No discussion, nothing but holy shit.
That extraction was amazing peak Andor in my book. Tension, excitement, we knew what would happen but not how, and it did perfectly.
That was so good. The driver being brushed off by ISB and also mocked by Mon for his ineptitude at being a spy, was refreshing they didn’t try to make him into a hero and had Andor kill him in cold blood. Maybe I missed it, but how’d Andor sneak a gun in to the senate?
Finished episode 8 right now: masterpiece.
<Episode 8 spoilers>
Never seen a manipulated crowd action so clear AND enticing on screen as in this episode.
And I know I was meant to, but DAMN! that “Who are you?” made me feel sorry for Cyril. Also the final shot of the mother watching the Imperial narrative on TV together with her friends hits so hard, especially being someone living abroad without TV since 20 years and seeing my mother doing just that in front of TV news every time I am back visiting.
I will continue in one hour with my opinion on Episode 9.
I haven’t made it through the whole arc yet, will post my thoughts when I do.
I’m just here to ask, why are the discussion posts of the previous arcs being removed?
I enjoyed the episodes overall. Well written. The Ghorman massacre was well done. Completely believable down to using green, inexperienced troops, knowing they panic of a situation broke out.
Syril’s reaction to finding out what Dedra was doing was brutal and shocking. I was surprised how she just brushed it off. It revealed the true monster he keeps wrapped up underneath his facade of duty.
I thought Cassian’s admission that the only thing special about him is luck and it was going to run out was great. It doesn’t wink at the audience for knowing his fate, but he’s been saved by providence one too many times.
Bix’s choice was good. Not exactly out of the blue but surprising how they didn’t go with fridging her to keep Cassian fighting.
Mon’s speech was directly to the audience and so fitting for our times. It’s too bad that the people who really need to hear it probably won’t see the parallel.
Overall it’s solid. There are still three episodes left and like S1, it just keeps getting better as it goes along. I don’t know if it can to S1. That’s a really high bar, but this is still some of the best Star Wars I’ve seen in a long time.
Going forward:
- I’m not expecting any resolution to his missing sister. Sometimes life is just like that.
- I expect Luthen to die. And somehow it feels like it must be by Cassian’s hand or maybe suicide, but that feels too neat. Hopefully I’ll be surprised.
- I don’t expect Kleya to make it.
- I do expect Vel to.
- I think Dedra will live.
- I think Partagas will not.
- Really excited for more K-2SO.
- During the final arc, there’s a farm boy on Tattooine begging his uncle to let him go to the Imperial Academy. Just interesting to juxtapose, I think.
Syril’s arc is an interesting one. He always genuinely believed that the Empire was necessary and even good, bringing order and a kind of draconian but honest justice to the galaxy. To be confronted with that being made a lie, and him as the link, must have been quite the mind-fuck.
I think seeing Andor was rage and lashing out at the man who set him on the path to losing his religion, as it were. I think the little delay when he was going to shoot Cassian (before, well, that happened) had a lot packed into it, and with a slightly different turn of events you could almost see him becoming a vociferous rebel, no zealot like the convert.
Overall, this was definitely the best arc of the three, but it needed the first two to land how it did. I also appreciate the intelligent use of the setting and lore and foreshadowing to make it all hit that much harder. “The Force” even made an appearance, sort of.
Syril’s arc is an interesting one. He always genuinely believed that the Empire was necessary and even good, bringing order and a kind of draconian but honest justice to the galaxy. To be confronted with that being made a lie, and him as the link, must have been quite the mind-fuck.
Happens throughout history, and by the time these kind of characters find out it may be too late
To be confronted with that being made a lie, and him as the link, must have been quite the mind-fuck.
That’s a good point. I think that’s why his veil slipped. He was so shook, he had nothing in the moment but rage and instinct. I thought he knew he was playing double-agent all along, but it seems to have been more complex than that. He wasn’t out to fuck the Ghormans, just catch the insurgency that would come to stoke the fires of rebellion.
I think the little delay when he was going to shoot Cassian (before, well, that happened) had a lot packed into it
Agree 100%. So well played. That moment was huge. “Who are you?” That question in that moment was devastating. His hated nemesis didn’t even know who he was. And I think he didn’t have a good answer to that question at all. Who was he? What did he stand for? Why was Cassian even his enemy? You could see all of that in that moment. What an incredible feat of acting and direction. So subtle, but it told an entire story in a second. Alas, a second was all he had.
“The Force” even made an appearance, sort of.
That was interesting. “Sometimes it even works.” We’ve never seen the force fall before except when it was someone stretching out to learn new abilities or maybe when they were fatigued and unfocused. But that wasn’t the experience she was describing. I’m going to assume she was just an untrained force sensitive who never learned the focus Jedi acquire to make their use of the force more reliable. But it’s a side of the force we haven’t really seen much of.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it seemed to me like the “force healer” could tell Andor’s fate, stressing he is a messenger. Maybe she could see the importance in him to retrieve and deliver the death star plans?
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