Main cast: Diego Luna (Cassian Andor), Stellan Skarsgård (Luthen Rael), Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Denise Gough (Dedra Meero), Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen), Fiona Shaw (Maarva Andor), Andy Serkis (Kino Loy), Faye Marsay (Vel Sartha), Varada Sethu (Cinta Kaz), Elizabeth Dulau (Kleya Marki), Alastair Mackenzie (Perrin Fertha), Joplin Sibtain (Brasso), Anton Lesser (Major Lio Partagaz), Ben Miles (Tay Kolma), Duncan Pow (Melshi), and Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera)
Director: Toby Haynes
Well, Forest Whitaker shows up in Narkina 5, which I’m sure is a momentous occasion for a side character that first appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story only to do not so much.
That non-happening encapsulates the essence of Andor in a nutshell: it is hyped to be so good, so amazing, and yet when I watch this show, I can only wonder whether all those people praising the show harbor such disappointment with the rest of Disney’s Star Wars offerings that something average is hailed as a masterpiece by default.
In this one, Andor is rotting in the Narkina 5 Imperial Prison Complex where he befriends a bunch of losers that will no doubt die eventually because they don’t have Andor’s shiny plot armor that keeps him alive in spite of all his mental deficiencies. They put machine parts together as the other guys engage him in some banal why Andor is in jail chatter. Sadly, the actual correct answer—he’s an idiot—never comes up.
Meanwhile, Syril Karn is still looking for Andor, Mon Mothma is still doing her thing, and everyone just stands and monologues as the plot moves forward an inch to whatever endgame the people behind this show have in mind for this season.
Mind you, the plot inches around Andor, with him having little agency or impact on those people actually talking and doing grown-up stuff, which I suppose only drives home what a dull non-presence the titular character is.
So, I’m still not caring one bit about this episode or this show, and the lack of shower brutality scenes only underscores what a non-event the whole thing is.
Perhaps I should be glad that Andor comes with an expiry date, so the folks behind this thing can’t drag it out forever. Then again, given the current state of Star Wars, I won’t be shocked either if they decided to try anyway.
