Andor‘s penultimate episode finally gives us some war among the stars
"Daughter Of Ferrix" ups the action big time—but at a cost
TV Reviews toTony Gilroy
“Daughter Of Ferrix” is a weird episode of Andor. The first installment with a script credited toTony Gilroy since the three-part season premiere, it operates as something of an “in case you missed it” catch-up while setting the table not only for next week’s finale but its second and final season too.
Something I’ve admired about Andor since very early on is its unpredictability. Still, I didn’t have the penultimate episode of season one pegged as a stylish recap. There are also bursts of good old-fashioned Star Wars laser violence the show has so far held back on. Honestly, I’m a little torn. On the one hand it’s great to see Andor playing more expansively in the sandbox of George Lucas’ galaxy, and at the same time, this one is by far the lightest episode thematically, philosophically, and morally. But hey, after the streak it’s been on, why can’t Andor have a little fun?
The fun has to wait a hot second, though, because (and this made me shout “that sucks!” at my TV) Maarva Andor has passed away. We haven’t seen Fiona Shaw onscreen since she and Cassian said a heartfelt, but assumedly temporary, goodbye. Now we know that was goodbye for real. Shaw’s Maarva was a brilliant, defiant presence. It’s the kind of small role the right actor can make huge, and she will be missed not only by B2EMO, who is going through it big time this episode, but a fair few of us too, I’m sure.
As a “Daughter Of Ferrix,” tradition holds there would be a ceremonial funeral for her, which ISB is quick to want to shut down before Dedra senses opportunity. After all, what better way to flush out Cassian Andor than his mother’s funeral? Syril, too, gets wind of the elder Andor’s death via a spotty call from his former sergeant. It’s nice to know that even in a universe of split-second interplanetary travel and semi-sentient hologram chess pieces, the folks in Star Wars still can’t get FaceTime to fucking work. “The mystery of your former triumphs have been vanquished,” Syril’s mother hisses at the end of the call she, of course, was eavesdropping on, all but disappearing into the shadows like a Shakespearean witch. God, she’s great.
Of course, for all the ISB’s machinations, they still don’t know where Cassian is. In fact, he’s just escaped the clutches of the Empire with Melshi, combing the sparse Narkina 5 wilderness for an escape. After getting caught in some gooey alien fishing nets, they quickly bond with the wacky alien fishermen over a shared hatred of the Empire, and all four make for Niamos, where Cassian’s stash of credits is still safely tucked away.
Andor’s sudden lack of urgency extends to Mon’s storyline, too. Vel pays a visit (presumably on a break from her spoiled rich girl exploits) and, quite rightly, is weirded out by Mon’s daughter’s affinity for Chandrilan custom and weird, ominous chanting. “You’re not taking engagements?” Vel asks, fully aware of what Chandrilan custom means for young women, and Mon tearfully explains her bind to her cousin. I’m not sure how I feel about this in-episode recap, which delivers literally no new information. We’ve seen the story Mon tells play out completely in the past few episodes, and it’s wasted time in a show that has so far been extremely confident in its viewers’ ability to figure things out for themselves. Back at Saw’s rebel base, Luthen also goes back over the Anto Kreegyr plan in broad strokes, which is fairly dull considering he made many better, more emphatic points just last week. It’s a little interesting seeing him repackage the same information for different audiences—we know he’s a manipulator—but again, there’s nothing new underneath this rehashing.
But hey, if that scene was just a ploy to get Luthen into a space dogfight then…bring it on. I’ve appreciated Andor’s restraint when it comes to the flashier parts of the Star Wars universe but sometimes you’ve gotta just do the fun thing. On his way back to Coruscant, Luthen is intercepted by an Imperial ship and a commanding officer very eager to search Luthen’s Rebel-ass jalopy. After fake credentials don’t work, Luth goes into “fuck it” mode, destroys the Imperial ship’s tractor beam, and takes off. Cue the TIE fighters and their banshee wails of impending doom! Lasers! Explosions! You’ve earned it, Tony Gilroy. A beautiful touch is putting the fight juuuust beyond the atmosphere of a nearby planet, so there’s still a sense of scale and geography most Star Wars space fights don’t bother with. Great stuff.
Back at Niamos, with the hard-working fisher-aliens fast asleep in Cassian’s plush condo bed, Cass retrieves his stuff and says goodbye (for now) to Melshi, who wonders aloud if anyone else from the prison survived the swim. Finally allowing himself to taste the mildest of victories, he calls Xan to assure Maarva he’s fine. It’s a heartbreaking moment for us before it is for Cassian: He’s finally reached peace. He can call home and tell them he made it. Only: Home is gone, and Cassian may never find peace again. He looks out to the Niamos sunset, more trapped and lost than he’s ever been.
Stray observations
- The torture Bix endured has taken a heavy toll, she can barely walk without being propped up. It might not be that kind of show, but I hope to see Diego Luna channel Cassian’s fury when he finds out just what’s become of his home and the people he loves.
- Luthen’s cover story for his ship is that he’s a delivery craft from Alderaan! Only a couple years left for you to use that excuse, Luthen.
- Turns out the prison industrial system on Narkina 5 “killed” the water and the fish. This is the sort of granular trickle-down evil of the Empire that I love Andor for focusing on.
- Haven’t seen the Anvil Hammer Guy™ in a long time! Glad the Empire saw fit to keep him as an integral part of Ferrix’s day-to-day operations.
135 Comments
As expected, we got a lot of table setting. Still loved the episode though and Luthen’s dogfight was great!
Luthen tried spinning. That’s a good trick!
B+ for me. Yes it was repetitive in recapping storylines, but it was for a good table setting purpose. This will set the stage for a dramatic standoff/fight on Ferrix and we get to see B2EMO’s memory banks downloaded to a KX droid to create K-2SO.
I kind of got the impression Maarva’s death was faked. We only see her body when it’s brought out under a sheet, and this could be a ploy to draw in some top level targets who’ll be looking for Cassian to show up.
I had the same feeling, I think you’re right on.
I definitely got the impression that there is more to her death than meets the eye. If not a total fake-out, she left behind some sort of plan in place to use the distraction to strike back at the Empire. Maybe she left an Inglourious Basterds-style recording behind to be played as the Imperial garrison explodes. “I have a message for Coruscant!”
You might be onto something, but I also think Andor (the series) has made a point to show that death can be anti-climatic.
It’s easier to die in this world than it is to live freely.
Still, I was hoping Maarva was going to have a small blaze of glory. Maybe she still will, but we’ll have to wait and see.
I mean, we’ve had both the first Star Wars heart attack and the first Star Wars stroke in this show.
And from falling backwards on their head.
Turns out that Star Wars just needed to be way too real.
I find it amusing that losing a limb (or 3) is nothing, but heart conditions are still a thing.
I mean it’s just like how Dick Cheney has had half a dozen heart transplants but regular people die of heart attacks all the time
And the first Star Wars urination
…and first toilet
Second, there was a toilet on the razorcrest.
Faked….by who, exactly? Certainly not by the Empire, who react to the news in real time.
It can’t be faked. That would require them lying to my boy B2 and making him cry for nothing and I could not forgive that.
I could see it being by her, if she was aware the Empire was watching her to get to Andor, but she would definitely have to have help. The fact that they build buildings out of the dead is pretty convenient for not being able to verify death, though.
That possibility never even occurred to me! It seems like that would be pretty supported by what we’ve seen so far from her. Clearly we’re being set up for another showdown on Ferrix- an uprising that could spark a larger rebellion movement. Would be awesome to see Maarva having devised that.
You’re assuming Maarva knows everything the audience knows. There’s no tactical advantage to an old woman faking her own death. It’s not like she was on the ISB’s radar as a super badass who needed to be watched and there’s zero evidence that she was building up a mini rebel network with liked-minded Ferrixians.And Maarva certainly wouldn’t have wanted Cassian to return, which is exactly what news of her death is going to do.This is just nonsensical denialism.
I’ll start off by saying that I do believe Maarva is dead, and I agree with you that she wouldn’t want Cassian to return. However, she has been trying to use her remaining time to help Ferrix break free from the Imperial occupation, from recon walks past stormtrooper checkpoints to seeing if the old tunnel to the hotel could be cleared. All this has been explicitly stated in the show, so she’s at the very least an agitator who used to be one of the town’s mayors, meaning she has political clout to leverage as well.
There has been an image floating around of a hologram of Maarva from next week’s episode, which appears to from her funeral ceremony. My suspicion is that whatever she says in that hologram sparks the street uprising shown in some of the trailers.
TL;DR: Maarva can both be dead and still responsible for sparking a rebellion on Ferrix. We’ll find out next week. 🙂
Here’s a link to the image if you’re not concerned about spoilers: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsLeaks/comments/yvz9pw/andor_endig_tidbits/
I assumed that if she and a few others wanted to attack the hotel, and possibly free the prisoners such as Bix, then using a funeral procession might be good cover to launch the assault. Especially one that will be very well attended like Maarva’s.
Again, this assumes Maarva has been building up her own rebel cell on Ferrix, which would be a massive plot point to conceal from the audience for the sake of a coo moment. There are cool surprises and there’s just not playing fair with your audience. This show seems way too smart to cheat like that.
Yeah, I see your point with that. And as someone else replied the funeral can still be a catalyst for a rebellion on Ferrix without the dopey idea that she faked her death. 🙂
Indeed!
The thought crossed my mind but (and setting myself up big time to be tarred and feathered next week when I’m wrong) it just doesn’t seem like that kind of show, and would actively sabotage most of the more meaningful moments we got this week.
I agree. It would cheapen the way the show managed to break my heart from empathy for droid grief if it turned out Maarva was still alive.
Maybe. But if so, what a cruel thing to do to my little guy B2EMO
I had the same thought! There’s this one line in the first episode which I thought was just a neat bit of worldbuilding where Cassian asks B2EMO to lie to Maarwa for him and mentions that he knows it will be a drain on the droid’s power. Now I’m wondering if the little guy’s apparent grief, while heartbreaking, is a bit of a fakeout and his distress is actually coming from having to maintain such a big deception for so long.
I kind of enjoyed the extended character moments in this episode and didn’t feel a pressing need to find out new information, but you do you.
I especially enjoyed the scene between Saw and Luthen where Luthen prevents Saw from going into a killing rage by saying “OK, call Kreegyr and tell him what’s up.” It’s just further evidence that rebellions are messy and not just hot shot pilots doing heroic trench runs on Death Stars.
Hey good doctor!
“My man Tubes here tells me everything!”
And Saw’s final line in the scene was killer!
I’ve enjoyed Whitaker’s performance, even if it seems they could only use him on the one sound stage and probably shot it all in one or two days.
I think we did find out some new information, namely that Leida has an affinity for Chandrilan tradition, which can only make Mon Mothma’s dilemma that much crueler.
As another commenter rightly surmised, the daughter’s affinity for cultural tradition, then it actually makes Mon’s decision to ‘sell’ her daughter that much easier in my opinion. Mon may hate the decision she has to make because of the way she feels about it, but if the person be ‘sold’ is happy about it, then there isn’t really a ‘for the greater good’ conundrum.
I think it means Mon, who I view as a sort of liberal (whereas Leida we now discover is quite conservative) may do something *she* doesn’t want to do by bethrothing her young daughter to an amoral bankster’s son. Leida might actually want this. It’s Mon who doesn’t.
I agree. But I also think part of Mon Mothma’s reluctance stems from the fact that her family will be tied to someone who is genuinely dangerous; the way she has described Davo Sculdun goes beyond “amoral banker” and seems more in line with “loan shark” or worse. Even if Leida likes the idea and likes the boy in question, this particular arranged marriage would put everybody in peril in any number of ways.
I felt the same, honestly.Though I do hope they do something with Syril. He’s interesting as a character, but focusing on his sad sack existence with his mom after fumbling the ball with Andor, he seems to mostly be treading water. Even when he gives info to Dedra, he just turns out to be a weird creep who she wants nothing to do with.It’ll be interesting to see how his story weaves back in with the rest of the cast. I imagine Syril, Dedra, and Andor will all clash at the funeral.
Of course the Mothma scene imparts new information. It tells us that Leida is weirdly embracing her creepy-ass Chandrilian conservative roots and might not actually MIND being packaged off to another guy. Which does little to quell Mon’s anguish over it, since she knows how shitty those arrangements turn out to be.
The audience is omniscient, but Vel didn’t know about Mon’s troubles and how she’s largely responsible for them, and Mon still doesn’t know that Vel/Luthen were behind the Aldhani heist. It’s like the scenes with Saw – compartmentalization is good for security, but the various proto-Rebel factions are hurting each other and thus the overall cause because they’re *too* isolated. They’re not cells of a larger movement because there *is* no larger movement yet. I assume that’s what season 2 will be leading to.
Mon absolutely knows that Luthen was behind Aldanhi, they had a conversation about it and she confronted him. But she doesn’t know about Vel.
Yeah I wanted to point that out too. That is new information that I felt added a weighty punch to that scene and further complicates Mon’s whole situation. Since if Leida finds out about this proposal, she might be eager to accept it, which while that might keep Mon’s hands slightly cleaner, she’d still no doubt be devastated to have facilitated any part of it and certainly to be benefiting from it.
Exactly. My first reaction was the show was letting Mon slightly off the hook, but I think it’ll just make her feel more guilty.
But this reinforces the theme of Andor – decisioning have consequences and all that and the calculus of ‘Do the ends justify the means?’See: Luthen’s gangway monologue in ep. 10 and the second(?) scene of ep. 1 when Andor unceremoniously murders the Corp flunkies.
The only glaring logic hole in this show thus far: Andor’s “hiding place” for his stash of credits is literally just on a shelf on top of the shower, completely in full view of anyone. The fact that it’s still there months later is silly. At the very least they could have put it in a panel or something in the wall/floor.
The stash isn’t in full view of anyone. Go to episode 7 and scrub to about 11:00 to see him put it away. It’s hidden in a recessed area of the showerhead assembly, above line of sight even if you could see the box. And if you think the cleaning staff would have found it, you’ve never stayed in a hotel. They’re not going into clean the top of a shower stall after each guest. Sure, a maintenance worker could have easily found it, but RNGesus smiled on Cassian and it wasn’t discovered. It’s absolutely plausible.
Rewatch episode 11. When Cassian opens the box, the box is taller than the lip of the shelf it’s in. It’s in full view to anyone in the room. It’s not even “hidden” in any way, it’s just on a high shelf.
It’s over the lip because he probably moved it from the hidding spot to check the contents. If you check ep 7 around 41:40 (not the 11:00 as the other guy said) you’ll see that it disappears completely and nothing is above the edge of the shower (because it’s shower not some shelf).
The shower fixture has several arms on a central pole. In episode 7, you can see Cassian hide the box in a recess on the top arm (the same one with the showerhead). The box is not visible when it is in this recess.
In episode 11, he’s just opening the box on top of the second arm, having presumably already retrieved it from the top arm.
I stand corrected! He hides it in the top most shelf, where it’s not visible. In Episode 11, he has placed it on the second highest shelf where it’s clearly visible over the lip in order to rummage through it, but that’s not where it was initially put. My mistake!
Shhhh. No one cares.
Um, fuck off, this isn’t about you.
“RNGesus”Brilliant. I would happily subscribe to your newsletter.
I think next week is going to be big for Syril, either finally getting accepted by the Empire, or sticking his nose in somewhere one too many times and getting it blasted off. I think Marva may not be quite dead yet, or set something in motion and is using her own funeral as a distraction or flashpoint for a Rebel action. I’m hoping there is a lot of resolution and advancement to current storylines in the finale, because they’ve already revealed that time jumps will be fast and furious next season. I hope most of these characters survive/continue next season, I am very interested to see where they land as time moves forward quickly. Does Meero rocket up the ranks of the ISB, or get chewed up? Does Daughter Mothma get bartered for the gangster’s help, and does she even know or mind?
Nitpick: Luthen’s “fake credentials” actually do work, the Imperial captain just proceeds with the planned boarding “for practice” and because he’s a dick.
I might have to rewatch it, but this scene felt like it was hinting that Luthen is somewhat force sensitive, as if he could predict that no matter what credentials he gave the end result was going to be the same and that he had to get the hell out of dodge.
Respectfully, that feels like a huge reach. It doesn’t take a force sensitive to want to get the fuck aware from the Empire, especially if you’re Luthen.
True! I think I might have misinterpreted him giving the Alderaan credentials as his main way out rather than him simply buying time for the thrusters. I was sweating too hard during the scene to be viewing it coherently lol.
I mean, it could be both! hoping it works while preparing for the worst.
He’s just competent and a collector of all sorts of valuable tech.
If you’ve never been stopped by the Coast Guard on a work-boat, you know you always get boarded no matter how well things are in order. I’m assuming the Empire is no different and I don’t need the force to divine that.
It’s hinting that Imperial martinets are predicably imperious.
I might have to rewatch it, but this scene felt like it was hinting that Luthen is somewhat force sensitive,
On this same topic, am I crazy or did Luthen have a lightsaber he handed over to Two Tubes when he went to meet with Saw?
That is his collapsible walking stick. We saw him use it in the first 3-episode arc where Luthen came to Ferrix to meet Cassian.
Yup. Total rural sheriff move.
That’s a perfect analogy.
Ha. Spot on.
Yeah I actually loved that the attack happened due to the Empire’s hubris rather than the Luthen fucking up.
Yup!
Nitpick #2: Those aren’t the “hard-working fisher aliens” sleeping in Cassian’s old hotel room, they are just random alien guests of the same hotel. Different species entirely. And why would Cassian need to tip toe through the room and sneakily retrieve his box if the room was occupied by his friends/liberators?
In another timeline, Cassian gets caught sneaking around in hotel rooms looking for his stash box (already found by an enterprising shower repairman) and boom – back in prison.
Or it gets discovered by Oliver Platt and we get Space Fargo.
Wait shit has Platt done a Star Wars yet? Fuckin hell Gilroy get him on season 2 IMMEDIATELY inject Oliver Space Platt bouncing off of Skarsgard directly into my veins
Unless: After making romantic promises between snuggling and sweet nothings, Andor snuck out after exhausting them in the sack! That dawg.
Seems consistent.
I half expected to see Cassian’s old girlfriend in bed with the squid-head.
Hey, don’t kink shame.
Between the dogfight and last week’s monologue (and the rest), Luthen in my mind is already an all-time classic Star Wars character. That Imperial stop-and-search was so insanely tense I thought the whole thing was going to end in a Game of Thrones penultimate shock death, and when he ripped the tractor beam to pieces I was whooping at the screen (but still with trepidation considering the series so far). I love how earned the moments of bad-assery are in this show. Definitely a table-setting episode, and it felt just a little off in the writing this time. There was a lot of audience hand holding in the dialogue that was uncharacteristic of the series so far. It was never bad per se, just a small dip from the lofty heights it’s been at. Another shout-out to Genevieve O’Reilly. She’s been killing it this series, making a plot about banking transactions a rollercoaster of tense espionage, familial entrapment and conflicted emotions, and her scene of despair and defeat this episode was just absolutely heart wrenching to watch.
Man, Genevieve O’Reilly got cast in a deleted scene in a movie in 2005 for a character that said very little in the OG trilogy and she has been just absolutely milking that casting choice and killing it since.
So insane to think about! It’s remarkable that the ‘let’s expand this bit role character in a spin-off/prequel’ is usually a recipe for disaster that can retroactively tarnish the character (looking at you Boba Fett) but Andor has improved Cassian, Mothma, Saw and gosh even Melshi beyond belief.Obviously I hope Season 2 keeps adding fantastic new characters to the universe like Luthen, Syril or Dedra… but their respectful nuanced take on existing characters actually does make me wish they’ll take a stab at say Wedge Antilles, General Veers or – despite his appearance in almost every live action/cartoon spin-off – Bail Organa (edit: though actually Organa is pretty much inevitable all things considered).
Yeah, there’s one character you didn’t list, and I’m dreading they’ll add her. Although it would make sense in the lead up to the events of Rogue One/New Hope, the thought of the shitty CGI they used on Mark Hamill for Mando combined with the very not-aliveness of Carrie Fisher has me cringing.
I think the showrunners are smart enough to write around that, to my mind I can’t remember if it’s ever been stated what Leia was doing prior to the events of New Hope. Be easy for Bail Organa to say she’s elsewhere, on some diplomatic mission ;)But say if they did, sacrilegious as it may be… a recast? Funnily enough I personally found Luthen’s assistant reminded me of New Hope Leia quite a bit, but then that actress is obviously off the cards.
If this show was ever going to do a big, GoT-level reveal, it would be that Luthen’s assistant is actually Leia. The likeness is too uncanny.
Leia was only born a year or so before Leida, so she’s not *quite* Senatorial age.Plot twist: Obi-Wan got the real Leia killed while off on another adventure, so as part of witness protection for Leida they have her take Leia’s place.
I buried Paul.
And on top of that, even with Skywalker showing up in Mando’s world, I’m not sure Andor, with 12 episodes per season, has the budget to go for some uncanny valley action with Carrie Fisher.
Bail will certain show up at some point since Jimmy Smits is more than happy to keep coming back to the role. Then again, Bail is somewhat intrinsically tied to the Jedi so I feel like he might stay away because him just being there makes things more fantastical.
He’s James Bond, but with more brains.
“when he ripped the tractor beam to pieces I was whooping at the screen”I loved the “weapons” he fired at them to do this. Not your typical lasers, just a bunch of tiny objects that just shredded the radar-dish. I loved the Imperial’s reaction when he saw what Luthen had fired at them – “WTF is that?”
Something about those alien fishermen reminded me of 1980s Henson Creature Shop creations, both in their dialogue and their appearance. Luthen taking such an aggressive move against that Imperial patrol seems unwise and destined to draw a lot of attention. Once Dedra hears of it, she’ll be all over it. And Poor B2EMO. The woobiest droid.
The voices were both Henson shop regulars at the very least. Maybe the suits and performers, too.
“The first installment with a script is credited Tony Gilroy since the
three-part season premiere, it operates as something of an “in case you
missed it” catch-up while setting the table not only for next week’s
finale but its second and final season too.”I think I’m missing something here.
The we first is the that script Tony, with. Seems pretty clear.
Is blaster-tracing a thing in SW? He gave that gun he killed the corporate officers with to his friend (who I know returns in Rogue One but still)
The first installment with a script is credited Tony Gilroy since the three-part season premiere, it operates as something of an “in case you missed it” catch-up while setting the table not only for next week’s finale but its second and final season too.I was pretty disappointed to learn that they shortened the show to two seasons. This show has really worked because there is great dialogue and character moments in-between the big events and I worry that will be lost with the breakneck pace required to show four years in 12 episodes.
Agreed, I’m hoping they can perhaps (maybe with all the critical buzz the show is getting) extend it to 3 seasons instead of 2. This show is just too good.
Thank god it was shortened to only two. This whole season should’ve been condensed to 6 episodes, in fact.
*24 episodes
No. The show is meant to cover five years total. S1 is the first year of Andor’s journey and the original plan was to have four more seasons, each covering another year. They revised the plan to have S2 cover all four years instead, with 3 episodes per year instead of 12.
Pretty sure I’ve heard that doing only 2 seasons was Tony Gilroy’s idea. Best to trust the show-runner when deciding how long he can do a quality show like this one.
I mean it was also his idea to do five seasons originally. He opted to shorten it because he didn’t think it was viable to do five seasons of the show.
Loved the Columbo act Skarsgard put on in his ship before making his getaway.“I’m sorry I’m a one man show…”
Any idea who plays Anvil Hammer Guy™? When I first saw him, I could have sworn it was Clancy Brown.
I know how this all ends for Cassian Andor. Given the tone of the series, my gut says its gonna end the same for a lot of people we see in this show. But please, when this is all over, just let B2EMO be in a happy place
My guess is anyone that you don’t see in Rogue One, well, guess what happened to them….We know Saw, Mon, Cassian, and the other prisoner’s fate. I’m guessing what happens to the rest is easy to divine. Lonni gives them up, I bet.
Lonni would never do that how dare you
Just before Luthen met Saw, and he was searched, was that meant to be a lightsabre he had? It looked like a kind of retro one.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Skarsgard’s weapon of choice is just a cudgel and I desperately want to see him whack someone with it, but it would be rad if it’s some sort of bootleg lightsaber.
It was his collapsible walking staff that he has in episode 3. The hilt looks like a lightsaber. Maybe it even was at one point. He carries it like one in that episode for a bit.
Ah yeah, you’re right. Thought he was a secret jedi or something
Does Cassian still have the kyber crystal that Luthen handed him before the heist mission on Aldhani? Maybe Luthen can’t use his lightsaber without Cassian’s crystal.
Maybe! Rewatching the scene again I’m not so sure it won’t turn out to be a lightsabre that’s also a cudgel.
No, Vel has it. He asked her to give it to Luthen but she hasn’t seen him since then
No, he gives that back to Vel when he leaves her after the mission on Aldahni.
He gave it to Vel to give back to Luthen.
Why can’t the whole show be like the least 20 minutes of this episode
Back at Niamos, with the hard-working fisher-aliens fast asleep in Cassian’s plush condo bedI don’t think this is what we were seeing. There were two squid-like aliens asleep in the hotel room and Cassian was sneaking in to retrieve his stash without waking its new occupants. It wasn’t the ones from Narkina.
The first installment with a script is credited Tony Gilroy since the three-part season premiereHuh?
I liked the first shot where we returned to Niamos in this episode. The pelican things were scrounging for old crumbs among decidedly empty beach chairs, compared to a couple months ago when the vacation spot was crowded. People in the Empire aren’t traveling or participating in leisure anymore.
3 months later could be the off-season. It looked a bit overcast.
One thing I love about this show is that the use of non-human stuff is very deliberate and rare (makes sense under the Empire), and so when you get scenes like the alien fisherman, they REALLY hit. Would also say that the one alien speaking almost lyrically/weirdly made the scene more menacing – a tribute to the fact that even if you’re writing for weird aliens, you need to be very intentional on your dialogue choice (looking at you, Jar-Jar).
I don’t mind tablesetting eps if they give us kickass scenes like this ep did. Fuck do I love this show.
“It’s nice to know that even in a universe of split-second interplanetary travel and semi-sentient hologram chess pieces, the folks in Star Wars still can’t get FaceTime to fucking work.”Chef’s kiss.
That did not feel like a second-last episode of the season! WAY too much stuff to resolve/advance. (It’s to this show’s credit that I’m dying to know what happens to virtually every member of a sprawling cast.)
I thought the exact same thing! Why not show her body? All the main ‘players’ seem to think she’s dead, though, so if she isn’t the question is who helped her? It would have to be the people that carted her out I would guess, but they would likely have to be connected to someone else, and so on…still, seemed a pretty blatant ‘non-showing’ of the body.
Yeah, this felt kind of like other shows where a character hasn’t been seen for at least a season and their death is announced and the viewers never see the body, and the real reason is that the producers wouldn’t have to pay the actor to make a final appearance, even if just as a corpse.
I don’t think what we get in the two big character beats this week is ‘new information’ in terms of the sort of plottiness we’ve come to expect from Star Wars, but it’s apparent this show is aiming a bit higher than that. From the different ways Vel and Mon talk about ‘the old ways’ we learn that Vel is to some extent a rebel by nature whereas Mon’s resistance comes more from a place of small-c conservatism – it’s a nice illlustration of how fundamentally different people can be working to the same end. And the interaction between Luthen and Saw is crucial in almost the opposite direction – they’re not as different as they first appeared. Luthen, for all his Le Carre-ish agent-handler cynicism, is prepared to take a massive risk on the offchance that he can save Kreegyr’s men, while Saw decides that he’s prepared (up to a point) to drop his idealism and take Luthen’s long view of the rebellion.
I’m at episode 5 of this show, and like… When does it get INTERESTING? I love the aesthetics, I dig the soundtrack, but my god, Andor is about as exciting as toast so far.
For real? You’ve had an epic heist AND prison break already.
Is it possible that I’m the first to note that the “Cantwell Class” star destroyer design is an almost direct interpretation of one of the earliest Star Wars (aka New Hope) designs, created by Colin Cantwell, who just passed away fairly recently?
The scene at the end of this episode, with Cassian looking out across the water at the horizon, reminded me of the last scene in Rogue One, right before the Death Star blast when he & Jyn hold onto each other, knowing what’s coming.
Were those their new alien friends asleep in Andor’s old condo? I assumed it was just new tenants since ol’ Cassian has been gone for a bit, and the Empire doesn’t seem too invested in individual property rights.
Not sure, but I love the idea that Cassian and Melchi took off with those 2 aliens and he invited them to that planet, checked back into that same room, and told those 2 aliens “Hey, have a rest, enjoy, my treat.”
The closing scene of Cassian on the beach watching the sunset calls to mind the last frames we see of him in Rogue One. In this episode his world is metaphorically crumbling around him and in Rogue One it literally is
Have to disagree with the claim that the Mon Mothma/Vel and Luthen/Saw scenes are just telling us things the viewers already know and giving us no new information.As others have already said, we learn in the Mon/Vel scene that Mon’s daughter is really into her planet’s customs, indicating that she would probably be into an arrange marriage. Mon’s one hope is that if she did agree to the loan shark’s deal that her daughter would say “Mom, no way, I’m not meeting some boy for an arranged marriage!”As for the Luthen/Saw scene, you completely skipped over Luthen revealing to Saw that he knows that the other rebel (can’t remember his name) is going into a trap and that’s why Luthen refuses to let Saw team up with him now. Saw realizes that Luthen is willing to let 50 men die just to keep his ISB source active. Also, Luthen doesn’t threaten Saw into not warning this other guy to prevent his death – he tells him that he can warn him if he wants but also tells him what the consequences will be. Saw learns a lot about Luthen in this scene, and Saw becomes a bit more like Luthen.