Main cast: Diego Luna (Cassian Andor), Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen), Joplin Sibtain (Brasso), James McArdle (Timm Karlo), and Rupert Vansittart (Chief Hyne)
Director: Toby Haynes
Remember Cassian Andor? The lead dude in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story?
Yes, that was six years ago, and if you have seen that movie, then you will know that Andor’s greatest story has been told and is done with, so who cares about his past, right?
Well, since then Lucasfilm has completely defecated all over the Star Wars brand, and plans for those “A Star Wars Story” yearly thing got the wire hanger after Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to make any money worth noting, so these people definitely care enough to squeeze any possible money out of the IP before the whole thing really comes crashing down.
So here we are, with Andor. I’m late to the party, but I need a break after the last few turds that were painfully squeezed out from Kathleen Kennedy’s backside. I’ve heard that this one isn’t bad, actually, but due to the fallout from the back-to-back diarrhea marathons of The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, it is said that people just stayed the eff away from this one. I don’t blame them if that were the case, as I’m one of them myself.
Well, Kassa is not bad at all. We are about five years before the events of the movie that Andor first showed up in, and Kassa is actually Andor’s birth name.
Yes, this episode is all about him looking for his sister Kerri. They grew up in the planet Kenari, which is the usual “we are primitive but we are so happy woo, until technology ruins everything” place, and well, they get separated and I’m sure I will find out why as the season progresses.
So, the quest begins on Morlana One, which like Kenari is one of the new made-up planets in the Disney era of Star Wars, when Andor walks into a brothel, probably hoping to see his sister flashing her ta-tas at the bachelor party of Chewbacca’s kid or something. Well, she’s not there, if she were even there in the first place, so he will just have to keep looking.
Along the way, he kills two goons of the Pre-Mor Security Inspection, and now Inspector Syril Karn wants to find out which SOB is the one that killed his colleagues. However, his boss Chief Inspector Hyne would rather just close the case after writing up those deaths as a result of an unfortunate mishap with alcohol and violence. Nonetheless, Karn seems determined to keep the investigation going.
That’s pretty much it for this episode, so I can’t really make a fair assessment of the overall story line.
Still, the acting is competent, the story already feels like a decent upgrade from the mess that is Obi-Wan Kenobi but time will tell about that one, and the episode doesn’t look too bad from the green screen and CGI aspects.
Hence, for this one, I’d give it a “tentative it’s alright” kind of three oogies and let’s hope the next few episodes won’t be a downhill tumble into the crapper like that other show had been.
