So many Star Wars shows have been announced to be in development. Most have ended up falling through for one reason or another, or simply stuck in development purgatory. It seemed odd, therefore, when a show about a supporting character from Rogue One (a movie I personally rather like!) actually made its way to our screens. The first trailer seemed promising, but after the latest Disney+ efforts (the less said about The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi and nearly every Marvel show the better) I remained tentative about it.
Now that the first season is over, I can safely say that Andor isn't just a fantastic Star Wars show. it's a great sci-fi show and a fascinating drama/thriller about the cost of rebellion and the oppressive power of fascism.
This review contains spoilers for Andor
A New Feel For Star Wars
Every Star Wars property since 2015 has tackled its 'fresh' look at the franchise by re-shuffling existing pieces and ideas from the originals. Each has had its moments of brilliance- The Last Jedi's introspection about the past, The Mandalorian's sweet bond between a bounty hunter and child and Rogue One's grittier take on the underground rebellion. Andor takes the next step and isn't just a breath of fresh air but an actual reinvention of what Star Wars can be.
Showrunner Tony Gilroy (the writer of the Jason Bourne trilogy and producer of 2014's Nightcrawler) clearly has a strong vision for this show rather than it being a piece of content that was created and approved by a Disney committee. It results in a through and through drama and/or (get it?) thriller and not just a pale imitation of the genre.
A caveat: I don't think that all of Star Wars should be this serious - I still adore the adventure of The Mandalorian and the charm and mysticism of the original trilogy- but the only way to evolve a franchise is to step out of the shadow of its predecessors, which has remained as Lucasfilm's biggest flaw thus far. And that's exactly what Tony Gilroy and his team have done. To make something so character focused, introspective and thoughtful must have been a great creative risk. It's certainly not a show for every fan of Star Wars (which is fine) but it is objectively the most well-written and mature it has ever been.
This new found maturity isn't limited to the slower pace, language or adult themes (the first scene is in a brothel!? first Star Wars swear word?!) but extends to a maturity in its writing which is really what makes the show sing.
The Cost of Rebellion
The greatest strength of Andor's writing is in its exploration of how each character in the ensemble is touched by the oppression of the Empire and the way in which they engage with the Rebellion. I could write so much about each of these individually, and the depth of its messaging about the way in which fascism embeds itself in society. Here are a few highlights:
- Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) grapples with his loss of morality in choosing to fight the Empire
- Dedra (Denise Gough) shows us the perspective of an Imperial agent fighting through the bureaucracy of the Empire to advance her career and how that bureaucracy can then be weaponised against regular people
- Maarva (Fiona Shaw) exemplifies the power of the 'regular person'
- Kino Loy (Andy Serkis) shows how the Empire maintains control through fear and paranoia
- Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) fights not with blasters but with her words and resources, maintaining a harmless façade to enable illegal rebellious activity
- Nemik (Alex Lawther) is a philosophical true believer who gets in over his head
Notice I left Cassian, the titular character, out of this list. He is the thread between each of these corners of the galaxy but sometimes feels a little short-changed regarding his own personal arc though he still has some powerful moments, particularly in the magnificent prison storyline.
Technical - Music, Production and Acting
Nicholas Britell's score is consistently incredible, and one of my favourite parts of the show. There are times when it pairs with the performances and writing to produce some of the most indelible sequences in the franchise.
Star Wars has never been lacking for its share of brilliant actors, but now that they get some actually great dialogue (there's no musings about hating sand here!), we get some truly outstanding performances. It's particularly gratifying to see Andy Serkis giving his best non-motion capture performance ever, and Fiona Shaw does some moving work with her limited screen-time. O'Reilly and Skarsgard are masterful at contrasting the two elements of their personalities: the mask that they wear in public and their true selves hidden in the shadows. Diego Luna may not have much in the way of loud character moments or long monologues, but his quiet fortitude and pain is consistently compelling.
The production design is a marked step up from the often flat sets from The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, which often overused the Volume technology that The Mandalorian initially pioneered so well. The Imperial spaces are particularly oppressive, and Mon Mothma's home on Coruscant is beautifully opulent. The visual effects are polished, the stand-out being the celestial event in episode 6 (the heist episode) on Aldani, one of the all time great hours of the franchise.
This fantastic video essay by Thomas Flight explores why the blend between location shooting, sensory details and VFX work is so effective here.
A Few Drawbacks
Andor's pacing is incredibly deliberate, its structure almost pristine in its presentation but that only makes its few stumbles all the more glaring. The story is broken up into 3 episode arcs, which are a great way to pace the series, but I do think perhaps it should have been released in those chunks as opposed to one by one. There are a couple of episodes that don't move forward all that much until the narrative reaches the satisfying 3rd episode culmination (episodes 3, 6, 9 and 12). On the other hand, the careful build-up does reward us with moments like the nail-biting Aldani heist, Maarva's emotional funeral and the most fist-pumping final lines in recent memory: "never more than 12".
The weakest part of the show's narrative is in its finale. Looking back over the 12 episode run, Andor's storylines feel oddly balanced given how many of them ultimately conclude. I was happy to be patient and trust that it would pay off at the time, but the final episode ends up bringing many characters to Ferrix, but not giving them a whole lot to do. I am particularly thinking of Syril, Luthen, Vel and Cintra. Even Mon Mothma's story, which is a captivating slow-burn, concludes abruptly by revealing her admittedly brilliant final ploy without much context.
The heavy focus on these characters over the 12 episodes is not a deal-breaker, but it does mean that Cassian's character journey is shifted to the background at times when I would have loved to stay on him.
Lore & Final Thoughts
Andor's entire existence is in contrast with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau's propensity for extravagant cameos in their shows. I don't necessarily think we need to get rid of that fan-pleasing aspect of Star Wars but it's important that it's not the only type of story we get because the franchise was in dire need of revitalization up until now.
Rather than thinking about cool cameos, Andor impacted me with rich thematic ideas, masterful performances and impactful dialogue (so many monologues!). Of course, its still exciting how the lore is weaved in amongst the story, and I still believe that fans of the franchise will take more from it than newer viewers- it's just a different, more natural type of fan-service compared to the gimmicky cameos that the franchise has struggled to move away from.
The Mandalorian may have converted me to Star Wars (and remains to be a quintessential distillation of what it is) but Andor has reinvented what the franchise can be away from Jedi's, bounty hunters and (thank god) Tatooine.
Thank you for reading this article about Andor, I feel as though I could have written paragraphs on a single monologue from the show or about its individual storylines. It may not be perfect, but it is the best original show on Disney+ so far and I can't wait to see where Season 2 goes.
What did you think about Andor?
Loved it!
Liked most of it
Didn't like it
Didn't watch/reveal result
I do not own any of the images in this post.