– Spoiler Review –
Andor’s season two is back for another week and another block of three episodes, picking up one year later from the season two openers. Much of the ground laid by the premiere episodes begins to bloom, but more seeds must be planted first, as “Episode 4 – Ever Been to Ghorman?” & “Episode 5 – I Have Friends Everywhere” & “Episode 6 – What a Festive Evening” do more heavy lifting with the introduction to the planet and people of Ghorman, addressing various threads about the fallout of the shattered peace of Mina-Rau, and the widening scope of the rebellion. While some of the drawbacks of the season’s structure appear, with a particular trope rearing its ugly head, this next batch of episodes are still an excellent continuation.
As I mused last night, I didn’t like “Episode 4 – Ever Been to Ghorman?” & “Episode 5 – I Have Friends Everywhere” & “Episode 6 – What a Festive Evening” as much as I did the premiere three, and it might not be totally fair because they were just so damn good, though in the end it’s still comparing stellar TV to stellar TV, and one batch was just a little less stellar than the other. I think part of it stems from Ghorman, but it’s less to do with the development of the culture and beautiful sets and the intrigue, but with the Liberation Front part of it. It all felt a little too on the nose for me, the heavy connotation of the French revolution, with a language iterated directly from French and all starring French actors, created as a shorthand for the group and planet due to the year-per-block situation of the season. There’s a lot of strength in the shorthand used, as it gives audiences a quick way into understanding the point of this group and their inspiration, but it ended up feeling, to me at least, like a symptom of this new structure, rushing them to action with ‘eagerness’ and characters not digging deeper, all while it creates a limit on more non-human representation (despite how many more non-humans we’ve been seeing), just to make it all work.
Other threads in this second block of episodes similarly feel rushed to fit within the structure, from how Luthen feels like there are too many spinning plates yet we don’t see how far his tendrils actually reach, the reconciliation between Vel and Cinta (especially giving the disappointing trope to follow), Bix’s struggles, and how Mon stirring up votes, while really neat to see on screen, feels like a far less consequential use of the character than her time in the premiere (even the recap before Episode 4 only showed her memed dancing scene, hinting she’d have a less meaty part to play). Other aspects get their due and play out really well, but the weight of picking up a year later and yet trying to make sure a year from now has more to do brings a need to be more succinct, whether it’s done well or not. I think the premiere three did a better job of this and I don’t know whether it’s simply down to Tony Gilroy over Beau Willimon writing or if this block of episodes necessitated a rush given more consequential events to come in the remaining half of the season, but we’ll know better just how well this three episodes a year works depending on how the next batch handles its place in the story.
Episode 4 – Ever Been to Ghorman?
In a dingy, yet decent safehouse location on Coruscant, Bix Caleen and Cassian Andor get a chance at domestic life, yet their frequent missions and what’s happened in the past haunt their spacious new home. Dr. Gorst’s torture inhabits Bix’s nightmares still, while the lives she’s taken on Mina-Rau, despite the situation, and one Cassian took on their most recent mission only exacerbate matters, leading her to sleepless nights and a reliance on drugs to dull the pain. We don’t see the drugs until the end, the episode focusing more on the two attempting to make life work together, in a relationship, despite their separate places in life. Cassian’s made peace with the lives he’s taken, as he sees it as a small price to pay for the destruction of the Empire, but also in the pursuit of securing safety for Bix and life for them to enjoy, not sneaking around to corner stores to eek out a living in the shadows. Because of this, he can’t quite bridge the gap between her questions and anger over his actions, not seeing the problem or how to help her through the guilt and feelings rolling inside, yet there’s no question they are in love and care for one another, from sweet moments at the dinner table to their hand-tracing/dancing scene,. She doesn’t want him to feel responsible for her or think he has to protect her, as war never guarantees anyone can be saved, yet he’s lost too much too recently to allow that kind of thinking in. The chemistry Adria Arjona and Diego Luna brought to season one to make their limited screentime together shine is back in abundance here, so the passion they feel regarding their convictions, despite how much they care for one another, only makes these scenes work better. Focusing on this domestic situation puts them in new and interesting spots and it left me curious how Cassian’s acceptance of the reconnaissance mission to Ghorman and Bix being left to her own devices would go for the rest of this block of episodes.
It goes a long way the Ghorman production set feels, and is, so expansive, as the introduction to the planet, even if it’s just the capital Palmo we see, gives viewers something to ground them to the world. Seeing it through Syril’s eyes, the outsider, helps build it up as well, as he’s just as unaccustomed to their ways and sentiments as we are, and we’re able to learn through his efforts what they are like and how they feel about what’s happening to them. My wife and I both initially were curious, given Dedra Meero was set to take over the Ghorman efforts for the top-secret project initiated by Director Orson Krennic, if Syril’s mother Eedy was correct and he and Dedra had broken up, and while the episode does it best to keep this question lingering long enough, the ultimate reveal hits with sounding satisfaction, though one begins to wonder how much he knows. I have my issues with exuding main-character-energy, and my wife loves to call me out on it (as she should!), but Kyle Soller embodies Syril’s growing sense of self-importance so delectably well, even more in the next few episodes, it’s a wonder Syril can keep it together as he develops the trust of the Ghorman Liberation Front. The meeting he attends after they extend an invite, as they’ve been listening in to his conversations with his mother and buying his beliefs about the Ghorman being unfairly treated by the Empire, is an interesting one, as we see the divide, much like with the Maya Pei rebels on Yavin IV in the premiere, on how best to proceed with the Empire’s encroaching presence and new focus on their planet. I was left wondering how the rest of the Ghorman resistance would go in this block of episodes, if Syril could keep up the ruse or they’d find him out, or if we’d learn they are just too eager to do something they’d not do enough due diligence.
Returning to Lonni Jung (Robert Emms) was a pleasant surprise, as we see he’s even bolder at work than he’s ever been after the events of season one, ingratiating himself to his fellow supervisors, becoming someone they can rely on and confide in, while proposing ideas which help Luthen’s cause since they play up the Empire’s overconfidence in itself. Despite his renewed commitment, Luthen’s hounding Lonni for more frequent updates, something which might turn out to be a sloppy and problematic choice, as teased by the already rickety elevator Lonni takes to see Luthen having less and less upkeep, almost like a metaphor for Luthen caring less and less about the person and more about the information as the net widens for both the rebellion and the opposition to it. Lonni has even more fun parts of the story ahead in final episode of this block and I wonder how much longer he’ll get away with this or if Luthen’s needs will put a target on his back before the season/series is over.
After such a significant portion of the storyline in the premiere, Mon Mothma’s return doesn’t start off with much to write home about, and in fact, she’s introduced over halfway into the episode and then she’s not seen again. She’s fighting the P.O.R.D., or Public Order Resentencing Directive, which was enacted following the Aldhani heist in season one and the Emperor is now asking the Senate to extend it so she’s trying to rally up votes with common sense points and appeals to her fellow Senators. One of the Senators she’s approaching includes Ghorman’s own, and while he’s upset the Empire is cracking down on them harder than anyone else and no one wants to talk about it, he’s not willing to risk any more ire on his planet or people by joining with her and voting on legislation to oppose the extension. It makes sense, but between Eedy and Syril’s holo-chat and the Ghorman Senator’s questions on why no one wants to talk about the Empire’s focus on them, we get hints at the power and reach of the propaganda efforts enacting by the Empire, which the premiere episodes hinted at would be used to help drive the secret mission to extract the planet’s ore, no matter the cost. I wish this was expanded on and specified a little more, as its effects are too nebulous, even by the end of this block of episodes.
I wasn’t sure how or where we’d see Wilmon Paak again, but working with Saw Gerrera, at Luthen’s behest, was not on my bingo card. Saw’s unpredictability sneaks out in a few moments, Forest Whitaker relishing his return to a larger part of the story, and by Wilmon’s cagey response to Saw’s questions and extending his stay, Luthen must have warned the boy about Saw. I won’t lie, when Saw pairs Wilmon up with Pluti (Marc Rissmann), requiring the boy to teach him everything he knows about rhydonium extraction, I thought Pluti was Gerdis, one of the Maya Pei rebels Cassian left behind on Yavin IV, up until I read the credits. As for the rhydonium extraction, I honestly thought Wilmon was meant to teach bomb-making skills, given we’d last seen him make a bomb and rhydonium is an explosive, up until the end of the next episode, as I felt it wasn’t clarified in dialogue enough. Much like we saw an early rebel band on Yavin IV, it was neat as hell to see Saw’s group using D’Qar, the same base the Resistance would later use in The Force Awakens!
Bonus Thoughts:
- Love coffee? Chai? A really good café/coffee shop? And want some fun Star Wars themed coffee goodness for the month of May?! Well, if you happen to be in the greater Chicago area, make your way to Folklore Coffee in Lemont, IL, as one of our best friends owns Folklore and we collaborated on a special Star Wars menu for May!!! The Froth is strong with these specials!!
- Dedra’s showdown with her old assistant-turned-supervisor Heert was a fun moment for these two, as he thinks he’s on her level but how little does he know she’s into something far more complex, so it almost felt like she talked with him in the hopes it would appear she’s jealous to throw anyone off the scent. Lonni’s spymastery continues as he swoops in, hoping to take advantage of their divide and get more information on her.
- A new podracing scene, on my screen, in the year 2025?!?! I was over the moon about this little snippet, which one of the Imperial security guards was watching on his space iPad. One day, we’ll get that podracing TV show, I know it.
- I’m always a sucker for the Star Wars version of every day items, as I like seeing how they attempt to make things space-y! The toaster oven/grill was cool and the convenience/corner store straddled the line very well!
- Got some MAD Blade Runner vibes from the Coruscant safehouse apartment and how they shot most of those scenes.
Episode 5 – I Have Friends Everywhere
If we got a deep, connective love story between Cassian and Bix in “Episode 4,” with the two actors exuding their passion, then we’re on the planet farthest from with Syril and Dedra in “Episode 5 – I Have Friends Everywhere.” Syril’s so wrapped up in his self-importance to the Imperial cause, playing spy, he’s missing Dedra’s using these attributes for her secret mission, while Dedra’s just so incapable of connecting beyond a mutually beneficial relationship, she’s only appearing to be attentive as she gives him compliments and lets him keep thinking he’s so important and not a pawn. When Syril leaves Ghorman and arrives on Coruscant, Dedra’s reception and their interaction is so awkward and left me cringing, in a funny way, as he gets hyped up over the idea she had him followed and after she tells him to turn out the lights despite their hour time limit, so it once again feels like she’s feeding into his self-delusions to keep the secret mission going. It doesn’t help he gets to play-act to start the episode, the ISB searching his team’s area for listening devices, going big as they assert their authority over him, only aiding his upset demeanor the Ghorman Front leader Carro Rylanz (Richard Sammel) and his daughter Enza Rylanz (Alaïs Lawson) pick up on and push, asking him to reveal what’s being shipped around their planet by the Empire, to better understand what’s being built so they can put their fellow Ghormans’ at ease…if the Empire isn’t lying about not building an armory. After Syril and Dedra’s darkened activities, they meet with Partagaz to update him on Syril’s findings, and while Dedra plays it cautious, Syril is emboldened, sharing requests to push the Ghormans now, to help them along with their plans, and Dedra backs up the idea, coming up with a way to respond that will help only further push the people towards an uprising they can reasonably be called in to squash. Syril has his biggest thrill of the three episodes here, saying it’s the best day of his life, and the way Dedra strains herself to compliment him, it seems more and more likely she’s just playing a game with him now, but whether she’s happy with herself for doing so is left unexplored.
As Syril goes to Coruscant, Cassian arrives on Ghorman in a flashy designer persona disguise he slips in and out of with ease, reminding me more of his dashing hero attitude in “Episode 1 – One Year Later” and not the domestically challenged man we saw in “Episode 4.” With his mission to procure intel and understand if Ghorman is worth supporting in their fight, Cassian’s ability to make friends and influence people comes in handy, as the bellhop at the local hotel opens up to him without much work on Cassian’s part, explaining the history of the Tarkin Massacre and what the armory being built means to their people. The Tarkin Massacre is a canonization of what was originally the Ghorman Massacre in Legends, which is yet to come in canon but be sure it’s happening in the next block: shortly after the start of the Empire, Grand Moff Tarkin landed his ship on peaceful protestors, killing 500 of them, since they wouldn’t get out of his way for landing, and the Ghormans built a monument to commemorate the fallen. An agreement made with the Imperials not to build anything which overshadowed the monument had been honored until they started building the armory, so this is all just one part of the large calculation in pushing the Ghorman’s buttons and giving them the excuse to clear them out and strip mine the planet.
Despite this grueling history lesson, only a few encounters with the Ghorman Front leaves Cassian unimpressed with their commitment and efforts and the viability of helping them. It all gets off on the wrong foot when, enjoying the local cafe, Enza Rylanz visits Cassian unannounced, and he picks apart her sloppiness and those she’s had tailing him, pointing out she could’ve walked right into a trap, though she has a good point regarding her lack of patience is due to her world falling apart around them. When Cassian meets with her father the following day, he’s not impressed they have an inside source (if only they told him who it was!), doubting the reliability of the information, and doesn’t love the idea they’ll advertise what they’ve found, but they are so eager to prove the Empire wrong and help the people understand what’s happening to them, they aren’t stopping to think through the consequences. Even after checking out their plan to steal a shipment, Cassian’s remains skeptical, thinking they’d need more help than is worth giving them, though Carro has a point: are they supposed to take the Empire’s oppression without doing anything? After what happened to the ones he’s cared about, from Maarva to Bix and now Brasso, Cassian was left eager to fight, to join the cause and give everything to it, but with his concerns so focused on Bix, is he missing the larger picture or have a point with his assessments? By this point in this second block of episodes for Andor, I wasn’t totally invested in the Ghorman plight and didn’t quite feel any tension to the storyline, as Cassian makes far too many good points that, while I was sympathetic to the cause, make any action on their part seem too rash (especially knowing it’s all being pushed by the Empire), and it made this storyline feel rushed both due to the group’s eagerness and how we only have one episode left in the block, so something has to happen, not simply because of plot.
Speaking of Bix, Luthen comes to visit her after Cassian expresses some concerns about her if he left for this mission, and one begins to get the sense, much like in his conversation with Lonni, Luthen is losing his empathy, leaving one has to wonder: what’s the point of running a rebellion without it? There was a lightness to his and Bix’s interactions in season one and him checking on her here reads as an extension of those moments, in fact he even decides not to give her a mission to let her rest, but it feels like he’s letting her stay in and wallow in her feelings instead, and him not pushing harder against her taking those drugs isn’t helping matters. In the middle of this block, the emphasis the show starts putting on her drug reliance felt like a poor stereotype of Latinx people succumbing to drugs (this is the franchise that decided Poe Dameron needed to have a drug-dealing past suddenly) and I was growing concerned with where it was heading. Could she snap out of it on her own, as she’s already been a strong character before, look at how far she’s come since being tortured and her fight against the attempted rape, or would the show decide she’d need a man to help her through it? I was overall happy with how this storyline ends, but it already felt somehow both underdeveloped and overdone in “I Have Friends Everywhere.”
Luthen’s clashes aren’t done, as he and Kleya get into it as well, and this is where we find out he’s feeling overwhelmed despite his demanding and decisive demeanor elsewhere. Kleya on her awesome old-school futuristic radio, listening in to all their bugs across the galaxy, seems to be her Zen place, controlling and disseminating information across their spear of influence. But she overhears Davo Sculdun revealing to his assistant he’s found out one of his prized pieces, about to go on exhibition in a big party, is a forgery and he wants every piece reappraised so his reputation isn’t spoiled, meaning their bug in another piece would be found. Luthen and Kleya blame one another once she reveals the news, him claiming he can’t keep track of all their lines anymore and she’s pretending she’s still in control, yet Kleya seems the most in control of anyone, always cutting through needless talk and forcing the point. Her only suggestion is they remove it at the party otherwise they’ll need to be prepared for the fallout, essentially leaving them no choice.
Lastly for “I Have Friends Everywhere,” though not least, is Wilmon’s continued presence amongst Saw’s Partisans, still stuck teaching Pluti what he knows about rhydonium extraction. Knowing Saw’s unpredictable nature, Wilmon’s cautious and watching what Pluti’s up to when they aren’t studying, and while he doesn’t get to hear it, he watches Pluti chat with Saw. We get to hear it though and, despite not telling Wilmon where they are going for operational security, Pluti’s pleading convinces Saw to tell him the location so he knows which variation of extraction he needs to memorize, while Saw tells him they’ll keep Wilmon alive for now despite suggesting an accident should befall the boy. Before they set off, Saw ends up pointing a gun at Wilmon, urging him to be sure he’s taught Pluti everything, only for Saw to shoot Pluti in the face, claiming to the others he was an Imperial spy. I say claiming because I’m not totally convinced he was, as I feel like this was more of a test for Wilmon than anything else, putting Pluti at odds with the boy and seeing if he’d remain faithful to the cause despite the threat hanging over his head, and Saw and Two Tubes collaborated to plant evidence he was a spy so the others wouldn’t question Saw killing one of their own. Saw’s unhinged nature leads him to stand with Wilmon as he attempts to lock in the right extraction method on their actual target and Whitaker gets a speech on the same level, in Saw’s own unique manner, as Luthen and Kino Loy in season one. He recounts his time in a prison work camp on Onderon, how he was first exposed to rhydonium, and once Wilmon’s successful he rushes over to breathe it in, regardless of its toxicity, even calling it his sister and admitting to Wilmon he’s crazy. But he’s not the only one, he suggests, given how most of them will not live to see the Republic restored, yet they are here, fighting, no matter the cost, and he can sense the desire to fight in Wilmon, to be more than Luthen’s errand boy, and his frightening honesty is enough to radicalize the boy, who takes off his masks and breathes in the rhydo as well. We don’t return to Saw or Wilmon in “Episode 6 – What a Festive Evening,” so we’re left hanging to see what Wilmon will get up to at Saw’s side, especially with his skills extracting such a volatile explosive. I suspect they might be involved with the Ghorman cause, someone, supply bombs, maybe? We’ll see, but this does all explain the cause of Saw’s weathered appearance and breathing apparatus needs in Rogue One, this sad addiction to rhydo, reminding him of the burn and pain of the loss of his sister and the reason for fighting to the point he calls rhydo his sister; tragic stuff!!
Bonus Thoughts:
- Remember how I mentioned Mon doesn’t get as much time in this block of episodes? She doesn’t get a single scene in “I Have Friends Everywhere.”
- I took Sculdun saying the person he bought the forgery being dead to mean Tay Kolma, which would further expand the lengths Tay was going to stay afloat.
Episode 6 – What a Festive Evening
We’re going to jump right into this block’s third episode controversary, the death of Cinta Kaz. Season one left explicit representation of Vel and Cinta’s on the table, a disappointment despite their arcs and story, but the subtleties of the scripts gave them plenty of material. Their fractured relationship is even more fraught by the season two premiere block of episodes, with the two seeing one another as Cinta’s called into kill Tay, and now, three episodes later, we have them finally reunited on Ghorman. Vel’s been called in to help the group despite Cassian’s objections to Luthen, and Cinta’s there to help, the two women meeting in the café. It’s an adorable and lovely scene as Cinta opens up about her time away, her confusion, and some type of injury that helped her reprioritize her life, and Vel’s as sympathetic as you’d suspect. Later, after they walk the Ghormans through the operation, insisting on their authority in all things, their reconciliation sends sparks flying and the two embrace, giving us our most explicit on-screen LGBTQIA+ representation to date in all of Star Wars (and Doctor Aphra’s sprinting marathons in representation in the meantime!). It’s all well-written, the actresses bring sincerity to the characters’ desire for one another, and it builds an arc for Cinta, who has been mostly off-screen, and furthers Vel’s, yet it left me wishing they’d had this sooner and more drawn out, to really let it sink in.
I understand the intention, life in war is cruel and uncaring and the most unexpected things can happen, and that anyone not in Rogue One is fair game for the chopping block but this choice almost feels as lazy as the nonchalant way Cinta ends up dead. There’s been a whole spectrum of responses to this moment from a spectrum of people, as even queer fans have stated their reasons for not being upset over it while others are, and while I’m a cishet white man that’s always catered to in this franchise (just look at all the Ghormans!) so my opinion isn’t as qualified on this topic as others but I have to talk it for this review, Cinta’s death felt too much like the “Bury Your Gays” trope not to be it to me, no matter the quality of this show and its writing or the intentions. Had they reconciled at the start of this block of episodes, had a chance to be together longer, and hadn’t only gotten explicit representation on screen moments before, this could’ve alleviated its trope connection, while I felt like this character arc for Cinta came too little too late, as refreshing and cathartic as it was (the way she puts that device on the stalled vehicle had me whooping). And when comparing it to Brasso’s death, given his extra screen time and the fact it’s not as much of a negative trope for the best friend to die and Cinta is a BIPOC character whose death furthers a white woman’s story and a group of white people, only serves to highlight another glaring issue with the choice. As stated earlier, her death was potentially inevitable given she’s not in Rogue One and having her die just like anyone else could puts her on equal footing with others in the cast, so I can get how some can feel this isn’t the less savory trope, though I wonder had it come in a more heroic way like Brasso’s, not a stray shot because one idiot brought a gun when he was told not to, maybe this wouldn’t have felt as disappointing. Everyone’s allowed their opinions on this and I respect your choices on how to take it, and one has to wonder if any other way of doing it would’ve prevented the varied reactions regardless. Either way, I’ll be very interested to see where Vel goes after this, if she’ll be more like Cinta, cold and dissociated, and if her relationship with her cousin Mon Mothma will be even more estranged or only tighten up, as even Mon asks Luthen about her since they’ve not spoken much.
That’s right, Mon is back in “What a Festive Evening,” yet her parts still don’t feel as consequential as her premiere ones. She’s still trying to whip up votes, seeing Sculdun’s big party as the next opportunity, she trades some wicked fun barbs with Orson Krennic, a surprise guest of the party, and expresses her concerns for her cousin, though she’s not as central to what’s actually going on at the party. Kleya has some of her best scenes yet and I love her audaciousness and commitment, with Elizabeth Dulau making the literal best of every shot Kleya’s in, teetering between barking at Lonni to help block her actions and a cheery antiquities dealer as she describes the piece before them she’s trying to remove the bug from. Compared to the action on Ghorman, this was the far more tense situation of the episode, as Krennic and crew orbit around the exhibit, closing in on her and Lonni, blood seeping from her hands, and I had to wonder, even when she had to pull away, if there would be some hint that gave them away. Instead, she and Luthen leave the party in good spirits, joking about they should’ve killed Krennic when they had a chance, a hilarious bit of dramatic irony which caps off the tense scene. While their network of bugs and contacts remains intact, one has to wonder when and if it’ll be discovered regardless of their best efforts.
As various interactions in “Episode 5” suggested was happening with Luthen, his response to Cassian’s assessment of supporting Ghorman is the latest to lack empathy. He’d like to help them and see them be a bright symbol for the future of the rebellion, but he admits to Cassian even their fall could be just as bright of a sign to the galaxy about fighting back, as he’s happy either way to use them to further his goals and make his efforts worth all he’s given up. When Cassian returns home to Bix, their reunion is ecstatic, yet when she reveals Luthen’s visit, a fight brews again, leading Cassian to throw all caution to the wind (much like he warned Enza) and confront Luthen. He’s obviously pissed at Cassian’s disregard for protocol over this issue and basically says Cassian needs to fix the problem or leave her behind. Cassian’s not thrilled with the answer, saying he’s given the rebellion his blood but he doesn’t want to give her up too, telling Luthen that if he still wants him, he’ll need to help Cassian with Bix. Cut to the end of the episode, where Dr. Gorst finds himself the unwilling host to an unexpected guest: Bix! With a few choice words, Bix straps him in and secures his torture device to his head, flipping the switch and letting Gorst taste his own medicine…all before she meets up with Cassian outside and they blow up part of the building too. It does come across as a too easy and rushed resolution to Bix’s problems, but it’s downright stirring to watch, while it kills two-birds-with-one-stone, as earlier in the episode Lonni finds out Gorst’s methods will be expanded and surely Luthen now sees the benefit of stopping his very successful torture system from taking off. So is this Luthen showing empathy or taking advantage of the situation for the gains of the movement? At this point, as long as he’s helping people, it might not matter.
Bonus Thoughts:
- We get our first introduction to Bail Organa in the series, but due to scheduling conflicts they couldn’t work out, Jimmy Smits won’t be reprising the role and he’s been recast with Benjamin Bratt. I expected the recast would be Bail and I think Bratt did fine in his first outing, plus we’ll get a better measure in the next set of episodes with an expanded part, but whatever keeps them from using AI monster faces to bring back the likeness of characters, the better.
- I’ll be curious to see how the next block of episodes handles how the Empire, Ghormans, and the galaxy have responded to the Ghorman Front’s actions in this episode.
Here’s one more thing:
- They’ve updated the “Creating the Worlds of Andor” and “Behind the Seams” articles this week with new details on building the culture and set for Ghorman and the new looks for our favorite characters. There’s also another “Secrets from the Set” with a batch new easter eggs and behind-the-scenes details on this batch of episode. And lastly, see some of the BTS content in action with the new Declassified video!
Andor season two’s second batch of episodes, “Episode 4 – Ever Been to Ghorman?” & “Episode 5 – I Have Friends Everywhere” & “Episode 6 – What a Festive Evening” put on more story weight than they could hold, showing some cracks in the season’s structure, but it’s still an absolutely intriguing and consuming slice of the story which promises quite the memorable final half.
+ Introduction to Ghorman and its impressive set
+ Will empathy win or does it matter as long as the intentions are good? Saw and Luthen’s methods explored
+ Bix and Cassian’s relationship
+ Lonni’s return and Kleya’s big moves
+ Does Dedra care for Syril or see him now only as a means to an end?
– Cinta’s death and the baggage it carries
– Density adds more than what the structure of the season might allow
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky and Instagram @mynockmanor.
ANDOR SERIES REVIEWS:
Season Two: “Episode 1 – One Year Later” & “Episode 2 – Sagrona Teema” & “Episode 3 – Harvest”
Season One: Premiere “Episodes 1-3” | Ep. 4 “Aldhani” | Ep. 5 “The Axe Forgets” | Ep. 6 “The Eye” | Ep. 7 “Announcement” | Ep. 8 “Narkina 5” | Ep. 9 “Nobody’s Listening!” | Ep. 10 “One Way Out” | Ep. 11 “Daughter of Ferrix” | Ep. 12 “Rix Road”