Star Wars: Andor (September 21st, 2022)

[Wor-Gar]

Why do you need a driver if you have intelligent machines?

That said, I like it. Lady Penelope too.

 

[ajp4mgs]

Lucas tried to do the political machination angle in the PT. Not only was it at odds with the hokey Flash Gordon inspiration for the original Star Wars, but he did it so clumsily by off-setting politics with comical stupidity (Jar Jar and the Battle Droids). The acting through much of the PT was pretty bad too.

Andor has succeeded where Lucas failed. We have the political machinations, a lack of comical stupidity, and good acting. It isn't Flash Gordon, but it is a good, more grown up interpretation of the universe George created before he lost sight of his own vision.

So spot on, IMO; couldn't agree more!

And, yes, this series is giving us those political machinations without undercutting it all with embarrassingly cartoonish nonsense, but it's also (as you also noted in a later post) doing something even more valuable than that. This show is grounding it all with a sense of realism that does nothing but make me even more invested in the entire SW landscape and the movies I grew up with. Every episode is building that appreciation further by being written with purpose of vision, undeterred focus, and intelligence. All of those qualities were too lacking for too long.

The Empire and Rebellion are getting fleshed out with relatable analogues and enough poignant meaning to not just add to the OT, but actually *elevate* it. When I watch Mothma in ROTJ from now on, I'll have a more informed and greater appreciation for her character and her role as Alliance leader. When I watch the scenes in ANH with the Imperials on the Death Star, I'll have a richer sense for their structure and day-to-day ambitions. And when I watch Rebels going to battle against impossible odds, I'll have a deeper connection with the reasons why.

This is becoming more and more the type of SW expansion I covet and had begun to forgot I had a desire for. Andor is a SW prequel series that feeds the original audience of the OT a full meal that can satiate the appetite of their now-older and more mature sensibilities. It's such a welcome departure from having to settle for scraps that can be salvaged from all of the kiddie meals that have been served up in the interim.

I think this series is such a fantastic gift to SW. And from a dude who couldn't care less about the franchise when he was brought into it. It may not be for everyone, but the people it *is* for are getting rewarded big time!

 

[slynger]

The scene in the ISB briefing room was perfectly executed. The acting and dialogue were great.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

Also, in case not already mentioned...

Why do you need a driver if you have intelligent machines?

That said, I like it. Lady Penelope too.

You old farts are showing your age. Wait...I remember them, dagnabit I'm old too.

 

[Wor-Gar]

One of my first TV memories is Thunderbirds...

 

[ZE_501]

No surprise, I loved this episode. The characters, the tonal shifts, the production design, the series of unfortunate events ... as others have said, it elevates the OT and Rogue One.

People keep calling Cassian 'passive'.

He goes after what he wants, he survives, he flys, he fights, he has some *fine* women LOL ... this is not a passive character. He *is* somewhat rogue-ish, moving from caper to caper, moment to moment, kind of a jerk ... almost what you may expect from someone that's suffered multiple traumatic experiences and doesn't plan for the future so much as drift along opportunistically, because he's lost so much for him there *is no future*.

Bix more or less called him out on his character. His arc culminates with Rogue One, where he shows compassion and doesn't kill Jyn's father, and becomes self-less to aid a cause greater than himself. Harrison Ford is green with envy. His arc *begins* here. He's not even a rebel yet, just a crook. A highly skilled one but that seems to be it.

Well this episode whacked the break on again, overall it was fine, however Cassian came across as lacking in prudence in his choice of travel destinations. WTF was he thinking!?

Perhaps he was thinking moment to moment, instant gratification, wanting to forget the twin rejections from his mother figure and Bix. I agree, not super smart, a legitimate nitpick for the episode, perhaps an obvious plot contrivance.

But did you *see* that woman?

Why do you need a driver if you have intelligent machines?

Could be a class thing. Only new money buys droids. Old money has natural born servants.

 

[Asta]

Why do you need a driver if you have intelligent machines?

That said, I like it. Lady Penelope too.

As ZE_501 just wrote, I think it's a status symbol.

 

[ZE_501]

I also really liked the exchange with the trooper. It was a beautiful illustration of the frightening absurdity attached to totalitarianism and the dumb thugs who serve it. If anyone has read any Arthur Koestler, Mikhail Bulgakov or even Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, you'll hear echoes of their works in that exchange.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

As ZE_501 just wrote, I think it's a status symbol.

Agreed. It's like someone owning a luxury car, a yacht, or a designer dog these days.

 

[Mandible]

My take on him going to "Florida" was that he has all this money and deludedly thinks nothing can touch him. He's completely in denial about how bad the situation is, that a holiday resort would surely be a safe haven free of the Empire's grasp.

A trip to the shop that'll take him 6 years!

 

[ZE_501]

My take on him going to "Florida" was that he has all this money and deludedly thinks nothing can touch him. He's completely in denial about how bad the situation is, that a holiday resort would surely be a safe haven free of the Empire's grasp.

A trip to the shop that'll take him 6 years!

What was it Luthen said to him? "I thought you were smart."

 

[Mandible]

The main take from this show for me is, how much they ****** up the ST.

Sure Disney have ****** just about everything they've touched, but your marquee product, the product that ensures longevity and a longterm revenue stream, brand strength/recognition, merchandising, etc (that has subsequently been forgotten by almost everybody already), they rush headfirst into, without a meticulously planned story.

What. The complete. ****?!

I know Lucas didn't have it all perfectly planned out back in the day, but he had an abundance of notes and ideas that gave it all (eps 1-6) some semblance of continuity and structure.

The current custodians have proven to be idiotic corporate clowns with zero foresight and understanding of the material and their customers.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

​

My take on him going to "Florida" was that he has all this money and deludedly thinks nothing can touch him. He's completely in denial about how bad the situation is, that a holiday resort would surely be a safe haven free of the Empire's grasp.

A trip to the shop that'll take him 6 years!

Yeah, that was a pretty harsh sentence.

 

[ajp4mgs]

My take on him going to "Florida" was that he has all this money and deludedly thinks nothing can touch him. He's completely in denial about how bad the situation is, that a holiday resort would surely be a safe haven free of the Empire's grasp.

A trip to the shop that'll take him 6 years!

Yep. His state of mind being illustrated to set the stage for him becoming a part of the fight for freedom that he'll be willing to give his life for. Seeing that no "escape destination" exists, no blind spot to the eye of the Empire, and that no amount of money can buy safety, Cassian can conclude that if his role as just one man in a payroll heist can lead to so much disruption that the Empire feels compelled to respond with these galaxy-wide measures, then that same man can keep on making a big difference by committing to the Rebel cause.

The Florida bit may have arguably been too on-the-nose, and may have perhaps had some questionable real-world contemporary metaphors in mind, but it was effective. One thing I like from a metaphor standpoint about the Florida locale is that Andor's allegiance to the Rebellion was likely born on that beachfront getting railroaded by the Empire, and then he died on a beachfront getting a huge measure of revenge against them. It's like poetry, it rh... aw never mind.

 

[Wor-Gar]

One thing I like from a metaphor standpoint about the Florida locale is that Andor's allegiance to the Rebellion was likely born on that beachfront getting railroaded by the Empire, and then he died on a beachfront getting a huge measure of revenge against them. It's like poetry, it rh... aw never mind.

 

[Prime Clone]

The main take from this show for me is, how much they ****** up the ST.

Sure Disney have ****** just about everything they've touched, but your marquee product, the product that ensures longevity and a longterm revenue stream, brand strength/recognition, merchandising, etc (that has subsequently been forgotten by almost everybody already), they rush headfirst into, without a meticulously planned story.

What. The complete. ****?!

I know Lucas didn't have it all perfectly planned out back in the day, but he had an abundance of notes and ideas that gave it all (eps 1-6) some semblance of continuity and structure.

The current custodians have proven to be idiotic corporate clowns with zero foresight and understanding of the material and their customers.

If only they'd given J.J. a year off at the start and then let him do the whole trilogy. It still might not have been that great but at least would have been a more cohesive, singular vision.

And this is from someone who thinks TLJ was probably the best of the trilogy.

 

[Wor-Gar]

If only they'd given J.J. the boot. It still might not have been that great but at least would have been a more cohesive, singular vision.

I see your point.

 

[DarkChocobi]

Admiral Yularen live action debut, what a surprising take from this episode. Now he's full-time serving the Empire and Emperor Palpatine after years of taking **** from the Jedi Council ))

 

[jye4ever]

I genuinely think this may be the genre show that finally gets Disney their first non-technical Emmy. It’s so damn smart. There’s no shortage of engaging, well written television out there, but I often find that it’s easy to push boundaries when you have none. Streamers like Apple TV+, Amazon, HBO Max, Netflix, and others can pretty much be completely uninhibited with content restrictions, but Disney + finds itself in an almost self-imposed exile with Network TV in which the high profile of their IP and it’s conservatorship often boxes them into a different set of standards than their competitors.

This show transcends that and it does so within the limitations of its platform. It’s one thing to write engaging dialogue and political intrigue when you can break it up with orgies and bloody, gruesome battles, but you just can’t have Admiral Ackbar calling someone a four-letter word in a series set in a multi-billion dollar franchise. And yet? Tony Gilroy almost does that without doing it and it recontextualizes the entire Star Wars Mythos for me. This is a show that actually makes me want to see The Emperor as the elder statesman he seems to be. It’s something that I don’t think has been highlighted enough in the decades’ worth of film. Palpatine has often been depicted without cunning after the PT and as a sort of cackling idiot zealot obsessed with “The Dark Side.” I’d be interested in seeing him through a different lens that I think this show hints at.

Namely, that I don’t think any number of Senators or his Imperial subordinates would be able to rationalize nor entertain the inane ramblings of a prune-faced lunatic about “Darth Plagueis” and “The Force,” nor would I think the Empire would be so quick to bend the knee to him if there wasn’t some foundation of respectability belying his…eccentricities. Andor has me re-examining all the inner workings and machinations of nearly 50 years of one of the most iconic franchises in pop culture. “What did the Imperial High Command look like after the destruction of the Death Star?” “How did the remnants of the Empire grapple with the news of Palpatine’s death after the destruction of the second Death Star?” “Who took control?” “Were there power struggles?” “When did the transition to the First Order begin?”

It raises all sorts of questions I never even thought I knew nor wanted the answers to and, honestly? Disney would be absolutely moronic if they didn’t lean into it in charting the future of this franchise.

Truly epic post thank you for this amazing read.

 

[e30ernest]

Admiral Yularen live action debut, what a surprising take from this episode. Now he's full-time serving the Empire and Emperor Palpatine after years of taking **** from the Jedi Council ))
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He didn't really come out of retirement right? He was allegedly in A New Hope too.

I don't remember how he was in Clone Wars because I didn't pay much attention to him. Was he always into that doctrine or was he more like a nice guy just following orders?