I find his story very compelling. And I enjoy his character a lot because of it.
I both hope they do something with Echoās character where he gets more focus and donāt because I can see it going a few ways:
They throw in a random child character who is a Jedi and it takes the focus away from the clones and their story because people love Jedi. The clones become background characters in their own story.
They make the whole thing lead up to a bunch of clones dying including Echo and maybe Cody to fuel Rexās story. This is the worst of the options tbh.
They actually tell a meaningful story about how these men fight for their right to exist, fight the Empire for however long they can, become a cell of the rebellion, and eventually find a way to live their lives with each other as peacefully as possible while maybe still feeding the rebellion information, going on missions as they please, or serving as home bases for people fleeing the Empire. There are options for how this looks tbh.
Iām not sure I trust that theyāll choose an option that isnāt just fiery death or Jedi focused forā¦ some reason.
Also can I have a tiny extra rant bc now Iām really fired up about it?
Often when I have tried to discuss this in the past I ended up with a few responses from people: vague posting me calling me names or mocking me for something (rude but you do you I guess), replying to my post going āyeah but I liked itā never said you couldnāt, or āyou lack critical thinking skillsā which are all just excellent ways to shut down the conversation and try to make me feel like shit. Iām glad itās been long enough that I do feel like I can say things without getting unnecessarily bad mouthed because I am just trying to have a conversation and I have always invited people to disagree but they have to do it respectfully and so many people just get unnecessarily sassy in my replies instead of talking to me to try to have a conversation. They just get mad. I just donāt care enough anymore about people getting mad at me so thatās growth lol
I feel like people often misunderstand me when I make posts about this and try to say that I either hate the batch or I think if youāre not doing direct resistance then youāre useless or that I think the clones need to fight their entire lives to be valid in their story and none of that is true? Itās an assumption people make that just proves to me they donāt actually read what I say or try to understand me. And I can only over explain myself so much before Iām just saying nothing.
And it gets annoying. Like, I said once in a reply to a post that I tend not to use the term āregā to describe the clones bc I donāt like it and this somehow made it okay to vague post about me, implying that I was ridiculous or idiotic, and spurred a bunch of people in the comments calling me names. Indirectly of course. Itās okay if youāre not saying it to their face, just somewhere where theyāll for sure see it. It was a single line in a much larger post and that was the only time I mentioned it. If someone had just asked me why maybe I couldāve talked about my reasons, explained that Iām not okay with using a term meant to insult them to describe them, so I donāt, and it couldāve been that simple.
Itās a lot more fun now having these conversations and getting to delve really deep into something with other people without all this fear of being ridiculed for it.
