Here’s a pitch that may or may not have actually happened: “this is a TV series that’s a prequel story about a character who dies in a separate prequel spinoff to a classic science fiction trilogy.” Or, if you want to be more specific: “it’s a series covering basically the entire adult life of one of the people who stole the Death Star plans before he went and stole the Death Star plans.”
This…does not sound very appetizing. It’s not that I was going to skip Andor entirely – I’m a sucker for Star Wars, and Diego Luna is always a real treat to see at work – but I wasn’t exactly stoked about it. Honestly, I was mildly irritated, what with knowing I’d end up writing a bunch of reviews about the damn thing (and this is a long season, clocking in at 12 episodes).
Would I have given this show a chance if it didn’t have anything to do with Star Wars? Probably not. Here’s the good news: even if there weren’t any Star Wars elements in the show, it’d still be a solid production; I’ll get into details below, but my overall impressions of the first three episodes are positive.
Let’s start with the characters. The main cast turn in strong performances, from Diego Luna’s return as Cassian Andor to Adria Arjona’s Bix and Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael. On top of that, Kyle Soller’s portrayal of Andor’s (current) primary antagonist Karn is enjoyably nuanced, and makes you root for the character’s survival (if not his success) in a weird sort of way.
Andor introduces a fun new droid character to the Star Wars universe with B2EMO, who’s almost certainly doomed (given its absence in Rogue One) – but makes a fun short-term addition. The real question is when K-2SO, Cassian’s delightful sidekick from Rogue One, will make an entrance – my money is on (the already-announced) season 2, but if we’re lucky (and B2EMO isn’t[1]), K-2 will show up before the first season is out.
The first three episodes primarily take place in the grey, depressing environs of the planet Ferrix, with the occasional flashback-based sojourn to a more verdant locale whose name I can’t be bothered to look up. Ferrix’ dour color palette matches the story’s tone and, just as importantly, pulls off the “lived-in” feel centric to so many classic Star Wars settings.[2]
This first trio of episodes enjoy a somewhat languid pace, which, I think, might explain why Disney released them all at once. As a whole, they make for a neat little mini-arc that would have run out of steam if it were spread over three weeks.
I should note that there aren’t any big blowout setpieces; there’s action, certainly, but nothing on the scale of some of the battles we’ve seen in the likes of The Mandalorian or Book of Boba Fett. I don’t hold this against Andor – for one, it’s early yet, and this isn’t necessarily the kind of show where big, explosive battles are the best way to convey a dramatic climax to a given story arc. Do keep this in mind when starting the show – if you come in looking for wall-to-wall gunfights you’ll walk away disappointed. Andor’s attention is focused on character-building and a side of intrigue, and the show’s been doing passably well at both. It’s nothing phenomenal but serves as a more than adequate foundation for a set of enjoyable performances – all wrapped up in some nice, gritty Star Wars packaging.
As one abusive prison guard said to the other, let’s hit the cons before we wrap things up for the day. So far, I haven’t really identified any emotional stakes in the story beyond the surface-level “Cassian is looking for his sister” storyline. The main characters are well-acted, clever, and entertainingly badass, but I don’t really feel much of an emotional connection to any of them. If Cassian finds his sister dead in a coming episode, my reaction is going to amount to an entire “Oh, that’s a real bummer, dude,” and nothing more.
Beyond that, I’ve found the flashback sequences to be somewhat uninspired, and don’t think they do much for Cassian’s character. Finally, the show’s pace is pretty slow, and it’s going to keep more than Diego Luna’s smoldering gaze to keep me engaged as the season progresses.
In the time since I reviewed Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’ve tried to let my opinions percolate for a bit before writing them up (no, I’m not just lazy, Darren). I think that this results in a final score that’s less biased by, say, Star Wars – based nostalgia. It also means that Andor is going to get a lower score than Obi-Wan’s first episodes did, when, in all fairness, Andor is the better show. It’s annoying, true, but I think that addressing it here and being honest with my review is better than changing past reviews or artificially inflating the current score. Give me a second to finish patting myself on the back for the moral stand I just took, and I’ll have the final rating ready…
Score: 7.5/10 (-.5/+.5)
PS: I know this review wasn’t that funny…but neither is the show. Plus, it’s harder to be funny about things you feel mildly positive about – it’s like making jokes about eco-friendly toilets. Trust me, I have commentary on eco-friendly toilets, but I don’t have that many jokes about them.
[1] Only one comic relief droid at a time – them’s the rules.
[2] Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: people definitely take shits in Star Wars. The Mos Eisley Cantina probably has a disgusting set of bathrooms. In Star Trek, nobody shits unless they’re in the holodeck. (This may or may not be true, but it seems accurate, and that’s good enough for me.)
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