And or.
I had high hopes for Andor but nothing prepared me for how good it would be. It makes me sad that the same episode title as the seventh episode of The Rings of Power makes me sad.
Before you read this, please be aware of the following:
This is the quality we could have been getting for the Disney era Star Wars entries. Had the right people been hired from the start, we wouldn't have had so many problems. This is what Star Wars should look like. We're getting the best live-action entries since the original trilogy.
For one thing, Andor really taps into the feel of the OG films, which were crafted with World War II in mind. Nazi Germany is in space. The rebels are the last bastion of freedom and liberty in the universe and they are fighting against a powerful machine of destruction.
Isb officers.
The Imperial officers discussing their plans in the original films made you feel this way. The lieutenants were talking about the Death Star. In the movie, with Krennic and his lackeys. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's films feel a lot like Star Wars, with adventures, heists and Harrison Ford taking on Nazis and Stormtroopers.
This version of Star Wars is what Andor feels like. The man who wrote the script for Rogue One is also the person who runs Andor. He wanted the movie to be more of a war movie and less of a space opera.
He told The Hollywood Reporter that he didn't think the film was a Star Wars movie. I think it's a Battle of Britain movie. The sixth episode of Andor is very similar to classic war films such as The Dirty Dozen.
Lieutenant Gorn.
Andor has a distinct narrative structure. Each of the three-episode arcs has a mini- finale. The co-writers and directors of the arcs are each their own person.
The first three episodes of Disney's first season were written and directed by Toby Haynes. The third episode was an action-packed one in which Luthen had to flee with Diego Luna and Diego Luna had to relive his childhood as a child.
Dan Gilroy wrote and directed the second three-episode arcs. A team of rebels plan a daring robbery of an Imperial garrison and steal an entire Imperial sector payroll in order to get Andor's attention. Timing is the trick. To get the slow cargo ship away in time, they have to carry out the robbery at the very moment of the eye event.
The local population of the planet view this event from a holy place just below the Imperial base. One of the most awe-inspiring moments in all of Star Wars is The Eye.
A group of rebels is anything but welcoming, as evidenced by Andor's name. He was brought in at the eleventh hour without anyone knowing, and the rest of the team has their doubts.
The leader of the group is Vel Sartha, who is best known for her role as the tormenter in Game of thrones.
Both Vel and Cinta are animals.
This ragtag band is working with an Imperial officer who was demoted for falling in love with a local woman and who has never forgiven his countrymen for their treatment of the locals.
The Eye lasts for a short period of time on a single day. A colorful display that looks like a rainbow meteor shower crossed with the Northern Lights can be seen in the sky. If everything goes off without a hitch, the pursuit by TIE- Fighters will be impossible.
While the locals watch The Eye from below, the team has uniforms and can get to the base. A skeleton crew will guard the payroll while many of the soldiers watch.
There are some of the best heists and action scenes in Star Wars. Andor, Nemik, Skeen, and Barcona dress in Imperial uniforms and follow a group of locals up the road to the holy site where Gorn meets them and orders them to escort him back up to the base. Vel and Cinta are on opposite sides of the water.
After taking hostages and bringing down comms, the rebels go to the vault. They surprise the soldiers there and have them load the cargo ship with Imperial credits. The wife and son of the Commandant are hostages and the rebels are threatening to kill them.
Skeen is a word.
When the comms officer knows the comms are down, he gathers a group of soldiers to look into it. Two people are shot and killed in a gunfight. This scene is far more dangerous and edge-of-your-seat than any similar scene in Obi-Wan Kenobi because of how dangerous it all feels. The rebels are in a constant state of disrepair. There are two deaths in the fight.
After they take off, another gunfight ensues. A pallet of credits rushes toward the back, smashing into Nemik and pinning him against the wall, as Andor, who insisted on piloting the cargo ship after he realized nobody else actually knows how, accelerated hard out of the base. After they pry him loose, Vel spikes him with a stim shot because he's crucial to their escape.
The rebels blast out of the base and into a sky filled with colors and light. There is an action-packed, jaw-dropping scene that is as tense as it is beautiful. The Aldhani people watch the sky as they sing and dance in joy. She marches out into the night in hopes of escaping but still stranded on an alien planet.
Skeen and Vel don't agree on what to do next Skeen wants to go to a secret doctor. Vel doesn't want to compromise She doesn't believe that Nemik will survive with a doctor. Skeen and either side. The doctor is working quickly with Vel.
Skeen and Andor sit outside and talk. He is willing to split the take. Skeen thought he was just a mercenary in it for himself. The traitor was shot dead by Andor. He drew his gun as he entered the operating room. The man has passed away.
The eye is looking at something.
Andor told Vel he wanted what he was owed. He offered to buy the doctor's ship so he could leave, after he gave Luthen the Kyber necklace. The rebellion can be credited to Vel. She tells him that Nemik specifically asked for him to have his book, and that she gave him it.
The Empire's grasp on the galaxy was frail despite its show of force, as was held forth by Nemik earlier. He told his friends that they would have to shake the galaxy hard to loosen his grip.
The writing is great in this show. It's really great. Even though we meet a lot of these characters quickly, we get to know them well through their interactions with one another and the dialogue is fantastic.
The idealist wants to make sense of the universe. When he learns that Andor is in it for the money, he wants to get rid of the need for mercenaries against his beliefs.
Skeen was the most distrustful of them all when it came to Andor. He could sense a spirit in another man who might try to steal from him.
Over only three episodes, we get a sense of each character, and we care about their fate.
They are Luthen and Mon.
The cinematography is the best it has been. I am talking about TV Star Wars as well. The quality on display is amazing.
Luthen is the owner of a rare artifact shop in Coruscant where he meets with Senator Mon Mothma to coordinate their efforts. Luthen is ready to sell his high-end goods to wealthy customers and he wears a wig and smiles. Mon Mothma and he talk in hushed tones in the back room while Kleya watches the driver.
Mon Mothma buys a gift for her husband and leaves. The upper levels of the city are pretty. She has an Art Deco look to her house. We feel like we are watching a WWII movie set in space. The Imperial uniforms, the Art Deco interiors, the glamorousness of Coruscant's wealthiest district, the Imperial officers were mean to the natives.
They call it Mon Mothma.
There is a glimpse into Mon Mothma's domestic struggles. Her husband is a playboy without a care in the world and confused by his wife's passion. Her daughter, who has given up on getting much-wanted attention from her mother, is now downright disrespectful of her. This little window into the rebel leader's life is nice.
At the Imperial Security Bureau, we meet supervisor Dedra Meero, who has been keeping track of various, seemingly unrelated activities that she believes are connected to a larger rebel plot. The story picks up where he left off, though we haven't done with him yet.
When he comes back to his mother Eedy, she talks about getting help from his uncle Harlo, who is a mystery. Many modern TV and film writers don't like to have holes in their stories. I enjoy being rigorous. It would be great if The Rings of Power's showrunners had the same values.
The Empire is given their first taste of vulnerability by the ISB when they ignore Meero's interest in Andor and her belief that a bigger rebel plot is in play.
Andor said that they don't mean anything to the Empire. Andor told the young revolutionary to be careful what he wished for. If only posthumously, it appears that Nemik has fulfilled his wish.
Dedra Meero is a person.
Andor is everything I wanted it to be in the first six episodes. I like that it is a more down-in-the-mud version of Star Wars. No Jedis come to save the day, no magical MacGuffins are at work, and we don't have any Skywalker cameos either. It is the show's attention to detail that impress me most. The pacing and writing allow the cast to shine and the story to unfold at its own pace.
We are able to spend time in each location. One of the main criticisms ofRogue One is that it moved between locations too fast. The way we got to know these places was through Tatooine or Degoba. Three episodes will be spent in Andor.
In the first three episodes, we were able to visit both Kenari and the industrial planet Ferrix where Andor lived with his adoptive mother. We spent a lot of time on Aldhani and the rich people of Coruscant. This sense of place adds a richness to the experience that you don't get when you hop too quickly.
My review is here.
The set and costume design is top notch. The all-white uniforms of the ISB officers are walking down the hallway. shepherds wearing wool cloaks The grey-green highlands and hard, symmetrical lines of Mon Mothma's dining room are where the dam base is located. The show is visually stunning.
Andor has blown away my expectations, but also everything that came before it, including Mando and Baby Yoda, that this show hasn't replaced. I don't think we'll get the cute factor here. Since Disney took over, my favorite Star Wars outings have been The Mandalorian and The Empire Strikes Back, both of which are excellent in their own ways.
Lucasfilm and Disney should pay attention. The standard fans will keep you there. There are no more disasters like Obi-Wan. There is no more sequel trilogies. This is what Star Wars can be, with a little talent and a lot of fun. Don't make it weird.
What do you think about Andor so far? You can let me know on social media.
I reviewed the first three episodes here.
The show is best when you watch it three times in a row, which is what I did for the first and second arcs. Disney should have released them in three-episode spurts. I like to review shows one episode at a time, but the way this is structured it really feels like each three-episode arcs is meant to be viewed in one sitting.
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