Andor continues to evolve in another excellent episode
While "Announcement" widens Andor's scope, the show has never felt more personal
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No post-heist lull here: “Announcement” is an episode teeming with big moves and bigger swings as Andor steadily continues to stakes its claim as not only the best Star Wars series so far but one of the best Star Wars stories, period. It was only a few weeks ago Cassian was languishing on Ferrix, but Tony Gilroy and his writers have crammed in a whole season’s worth of development into the last four episodes without the pace ever feeling inorganic. I’ll get to the recap in a minute, but damn, this is a captivating and wonderfully constructed show born of a concept many thought was peripheral at best. Everyone agree? Right. Let’s get to it.
It goes to show just how well Andor has handled its deep bench of supporting characters, because I barely noticed we don’t even see Cassian until the 17-minute mark. While he recovers from the tolls—physical and emotional—of last week’s heist, he’s still fresh in the mind of Syril, whose so-far unseen uncle has sorted him with a glorified cubicle job measuring “fuel purity.” It’s an embarrassment of, well, embarrassments for Karn, who gets lambasted by his mother no matter what. Last week she scolded him for slouching; this week she’s on him for wearing a tailored shirt. (What are Star Wars clothes called?) She tells him the effortful look says, “Look at me, I don’t believe in myself” with all the cutting sincerity of a diminutive Lucille Bluth. She might be my favorite villain so far.
Speaking of villains, Luthen is making moves towards that column, too. He alludes to Cassian as a “loose end” and, what’s more, Mon Mothma is furious at the brazenness of his heist and the fact she was completely in the dark about it. In response to the security breach on Aldhani, the Empire is tightening its grip. Prison sentences are extended across the galaxy, taxes raised, and in a decree that’s sure to impact the Aldhani natives “the use of any local custom, festival, or tradition as cover for rebel activity will trigger permanent revocation of Imperial tolerance.” We’ve seen glimpses so far, but the Empire is starting to resemble the mask-off fascist regime we know it truly is.
There’s a lot to unpack here. Supervisor Meero suspects, rightly, that the Empire’s overreaction will only stir more rebel sentiments. Mon, incredulous at Luthen’s approach, tells him “people will suffer,” to which he calmly replies, “that’s the plan.” We’ve seen this before, not just in Star Wars, sadly—the bigger picture, the greater good. Everyone has an excuse when it comes to hurting people, and by pulling the trigger on the rebellion “announcing” itself, Luthen’s put a timer on Mon setting up a safe, secure network. I loved the mirrored scenes in which both factions argue the pros and cons of the Empire stepping up its terrorism. Star Wars has traditionally relied on Imperial forces to be generally inept and self-important, but there’s competence and awareness here which makes them all the more dangerous.
For this, she enlists the help of a childhood friend, Tay, at her husband’s big event she so dreaded a couple of episodes ago. She needs to dip into her family fortune and, as luck would have it, Tay’s a hotshot banker. Is it just me or was there a little flirting going on between the two? Trusting her instincts, she all but tells Tay flat-out that she’s a leading force behind the insurrection, and a wry smile crosses his face just for a second.
Meanwhile, Cassian returns to Ferrix a wannabe conquering hero, but his optimism is short lived. He tells Maarva and B2EMO they’re leaving for somewhere safe, out of the Empire’s reach. Fiona Shaw is brilliant as she agrees to Cassian’s plan, but everything in her eyes and voice tells us a different story: She’s going nowhere. She’s old, she’s tired, and her rebellion is in her mind. “They can build as many barracks as they like. They’ll never find me,” she tells Cassian resolutely. He stops for another emotional sendoff with Bix and leaves Ferrix once again. It’s the right choice for Cassian, and the show, but I’m hoping we get more of Shaw and the excellent Adria Arjona, who has been seriously underutilized so far.
The infighting at the Imperial Security Bureau reaches a head in “Announcement,” too. Blevin lodges a charge against Meero for accessing Morlana data without permission. This backfires spectacularly as Major Partagaz sees this as impressive initiative under the new circumstances and reassigns the Morlana section to Meero. “Well played, watch your back,” Partagaz quietly tells Meero as he departs. Andor has had no shortage of well-executed social commentary amidst the action and even the “gender politics in the workplace” stuff lands, despite the fact they’re serving fucking Emperor Palpatine (who even gets a namecheck this week!).
“Announcement” is an absolutely loaded episode, and we’re nowhere near done yet. We jump in time a little (a few weeks? A month?) to when Cassian is living as Keef Girgo on Niamos. Niamos is basically Space Boca Raton, complete with elderly tourists wearing neon visors and some wacky aliens. Unfortunately, even vacation spots are under new Imperial overreach, and Cassian’s detained by an overzealous “Shoretrooper,” strangled by a KX droid, and put in front of a judge for a bogus charge. “This used to be six months,” she muses to herself, before the new change of guidelines, and Cassian is sentenced to six years of prison time. Cassian hand-delivered Luthen’s message to the Empire, and now he’s seeing the consequences. I have absolutely no idea where Andor goes from here, and I can’t wait to find out.
Stray observations
- When I say this episode was loaded, I mean loaded. We get another flashback to when the Empire first came to Ferrix. Cassian’s adopted father, in trying to calm rioters throwing missiles at Stormtroopers, was hanged in the town square for his trouble. Cassian taking his name on the Aldhani mission gets a new heartbreaking dimension.
- Blink and you’ll miss it, but Cinta’s still on Aldhani (I think?) and watches as a Star Destroyer thunders overhead. Andor has been excellent about slowly introducing the more iconic sights from the Star Wars universe, and it’s the same story here. The birds flying alongside it give a sense of scale and menace that’s lost in the big laser space fights.
- “I’ll be worried about you all the time.” “That’s just love.” FUCK.
- As we know from Rogue One Cassian later aligns himself with a witty KX droid who’s defected to the rebellion. Safe to say his first experience isn’t a positive one.
- A moment of appreciation for Andor’s brief but regal title card. Nicholas Britell’s understated musical swell makes it something special.
147 Comments
Rather eerily prescient how the whole plan to force the Empire into being more obviously evil to turn people against them mirrors what happened with Roe v. Wade.
I have no idea why I thought last weeks episode was the finale, I’m glad to see I was wrong.
I totally did too and am now stoked there are more eps.
And we’re only now into the second half. Honestly the most I’ve been excited about a SW adventure since I was a kid.
It’s awesome how many episodes they’ve got this season. 12 episodes! Most serialized streaming shows only get ten.
Yeah, it’s really encouraging and has to imply a degree of confidence in the material. By contrast, Book of Boba was seven eps and three of them were basically a different show entirely.
Or less.
I did as well. I think it has something to do with HOTD and Rings wrapping up for their seasons and my brain just linking Andor in with them. I am quite pleased to be mistaken.
So far we’ve had two separate arcs in eps 1-3 and 4-6, with both eps 3 and 6 feeling like finales.
Anyone else think for a moment that Tay was actually ex-Chancellor Valorum? The actor has an odd resemblance to Terrence Stamp.
I have to say, I did not; I was way too distracted by the fact the was Patrick from Coupling.
My eyes popped out when I realized it was him. I feel an odd pride seeing alums from that wave of shows pop up in bigger stuff.
THAT’S where i know him from
Holy crap! I feel old now!
Same here. When he turned up in the earlier trailers, I thought they had de-aged Terence Stamp so he could return as Valorum.
My very first thought..
I didn’t think he actually was Valorum, but I did note the similarity in appearance.
Yes, I thought so too, all the while trying to remember where I had seen him before. Ans: The Crown.
The production design crew deserves tons of credit for making this show special. Star Wars’ retro-futurism was on full display in this episode, from the dials/knobs in Syril’s super-cubicle to the Neo-Tokyo walkways of Coruscant where Vel was hiding out. Even the accents in Cassian’s seaside love-bungalow feel like they belong in some deleted scene from the original trilogy.
Lost amid all the Tinker Tailor Soldier what have you: PATRICK FROM COUPLING IS IN A STAR WAR, EVERYBODY. A lot of that show has aged like milk but good to see one of the alums get some Disney money.
It took me a moment, but I get so excited whenever I see a Coupling actor in anything. Same goes for when Jeffrey showed up in the new Sabrina show…whenever he tried to sound serious or evil, I just had a running loop of “Oh Jeffrey….” in my head.
I lost my shit seeing Rich Coyle score such a plum role after getting pigeonholed as Jeff.
Man, I’ve been reading that the views on this show are terrible and that’s really, really depressing. I think this is the best written Star Wars anything. That scene with Syril and his toxic mother was so well written and so well acted you could have set it in a NYC apartment and it would have still worked. I hope this doesn’t mean we won’t get shows like this in the future.
“Parrot
Analytics has found that the audience demand for Andor is 30.8 times
the demand of the average TV series in the United States in the last 30
days.”
2.7% of all shows in this market have this level of demand.
https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/US/andor-disney-plus
Just like sports analytics is ruining TV
I totally agree, but you’ve gotta admit that it’s incredibly on brand for Star Wars to save it’s most complex and nuanced storytelling for what is functionally like those Wedge Antilles X-Wing novels.
I’d actually say that – at least so far – on a whole the story of Andor is looking to be a lot more important to the mythos/world of Star Wars than almost any other recent TV show/spin-off. Obi-Wan’s grand contribution was ret-conning a single line from RotJ, while Andor is basically showing the entire conception of the Rebellion and the Empire’s response to that. Granted we have 1.5 seasons to go, but gosh if they stick the landing, I can see this show retroactively enriching the Original Trilogy more so than any other Star Wars property has to date. The struggle of the Rebellion and the evil of the Empire will likely be way more palpable, and even Luke’s role in it can feel more superhuman and titanic.
I was completely against this show when it was announced. I even said “who asked for this show?!” to express my distaste. Well, I’m eating my words because it’s surprisingly great and I’m sad to hear others never gave it the same chance I did.
Well, I’m eating my words because it’s surprisingly great and I’m sad to hear others never gave it the same chance I did.If I’m being totally honest, I was the same. I thought it was an answer to a question that nobody asked, but I also didn’t know that it was from the same person who did Rouge One. I would have been a lot more excited for it if I knew that.
One of the many problems with the world today is that many people would rather be “right” than happy.
Or loudly demand that they’re right in the face of reality.
Same here. I almost didn’t watch it but those early reviews peaked my interest and now I impatiently wait for the new ones to drop.
After pretty much all the other star wars shows I didn’t care to watch another one again. The only reason I watched this was because rouge one was so damn good. This is what I wanted all the other ones to be. Every single issue the other ones had this one fixes, especially writing and locations. And no annoying kids. Or distracting cameos
I’ve said before that I’m just astonished with how much I love this series, which I would have never expected when first seeing the Andor name up on Lucasfilm’s Big, Big Wall-O-Projects planned out for the next 34 years.Now I hope Andor is the roadmap for the future of Star Wars, but I also hope that roadmap comes with the right lessons learned; an understanding that characters are the foundation of story, and there’s a lot of hard work that must be done to elevate that story into something great. Yet, what I worry will happen is the reins get handed to the usual suspects that will go right back to their same old “Dump all the toys on the table” fanservice methods, with a superficial veneer of grimdark and grit added to the Boba Fett and Ahsoka action figures.But that’s the future, and here in the present I am so pleased with how Andor is playing out. It’s everything I’ve been wanting in Star Wars, with a lot of stuff I never knew I needed.
I think part of it is that this is the first Star Wars show that was written for adults rather than children as the primary audience. While it’s definitely great for me as a childless adult, I can’t imagine that people who want Star Wars to just be “laser guns and lightsabers all the time” are treating it as appointment viewing, and I’m willing to bet that parents with young children are not gathering the family together to watch each episode.
This is absolutely brilliant, but my 8 year old wants nothing to do with it (and he’s seen a lot of star wars). He watched the trailer and was like, nah, not for me (specifically, no Jedi, the Force or Darth Vader?!). After the first episode, I understood that his instinct was entirely correct haha
It is what it is. At least Disney already ordered the 2nd season so regardless of how well it does we’ll still get the full story!
I did enjoy Rogue One. Never had any interest in this show or the character. Still don’t. I’m now at a place to pick and choose which show to watch regarding Star Wars. I watched the Clone Wars, but never saw Star Wars Rebels. I’ve watched Mandalorian, and Book of Boba Fett, but passed on OB1. I don’t come on here to hate it or wish for it to fail because there’s plenty of shows to pick and choose from which ones to be entertained. Different strokes for different folks. So there’s an audience for this show, and I’m glad they got something that fits to their style. Enjoy the ride. Here’s hoping that after the final episode fans won’t be disappointed that it was a great season but a weak final episode.
Weird flex
Lol there are absolutely zero negative reviews of this show. TF you talking about
Some people, most people are just sick of Star Wars shit. Not everybody has the boner of a cosplayer
We don’t actually know the numbers besides what “engagement” metrics can tell us, and on that front it is rough. But Nielsen is supposedly about to release their measures of the week Andor premiered so we should know viewership estimates soon.
The reviews have been mostly excellent on it, I think. It’s not quite getting the same reach as the other Star Wars series, but that’s not surprising – they leaned a lot harder on more well-known characters and actors, as well as regular Star Wars tropes like Jedi and such. Luna’s the closest thing to a pre-existing Star Wars star in Andor, and that was from one movie that came out 4 years ago. It also has the bad luck to be running against House of the Dragon and (until last week) Lord of the Rings. I’m hoping the audience will build for it, especially with the good reviews.
they did it in the ‘70s. It was the Rhoda show ( a Mary Tyler Moore spinoff) and Nancy Walker played the mom
It’s the only Star Wars related thing I’ve thought was actually well written complex adult drama at all. The rest are generally childish pap.
Star Wars has mostly always been a family affair. I imagine this isn’t a show the whole family wants to watch. Not that there’s anything that a kid can’t see, but they would be bored. I have a nephew that loves Star Wars and there’s no way this show would hold his attention.
Yeah, I agree, but I think there is room for Star Wars shows like this. I’m glad this show exists
Oh yeah, I am enjoying it. It should come with different expectations of ratings though.
Don’t sell kids short, he might surprise you.
He is short, though; he’s only like 4 ft tall!
Is no-one else going to mention that Wullf fucking Yularen showed up this week?! There’s a blast from Clone Wars past. I’m surprised he didn’t voice over the episode recap in newsreader mode.
The birds flying alongside it give a sense of scale and menace that’s lost in the big laser space fights.
I think those were TIE fighters.
Yes theres 3 on each side of the destroyer it’s clearly the fighter escort and she’s definitely still on Aldhani and likely about to get caught
Two thoughts:My assumption is Syril and Meero will meet soon and become “Co-Javerts” chasing Cassian all over the galaxy. Would either flip and join the rebellion? Meero seems like a hard “no.” Syril… hmm.I know I shouldn’t do this but… Wish-casting to the series’ end: wouldn’t it be something if they filmed, like, epilogue scenes in the hanger on Yavin 4 and brought back members of the Rogue One cast a la Better Call Saul. It would crush me if Cassian caught a glimpse of say, Vel, Cinta, or Bix in the crowd – even Maarva; even some that have passed – before boarding Rogue One on its first and final mission; Jyn saying, “Okay Cas, let’s go.”
I think that might happen, but this show has already said it’ll have a second season that introduces K-2S0 so maybe after that.
Agree there. Syril’s job feels like it’s leading to him picking up on something, and then getting Meero’s attention somehow with the result that they end up forming a task force together to hunt down the rebellion. Syril would be a fun one to flip, just because it would probably come after a long internal battle between his propriety and ambition vs his very obvious seething resentment at people bossing him around and pushing him into their mold.
Personally, I feel like they need to film some new stuff and release a full on “Andor-cut” of Rogue One after the finale. Less for the fanservice-y stuff you mention, and more to bring it further in line with the level of quality on show here — presumably with a slight change of focus towards Cassian (and hopefully without sidelining Jyn in the process).
Syril’s Uncle is Palpatine.
Whoa. That would be a rug-pull. Tarkin would be intense too. But yeah, Ian McDiarmid shows up in your mom’s apartment unexpectedly for dinner.
No way Palpatine is on good terms with his family, if he even left any of them alive.
Even now that it’s gotten good, Andor remains the least interesting thing about Andor by a wide margin.
The decision to hold off on showing us stormtroopers and star destroyers until now has really made their appearances here pay off. We just get a little bit, and it’s enough to actually make them seem dangerous. Same with how the show handled the TIE fighters on Aldhani. I’m glad to see a Star Wars property treating Imperial forces for the dangerous things they should be (especially as, as of now, much of the protagonist cast are essentially civilians), rather than so much pew-pew cannon fodder or merchandising opportunities.
I also really, really like all the glimpses the show has been giving us at what regular day-to-day life is like in the galaxy. We get meals being made in homes, we get offices and apartments, we get public transit and workplaces. It makes it all seem so lived-in and real, and not just set pieces for action, even when we meet up with Andor in Space Pensacola (it’s a bit too… run down to be Boca Raton).
And man they are giving Genevieve O’Reilly some fabulous costumes, as well as doing a great job at making Mon Mothma such a compelling character.
George Lucas has always said that Star Wars was a fairy tale for children. That certainly tracked with the prequels, particularly Phantom Menace. The Abrams sequels were Star Wars for adults in arrested development.Andor is Star Wars for adults.I love this show.
I have to ask who really wants Star Wars for adults? I feel like there are plenty of other dark sci-fi fantasy franchises “for adults”. I have not watched Andor yet, I am sure its excellent. Just not sure I need a “mature” Star Wars
I know what you mean, and bottom-line it always comes down to the same thing: there’s no accounting for taste.
I didn’t enjoy the first three episodes of Andor. They were fine, they just didn’t grab me and I’m yet to really feel anything for the characters. I’ll watch more when I have time, but there are other shows that I’m more interested in (e.g. Interview with the Vampire) and I barely have time to watch them.
I’m glad people like shows like Andor, and they may be able to give lovely descriptions as to why I should watch it. But no one can ever tell you why you should enjoy it, because that’s entirely up to you.
I don’t know your definition of ‘dark’ sci-fi, but if you’re leaning in the ‘gritty’ Blade Runner direction, Andor is in fact not that, and why I feel it’s refreshing not just for Star Wars but the current cyberpunk-obsessed grimdark sci-fi landscape in general. Andor is an ‘adult’ ‘mature’ show insofar as it… treats its characters like real people, portrays its world and institutions as tangible and believable. People’s comparisons to stuff like the Wire or the Americans are spot on in that regard. I’m probably proselytizing too much, but one of Andor’s greatest tricks is that a few episodes in, it doesn’t really matter that it is Star Wars to begin with. Although I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who hasn’t seen the movies (they’d be lost without context), it’s not at all dependent on being a ‘fan’.
The overarching story of Star Wars – a sci-fi take on the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of a Nazi/British Imperial inspired Galactic Empire, which then goes to war against a motley Rebellion – is actually a pretty badass compelling sci-fi idea at its core, even if you removed most of the Star Wars iconography, space wizardry and Chewbaccas. This show is proving that.
>People’s comparisons to stuff like the Wire or the Americans are spot on in that regard.Stephen Schiff, this episode’s writer, also wrote on The Americans. Who better to write characters leading double lives and scenes full of paranoia and dialogue with layered meaning?
I always felt like Lucas went the other way with his overarching story: merely appropriating historical symbols (Nazi-sh uniforms, British accents, etc) to relate a story that’s much more about the human soul rebelling against mechanized, conformist oppression rather than any actual historical rebellion. Either way, Andor is crushing it.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. This show is phenomenal.
mature doesn’t necessarily mean dark.
That’s what makes it so great. It’s not anything you’d think you’d want, but after you see it it’s like, “I need more of this please!” Also, I wouldn’t call it “dark.” It’s still very much Star Wars. It’s more mature in that its less spectacle and more character driven.
It’s not “mature” Star Wars. It’s grown up Star Wars.
Oh oh. I sense some tension in the force, and my pants.
“I have to ask who really wants Star Wars for adults?”Adults
I feel like big “A” Adults would seek out naturally more adult entertainment rather than watching something clearly designed to tap into the child in all of us. People say Andor is good. I’ll get around to it eventually but it’s a busy TV landscape right now for genre nerds and it’s not top on my list
I think “mature” just means we’ll shot, written, directed, and acted in this case. But yes, it’s basically an espionage thriller with a Star Wars veneer.Thr problem with “Star Wars for everyone” has been how lazy shows like Boba Fett and Obi-Wan have been. Andor is just confidently doing its thing.
It’s not “mature” in the way it seems like you’re expecting. It’s just that Andor’s set pieces are intensely character-driven, instead of special effects surrounding paper-thin plots and fanservice. And it makes the Star Wars universe feel lived in rather than just looking that way.
Yeah my takeaway for why this series resonates so far is that it respects the emotional intelligence of its audience. Calling it “adult” or “dark” really deflects from the fact that so much media writing aimed at younger audiences is half-baked or lazy. That’s really what sets this apart. Star Wars writing has been so lazy for so long that we elevate Andor as some vanguard for the franchise.
Eh, just don’t look at it like that. Don’t think of it as dark or gritty or adult. I agree with many here that it feels less like it’s “for kids” than a lot of Star Wars stuff, but it also still feels like Star Wars. Bottom line—it’s a very good show, well made. Chuck the labels & just enjoy!
The, um… Empire, The Empire Strikes Back? You know, the movie pretty much universally regarded as the Star Wars high watermark? That’s not reeeeeeally for kids there.
You really need to ask?Look around.
As others have pointed out, it’s not really notably darker than what you’d expect from Star Wars, it’s just more thoughtful and much, much better made on pretty much every level of production. This is Star Wars with a consistent understanding and control of tone, that isn’t asking you to shut up, turn your brain off, and just enjoy the spectacle, and that doesn’t rely on a constant stream of nostalgia bait.
It’s mature in the sense that the quality of the material, matters more than the SPECTACLE. Any property can benefit from that approach. Rarer now thou in the without need of nuance storytellin’ SPECTACLES of The Rock’s Playbook. Generally speaking? All for it. But post J.J.-verse? Might be they gonna run out of fireworks at the tie fighter factory if that’s the only style of cinema they plan to practice in the S.W. Universe.
Seeing big I.P. toys sat with and examined, like Gilroy & Co. do with Andor, IS a different voyage than O.G. Saturday Morning Space Opera.
But is, no so bad a thing my friend.
I think about it like Superman adaptation’s. Get one where he lone wolf mercs Zod with edgelord shrieks of glee . (With me: “Snap that bitch like a chicken bone, say it loud: Zod got OWNED! ” Sang that for months…) Or a TV show like Superman and Lois see him as a family man. Marvel at the Superman characterization of a FUNCTIONAL family. MARVEL at that rare ass hero shit. A functional family! What! A hero story woven of the silent things that bind humanity closer. Different kinds of mature and spectacle. But still nice, nice shit.Like… Andor that kinda nice shit.
“I feel like there are plenty of other dark sci-fi fantasy franchises “for adults.”Hahaha. For adults? Like?And just making something “dark” doesn’t mean it’s complex or adult. Maybe moody teenagers buy into that shit. But it’s not adult because they throw a filter on the lens, dress in dark clothing and show some gore.
“Hahaha. For adults? Like?”Dune
I think people are overstating its maturity.
One of the guys at my game night got bizarrely hung up on how there’s a brothel scene in the first episode. He wasn’t objecting to it — he’s totally down the whole “this isn’t your father’s Star Wars” thing — but he was telling one of the other guys that he might not want to let his 15-year-old watch it.
I was like, come ON! That had to be the single most chaste scene set in a brothel in the history of cinema and television. The cantina in Book of Boba Fett was dirtier. It could have been set in a normal bar and you’d have barely known the difference.
It’s for adults in sense that it’s not totally lobotomized like the last three episodes.It’s also interesting that Rogue One was pretty much best Star Wars movie since the Empire Strikes Back. This series is closing on ESB in quality.
Just thought I’d add that I’ve seen the rest of Andor (episodes 4-7) and they’re actually pretty good, certainly better than the first couple. I feel they could have edited the first couple episodes into one.
But the storytelling from episode 3 onwards is good. I still wouldn’t say I love any of the characters, though Stellan Skarsgard is a highlight. This show so far is more about things happening to Andor and how he reacts. Some might call that character-centric, but I’d argue it’s pretty plot-centric. Certainly more toward the “adult” style of Rogue One.
First, I totally get what you’re saying. I was kind of burnt out on star wars in general, and I didn’t really have any desire to watch this. I just feel into this because I was looking for something light I could binge while on the stationary bike at the gym.Good news I was hooked right away. Bad news, this is not good gym fare. Way too will acted, will written, and nuanced to take in while huffing and puffing.Second, it’s not like it’s ever going to supplant the main star wars canon (or cannons). Star wars will always be pew pew lasers and light sabers. That’s all sticking aroundThis is just a really great side quest (maybe better than the main story) that gives some great depth to the star wars universe (and if you don’t watch it, it’s not like you won’t be able to follow along).
Don’t overthink it, it’s just good tv. If you run out of other good tv don’t not watch it because it happens to be star wars.
Yup everyone here seems very adult.
Arrested development? I have a house, a car, a wife, a job, and a stepdaughter. I pay taxes. I vote. I do boring adult shit all goddamn day long. I also love Star Wars more than probably anything else in the world (the wife and the stepdaughter come close). Spare me the ‘arrested development’ crap, and enough with the pigeonholing nonsense. We’re just people who enjoy movies and TV shows..
Lots of people with houses, cars, wives, jobs, stepchildren, paid taxes, and a voting record are still capable of acting like whining pre-adolescents about certain entertainment properties. All you have to do is look at the vitriol spewed at The Last Jedi when it came out to understand that. People who demand fanservice or have conniption fits if something deviates even a femtometer from their head canon have flooded into fandoms of all types thanks to the glories of the Internet, and to me the Abrams sequels seemed tailor made to appeal in that direction.But hey, man, if you disagree, that’s fine. I’m sure there are a ton of people out there who hate Andor because it doesn’t have enough lightsabers or Jedi or the right ratio of aliens to humans. I like it because I don’t feel like it is trying to push the right buttons; I like it because it’s telling a story that resonates, and puts it in a setting and context that appeals to me.
I just think the word ‘assholes’ works fine without having to revert to tired cliches. Star Wars assholes come from many a corner. Especially these days..
Wow. Much anticipation to see the same shit we saw in back in the ‘70s. So exciting
I’ve thought since the Aldahni storyline began that the restraint the show has had with not showing the iconic stomtrooper armor even once before now was a terrific decision that also just made sense. They’re soldiers, they’re not deployed for everything. It made their appearance now raise the tension in a way that could not have been possible if they had been seen before. It feels like a serious escalation and a way to show how the wider world has been affected in a way that is hard for everyday people to ignore.
It’s quite refreshing to see the Empire portrayed as a fearsome engine of competence, especially at their height (which would be the era of Andor). The typical SW hero will tend to run through Imperial forces like butter, but for the remaining 99.9% of the folks fighting them, they are not to be trifled with. You can see that in the way the characters in this show are constantly terrified of what might happen to them.
I’m happy we got to see Admiral-now-Colonel Yularen in the flesh! 🙂
Ohh…nice catch. I love it when they through these nuances into the shows.
I was thinking we’d either see him or Kallus – though it makes more sense to see him since Kallus would be hard to portray in live action without him looking like a dweeb and without the sexy David Oyelowo voice
To be fair, I think Kallus was a pretty low-level field agent at this point.
Kallus is just a field agent, he’s not that high-ranking in the grand scheme of things.
Just realised that Blevin is Ben Bailey-Smith (AKA Doc Brown) which means that we finally have a link between the Star Wars and Taskmaster Cinematic Universes!
I usually fast forward through the credits just in case there’s a bonus scene, but I let it play out today because the credits music was just so good. I never thought Star Wars needed techno music, but it really worked.“I’ll be worried about you all the time.” “That’s just love.” FUCK.Agreed. Gilroy & Co are killing it in the dialogue department.
My personal favorite line, from the ISB Meeting:
“Supervisor Meero, do you mind having your integrity ventilated in public?”The writing on this show often hits not just ‘great for Star Wars’, but great writing period.
YES. Literally the minute that line dropped I had to pause the episode to go check who wrote the ep. First and only ep credited to Stephen Schiff, who was initially the showrunner. Does anyone know why he stepped down?
That line was tailor-made for the perfectly-cast Anton Lesser. The only better line reading I can think of from the Disney+ SW shows is Werner Herzog’s “Can I offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?”
The only time Jon Favreau even attempted to write interesting dialogue was when he was writing for Herzog. The rest of the time, the dialogue in Mando is so damn flat it’s as if he filmed his rough outlines.
That was a weird word choice. Sure, it means “shot full of holes,” but it’s a lowbrow idiom in comparison to the rest of his speech pattern.
Maybe he went intentionally low-brow to match the pettiness of what was happening
I loved the music in this episode, especially that techno song over the end credits. Had almost a Blade Runnery/Vangelis wavering effect and feel, and suited perfectly.Loved the episode.
I think with the overhead helicopter shot of the cranes and the Jan Hammer music, what they were going for wasn’t Boca Raton but Miami Vice.
Is it me or this episode took inspiration from Terry Gilliam’s Brazil? The brutalist architecture of the Empire workplace and Andor just get arrested because he looks suspicious remind me of that.
Seems like the same take as the Time Variance Authority from Loki, a vast, dull, bureaucracy. Must be something in the zeitgeist.
agreed on the title card and Britell’s score, ‘something is rising’…
This some Star Wars shit? I saw it on the feed and thought it was some Mexican shit. Either way …. crap/mierda.
Can’t wait to binge the entire series and cap it off with Rogue One. Including RO, the Andor storyline has been the best written Star Wars series in its existence. It’s SW for people that need actual plot….
Anyone know who voiced the stormtrooper on the beach? the one who says “Tourists don’t run” ? It’s driving me crazy trying to figure this out…
I heard it might be Sam Witwer? The voice of Darth Maul?
I could’ve sworn it was the voice of Willem Dafoe, but I guess Sam Witwer (as kirk corndog mentions) makes more sense for a Star Wars show, unless it’s one of those “I’ve always wanted to play a storm trooper – Daniel Craig”-situations…
Andor is easily on track for being the best star wars ever. Also easily the least interesting to kids and fans of star wars. This is an adult show with adult pacing, themes and relationships. Just brilliant.
I can’t add to any of the positives addressed here save for one. I thought the beach resort was spectacularly well realized. You note the buildings are built atop large retaining walls sloping to the beach, as if to mitigate a violent storm season? But just the design of a corporately planned beach community, everything somewhat new, built from scratch, scattered planted palms still lanky and skinny, group areas on a kind of sterile boardwalk with benches, “snowbirds” populating the area. A group of designers took every detail to heart.Second on the costuming of Mon Mothma added immeasurably by O’Reilly’s poise and grace, yikes she has a commanding presence.
“the buildings are built atop large retaining walls sloping to the beach, as if to mitigate a violent storm season” – in fairness, a lot of that isn’t the production designers’ doing, more that they’re filming in British coastal towns which do legitimately have pretty violent storms from time to time.
I need a “The Office” style sitcom built around the Bureau of Standards
I don’t know if this has been mentioned already, and I’m not the only one to think this, but part of why this show is so good is that it’s basically just Homeland. Homeland of course had a lot of issues but was still very entertaining and well executed TV. I’m somehow cheering for an Imperial Dedra Meero because she’s basically Carrie from Homeland. Syril also has some Carrie characteristics. Of course it’s not a one to one character map and some of these characters are just classic archetypes.
That ending is so good. Just a great portrait of how some authoritarian dictate filters down to petty bureaucratic tyranny and indifference at the local level, with Cassian just having some bad luck in timing and getting slapped with an over-the-top criminal sentence. Someone on one of the other posts on this episode had a great line about one of the genius things about Andor is the way that it shows the Empire as a bad system, but not a “bad but cool” system. Arbitrary tyranny, authoritarian rules and regimentation, the grinding injustice of it – that’s what Empire is for the folks of the Star Wars galaxy.
I like the ISB stuff the best. It seems like the most unique thing in the series since I don’t recall seeing it in any of the movies or the series’ I’ve watched. Bureaucrats and military officers of tyrannical regimes IRL have a lot of in-fighting; Nazis and Commies had their own version of cancel culture. And there’s something nostalgic about the ISB, a throwback to the original trilogy, and I think it’s rooted in British accents. A lot of the Rebels, if they’re called that at this point, have also had British accents, but it feels right for the bad guys to have British accents.
I’ve also noticed there aren’t a lot of non-human characters, on either side. Maybe Andor’s costume budget is lean.
This show is legitimately really good. So good that my wife, who ignores all Star Wars, was sitting on the couch next to me working on her laptop and I noticed that she stopped typing at many points and was taken in by the story.
Major Partagaz really seems to be channeling John Houseman circa the Paper Chase, perhaps mixed with a little o John Doman’s Major Rawls from the Wire
I wish it WAS John Houseman. I miss that man..
As we know from Rogue One Cassian later aligns himself with a witty KX droid who’s defected to the rebellion. Safe to say his first experience isn’t a positive one.Not quite. Cassian later somehow captures and reprogrammes a KX droid to work for the Rebellion (or at least for Cassian), rather than he meets a sympathetic droid.I briefly thought that might be what would eventually happen on the beach, but there were too many human Imperials around, Cassian hasn’t been shown to have these skills yet, and he was too busy being lynched by a stupid droid and its stupid supervisor.
I was thinking that maybe he meets K2SO in prison, but I think it’s been said by the producers that the two don’t meet up until the second season. That would be kinda cool, though. Similar to how young Han met Chewie in ‘Solo’..
I like how they are demonstrating how high the stakes are in regards to the formation of an actual organized rebellion. A lot of previous SW work on the Alliance paints it as a somewhat scraggly band of generally happy warriors on a series of big adventures fighting against stormtroopers that can’t shoot and robotic tie fighters. There are certainly high stakes, but it’s not nuanced like Andor is delivering it. I mean, the founders of the rebel alliance are literally staring over the abyss of their decisions and are well aware of not only the potential loss, but also how fucking powerful and competent the Empire actually is. This show is fucking great and the way they are portraying this era of the SW universe is 100% on point.
I’ve fallen in love with this show over the course of the past few weeks. They seem to have struck paydirt with the format (new central tale per three episodes, but each arc is not wrapped up neatly but allowed to spill over into the next arc) and the cast is genuinely superb. It’s Star Wars, Chewie, but not as we know it and it’s all the better and more glorious for it. The glimpses we get of ordinary life in the various worlds of the Empire are meaty enough to make you want more (come on – who doesn’t want to find out the brand name of the grotesque cereal that whiny underling Syril is chowing down whilst he’s getting reamed by his horrific mother (I’m taking bets as to when Syril inevitably lashes out at her)) and what we see of Coruscant isn’t the glimmering skyscrapers of the prequels or the inevitable gritty underside – we’re getting to play in the shadowy edge of the upper levels and the lower levels.What I loved about this episode was that they were able to take the major plot points: Andor getting into shit, Mon navigating herself through increasingly hostile waters, Meero pulling the rug out from under her fuckwit colleague’s feet, Luthen and Klaya’s very realistic Rebel Alliance hi-jinks (I always got the feeling that the R.A in the original films and in a lot of EU material was treated like the French Resistance but I think and I hope they lean more into the Italian Resistance. They were sometimes terrifying and it would help lend the show a whole new level of “it’s not all black and white being against the Empire”), not to mention dickhead Syril and Maarva – they took all of those threads and didn’t knit them together, no – they tightened the threads and wove in little strands of details that could hopefully start ramping up the tension as far as the story goes.My prediction for the show going forward? I hope they don’t go down the route of presenting the R.A as “noble warriors” but as a fully-fledged and murderous-if-necessary resistance movement. More…Maquis/Italian Resistance/Iraqi and Afghan insurgency than “golly gosh, we need to blow that bridge but theres civilians on it!” Occupying forces throughout history have often come up against hostile natives and armies. And I hope we start to see the R.A start killing people soon. One wee point my Grandmother made about last week’s episode (hey, she’s nearly a century old but she enjoys a good show when she sees one) – do you honestly think that Beehaz’s family got away alive? Do you? That leads me to a question I saw on here last week: Mon’s husband and child. If Perrin Fertha and Leida do get bumped off – and I honestly think that will happen – I hope it’s not by some Empire goon. Who would be best doing that? Step forward our snazzily-dressed antique dealer’s assistant: Klaya Marki. If they don’t use her in that capacity then, gosh, they’ve missed an opportunity.But, yeah, they’ve done well in plucking and pulling the strings so far. I honestly hope they keep it up. And I bloody well hope that we get to see Cinta again and that her and Vel either get to live happily ever after hunting down terrified stormtroopers or go out in a hail of blaster-fire (the former, not the latter, please!)
Unless I missed it in the comments… How has it escaped mention that we now have confirmation that “Shave and a haircut” exists in the Star Wars universe!
I like how they have all the boxy, analogue looking equipment from the Original (1970s) Trilogy. I think with the passage of time in our real works, it makes the futuristic but old and clunky Star Wars aesthetic all the more pronounced
I’m really liking how they are blending the Star Wars setting along with this cloak-and-dagger rebellion. I’m not sure where you are seeing “gender politics” in the ISB? Maybe it’s because I’m a guy and just don’t see it myself, but I haven’t seen anyone talking down to her or treating her differently because she’s a woman. It’s been more that she’s the new person that’s coming in with ambition to supplant their own spheres of influence. Whether or not that’s the case, I believe that is what the character’s perception is supposed to be.
And we keep following Syril. I’m really wondering where they are going to go with him. I wonder if he’s going to end up somehow getting into the rebellion network as a double-agent of some sort?Minor correction on K-2SO, by the way. He didn’t defect to the rebellion. He was captured and reprogrammed.
I’m reading recaps a month late because I wanted to watch the whole series at once, but I thought your comment raised gender politics in good faith, so hope it’s not weird to respond so late!Very minor example of gender politics that jumped out at me this episode: Meero is the only one who’s referred to by her first name, both to her directly and by Partagaz, in front of the rest of the ISB. He calls her “Dedra,” as opposed to, for example, “Blevin.” In a professional (and essentially military) context, that strikes me as pretty straightforwardly different treatment of the only woman at a table of 30 people.
I think Syril is the nephew of PALPATINE!! Twist!
Wow, the first time in months I actually agree with a TV review on this site…I’m amazed by the level of acting in Andor. EVERYONE is excellent – not ‘excellent for Star Wars’, excellent by any standards. And the galaxy-building is extremely impressive. A tourist-trap seaside planet? Who knew??What this series does exceptionally well is to show real-politik in a sci-fi universe. The way the dictatorship tightens the screws. The way the rebellion counts on provoking atrocities in order to get the populace to rise up. There are overarching concepts of Good and Evil here, but down on the ground the line between them isn’t just muddled, it is completely breached at times.I see some people still consider Cassian Andor the weakest link of the series. I disagree: Diego De Luna is killing it, and his character cannot be easily forced into a space opera archetype. I mean, he is a two-fold cold-blooded murderer as well as a loving stepson, a small-time grifter, a victim of PTSD, an angry young man striking out at a universe that robbed him of his childhood… No SW character has ever had this type of complexity (and I guess now everyone is kicking themselves they let him die at the end of Rogue One).
The way I see it, the series has two strikes against it:1) Lukewarm reviews about the first 4 episodes. I think 1 & 2 should have been combined into one episode: very, very little happens in them (it’s all exposition, and not even very dramatic exposition at that). Episode 3 is really great with some of the best action sequences in Star Wars ever (not the most spectacular/large scale, but the best designed). Episode 4 once again slows down to a crawl – but by this time, the series is working its magic and the slow pace and deep dive into the galaxy becomes enthralling. Still, the disappointment of those early episodes (and the tone of the reviews) make it hard to buy in. ‘The first two are really dull but things get a lot better after that!’ is not a good marketing technique (though, with Rings of Power and House of the Dragon, it seems that ‘it’s boring all the way through with some really impressive stand-out scenes and sequences sprinkled on top’ is the new go-to for very high end fantasy/sci fi drama).2) The eternal risk of grounding a fairy-tale universe in real life-ish situations destroys the fantasy and prohibits the ‘adult’ take to go full tilt. GoT didn’t apply sex, sadism, nasty politics and heroes dying pointlessly by treachery to Middle-Earth – it built its own world where the fantasy tropes could be ‘corrupted’ by a heavy dose of real world cynicism and no preconceived notions of kid-friendly evil. (It’s something I feel RoP is struggling with: they would like to go a lot further than they do in the politicking on Numenor etc. but they can’t because it’s Tolkien and sex doesn’t exist in that world). Now we know how the Star Wars empire really works – a soulless bureaucracy inhabited by small-minded, petty people who are constantly jockeying to get ahead at the cost of their colleagues’ success – and that’s not an environment where rescuing princesses by swinging across bottomless chasms on a planet-sized space station equipped for universal destruction is a natural fit. It may be that the realism of Andor taints the mythological/so much larger than life underpinnings of the Star Wars Expanded Universe as a whole. But apart from these concerns, an amazingly well done series that strikes it out of the ball park on all levels. Two seasons may not be enough.
“I think 1 & 2 should have been combined into one episode: very, very little happens in them (it’s all exposition, and not even very dramatic exposition at that). Episode 3 is really great with some of the best action sequences in Star Wars ever”That’s why episodes 1-3 were released on the same day – they were meant to be watched all together.
Tay and Mon are two hot people speaking closely and touching each other; naw, no flirting at all. BTW, how did they make Mon Mothma Hot? Dang, something about her at the party was thirsty.
The way she carries herself and moves. She reminds me of Kristin Scott Thomas and Gillian Anderson.
>Luthen is making moves towards that column, too. He alludes to Cassian as a “loose end” No, his *assistant* (in impressive Bond Villain attire) said that to totally-Luthen’s-daughter Vel. She’s playing her own game. And the bisected circle mark on the sidewalk that she used to find Vel looked an awful lot like the emblem of the Crimson Dawn syndicate seen in “Solo”. Having the nascent Rebellion be in bed with the mob would make sense – they would have arms, money, and a covert communications network.
This is a hot take and I am agreeing to be excoriated by the commentariat here. The fact that something as good as Andor is all building up to a battle between factions of space wizards kinda depresses me.I think SW would have been better off without the Force.
Syril’s mother is the worst and I am here for it! Perfect blend of writing, direction, and performance.
Palpatine in full Sith mode would still be no match for her withering dissppointment.
The flashback of Clem’s death was heartbreaking, but having seen Monty Python’s Life of Brian I couldn’t help but laugh. I kept thinking of when the criminals were carrying the crucifixes on the street, and one person goes to help one of them, and that criminal takes off, and then the guards tell the helpful guy to keep moving, and he tries to explain “This isn’t my cross, I was just trying to help him” and he ends up getting crucified.It’s played for laughs, but I was reminded of this when Clem – who isn’t throwing rocks at the Stormtroopers – runs into the street to try to stop the townspeople from throwing rocks, so when they turn around they see Clem standing out front and assume it was him.