Andor - a Review

[shadowkat]

Finished Andor finally on Disney +. The series is twelve episodes in length, each episode is about an hour in length. The last episode has a big teaser at the end of the credits that connects the series to Rogue One, and Star Wars: A New Hope. (No, it's not a person or droid so much as an activity, so no worries or anticipation there, at least.)

It stars Diego Luna, with Stellan Skarsgaard (Alec Skarsgaard's father), Forrest Whitacker, Geneive O'Reilly, Andy Serkis, Alan Tudyk (he plays the droid K-2SO) and Fiona Shaw rounding out the cast. The only person from the Star Wars films that makes an appearance, and is in the cast - and if I weren't reading Princess and the Rogue, I wouldn't have picked up on it - is Mon Motha, who is the Senator and Rebel Commander in the films and books. So yes, it is connected to the films - but it takes place years before them, and kind of is a prequel. It's set between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, and follows the escapades of one of the members of the Rogue One team, Cassian Andor (portrayed by Diego Luna in both films). It's his backstory.

Part character piece, part thriller, part political espionage film - it kind of blends and blurs genres as it goes. For the most part, it works, but there are pacing issues here and there (which apparently are par for the course with these shows), and the action kind of creeps to a halt when it focuses on Mon, her family, and her political maneuverings. I had troubles following this bit, in part because it was hard to hear what was going on. The action scenes are loud, the parlor speaking scenes too quiet.

When we're focused on the dynamic and engaging Cassian Andor - the minutes fly on by. Stellan Skarsgaard's character is also rather dynamic. Both are kind of anti-heroes in different ways. And they are for the most part the central focus of the series, with Mon being the third wheel.

It does have some other interesting and captivating characters - Cinta and Vale, who are with the rebellion, the IBS superior who is pursuing Andor and what he knows, and Jesse - a mechanic and smuggler, who gets caught up in it all. Plus we have the marvelous Fiona Shaw and her engaging droid, Shaw plays Andor's mother (adopted not biological), and the matriarch of the town on Freinz, where a good portion of the action takes place. The action takes place in multiple places and planets, and clearly they had a large production budget or very good special effects.

My only quibble with it - is the political maneuverings going on with Mon, Stella Skarsgard's character, and Vale are kind of hard to follow and a little confusing. They all mumble, and I had troubles following it or focusing on it. It was boring. There was a lot of pointless chit-chat and talking around things. I'm not certain Star Wars lends itself well to the political bits. Bablyon 5 - it's not. Bab 5 is among the very few sci-fi shows that I think handled political maneuvering and espionage well. The others kind of flirt with it, but don't quite handle it well. Farscape did handle it better than most. But Bab 5 was by far the best in that department.

I'm still not entirely sure what Stella Skarsgaard's end game was in this, or Mon's for that matter. Because I couldn't hear what they were saying half the time. Stella has scenes with a thug and smuggler, portrayed by Forrest Whitacker, and I have no idea what they were plotting, couldn't hear any of it.

But other than that, it's rather good. Compelling. And by far the best thing I've seen in the Star Wars franchise since maybe Force Awakens.

Diego Luna holds the story together well, and has the charisma to lead the series. Stellan Skarsgard does as well. And the rest of the cast is equally good.

Comments

[mtbc]

Thank you both for the review and for the spoiler cuts!

[mefisto]

SPOILER WARNING:

That's a good assessment. I'd add 3 more points: it was really annoying that they treated the lesbian couple (Vel and Cinta) more circumspectly than Willow and Tara 25 years ago. I blame this on Disney. Another is that there's little if any humor in the show. It doesn't have to have any, of course, but I'm used to there being more and the lack was notable. Third, they wanted me to care about the rebels killed in the raid on Andahl (sp?) but they didn't develop them well enough beforehand for me to have any emotional attachment to them.

Mothma will be the rebel commander in Rogue One, and I understood her presence here to show how she got to that point. She vacillates a lot at the beginning, but at the end she gives up her husband and lets her daughter go to show that she's reached a "give up everything for the rebellion" attitude that Luthen expressed in his speech.

[dewline]

Mon Mothma also survives to appear in Return of the Jedi as part of the briefing process for the Endor moon raid.

[mefisto]

I'd forgotten that.

[shadowkat]

She's in Star Wars as well - briefing them on the Death Star. And in the novels that take place after.
I think she may also be in Force Awakens and Last Jedi as well.

[mefisto]

I only vaguely remembered her from Rogue One, and not at all from the other movies.

[shadowkat]

I only did, because I'm reading a Star Wars novel that takes place right after Return of the Jedi, and mentions it. She's in that book - and that pinged my memory.

Otherwise, I'd not have picked up on her at all.

[shadowkat]

There was a lot going on in this series, so certain items kind of get lost. Cinta and Vale's relationship got short shrift - while they spent almost too much time on the Inspector and the IBS agent, who were neither likable nor all that engaging. I'd have pulled back a bit on both and spent a bit more time on the Rebels. But I get how Gilroy was trying to balance it out. Admittedly it was easier to follow what the Imperials were up to than the Rebel leadership.

Andahl - was that where Cass Andor was from? I kind of lost that bit entirely. So agree with you there - it wasn't built well or even clear.

Cinta came across as very cold-hearted and it was hard to understand why Vale was into her. We also got only bits and pieces of it - I think they were trying to show the cost of being part of the Rebellion? Because Cinta kept bringing up that the Rebellion came above all things. And she'd clearly sacrificed her soul to it, as had Luthan. Vale much like Mon was not quite there yet, nor was the guy working under Luthan. So, I think there was a heavy thematic thread throughout about what people were willing to do to fight the Empire. Cass wasn't willing to sacrifice everything - until the very end - when he tells Luthan, either kill me or take me. He basically realized what his mother tried to tell him - there was no life worth living if the Empire is in power. Mon was kind of getting there herself, as was Vale.

With the IBS agent and the Inspector - they kind of showed how soul-sucking the Empire was to even those working within its ranks. Manipulated, with little agency of their own, and no personal lives to speak of. Just slaves to the machine. If they show initiative - they are pushed down.

There was humor in it - but it's more...subtle and situational? And kind of dark. For example - I found it hilarious that the Empire is expending all these resources hunting down Andor, while he's stuck in one of their maximum security penitentiaries and working hard to take it down - and does. Also, following Andor - is kind of what the Rebel Alliance wants them to do, because it allows them to make plans elsewhere. I also found it amusing that if the Inspector had followed his supervisor's advice - he'd still have his position, his men wouldn't be dead, and Andor most likely wouldn't have done the heist or taken down the penitentiary. Watching how the Empire kept shooting itself in the proverbial foot was amusing.
(I actually prefer subtle humor, so that works better sometimes for me, particularly if you are going for hyper-realism and have dark material.)

[mefisto]

No, Andahl (or whatever) was where they stole the payroll and escaped.

The stuff on Ferrix was pretty similar, though, because I had a hard time keeping the characters straight except for Bix and Maarva.

Agree on Cinta being cold-hearted, but as you say, then it's hard to understand Vel's attraction to her. Except that she's, you know, beautiful. :)

I see your point about the various ironies, but I meant more clever/witty/funny stuff.

[shadowkat]

I don't think the funny/witty stuff would have worked here? It's similar in tone to Rogue One, and conceived more as an espionage thriller and drama? More adult focused, not meant to be comical or dramedy or satire. Kind of inline with things like Dark Knight, Rogue One, and Empire Strikes Back, not Star Wars or the Madalorian (although I didn't find that funny either).

My difficulty with Cinta is I kept confusing her with Jesse. Although once Jesse got captured that was no longer an issue.

Ah, did they kill people on Andahl? I completely lost that thread.

[mefisto]

Several of the team stealing the payroll were killed, yes.

Fair enough on the fact that thrillers generally don't have much humor, but Rogue One did (mostly the robot).

[shadowkat]

I caught that most of the team stealing the payroll were killed, but not entirely by the Empire.

The robot kind of provides humor here too - not as much, mainly because he's depressed.