Andor Review

A thoughful and welcome addition to a saturated and inconsistent property

                In a statement that many will not find surprising, Star Wars is quite popular.  So popular, people have even based their personal and online identity around it.  Personally speaking, I’m not much of a fan: I enjoyed the original trilogy and the prequals as a kid (though my opinion on the latter has changed) but even then, I never felt any emotional attachment to them.  I found the recent trilogy be forgettable and, most importantly in the case of this review, didn’t really see what the big deal was with Rogue One.  And the fans?  Well let’s just them at outspoken.  Any way you can imagine my muted response to the idea of following the male lead of Rogue One, whose name I didn’t remember until there was a show about him.  It seemed like a waste of time.

                So, imagine my surprise when I found out Andor was not just well received by both critics and fans, but considered the best story in Star Wars history.  I was curious.  My first go around I was so bored I gave up.  Thankfully, a friend bullied convinced me to give it a second go and I am glad I did.  And it’s not “good for Star Wars” like I’d thought it be, Andor is a damn good season of television, Star Wars or not, even if it has issues that stop me from calling it a masterpiece.

                You’ve probably heard that Andor is good, but you have to get through the first 3 episodes, which are slow.  Funnily enough, my favorite episodes are the first three, the complete opposite from my first impression.  One of the things that always made Star Wars feel stale to me was that it felt the same stories were being told of Jedi, Sith and whoever their allies were.  The first three episodes are not this and show a type of story I’ve not seen in Star Wars: people trying to live their lives under an oppressive regime.  The original trilogy and the Clone Wars show (what I’ve seen so far) kind of do this, but Andor’s first three episodes blow them out of the water.   Seeing Andor(Diego Luna) interact with people like his adoptive mother, their robot B2-EMO and his friends, may not be what the average Star Wars story is, but I really love it.  Seeing these people just living their lives and trying to watch out for themselves and do things they are not proud of but feel like they must to live another day is a perfect commentary on life under an oppressive regime, a far cry from the power fantasies that are in all the Star Wars tales I’ve seen. 

Also great is the focus on the indigenous, which Return of the Jedi did with the Ewoks, but Andor, once again, blows Jedi out of the water.  I really like the addition that Andor is Kenari, giving him a sense of history and why he should try to take down the empire. The flashbacks in the opening episodes paint a great visual portrait of how imperialism destroys the land we need to live.  The empire also gets some good development, with Syril Karn(Kyle Soller), his co-workers and his superiors trying to do their jobs but can’t because they don’t want to be replaced by the empire and how they too are victims, even when they benefit from the system, and how pitiful it is that they are unaware of being on the wrong side of history.  It’s all done in a slow burn (well, slow burn by Star Wars standards) that really immerses you in Star Wars’ themes that were lightly explored in the original trilogy and shows the complexities of the galaxy.  Completing the package is how it’s all connected, everything has a cause and effect that’s interesting.  Not in a “so that’s how Han solo got his last name” way, and more a “all the pieces matter” way. If we ever get a Star Wars story like Andor’s first three episodes, I’d watch it on the day of premiere.

                Eventually, Andor does get to the story it wants to tell, and thankfully it is a good one.  What follows is three intense arcs that are a heist, a prison break and a rebellion.  In each arc, Andor effectively explores its anti-imperialist themes. A lot of dialogue is pretty damning like acknowledging the indigenous Aldhani’s rich history while erasing them, and multiple instances of those in power seeing problems right in their face but not doing so for personal or bureaucratic reasons.  The rebels get their criticisms too but thankfully avoids a false balance argument.  For example, Luthen (a perfectly cast Stellan Skarsgard), who is willing to do the unspeakable for his cause, which leads to an excellent speech where he admits he must use the empires tactics and ruthlessness against them.  This also applies to the senator Mon Mothma(Genevieve O’Reilly, reprising her role from Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, and would play the character again in Ahsoka) who is willing to give her daughter in an arranged marriage to make a small step to defeat the empire. Some of the potency is undone by cheesy dialogue that feels like it was made for a movie trailer, or a recap trailer of previous episodes in the case of Andor, but the dialogue is strong overall.  

                In addition, Andor is full of great set pieces.  Whether it’s a thrilling heist where no one is safe, a badass prison break and riot in the final episode preceding by a rousing speech, Andor is an extremely entertaining show and the time flies by.

                I’ve been pretty positive of Andor so far, but I do have some criticisms that stop me from loving it like others.  My biggest complaint is the characters are rather flat.  Sure, what they say is thoughtful and intriguing, but they as characters not so much.  The show never takes a break to have character flavor filled dialogue like “even if I miss, I can’t miss”, “I am the one who knocks” or pretty much anything said Paulie Walnuts Gualtieri.  Sometimes it gets close, but these are mostly attempts.  I was also disappointed to see a lack of non-humans play a role in the story. They are there, but mostly in the background. Star Wars is at its heart, everyone from different backgrounds putting their differences aside to fight the imperialist forces that hurt them all and non-humans who are not really participating feels like a missed opportunity. Neither of these are dealbreakers, but they do bring down Andor’s quality sometimes.

 

Verdict

                My gripes aside, Andor is a thoughtful, dark, and beautiful looking season of television. This is seriously the best Stars Wars property I ever watched and if I wasn’t an outsider to the series I’d love it even more.  If I can enjoy Andor, a non-Star Wars fan can too.  I am excited for part 2. I just hope it’s not too busy setting up Rogue One.  Oh, and props for not putting in a eyerolling fanservice cameo.  It’s greatly appreciated.

Score

7/10(Closer to an 8 than 6)

Andor is a mature, thoughtfully realized critique of an oppressive regime, that’s also thoroughly entertaining to watch.