– Spoiler Review –
Rogue One, is one of the more recent films well-beloved by many, often for its story, action, humor, and heart, but also its characters and their struggles against the giant Imperial war machine that will change the fate of the galaxy. While all the characters deserve more insight into their pasts, Cassian Andor and his darker side of the Rebellion, a spy or assassin depending on the job, was full of potential and thus was born Andor, a show about his past and how he becomes such a vital and faithful member of the Rebellion against the Empire. There’s been a lot of expectations for this show since it was first announced and as more details started trickling in, and after finally seeing the first three episodes, I can comfortably say it manages to live up to any and all expectations I’ve had, but also promises to blow them out of this galaxy over the course of this season alone.
Editor’s Note: Typically, I review shows episode by episode, but since they released the opening three together and they flow so well as one big story, though watching it one by one still is viable and will have some good hooks to pull you back for the next, I’m going to cover all three episodes here. I’ll start with a general overview and then specifics for each episode afterwards. It’ll be single episode reviews for the rest of the season. Thanks for visiting the Manor and hope you enjoy!
Starting 5 years before A New Hope, Andor builds a tense and layered story across its three opening episodes, and while I’ve seen it described as slow, I’d argue it’s deliberate and confident. It’s much like A New Hope itself, a movie that takes its time to get going, preferring to build up its universe and get you acquainted to its eccentricities first. In fact, it would be rather fair to compare the show to a novel and its episodes as its chapters, and these first three the opening act, where it takes it time introducing us to characters and the world. Andor’s stakes are small to start, the opening intimate and focused, its grungy, nightlife-set setting bringing a specific tone of desperation and bad choices that pays off in big ways, with a dark alley’s accidentally deadly scuffle resulting in a domino effect that pushes Cassian Andor on a new path. It’s not immediate how Cassian’s actions in the opening moments of Episode 1 lead to the big fight scene that closes out Episode 3, as the show instead marinates in the life of Cassian and those around him on the planet Ferrix, showing his relationships, contacts, and particular smooth-talking way of getting what he wants, plus the ins and outs and community of Ferrix. That the show takes this time not only sets it apart from some previous Star Wars shows, but it means that by Ep. 3 we’re endured to many of the characters in Cassian’s orbit and invested more in how his actions and the single-minded pursuit by middle-management security man Syril Karn upend everything Cassian knows and loves. That the show manages all this while containing flashbacks to Cassian’s Lord of the Flies-like childhood, which crescendos alongside the main story of the “present,” is a stroke of genius and specific focus only taking one’s time allows. The tone and slow-build tension really are excellently paid off in Ep. 3, played out in microcosm with the citizens’ spooky, unnerving clanging to mess with the security forces when they come to mess with one of their own, and I was eager for another episode by its close, even after the nearly 2 hours I already spent watching the show.
Across the board, the acting is something special as well in Andor. Diego Luna takes an already layered, nuanced performance from Rogue One and builds on it, bringing a passion and fiery, earnest zeal to every moment in the role, his energy is enough for everyone else to feed from and deliver their own great performances. It great to see a Latinx actor like Luna take the lead and do so in such an effortless and giving way, grounding the show and giving it a beating, relatable heart. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Kyle Soller’s Deputy Inspector Syril Karn, which my phone’s autocorrect of Karn to Karen isn’t totally unfounded, as Soller brings a pervasive mild-mannered temperament, hiding the desire for bigger and better things in a convincing way, which only strengthens the character’s determined and zealous pursuit…and our desire to love to hate him. Adria Arjona brings a lot to the table for the complicated, tense past between Bix Caleen and Cassian, and her reluctance to share this side of herself with Timm (James McArdle) plays across her face often, it obviously hurting Bix as she’s trying to move on from Cassian and start a different life, though still circling in the underground aspects of their pasts. Fiona Shaw as Maarva Andor, while doesn’t get as big a role in these first three episodes, plays up her part well, from doting mother-like figure for Cassian to the interesting glimpse we get of her younger, more mobile days; she adds to the growing tension in the finale, talking up the clanking the citizens are using to unnerve the security forces. Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael, while doesn’t have too much besides scenes we’ve seen in previous clips, does a wonderful job of showing his character’s rougher side despite a calm outward demeanor, while the brief moment before he lands on Ferrix hints at his more decadent lifestyle and stature. Even secondary characters deliver memorable performances, from Alex Ferns’ also zealous and over-confident Sergeant Mosk, McArdle as the jealous boyfriend, Joplin Sibtain as Brasso, a well-meaning associate and friend of Cassian’s, and even the passenger Luthen is stuck chatting with on his way in to Ferrix via their shuttle system. And we can’t forget the droid, B2EMO (Dave Chapman), who just about steals the show, as his opening introduction scene, and subsequent conversation with Cassian, sealed the deal for me right away, and I hope there’s plenty more of the plunky, old droid going forward.
I’ve loved what the Volume technology, the big 360-degree screens that have revolutionized filmmaking and brought to popularity with The Mandalorian, has done for many productions, especially during the pandemic, and I recognize how it’s still in its earliest stages so for all its advancements it has its limitations here and there. It’s often hard to tell when it’s being used and the quality of CGI overall these days means many times we feel like we’re looking at real sets and effects but they aren’t, but it’s clear Andor is largely filmed on sets and the overall production quality and cinematography from this approach brings to the screen a feast on the eyes. I’m sure I’ll be surprised in any behind-the-scenes content how much is actually CGI and blue/green-screen as well, but there’s no denying the scale and scope of many of the show’s sets, a level of craftmanship that’s often hard to replicate, from the dense and dirty garage we first meet Bix in, the dark and seedy streets of the leisure district the show opens on, and the claustrophobic streets of Ferrix, it’s all captured with wide shots and tense closeups. And then there’s the setting of Cassian’s childhood, the jungle planet with the mining operations abandoned by the Empire, the dense foliage of his and the fellow children’s home base and the crash site of a downed ship being memorable scenery and settings that differ so much from Ferrix, it’s immediate you know exactly when and where you are as a viewer. I look forward to this exceptional production design and cinematography in the episodes ahead, especially as we look to leave Ferrix and start exploring more of the galaxy. Likewise, the score by Nicholas Britell has been something memorable, often giving me Blade Runner-vibes, yet still very Star Wars-like, but yet also its own thing in certain parts, credibly building tension or adding to the excellent acting; they brought the orchestra on set for some of the filming, which is such a cool idea, and it certainly feels like it shows with how certain scenes and acting play out. The idea of a different take on the main theme to start each episode, melancholy or tension-filled, is a brilliant way to begin and I look forward to seeing how Britell continues to use this to set the tone of the coming events.
Alright, now I’m going to dive a little more into each episode, but not too much, this is already long enough as it is and thanks for reading so far!
Episode 1 – “Kassa”
The opening sequence, with Cassian going to the leisure district’s brothel, where he begins to draw the ire of some security guards as he works his charm to learn about the location of his sister, and the subsequent scuffle in the alleyway, was such a brilliant, small-scale beginning. The stakes seem small, but this one mistake is what kickstarts the entire series and the conflict which pushes him to speed up finally meeting Bix’s contact whom has been wanting to meet him: Luthen.
Regarding his sister, we meet her in the flashbacks, which establishes the children’s Lord of the Flies like lifestyle in the woods. Their world is about to change when they see a ship crash on their planet, Kenari, in the distance. The dialogue here isn’t translated, but the young actors do a great enough job we don’t necessarily need it, with much of their actions and looks cueing us in on what’s being said or discussed. How Kassa, the name Cassian’s sister calls him by, gets from living in the jungle to Ferrix is still unclear at this point, but these scenes are intriguing enough I was always excited for them to return to the past.
Syril’s boss’ clear disregard for the lives of his men, concocting a story so it looks good on paper for their Imperial overlords, is the type of incompetence we’d expect from people in this era trying to stay out from under the jackboot of the Empire, but for once we’re sort of rooting for it to be how the case is handled instead of Syril’s drive for justice.
Episode 2 – “That Would Be Me”
We finally meet Maarva here and the dynamic between her, Cassian, and B2EMO is great, but like I said, I wish there had been of her throughout these episodes so far. She obviously regards him as her son and is very protective of him, despite knowing his actions and path so far, while he cares about her and he’s quick to turn off his smooth-talking and charm around her, plus they both care a ton about Bee and I get why. There’s a scene where Maarva looks through Cassian’s room, where there’s one of the blow dart rods from his childhood in there, along with a toy bantha, and her keeping it much the way he probably did when he last slept there shows how much she misses his younger, probably less rebellious and independent days.
We learn and see quite a bit more about Cassian’s past in this episode, in both the past and present. In the past, the teenagers and kids get to the crashed ship, which is spewing weird green/yellow fumes and all the people onboard have a similar complexion to their skin, dying from inhaling the fumes it looks like, but the group’s leader dies when one of the men aboard awakes and shoots first, askes questions later. The kids have to use a good portion of their blow darts, but they take him down and abandon the ship to take their leader home. Kassa here saw the man awake and didn’t say anything fast enough, leading to her death, so he decides to stay behind and explore the ship. This is Kenari (I keep thinking it should be spelt canary from how it sounds, especially considering it was a mining planet with a disaster), the planet he tells the woman at the brothel his sister was from, which we learn in the present had a disaster and was abandoned by the Empire, so I imagine all these kids’ parents died and when the Imps rolled out, they left them all behind to cover up what happened. I’m curious if what they were mining will become important to the show or not.
We spend more time with Bix, which I will respectfully never complain about, as she navigates setting up a meet for Cassian as he stresses the urgency of selling wares to get off-planet quickly and the relationship with her current boyfriend, Timm. That he’s suspicious of her and her connection to Cassian, going so far as to snoop on what message spooked her and later uses the equivalent of the holo net pay phone to call in a tip on Cassian, makes him totally unworthy of Bix but definitely the Star Wars version of the name Tim.
The lack of Karn’s charisma is hilarious and yet a great show of Soller’s acting, as his “inspiring” speech after the Sergeant’s to their men as they go to Ferrix to apprehend Cassian is awkward yet earnest, as he truly believes this will be important for them to go after one man.
Episode 3 – “Reckoning”
By the start of the episode, the tension was buzzing, especially thanks to the opening theme’s expectant setting tone.
Luthen appeared in the previous episode, but he takes center stage in a brilliant scene between him and Cassian, which you might’ve seen watching any of the clips/Rogue One-attached preview, where it slowly becomes clear he’s not here for Cassian’s trinkets as much as he’s here to recruit him to the cause. Cassian thinks he knows all the sly tricks but Luthen has him beat, creating an exit when he enters and disposing of devices that can be tracked, and is a great shot to boot. Their dynamic, while hostile at first, is quick to grow into something amenable. The action sequence in the room they meet, with all the engine parts swinging around as more security agents come after them, is well-shot and visually intriguing to watch unfold.
The town clanking metal objects to unnerve the security guards, and Cassian’s friend Brasso helping to destroy one of their landers, was so effectively played out in the show I was on edge the moment they stopped clanking, just like the guards.
In the flashbacks, we learn Maarva and an associate of hers, plus Bee, are also plundering the downed ship on Kenari, when they run into the young Cassian. She tranquilizes him and takes him away, and the past and present line up as both have scenes showing Cassian, taken away by someone else from his home, looking at an uncertain future ahead. It’s a cool way to thematically link the past and present, and Cassian’s story overall. I found it curious Maarva calls the Empire the Republic still in the past, so either it’s truly that far back or she’s found them interchangeable. I’d like to know more about either option.
Here are a few other things:
- When I saw B2EMO with the one yellow tread and I immediately thought of the whole bizarre Threepio with the one red arm part of The Force Awakens, and I felt like they did it here in reverse so Bee could be memed to be saying “hold my beer.”
- The security bureau’s triangle-shaped main ship, which is where they launch in landers similar to the clone troopers’ gunships, is giving me Tho Yor-vibes, a pyramid ship in Legends that collected Force-sensitive individuals and deposited them on Tython to learn more about the Force.
- There’s an interview on the official site with showrunner Tony Gilroy and much of the cast, from Luna, Arjona, to O’Reilly (whose Mon Mothma isn’t in the show…yet).
Andor’s three episode premiere works exceptionally well together as its own little story, but also to reveal the quality of the show ahead and promises even bigger and better things as the small-town focus begins to widen. If it can keep this up, this might easily be my favorite piece of on-screen Star Wars media ever, show or movie, as it feels so different and yet so SW at the exact same time, with stellar performances anchoring its personal drama fueled story.
+ Purposeful build of tension, tone, and setting
+ Stellar acting across the board; Luna anchors the show
+ Craftsmanship and cinematography in every inch of every scene
+ Need a B2EMO for home, pronto!
– Timm’s arc
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.