Andor Is Only Getting Better As Its Second Season Continues

Another Tuesday, another drop of three new Star Wars: Andor episodes. This time in the Rogue One prequel series, Bix and Cassian dealt with the struggles of being rebels while we learned more about Ghorman and its own fight against the Empire.

These new episodes, like last week’s first three, were fantastic. And once again, not everyone made it out alive this week. Turns out rebellions are dangerous. Here’s our conversation about Andor episodes 4-6.

Carolyn Petit: Last week I said that I really hoped Cassian would get to play a more active, central role in this chunk of episodes, and he certainly did, but I’m gonna kick things off by sidelining him anyway because I want to start with our boy Syril.

I have to admit, the first 15 minutes or so of episode 4 really had me going. I thought we might see that petty fascist fuck undergo a profound awakening, that maybe his experiences on Ghorman had opened his eyes to the evils of the Empire and provoked a moral crisis within him. They got me good with him telling his mother that she’s been watching too much “Imperial news”—I love the idea of the Empire having its own propagandistic media arm, it totally makes sense that it would, and I know so many folks who have seen their own parents be brain-poisoned by exposure to Fox News so his concern rang true for me—only for this to be revealed as part of the long, elaborate con he’s running with Dedra.

Did y’all think there might be some good somewhere deep in Syril, or was I the only one naive enough to fall for it?

Zack Zwiezen: I also bought it for a bit. And I have some thoughts on that which I’ll mention later, but yeah, I was like “Okay, maybe he’s better!” Nope.

I loved the one resistance guy who was listening in on his call, remarking on how terrifying his mother sounded. Made me chuckle hard.

Ethan, did Syril trick you like us? Or did you see through it.

Ethan Gach: I was totally hoodwinked, just like the naïve bourgeoisie turned budding rebels Ghormans Cassian chides later on.

I did appreciate the time spent showing us his new art deco office. Parts of the brief-case carrying Mise-en-scène are very reminiscent of Mad Men. Ghorman is quiet beautiful, and the romanticism of its underground freedom fighter movement cuts an interesting contrast with Bix and Cassian’s claustrophobic safe house on Coruscant.

ZZ: I think it was really smart of Gilroy and co to make Ghorman basically space France and show the rebels as the French Resistance. It immediately conveyed what was happening here without having to spend too much time explaining the details.

CP: Yes! The show is very deft with its kind of revolutionary politics shorthand, cluing us in to the ways it draws on historical events and famous thinkers while still being believably rooted in Star Wars. 

And to Ethan’s point, one thing I really appreciated across all three of these episodes was Andor’s use of physical space and real sets. Having that plaza on Ghorman with its hotel and café and twillery showroom helped make everything there feel more concrete, from the bellhop’s story about remembering the Tarkin Massacre to the action of that tragic covert op at the end.

And while Ghorman was often sunny and open, Bix and Cassian’s safehouse was, as you say Ethan, claustrophobic, the lighting there often reminding me of what we see in Deckard’s apartment in Blade Runner, very urban and gray. The show is a visual treat in addition to everything else, and for me it makes such a difference that it doesn’t rely too heavily on the kinds of (admittedly pretty effective) techniques that The Mandalorian often employed.

ZZ: I really loved that Ghorman was a big set. I didn’t realize how much I miss Star Wars having big sets filled with aliens and people in the background. By the end of the three episodes I felt like I understood that part of the planet/city and could probably walk around it and not get lost.

EG: Yea you got a lot of your silly aliens this week Zack. However, Mon Mothma is no Nancy Pelosi when it comes to whipping votes.

ZZ: I was so happy to see all those alien senators and weirdos. That’s Star Wars, baby. And yeah, poor Mon Mothma. The reveal that the person she’s talking to and trying to get a vote from is Ghorman’s own senator. Damn.

CP: Those Ghormans are in a tight spot, no doubt about it.

ZZ: At least they live in a very walkable city with lots of nice cafes Though, based on how easily Bix and Andor get around in the dreary depths of Coruscant, I think that giant city is walkable, too. I was also excited to see what, I think, is our first on-screen bodega in Star Wars.

EG: I kept wondering how anyone picks what bar to go to on a single-city planet.

CP: Yes! In fact that’s one of the things I love about Andor in general. By being focused so much on the lives of relatively “ordinary” people—sure, people who get swept up in revolutionary struggle but not Jedi or bounty hunters or what have you—it’s informing our understanding so much of what life is like for ordinary people in the galaxy. Oh look, they have bad daytime TV shows! Oh look, they watch sports (podracing) when they should be doing their jobs!

That to me is way more interesting territory to explore about that “galaxy far, far away” than, I don’t know, more details about the life of Boba Fett.

ZZ: Yes, the moment where Bix woke up to a crappy morning talk show was very relatable.

EG: Saw Gerrera, on the other hand, feels like he needs his own animated spin-off. Forest Whitaker creating a more compelling Star Wars in less than 15 minutes than most of the new trilogy.

ZZ: Ethan, let me introduce you to Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars Clone Wars. But yes, Saw was great in these three episodes. It was also nice to finally find out why he was so fucked up in Rogue One. We had theories and half answers. Turns out: Dude was huffing space jet fuel and getting wicked high. That’s fun. Good for him.

CP: Forest Whitaker is such an incredible actor, and I was so glad to see him finally get to bring the full force of his talent to this role.

I admit I only know Saw from Rogue One and now Andor (not counting his little appearance in Jedi: Fallen Order), and I’ve always wanted to understand what drove him better, and have a better handle on his politics and on what he brings to the struggle. Part of me felt that his presence in Rogue One could be interpreted as kind of a warning, that little neoliberal tsk-tsk of “sure everyone, fighting fascist oppression is good but you don’t want to go too far with it.”

But in Andor, because it can take the time to flesh out characters like Luthen, Saw, Kleya, Mon Mothma, and others, all of whom have their own ethics and perspectives, it’s not as big of a deal to me if Saw is a little out there at times.

EG: I could use one or two more VFX shots to better establish scope of his insurgency. Show me the battalion pieces on a chess board.

CP: Also, what a great little ragtag band of freedom fighters he’s got with him. Give it up for Two Tubes!

ZZ: Two Tubes!

Once again, I think this chunk of episodes really did a fantastic job of showing us that the rebellion isn’t this unified thing that we see eventually in the OG movies.

It’s still messy, spread out, disorganized, and sometimes directly at odds with each other and their methods. And I hope by the end of the series we see them coming together just in time for the Rebels’ first big victory against the Empire as seen in Rogue One.

Also, can we talk about how great Kleya is?! She’s been one of the best parts of the show since season 1, but I feel like these three episodes, in particular the party sequence, gave us more Kleya and I’m happy about that.

CP: Yes. I’ve always sort of gotten the feeling that she’s doing more to drive things forward for the Rebellion than the show has let on, but here we finally really saw the steel and determination in her, both in her holding her own against Luthen in arguments and in her actions at the party.

ZZ: The scene where she is squeezing the hidden mic so hard that her hand starts to bleed was one of the best moments in show. That whole sequence was so tense, too.

EG: And then Luthen saying how much is face hurt from smiling.

CP: It was tense, the show building to climactic points on multiple fronts and then playing them against each other. I’m fully on board with the three-episode release structure at this point, because it really does seem like each of these clusters has its own internal conflicts that pay off in the third episode while also contributing to the season in bigger ways.

ZZ: Agreed! Speaking of that moment with Luthen and Kleya, I wanted to shout out the “We should have killed Krennic” comment.

It was nice to see them both laugh and joke together. But it also felt like Luthen might be a bit of a hypocritic, with his stance against relationships in the rebellion. I wonder if by the end of this season he’s going to have to reckon with how much he cares about Kleya.

I can almost imagine a scenario where Kleya sacrifices herself to some Imperial asshole to save Luthen from getting caught, taking the fall and in the process scarifying her life and freedom for the cause.

EG: I assume the link up with Rogue One means Luthen is not going to make it. Speaking of people who don’t make it…

ZZ: I think Luthen can make it. Just because he’s not there doesn’t me he’s dead. And are you are talking about Bix?

EG: Cinta!

CP: Okay, yeah, let’s talk about Cinta.

ZZ: Ohhh right right. I guess she isn’t making after being shot dead.

I was so happy to see her back in this episode. And to have her go out like that was heartbreaking. But I don’t agree with some who say her death was handled poorly. I think like Brasso, her death was an example that nobody is safe in a rebellion and death can come quickly. Heroes don’t always get big moments. Sometimes they just die quietly because of a dumb kid or a single trooper.

EG: She’s always been the most laser focused on the cause, and puts it above even her relationship with Vel. Her loss seemed fittingly chaotic and self-inflicted, but I think she also knew that was a possibility and made the choice anyway, unlike some of the rebels who still have only one foot in that world.

ZZ: I do wonder how she’ll react when she finds out (if she does) that Andor said no to helping which put her and Cinta into this spot.

CP: I saw the critique raised that her death was a textbook example of the “Bury Your Gays” trope, but while I think being aware of such tropes can be useful for perceiving larger patterns that repeat—sometimes innocuously, sometimes harmfully—across popular media, I personally don’t care to criticize Andor specifically for having Cinta die.

She was a character we cared deeply about, she’s one of many characters who have died (and no doubt more will yet), and I feel the show earned that moment, which, as you suggest Zack, may have repercussions in the episodes to come.

ZZ: Totally. And look, its not like Star Wars has a good track record (in live-action at least) for representing LGBTQ+ characters. So I do have empathy for people who finally saw themselves in Star Wars in a way that is so rare in this franchise, only to have one of them killed like that.

CP: Absolutely.

ZZ: But I also agree that the death had meaning, will likely be one of many to come, and might factor into future events. So I’m not sure it is a negative example of the trope.

Something we also don’t see much in Star Wars: Sex. Or well… the moments before sex. Syril and Dedra’s moment in her apartment. “Turn off the lights.”

CP: Hahaha, when we finally do get a prelude to sex it’s the most awkward prelude imaginable between the most awkward people imaginable.

ZZ: I really wonder what… that looks like.

CP: It’s interesting in a way to contrast their relationship with the one between Cassian and Bix.

Both are brought together to some degree by common cause but Cassian and Bix’s connection feels so much more warm and human, even though there’s tension and conflict there sometimes.

Thematically, this week’s episodes reminded me a lot of one of my all-time favorite shows, The Americans. On that show, the central couple—Russian spies posing as an American couple—always had to put on phony identities and disguises and engage in deception and performance on multiple levels. And on this week’s Andor episodes, we had Cassian take on a totally fake identity and deal with complications in his relationship, while Dedra and Syril are also engaged in these layers of deception for their operation.

And in that dynamic, Dedra seems to be operating at one level of deception beyond Syril; to him, they’re partners of a sort, but I feel like to her, maybe he’s just a pawn.

ZZ: Speaking of Syril, I do want to call out that the actor who plays him mentioned in a recent behind the scenes video that Syril doesn’t really know what’s going on. This is something that the show also mentions. And the actor suggests that if Syril was to learn the trurh about Ghroman and being used like that, he might not like it. I wonder if that’s a hint that perhaps Syril will turn before the show ends.

CP: I’m not sure if I hope you’re right or wrong there, Zack. Part of me wants to see him redeem himself in some way, and part of me just loves to hate him for the sniveling fascist that he is.

Before we wrap up, I also want to mention Cassian and Bix’s little excursion. It’s funny to find an execution like that romantic but in a way I did. Cassian is devoted to Bix, and will gladly blow up a motherfucker for her. It was one more thing that made the dynamic between the two of them such a wonderful contrast with the kind of clammy, off-putting energy that pulls Dedra and Syril together.

ZZ: Yes! I loved that ending. I also appreciated how the show trusted us to connect to dots on how they found him, etc. And that moment where she sits the evil space-Nazi doctor in his torture chair and gets her revenge was great.

I especially like that last minute reveal of Andor. At first I was like, wait is she going rogue? But no, they are a great couple, he trusts her, and they get shit done. It goes against what Luthen worries about. It turns out having someone on your side, someone you love and trust, can be a strength in a rebellion.

CP: That’s exactly right. And in a way I think this ties into the larger arcs of Star Wars as well, such as the Jedi focus on a lack of attachment or love as seemingly a state to be pursued. We’ve seen the toll that can take.

Ultimately, what are all these characters fighting for, from Luke Skywalker to Cassian Andor to Saw Gerrera and Luthen and on and on? Not for themselves. Many of them know they probably won’t make it. You fight for each other, and loving other people should, it seems to me, be at the core of that. I think you’re right that even Luthen will come to realize this to some degree before all is said and done.

ZZ: Stellan Skarsgård mentioned in that same behind the scenes video I mentioned earlier, that Luthen checking on Bix is an example of him having empathy. And he points out that Luthen has to have empathy because that’s the entire point of a rebellion. You care about others so much you are willing to die for them to save them. That’s empathy. Luthen is cold at times. But he does care.

And I’m excited to see more of him and the rest of the gang next week!

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