Andor – Episode 4 Review: The Show Needs to Start Making Moves by Next Week

Things to like, things to not like. Andor is a mixed bag that deserves a chance, but the show needs to move the story forward and quickly.

I felt a little guilty after my review for the first three episodes of Andor went up last week. In some ways, I felt I had unfairly maligned the show. I did my best to try and couch my review in language that would praise its technical achievements, but I also made plain that I felt the show was a bit of a slog. I’m not someone who needs constant action scenes and humor to enjoy a show – but I had serious questions about whether the vision of this galaxy that Andor was presenting could be meshed with the Star Wars galaxy that already exists. From the comments, I could tell that my review came across as negative, and that wasn’t really my intention.

The fourth episode did what I was hoping it would do, and potentially a lot more. I think there are still some pretty large issues for the show, but there’s also a lot to praise, and if the show delivers next week the way I hope it will, it may even point to a way forward for Star Wars.

Mild spoilers below:

So – what was good?

As expected (and hoped), this episode finally brought in The Empire. We see the aftermath of Syril Karns ill-advised obession with bringing Cassian Andor to justice. The disaster on Ferrix has come to the attention of the Imperial Security Bureau. While they seem content to dismiss it as a relatively minor dust-up in an unremarkable settlement, one up-and-coming officer believes that the seed of rebellion is taking root – and she also has a direct interest in the recovery of the Starpath unit that Cassian was trying to sell to Luthen. This show has NAILED the Imperial Bureaucracy – its willingness to casually and callously wield its power, melded with its arrogance and smug self-superiority. The corruption throughout the regime is felt, and this is beautiful to behold. The show must also be praised for finally bringing us back to Coruscant – the true seat of government in the galaxy. It has been missed, and I hope we get the Imperial Senate scenes that have been teased in trailers next week.

Luthen was a revelation in this episode – his will, his intelligence, and his acting ability (you’ll see what I mean when he “gets in character”) make me want to know much, much more about him. A conversation between Mon Mothma and her husband also set up a future massacre a few years from “now” in the shows timeline, which is the event that precipiates Mon Mothmas public announcement of her support of the Rebel Alliance and going into hiding. What else is good? How about fan service of a different type? Trivia lovers and lore-hounds will have a field day exploring Luthens Boutique when we get a look into his day job. Casual lore-drops (such as an armed uprising against the Rakatan Invaders) were enough to send a jolt up my spine. This is refreshing in a series which has gotten a little too comfortable dangling member-berries and trotting out Legacy Characters for cheap applause. The writers did the research, offered fan service that wasn’t blatant, and respected the audience in doing so.

Finally, we’re getting the spy stuff that was promised with the series. This has the potential to be the most fascinating aspect of the show, and I hope they continue to lean into it.

So what’s not so good?

I believe the show continues to have issues with pacing. While I did enjoy episode 4, the episode ended at exactly the moment I didn’t want it to. Sometimes this can be a good thing in a series, especially if the showrunners are setting up effective cliffhangers. Unfortunately, each of the episodes of Andor have ended at what feel like unnatural breaks to me – the episodes simply end. We’re now 4 episodes in, and I believe it’s time to give us a major payoff. More than likely this will occur next week… and it will be about time. My hope is that it continues to build in stakes and momentum throughout the entire run.

Finally – Andor himself.

This feels uncharitable, because I think Diego Luna is an awesome actor. I also worried before the series released that the series would focus too much on Mon Mothma and the other characters and not on the series namesake. So far, Andor has been the least interesting aspect of the show to me. I’m hoping next week will change that – if the heist planned in this episode goes sideways, and he has to lean on his own street-smarts and ingenuity to pull things off, it could be the moment where the audience can really begin to care about the character. At this point, we’ve been given character hints but not much meat. The show is asking for a lot of forbearance from the audience – what it wants most of all is patience. I’m willing to grant it for what has been delivered so far, but it needs to reward that patience soon.

Conclusion:
Last week I was certain that the show was good sci-fi, but was left asking the question – is this Star Wars? This week I feel I can confidently answer that yes, it is – I still have a hard time picturing Darth Vader in this universe, but I can ABSOLUTELY picture The Emperor. I still dont’ know if it will be great – but the most exciting aspect of it (to me) is what could come out of it if this new mature tone actually works. For instance – I do think that Lucasfilm should make a Rogue Squadron series. I think long-form storytelling would be ideal to adapt something like the Mike Stackpole and Aaron Allston novels. I would also welcome a grounded Republic Commando series, showing some of the worst battles of the Clone Wars as a band of brothers makes their way across the theater of war. (Yes, I know the Bad Batch exists – but I want to see the Star Wars equivalent of Vietnam that was promised in the Republic Commando concept art.) This may be too much to ask for, but Andor is earning the right to be taken seriously, and showing the audience what could be possible.

Here’s hoping it continues to live up the promise.

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