Star Wars: Andor (2022) - released episode spoilers allowed

[Jay 37,323]

This show is full of attractive ladies, too!  Andor's mechanic friend on the first arc's planet is the best (I hope we see her again!), and I like the rebel who was The Waif on Game of Thrones, though her girlfriend Cinta is even hotter.  And the blonde Imperial lady is easy on the eyes as well.

 

I think Andor wins the hot-lady-off against Rings of Power and House of the Dragon!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

And the blonde Imperial lady is easy on the eyes as well.

 

I wouldn't have agreed with you at all until a couple of days ago when I finally watched some of the promotional interviews for the show.  Outside of the costume and whatever they do with the makeup, she is quite attractive.  Plus I'd never have guessed that Cyril is a ginger!

 

 

[Jay 37,323]

You know what's funny about that dude is, when I saw his character, I was sure I had seen the actor in something we'd watched before.  So I looked him up and while I technically have seen him in something (apparently he played "Medic #1" in Fury), it turns out nope, he's basically new to me.  He must remind me of someone else, but I can't put my finger on who it is

[Faleel 5,342]

You seen one ginger you seen em all

[Positivatee 327]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

You know what's funny about that dude is, when I saw his character, I was sure I had seen the actor in something we'd watched before.  So I looked him up and while I technically have seen him in something (apparently he played "Medic #1" in Fury), it turns out nope, he's basically new to me.  He must remind me of someone else, but I can't put my finger on who it is

 

He reminds me of JJ Feild, who I know basically only for Netflix's Lost in Space. 

[Jay 37,323]

Hmm I don't think that's it for me, I've never seen that show 

 

Oh, I think it just came to me, I think he reminds me of Jim Cummings

 

 

[Positivatee 327]

I don't know him. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

Oh, come on, dude. How could you not know him?

He's the dude, who played the guy, in that thing.

 

Also: spoiler alert

 

 

Spoiler

ANDOR DIES!!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WATCHING THIS, FOR???!!! 

 

[GerateWohl 4,344]

14 hours ago, Jay said:

You know what's funny about that dude is, when I saw his character, I was sure I had seen the actor in something we'd watched before.  So I looked him up and while I technically have seen him in something (apparently he played "Medic #1" in Fury), it turns out nope, he's basically new to me.  He must remind me of someone else, but I can't put my finger on who it is

Kyle Soller looks somehow like a mixed clone of young Kyle McLachlan and Iwan Rheon.

[mstrox 6,647]

6 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Also: spoiler alert

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

ANDOR DIES!!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WATCHING THIS, FOR???!!! 

 

It’s the wildest thing - 100% of characters in 100% of movies die!  Sometimes it’s onscreen, sometimes it’s just something we know happens after the movie is over.  Knowing where the story ends didn’t stop them from making prequel stories lauded by critics and audiences about characters like Don Vito Corleone, Saul Goodman.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

15 minutes ago, mstrox said:

It’s the wildest thing - 100% of characters in 100% of movies die!  Sometimes it’s onscreen, sometimes it’s just something we know happens after the movie is over.  Knowing where the story ends didn’t stop them from making prequel stories lauded by critics and audiences about characters like Don Vito Corleone, Saul Goodman.

 

It's literally the most nonsensical criticism for any story ever (that we know they die at the end).

[Jay 37,323]

Andor 1x07 Announcement

 

Wow, that was really good!  The best scene was when Luthen meets with Mon Mothma and they talk about the rebellion in his store.  It was so fascinating to see two people ultimately on the same side, disagreeing about the best way to approach how to overthrow the Empire.  In the original movie its such a simple black and white we are good, the Empire is bad, we're all on the same page about taking them down.  But the nuance this show is bringing to the whole ordeal is really fascinating stuff.  Likewise, when Mothma goes home and has to convince her old friend to help if she can be sure of his position, and the way she broke down how careful she's been with all her activities, etc - was all so good!

 

It was pretty amusing seeing Karn get a shitty desk job, but I am sure that won't last very long.  Likewise, it was pretty good seeing Meero put on blast about her investigation only to have her supervisor be on her side.  At this point I am wondering if one of the characters in these scenes will turn out to be a rebel spy.

 

I was so confused about who it was Vel was meeting with that told her she had to go kill Andor, and honestly didn't realize it was Luthen's assistant until I looked it up after.  Does this mean she's going behind Luthen's back with this order?  More disagreement within the rebellion!

 

It was around that scene I realized that were some 15+ minutes into the episode and hadn't actually seen Andor yet!  And that made me realize, that maybe titling the show Andor was a bad idea from the start.  It was announced as being about Andor and showing us what got to him to be who he was in Rogue One, but honestly the show is about so much more than that, and almost all the storylines not directly about Andor are more interesting than the ones that are (so far), it really set my expectations for a completely different show than what we're getting.  Huh.

 

I was happy to see both Andor's mom and his mechanic friend again, and see how they reckoned with the events of the first 3 episodes.  I thought it was really interesting that his mom is embodying the ripple effects of the successful heist, by wanting to stay in place and rebel in her own way.  It's kinda funny she didn't put 2 and 2 together why Andor came into a bunch of money though

 

The only part of the episode that was less than fantastic for me, when Andor really goofily gets put into jail for 6 years for no reason.  If it gets explained later that it was a setup, then that will be fine, but as portrayed in this episode it was so goofy that he got in trouble for "running".  It was fun seeing that Alan Tudyk droid again with a different voice though

 

This show is super good!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

The only part of the episode that was less than fantastic for me, when Andor really goofily gets put into jail for 6 years for no reason.  If it gets explained later that it was a setup, then that will be fine, but as portrayed in this episode it was so goofy that he got in trouble for "running". 

 

The purposeful absurdity of the situation came off as goofy to you, and horrifying to me.  Being thrown into this insane bureaucracy of inhumanity.  It's all to illustrate that the Aldhani heist has caused the Empire to push their authority to such a degree, that random people are being beaten and thrown in prison for literally no reasons, that it will ultimately be beneficial to the Rebellion that Luthen is trying to foment.  The whole point is that it has nothing to do with who Andor is, there's no setup.  It's just random.

[Jay 37,323]

Hmmm, I guess I didn't think of it that way.  That makes sense.

[mstrox 6,647]

I think they do a decent job of clarifying that, probably in the next episode or so.  The whole situation certainly reflects real-life circumstances as well - people nabbed for fitting profiles regardless of their guilt, oversentencing for nonviolent offenses etc etc - all things that are sort of on-tone with the politics of the show and certainly Gilroy’s whole deal.

[Positivatee 327]

52 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

the Aldhani heist has caused the Empire to push their authority to such a degree, that random people are being beaten and thrown in prison for literally no reasons, that it will ultimately be beneficial to the Rebellion that Luthen is trying to foment.

 

Exactly. The Empire is terrible but it made the average citizen complacent with the slow loss of freedoms. There are no large pockets of resistance because only the loudest troublemakers get hauled away. Most people know that open resistance is pointless because it does not happen. 

 

Luthen is a visionary. He knows that to have a chance of toppling the sleeping giant, you need to piss it off. An organized rebellious act will do just that. You need to make the evil Empire act WORSE to push more citizens over the edge into organized Rebellion. 

 

It's counter intuitive because it will make life worse for the citizens, but he's playing the long game. 

[Jay 37,323]

Yup, you guys are all so right and so astute.  I missed that, but it all makes sense now for sure, yep.

Damn, what a cool show

[Disco Stu 15,495]

20 minutes ago, mstrox said:

The whole situation certainly reflects real-life circumstances as well - people nabbed for fitting profiles regardless of their guilt, oversentencing for nonviolent offenses etc etc - all things that are sort of on-tone with the politics of the show and certainly Gilroy’s whole deal.

 

You can certainly interpret it that way, it may even be intended by the showrunner.  But personally, I see a portrayal of a nightmare fascist state and don't actually see very much analogous to my home country.  But we are discussing the undiscussable.

[Jay 37,323]

Going back to yesterday's news, I have the same take you guys did.

 

It's cool that Disney is using their cable channels to show some episodes of Andor to try to drum up interest, but dumb that they are showing the first 2 episodes only.

 

There's only 100 minutes worth of content in the first 3 episodes, so if they could have just shaved 12 minutes out, they'd have an 88 minute "special presentation" they could fit right into a 2-hour block with commercials.  That would probably entice some people to subscribe to see what happens next!  Alternatively, they could have done a 2 1/2 hour block with commercials, and not had to cut any of the episode out (and had more commercials than usual)

But just showing the first 2 episodes?  Did these marketing geniuses watch the show before deciding this?

[mstrox 6,647]

They think once you see the guy who loves ringing the bell on that first planet, you’re hooked.

[Positivatee 327]

1 minute ago, mstrox said:

They think once you see the guy who loves ringing the bell on that first planet, you’re hooked.

 

[Jay 37,323]

[DarthDementous 1,059]

Okay that may have been one of the coolest fucking scenes of space combat in Star Wars I’ve seen from that latest Andor episode

 

It reminded me strongly of that moment from Heir to the Empire where Luke uses clever tactics and mechanics (I think he even launches a bunch of debris too) to escape the Imperial patrol and tractor beam

 

Not only does Andor do a lot of really cool new stuff for live action Star Wars well, but it also just does the classic things from it at a high level too

 

Loved the weird Narkinian aliens and their particular and broken way of speaking. Not surprised to find out how disruptive to the ecosystem the Empire’s giant prisons have been

[Jay 37,323]

Andor 1x08 Narkina 5

 

More good world-building; This prison planet place was defined so well, and I liked that its entirely through Andor's eyes: We only learn what he learns.  It was actually interesting watching him quietly take in everything; he's finally becoming the star of his own show.  It's of course inevitable that he's going to escape somehow, but they did such a good job of showing how well they have this place locked up, it's going to be interesting to see how he pulls it off!

 

I thought it was interesting that Andor's mother got sick and that's how the plot is going to progress forward: That's one way to do it I guess.  It was really interesting to see Luthen and his assistant debate whether to reply or not when Bix reached out to them.  Of course Luthen made the right and prudent call, but it was nice that it was shown it wasn't a hasty decision.

 

It was neat watching Vel and Cinta be on Ferrix, watching Andor's house.  It's nice that they weren't siloed off just for the heist adventure and get to move around and take part in the rest of the story.  Too bad they left before Bix got chased down and captured by Meero!

 

Before then, it was neat seeing Meero and Karn together.  They seem to be of the same mind but Meero wants all the glory for herself and doesn't respect Karn at all.  I'm curious to see how he will find a way to get involved in things more directly again.

[Gabriel Bezerra 300]

Everything is starting to pay off really well, all these moving parts converging to Ferrix (the place that without those "boring" first episodes, would not mean much to the viewers). Was not expecting Marva to go like that, but her demise is gonna pave the way to a successful blow, at least I hope so.

 

Even more surprised to learn that Andor's case was still there, it looked very visible to however looked a bit up, and he was in Narkina for a month... Oh well, at least Nemik's manifesto is secured. The empire really ended Niamos.

 

Forest Whitaker is just great. Though Saw is way more paranoid and neurotic than in Rebels... And yes, that space battle was phenomenal, had a grin in my face the whole time.

[Jay 37,323]

Andor 1x09 Nobody's Listening!

 

Vel is Mon Mothma's cousin!?  Didn't see that coming (or I missed some earlier reference to it).  Vel looks SO different here compared to when she was on the heist planet, wow!  Quite a transformation. It's interesting that her and Mon are both rich, and both secret rebels, but Vel gets her hands dirty and partakes in actual heists while Mon keeps her location known and image up practically all the time.  You need both kinds for a successful rebellion, I suppose!

 

I am really curious where the scenes of Mon working with her old friend to move money around are going - will he end up having to take the fall so she remains free?  Will her husband find out something?  Hmmm.

 

Damn, Bix getting tortured for info was rough.  It seemed like she didn't really give up any info, yet Meero now assumes Andor was part of the heist?  Maybe I missed something.  When Karn was waiting for Meero outside I kinda loled.  This guy is something else.  Really curious what the payoff will be for all the build-up they've done with him since the initial 3 episodes

 

I liked the seeds being planted for Andor's escape (doing something with the pipe), and the way Andy Serkis' character slowly realized he's gotta get out of there too when they realize they killed hundreds of prisoners just to cover up their mistake.  I liked the sign language system the prisoners had come up with to communicate too, that was nifty

[Disco Stu 15,495]

6 minutes ago, Jay said:

(doing something with the pipe in his room)

 

That was the bathroom on the work floor, not his sleeping... cubby.

[Jay 37,323]

Right!

[Jay 37,323]

On 20/10/2022 at 8:33 AM, Tallguy said:

OMG that was Patrick from Coupling!

 

 

 

On 20/10/2022 at 4:14 PM, Disco Stu said:

Is it weird to say that episode 7 is actually my favorite episode yet?

 

No, it was great!

 

 

On 26/10/2022 at 10:25 AM, mstrox said:

Really digging the new prison/war manufacturing environment and its rules.  Serkis was a treat.  Also enjoyed the Mothma intrigue, and am looking forward to what direction things go in with the husband.  A little less interesting this week were Skarsgard’s trip to Saw-land (although I thought the initial exchange with neither taking credit for the heist was great) and the stuff on the original planet with Bix and the heist rebels.  I’m sure it’ll pay off in interesting ways.

 

Oh wow yea, I didn't even mention Luthen going to talk to Saw either.  Can't say that was one of the more exciting scenes, but I'm sure it'll pay off soon

 

 

On 31/10/2022 at 7:40 AM, Positivatee said:

The sad part of the story is how strict Imperial arrests and prisoner treatment has gotten since the first Rebel attack on Aldhani occurred. Andor shares responsibility for instigating that treatment of his fellow prisoners. 

 

Oh snap I didn't even think about that, that's a damn good point

[Disco Stu 15,495]

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

No, it was great!

 

Month ago Stu didn't know how good it was gonna get!

[Steffromuk 386]

I love how this show is not indulging itself in showing off spectacular space battles or exotic environment. It's all straight to the point and so efficient!

 

What a delight!

[Jay 37,323]

Episode 6 had an awesome space battle!  OK, it was an in-atmosphere chase, but it was hella good!

[Steffromuk 386]

32 minutes ago, Jay said:

Episode 6 had an awesome space battle!  OK, it was an in-atmosphere chase, but it was hella good!

 

Yes All the space battles look amazing and are extremely well directed. The Ep.6 one was a marvel!
The Ep.11 one was really quick but damn!! So nervous and impactful!!!

[Jay 37,323]

Andor 1x10 One Way Out

 

Wow, that was a pretty good prison escape!  I liked that Andor had to twice rally Kino, first to get him fully on the side of making their attempt that next day as a new prisoner would be brought to their area, and later in the episode to rally the troops of the whole prison over the comms.  Good stuff.  The actual escape was a pretty well staged sequence with different stages that kept the tension building well.  It was fun once they got charge of the control room and Andor hears a noise and peaks out only to see other escapees are who's in the hallway.

The only thing I didn't really understand was, they made a big deal when they got there that the guards don't carry guns, because of the system where they can zap them through the floors.  But here everyone had guns, and they easily accessed a locker with TONS more guns.  I dunno. 

 

Another moment I found interesting was Kino's reveal that the can't swim, which I mean sure, that should make him scared... but he's surrounded by fellow prisoners that would have easily helped him get to shore.  What's the problem?!

 

It will be interesting to see how all these prisoners get off the planet now that al they've really done is relocated to one place to another on a planet they don't want to be on.  Though I cannot remember if it was established if there were cities and such on the planet or not.

 

And we finally find out what the guy who Kolma (still reeling from him being Patrick from Coupling!) set Mothma up with wants in exchange for helping out... marrying off her daughter... yikes.  Will Mothma do it?

 

As exciting as the escape was, I think my favorite scene in the episode was when Luthen meets with the ISB agent who is a secret rebel (I knew it'd be one of those guys in those scenes!).  The conversation they have about they positions in the rebellion, the sacrifices they have to make, the wheels that are already in motion they no longer have control over, etc etc was so good and interesting!

 

One really good thing about this show is that it has actual good dialogue.  So much so that I think re-watches will be even more rewarding than the typical Star Wars show.  Heck, this show might have the best dialogue out of all Star Wars content, maybe.  Not as many cute, quotable lines as the best stuff in the movies or anything, but it has more actual quality writing in the dialogue, fairly consistently.

Another line of dialogue I liked was "I'd rather die trying to take them down, then die giving them what they want", which was first said by Andor to Kino, then by Kino over the intercom to all the prisoners.  Good stuff!

[Faleel 5,342]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

What's the problem?!

 

 

He would probably just end up pulling someone down with him?

[Jay 37,323]

There were hundreds... thousands? of escapees. He'd be fine

[Andy 4,092]

If I were Kino, I’d learn to swim really quickly. 
 

For all we know, he went for it.  Maybe he will turn up next season. 

[DarthDementous 1,059]

I don’t think people understand what it’s like to have absolutely no swimming ability and jump a long way down into the ocean to then have to swim what looks like a lot of kilometres to shore

 

Kino would almost certainly panic and start drowning, and the number one thing they teach life savers is that if you’re not absolutely sure you can save the person, do not try to because that person will almost certainly kill you out of sheer panic. Perhaps Kino was aware of this and didn’t want to kill or slow others down, and at the point he was at the edge he had already made peace that he was never getting out. All this was for the benefit of the others

[Faleel 5,342]

There could be a "mosh" aspect to it as well with people on top of people.

[Andy 4,092]

Yes, all true. But this is a fantasy tv show. 
 

Editing my post because @DarthDementousand @Clockwork Angel both made excellent real life posts and I didn’t intend to sound snarky or disregard them….

 

Kino and Andor both operated under the assumption that they were dead men walking. Or dead already I think they said.  That they’d rather go down fighting than live and give the Empire what they want.   Given that mindset Kino has two choices. Take the risk of drowning with the slight chance of a kind soul helping him. Or wait to be eventually captured and tortured.  I had a hard time accepting that he’d go with the latter. 

[mstrox 6,647]

I trust Gilroy not to cheapen the emotion of the show and the arc of Kino by making him survive somehow.

[Positivatee 327]

[GerateWohl 4,344]

At last there are some aliens taking part.

[DarthDementous 1,059]

5 hours ago, Andy said:

Yes, all true. But this is a fantasy tv show. 
 

Editing my post because @DarthDementousand @Clockwork Angel both made excellent real life posts and I didn’t intend to sound snarky or disregard them….

 

Kino and Andor both operated under the assumption that they were dead men walking. Or dead already I think they said.  That they’d rather go down fighting than live and give the Empire what they want.   Given that mindset Kino has two choices. Take the risk of drowning with the slight chance of a kind soul helping him. Or wait to be eventually captured and tortured.  I had a hard time accepting that he’d go with the latter. 

 

 I think it's just pure human fear that stopped him from jumping, big difference between the idea of being tortured and killed, and believing 100% that if you jump you will die

[Tallguy 3,381]

7 hours ago, mstrox said:

I trust Gilroy not to cheapen the emotion of the show and the arc of Kino by making him survive somehow.

 

I have a feeling that trust may be misplaced. (I also don't think it will be cheap.)

[GerateWohl 4,344]

8 hours ago, mstrox said:

I trust Gilroy not to cheapen the emotion of the show and the arc of Kino by making him survive somehow.

But this cheapening has some tradition in Star Wars.

[DarthDementous 1,059]

27 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

But this cheapening has some tradition in Star Wars.

 

No? His fate is left ambiguous, this isn't a case of being cut in half and falling down a ventilation shaft. The Empire has reason to keep him alive, for now, in order to torture some answers out of him so they know wtf actually went down at Narkina V

[Jay 37,323]

Andor 1x11 Daughter of Ferrix

 

Man, such a bummer that Andor's mom had to die, but it lead to interesting dynamics like the Imperials realizing Andor might go there for the funeral.  It's a bummer that Mon had to agree to the marriage proposal since she and Vel seem so unhappy about it, but it's just another sacrifice we are seeing the key members of the rebellion make for the greater good.  I guess there's still one more episode for this to get undone somehow though.

 

Finally after the entire season, Karn is heading back into the main action, can't wait to see how it goes for him this time.

 

Another interesting conversation with Luthen and Saw; We already saw Luthen decide last week that it was worth sacrificing 50 rebels on this raid in order to keep their ISB spy safe, but now he has to explain and justify that to someone else (Saw), and it was really well written, and really well acted by Skarsgård & Whitaker

 

The little space chase they threw in afterwards was interesting.  On one level, it was REALLY COOL, between the way he broke out of the tractor beam, to the way he destroyed their big dish array, to the spinning lasers he used to slice their TIE Fighters, etc.  But, I'm really curious what the ultimate purpose of this scene was.  Was it JUST to have a cool action scene, or is he basically going to be unable to make it back to his shop safely now, and will end up stranded somewhere to start season 2 or something...

 

I thought it was a bit weird that after so many prisoners were shown escaping, jumping into the ocean, and swimming away, we only followed Andor and one other dude on land.  The 2 aliens they bumped into were pretty neat, though!  I was so confused when Andor went back to that vacation planet, and found his little safe with all his money and guns in his hotel room - it'd made sense if he had like, pre-paid for months of the room or something, but there was another occupant sleeping there?  What was that all about?  Did they turn over his room and rent it to someone else, but left all his belongings in the safe?  How does that work?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

6 minutes ago, Jay said:

But, I'm really curious what the ultimate purpose of this scene was.  Was it JUST to have a cool action scene, or is he basically going to be unable to make it back to his shop safely now, and will end up stranded somewhere to start season 2 or something...

 

His coded conversation with Kleya was him saying that he was going to go to Ferrix, despite her objections about the unnecessary risk.  This is immediately followed by an Imperial patrol stumbling upon him as a way to emphasize this risk, that whenever he leaves Coruscant to go into "the field" he is at great risk of getting caught.

[Jay 37,323]

Makes sense!