Main cast: Diego Luna (Cassian Andor), Stellan Skarsgård (Luthen Rael), Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen), Fiona Shaw (Maarva Andor), Joplin Sibtain (Brasso), James McArdle (Timm Karlo), Alex Ferns (Sergeant Linus Mosk), and Gary Beadle (Clem Andor)
Director: Toby Haynes

Andor is a weird duck. In a time when episodes offer immediate answers to everything, its slow burn nature and building up of subplots can feel out of place, and who knows, it can also be vexing for people more used to the immediate gratification prevalent in present day Disney+ shows. 

This makes it a complete antithesis to the other Disney+ Star Wars shows, and I appreciate the slow burn and simmer nature of it. However, I am also waiting with some trepidation for the other shoe to drop, as this is a current day Lucasfilm production. Something crap is bound to happen, surely? When is Andor going to be made to play third fiddle to a passel of obnoxious girlbosses?

Anyway, Reckoning. This is the third episode, and to be honest, the story has been moving at a pretty slow pace. 

In this one, finally, Andor meets the secret spy boss, Luthen Rael, who invites him to join his spy network against the Empire. That’s the main development of this episode and one of the milestones in Andor’s short life. 

Meanwhile, he’s still hiding from the law. There are some close calls. 

Carleen learns that her boyfriend Timm Karlo had snitched on Andor in a fit of jealousy. Ooh, he sleeping on the couch is going to be the least of his problems!

And… that’s pretty much it.

This episode wouldn’t be as long as it is if the flashback scenes of brat Andor had been taking out. Here, I learn of how Andor came under the care of Maarva and her husband Clem, and I certainly hope all this flashback stuff will lead to something good, unlike what happened in the third season of The Mandalorian. 

So, that’s it. The whole thing sounds horribly uninteresting on paper, I know, but I find myself enthralled by the episode nonetheless.

While the tightened budget of Andor shows, it remains a gorgeous episode with some breathtaking vistas and a number of scenes that are captured in an elegant manner that seems poetic at times. The last few scenes of this episode are a great example of this: lovely juxtapositions of well and gorgeously shot scenes of the past and the present that manage to be bittersweet without being corny or cloying. 

If there is a glaring issue, it’s the dumbness of the enemies, but that’s pretty much par for the course for Star Wars from day one, so I can’t say it’s an issue unique to this show. 

Hence, this is the third episode in a nutshell. It’s boring and captivating all at the same time, and while I’m still not sure how anything can be like this, but this episode is evidence that it can be.

I think I like what I have seen so far. I just hope that this show won’t eventually break my heart like how the other Disney+ shows did one after another!