Andor needed to make some moves in its narrative for its fifth episode. Did it go for it or are we still stuck in the mud of “adult” Star Wars pacing?
Writing about Andor has so far been a fascinating, frustrating experience. Each week I’m frustrated by episodes end by the pacing and some of the editing choices, but when I go back and chew on what I’ve learned each episode, I’m fascinated and want to see more.
The episodes continue to be gorgeous – they are well-written and well-acted. The characters have depth, and the show respects its audience. The greatest strength of the show is in its world-building. More than probably any other piece of Star Wars media, this is a complex, functioning galaxy. I don’t think Coruscant has ever felt as much like a real place, with a real functioning government. While I have enjoyed the world-building, I also said last week that the show had to begin making moves by this week. The heist or some other action scene needed to happen. Spoiler: It didn’t.
I think part of the danger of continuing to draw this out is that the show runs the risk of being almost pretentious. In some sense, it is so wrapped up in telling an “adult” Star Wars story that it almost feels like it’s being awfully judgmental towards it’s own source material. The show runners are so fiercely proud of distancing themselves from the silliness of Star Wars that they can almost come off as haughty. And yet… after I chewed on the episode some more, I had to admit that I’m still more fascinated by what they’re giving us, than not.
Andor drops lots of little bread-crumbs, but it doesn’t spell anything out for you. It expects you to pay attention. It respects the audience, and doesn’t mug for the camera. It’s refreshing to be shown, not told. I have a lot of assumptions of what will happen going forward, and I have no idea if I’m right. That’s also refreshing. Tony Gilroy, the showrunner, has made no secret that there are going to be lots of deaths in this series. Like Rogue One, there are real stakes for the characters involved. These will pay off when many of these characters we’ve come to know don’t make it out alive. Because the show is doing such a meticulous job of laying out its framework and building out its worlds and characters, it makes it tricky to do a traditional review – I genuinely don’t want to give out spoilers for this show. So, instead I’m going to put down some thoughts, about influences, easter eggs, sprinkled with a bit of my own speculation (which could be wildly inaccurate) – because some of the speculation will be based on things seen in this epsiode, there WILL be spoilers below, but I’m going to try and make them as vague as possible so as to hopefully not ruin anything.
Read at your own risk, but let me know what you think – what theories do you have for Andor going forward?
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK: Kyle Soller as Syril Karn has been one of the most consistently interesting characters in this show so far. What he does with his limited screen-time is astounding. In a weird way, he reminds me a bit of the old EU’s Kirtan Loor. Like Loor, I suspect he’s going to grow into a much different character than he started. His time in this episode explains a great deal about who he has been and who he is likely to be – thanks to another excellent performer who may have become one of Star Wars most unexpected villains. I’m sure there will be many who can relate to Syril’s experience. This episode makes clear that the Empire is still in a period of rapid expansion – the past few episodes have shown the Empire pushing out to former Corporate Sector controlled areas of space and assuming control.
There is now evidence of building out new airfields and bases – staging grounds as the Empire moves towards the Outer Rim. Speaking of which, an important Imperial gathering is taking place – high-ranking officials will attend the arrival of an engineer from Coruscant. Wondering if he has trouble with choking on his aspirations? Further explorations of the members of the rebel cell reveal tensions – especially between Skeen and Cassian. A mention of “cages” brings to light a subtle bit of real-world politics, but it’s handled well. It’s likely that there’s a bit of a convict/warden relationship here – not to each other, but in shared experiences. We’ll learn more in future flashbacks, I’m sure. The true believer in the cell is likeable, and wise. I expect him to be one of the first to die. I further predict Cinta isn’t going to make it out, and that her lover will blame Cassian.
Speaking of the “job” – the nature of these things is that it can’t go right. I suspect the cargo being picked up isn’t the cargo the cell expects – a short shot in the episode may confirm this, but I couldn’t tell for certain. I suspect Cassians down payment isn’t what it appears to be, and isn’t exactly what most are speculating either – I suspect it’s a “key” that unlocks an ability for a certain transport.
Finally – Luthen contines to be the character I’m most interested in, and what I wouldn’t give to spend an hour in his storeroom. But Holy Crap those holocrons are huge – like, cartoonishly large. This is a man who can get his hands on ANYTHING, though. Mola Ram would probably like to have a word with him.
So what did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments below. As always, keep reading That Park Place for all the latest news that should be fun!
– Those are probably replica holocrons in Luthen’s storeroom; maybe ancient replicas like you see in the real world, but replicas nonetheless. The Sith one in particular is not just the wrong size, but the wrong color, and even if they were emptied of their secrets I doubt they could be kept next to each other on a shelf without causing some kind of localized Force-related disaster.
– Hoping against hope that Cinta’s lover isn’t going to be Vel. Doing as well as it is and having dodged The Message as well as it has so far, the very last thing this show needs right now is the first LGBT subplot in Star Wars. All those people (like me) walking the fine line between “it’s refreshingly adult” and “it’s pretentious” will likely fall firmly to one side at that point, regardless of what comes after.
– That said, if they do indeed dodge The Message, I wouldn’t be surprised if Skeen is the one Cinta “shares a blanket” with. Then here death — blamed on Cassian, if you’re correct — would wreck what was becoming a relationship of burgeoning respect, and lead to a showdown between Andor and Skeen. If this show is being told in three episode arcs, which makes sense with what we’ve seen so far and the fact that it’s a total of 12 episodes, the final story of this arc will end with everyone dead except Andor, who’s completed the mission. It would be enough for him to sign on to a regretful Luthen’s movement, but with much baggage in tow.
– The reason Coruscant feels functional and real is, for me, because of Mon Mothma’s scenes. The ISB is just a bunch of imperials in a room, but her scenes have that very Star Wars-ey mix of fantasy space visuals and real-world relatable issues.
– I didn’t take the cages to be a reference to the immigration “family cages” in the news the last few years. It seemed to me more like a reference to a concentration camp or juvenile hall experience, perhaps because Skeen and Andor seem to be about the same age.
Apologies for the late reply!
– They could be replicas, but for someone operating such a high-end boutique, I have a hard time believing he’d trade in knock-offs. My guess is they’re genuine, but broken.
– I was wrong about the love interest, and it did include “the message”, but it was handled so subtly that it didn’t really bother me. (I had thought that Taramyn was going to be Cintas lover – so I was surprised when Skeen mentioned how much Cinta hated him because he’d been a stormtrooper.)
– My prediction was that Nemik was going to die (because of course he was), but I assumed that Cinta was going to be another casualty. I was glad to see that they were less predictable, and threw in some twists that genuinely surprised me.
– I’m enjoying the Mon Mothma scenes, but glad they’re not going overboard with them. I’m LOVING the ISB stuff, because I feel their efforts have much to do with how the empire solidified control before their military apparatus was fully in place. (Shades of real world issues there, too…isn’t it funny how those that control the apparatus consider themselves the oppressed, somehow?)
-The reason I take it as a warden/convict type of relationship is because of the scene where Skeen discovers Andors Kyber crystal. During the fight, there are lines between them that I think will be crucial in future flashbacks:
Andor: “You know exactly who I am! And you know I’ll kill you for it!”
My theory is that at some point in the past, Skeen was a refugee fleeing imperial occupation, and ended up rounded up and put in a cage/labor camp. He joined a series of prison gangs, which are where the tattoos came from.
And how did Cassian recognize them? Not because he was a prisoner…but because he was a warden.
I think it’s possible that Andor was an Imperial in the past. If so, his backstory would line up even more with Kyle Katarns – it would also explain why he was able to make suggestions while “learning” how to march – where the men should be placed so their weapons were in proper ready positions.
It’s the kind of series that’s hard to judge before it’s complete. Personally, I like a slow burn type show so I can wait for it to come together. On the whole I think it’s decent enough. As usual Disney’s worst enemy is it’s marketing department and overly opinionated actors – it’s not really all that woke so far and actually gives you some interesting characters that are more than cardboard cutouts. I’ve said before that Andor’s biggest crime is coming at a time where all the goodwill has been drained out of the franchise by the KK faction.
I’m afraid you may be right. I felt that Obi-Wan was their very last chance to try and turn things around. I’ve been on the knifes edge about Andor, but I loved episode 6. I hope it continues to build momentum now, but fear that people have already tuned out because they’re upset about TBOBF and Obi-Wan, AND because this series took too long to get going.
I imagine Lucasfilm would be in a much different place if this show started airing immediately after the first season of The Mandalorian.
Lots of deaths is a good thing? It’s overused since the good characters, usually villains, are meant to be killed to promote the less intriguing characters like when Kylo killed Snoke or Reva killed the Grand Inquisitor. We’re left with the boring conclusion that Star Wars isn’t up to snuff. Pun intended.
Not sure I’m taking your meaning here.
I didn’t say lots of deaths were a good or a bad thing. They’re just a thing.
However, you DO want your show to have stakes. Your characters need to grow and change – to have an arc. The arc is only meaningful if struggle is involved.
Also, you don’t want your characters to be wrapped in plot armor. While I love seeing the legacy characters, one downside to them (and indeed, one downside in Andor) is that we know that Andor can’t die.
But new characters? They can be complex…rich…surprising. We may not know their motivations. We also don’t know if they will live or die – or even if they’re on the side they claim to be on.
NOT knowing those things create narrative tension, and invite the audience to speculate – and isn’t that half the fun of being a fan?