Andor
Andor is streaming on Disney Plus at the time of writing. Rated TV-14. Common Sense says 13.
Television programs are typically reviewed after the first two or three episodes. This report card does not cover the entire season. It may contain MINOR spoilers for the first few episodes.
STORY: A-
In an era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue, Cassian Andor will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a Rebel hero.
Fans yearning for gritty Star Wars content: your years-long campaign of stuffing LucasFilm’s suggestion boxes has worked. The streets stream with grit. Faces are smothered in grit. The rain pours down with, you’ve probably guessed it: grit. The grit is glorious.
The plot tip toes tepidly at first, then slowly rises to an all out sprint. It feels like watching a tiny snowball roll down a hill. It doesn’t seem super dynamic at first. But before you know it, it’s picked up speed, velocity, and a plethora of Imperial entanglements.
PEOPLE: A
Jedis glide. Stormtroopers stomp. Smugglers scramble. Cassian Andor (played by Dirty Dancing: Havana Night’s Diego Luna) moves like no one we’ve ever seen in the Star Wars universe. All the wounds from his past and the steely tenacity necessary to survive them manifest in that stammer. He’s perfectly cast here, which anyone who’s seen Rogue One can tell you.
Syril Karn (You, Me, and the Apocolypse’s Kyle Soller) is a delight to watch as the idealistic yet hapless officer temporarily left in charge of the corporate police force. His fanatical idealism blinds him to reality. It’s a comical performance at first. But it blasts off to a whole other level once everything crumbles in front of his misguided eyes.
Amazing rebound here for Adria Arjona after Morbius. Her work in that film isn’t her fault - the fault lies in the writing. Her sophisticated work as Bix Caleen, a loner navigating the fine line dividing following the “law” and doing the right thing, will hopefully soon replace Morbius on her IMDb page’s list of top things she’s known for.
FILM NERD STUFF: B+
It’s a Star Wars property, which means we get a new droid! I dig B2EMO. Boxy droids have a history of being clumsy. But “B” has R2-D2’s spritely maneuverability and a charming desire to always do the right thing.
I rather enjoyed the feral pit bull/wild boar/iguana creatures that roam the streets of whatever town on whatever planet the show mostly takes place. The geography is tough to keep track of at first.
Also, a special shout out to the editing work and production design at the end of episode three. The set design is delicious chaos: a warehouse where mammoth pieces of star ship machinery boomerang around like deadly pinballs. The rapid editing further whips that delicious chaos into a fantastic frenzy.
GENRE (Elective Class): A
Andor’s opening scene is similar to the Han Solo - Greedo scene from the original Star Wars movie. But they also contain significant differences which expertly teach us what type of movie/show we’re watching.
The original Star Wars is basically an old fashioned Western film that takes place in a galaxy far, far away. The good guys wear white, and the bad guys wear black. It’s got shoot-outs. It’s even got a saloon, where the Han Solo - Greedo scene takes place. That scene follows the same beats of a scene we’ve seen in so many Westerns. Picture in your head the following beats, first with a roughneck cowboy and then again but with Han Solo: They shoot someone in a saloon. The crowd freezes. They stare while the shooter casually strolls out. He knows he’s gained either the respect or fear of everyone in the place. He knows he won’t face any consequences or arrest. He puts a few dollars (or in Han’s case, credits) on the bar to take care of the mess. The band starts playing again, and everyone goes right back to what they were doing. See? Star Wars = Space Western!
Andor is definitely not a Western. Cassian knows he’s messed up. People most definitely will care about this. He most definitely will face consequences if he’s caught. He can’t stroll away. No one is scared of him. He needs to run away as fast as he can and immediately make plans to skip town. His bad decision sets up a long line of dominos in front of him. Each domino is a terrible consequence. As the line falls, each one places our hero in a worse situation than the one before it. There is a genre for stories that follow this pattern. It’s called Noir, the grittiest of all genres.
They’re similar scenes, yet each one uses a different “filter” to explain the genre the story will take place in. Whether we compare them consciously or not, it’s a tremendously effective way to shape the tone of the entire show.
FINAL COMMENTS:
So far, Andor is fantastic. Its gritty tone has long simmered beneath the neutered surface of the Star Wars franchise. Common complaints coming from the galaxy’s citizens regarding the Empire typically revolve around increased taxes or higher levels of Imperial presence. No doubt, these things are neither fun nor jolly. But they’re not things that crush souls. Sometimes a soul needs to be crushed before a person is ready to wager it against the wrath of the Empire. Rogue One shows us what crushed Jyn Erso’s soul. Now, we get to see what crushes Andor’s when that final domino falls.