Star Wars: Andor – SPOILER discussion

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Starts Wednesday.

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New trailer, new premiere date:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/variety.com/2022/tv/news/andor-trailer-release-date-star-wars-1235330467/amp/

Looking potentially good.

Three episodes drop on 21 Sept.

I guess I missed it but Andor will be 12 episodes with the first three debuting on September 21st. There is also supposed to be a second 12-episode season that leads into Rogue One.

I hope they’re not biting off more than they can chew as Disney+ series, Marvel and Star Wars, have had pacing and story issues and those had 9 or less episodes.

Todd wrote:

I hope they’re not biting off more than they can chew as Disney+ series, Marvel and Star Wars, have had pacing and story issues and those had 9 or less episodes.

Ordinarily I might agree, but having heard the plans for this series I actually think there’s a lot more work gone into the structuring of this one than for most of the previous Disney+ series, and hearing about the detailed plans for the show has me more enthusiastic for it than I was originally.

‘Andor’: Tony Gilroy on How the Structure for Season 2 Is Perfect for Television

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Todd, Ben

The new trailer that just dropped is pretty damn epic.

Yeah, looks pretty cool.

It really does. I’m very much looking forward to this one.

Watched episode one and found it surprisingly boring and nothingy.

People are saying it picks up in episode three, so I might persevere until the end of that, but this isn’t a great start.

The first two episodes are building up to the third, like 1 lays out Andor’s immediate problem, 2 ratchets up the tension and then 3 releases it. It very much feels like Rogue One in terms of look and feel and tone.

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Uncle Retrospective

I have only watched the first episode yet, but everything is soooo much better than Obi-Wan Kenobi. It looks better, the writing is better, and the characters are not acting like total morons most of the time!

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Uncle Retrospective

Definitely intended as a 3-part opener – and ep 3 is better than the first two by far.

It does need better villains than the Corpos, especially the charisma void that is their zealot leader.  Run through a wall for him you will not.

Interested to see where it goes but hoping future weekly episodes are more distinct.  On the first couple the ending came out of nowhere, whereas three had a better sense of conclusion.

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Dave

Sounds like I should at least watch until episode three then. Thanks.

I have now seen all three episodes, and this is the first Disney show that is good for real and not just fine/decent because it features characters we recognize from movies and comic books.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

Seen the first 3 eps and this is the best Star Wars TV show by a country mile. That could have just been a film and I’d be content. Can’t wait for more.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

Yeah, same here – Andor is everything I hoped for. As far as I am concerned, it is on an entirely different level than the other Star Wars shows. Thoroughly enjoyed all three episodes.

(The only real weakness for me was Timm – that character’s betrayal didn’t ring true, mainly because he hadn’t gotten to know him and it seemed like he ran to the cops the first time he felt a pinge of jealousy.)

In contrast to Ben, I loved the little fascist zealot. Great character, especially so because he’s such a fucking coward behind all the bluster, while at the same time it feels like he actually believes in what he’s doing.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben, lorcan_nagle

Christian wrote:

(The only real weakness for me was Timm – that character’s betrayal didn’t ring true, mainly because he hadn’t gotten to know him and it seemed like he ran to the cops the first time he felt a pinge of jealousy.)

I feel that his choice was based on Cassian’s behaviour with other people – he probably stiffed Timm for money or annoyed him in a bunch of other ways and didn’t realise how much trouble calling the Pre-Mor cops was going to cause.

Christian wrote:

In contrast to Ben, I loved the little fascist zealot. Great character, especially so because he’s such a fucking coward behind all the bluster, while at the same time it feels like he actually believes in what he’s doing.

He feels like somebody ordered Joe Dredd on Wish and I’m here for it.

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Christian, Uncle Retrospective, Ben

Christian wrote:

Yeah, same here – Andor is everything I hoped for. As far as I am concerned, it is on an entirely different level than the other Star Wars shows. Thoroughly enjoyed all three episodes.

(The only real weakness for me was Timm – that character’s betrayal didn’t ring true, mainly because he hadn’t gotten to know him and it seemed like he ran to the cops the first time he felt a pinge of jealousy.)

In contrast to Ben, I loved the little fascist zealot. Great character, especially so because he’s such a fucking coward behind all the bluster, while at the same time it feels like he actually believes in what he’s doing.

I think the fact that I absolutely despise that bastard has to be seen as a success for both the writing and the actor.

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Christian, lorcan_nagle

He’s basically Arnold Rimmer transplanted into the Star Wars universe. By far the most enjoyable part of the show.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd, Tobias Radesäter, lorcan_nagle

lorcan_nagle wrote:

I feel that his choice was based on Cassian’s behaviour with other people – he probably stiffed Timm for money or annoyed him in a bunch of other ways and didn’t realise how much trouble calling the Pre-Mor cops was going to cause.

Yeah, but that doesn’t chime with the way everybody on the whole planet acts towards cops for me. Obviously, ratting somebody out is a huge thing. They did make sure to show Timm’s insecurity about Bix, and he was very drunk when he did it and he regretted it afterwards, but it still all wasn’t quite believable to me (and also too convenient/predictable as a plot development).

But that’s very small fly in a very tasty soup.

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lorcan_nagle, Uncle Retrospective

Christian wrote:

lorcan_nagle wrote:

I feel that his choice was based on Cassian’s behaviour with other people – he probably stiffed Timm for money or annoyed him in a bunch of other ways and didn’t realise how much trouble calling the Pre-Mor cops was going to cause.

Yeah, but that doesn’t chime with the way everybody on the whole planet acts towards cops for me. Obviously, ratting somebody out is a huge thing. They did make sure to show Timm’s insecurity about Bix, and he was very drunk when he did it and he regretted it afterwards, but it still all wasn’t quite believable to me (and also too convenient/predictable as a plot development).

But that’s very small fly in a very tasty soup.

I broadly agree, I think this was a rash decision he regretted – if not right away certainly by the time he was confronted by Bix in the shop.

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Christian

Episode 4 was fantastic.  Its only flaw was that ended abruptly.

But the rest….

“I know you’ll die fighting these bastards.”

Imperial-era Coruscant is a cold, grey hive of paranoia without limit. In the Senate, the skies, the ISB itself, where Anton Lesser rules over a back biting rabble.

Meanwhile Deputy Inspector Charisma Void is confronted with the full impact of his failure – an Imperial takeover!

Lots of other cool details: Atmospheric TIE flights, mention of the Rakata, Mon Mothma.

This show is really cooking now.

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Tobias Radesäter, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Yeah I quite enjoyed the new episode. Skarsgard elevates it quite a bit – all his scenes are the best in the show (I loved his little “transformation” moment) – but the Mothra and Empire stuff is pretty interesting too and feels like what I’d expect/want from a more adult take on Star Wars.

Also, the old dude in charge of the Imperial council is perfectly cast and gives it a traditional SW flavour.

I thought the Maid Marian And Her Merry Rebels stuff was a little bit boring and repetitive (you could feel the padding as presumably they needed to get together this episode and pull their heist next episode, but that left them with pretty much nothing to do but multiple “who’s the new guy?” scenes here), but at least it feels like there are some clear storytelling signposts being set up, and a plot that’s coming together nicely on all fronts.

I also like the nature motifs that are being set up for the rebels which kind of picks up on similar vibes from the original movies.

Just a shame that Rimmer didn’t get much to do here. I wonder if he’s being set up to eventually turn hero due to his disillusionment and/or frustrations with the Empire.

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Christian, Ben, lorcan_nagle, Uncle Retrospective

I’m now suspecting that.  He takes a different path, ends up with a different Rebel faction.  The groups cross paths, he and Cassian spot each other, cue WTF moment.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, lorcan_nagle

I thought the scene between Mon Mothma and her husband was great, too. What a disaster of a marriage.

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Dave, Ben, Uncle Retrospective

Yeah, I really liked the Coruscant sequences here, it illustrated how the Empire could take over a galaxy-spanning civilisation with a top-down strategy, giving orders and then taking over when they can or if circumstances force their hand like on Ferrix, and keeping an eye on potential troublemakers until they’re ready. Like presumably when the Empire was established enough on Chandrilla Mom Mothma would be ousted in a perfectly legitimate election, but until then they’ll just have her watched by a couple dozen spies.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben

The one flaw in this episode is it really needs the next to justify the preparations / set up done here.  Now that is all good stuff, its taking time for us to know these characters ahead of the action.  It just needs the action too.

It also accomplished the impossible: Charisma Voud became Syril and I actually felt sorry for the poor bastard.  Well, up until he was obsessing over Cassian’s holo.

The Coruscant sequences were excellently executed.  Can’t see anything good happening to Mon’s family later on down the line.

And, at the end, Luthen knows he’s set it all up, but can’t determine how it plays out.

Who can I contact at Disney, to tell them to make more stuff like this, and to not make more stuff like Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Even though not much happened in this episode, everything was still interesting and believable. The internal bickering among the rebels could have been forced and silly, but it felt just right.

I assume there will be much more action next week.

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Christian, Todd, Uncle Retrospective, Ben

Yeah, I’m actually really warming to this after the latest episode.

It still feels a bit weird that traditional Star Wars trappings like Jedi or lightsabers or the force are entirely absent, and it is still slow going and a bit boring in places. But the ensemble is coming together nicely, the strands dealing with both the rebellion and the Empire are compelling and have some depth to them, and on the whole it’s well acted and mostly well written.

This could end up being one of the best of these Disney+ franchise shows.

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Sean Robinson, lorcan_nagle, Ben

Anyone on Twitter know how the man babies are dealing with this show? It’s it hated for having no pew pew?

 

I’m surprised just how deliberate and slow paced it is. This is great TV, not just great Star Wars

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Sean Robinson

I’ve better things to do than checking on the antics of crapbags.

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Todd, Uncle Retrospective

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

Quote

One of the notable ones who got to a press screener was whining about the lack of easter eggs in episodes 1-4, that’s all I’ve seen.

On a separate note, between Andor and now Lieutenant Gorn, I’m fully expecting characters named Cardassian, Ferengi and Klingon by the end of the show.

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Sean Robinson, Uncle Retrospective

[Christian]

Ben wrote:

The one flaw in this episode is it really needs the next to justify the preparations / set up done here.  Now that is all good stuff, its taking time for us to know these characters ahead of the action.  It just needs the action too.

I don’t think it’s a flaw. You know, feature, not a bug and all that – they certainly do take their time for the buildup, but that’s completely fine as long as it pays off. Which I assume it will.

Loved the dynamics between the characters this week. Skeen was great, and I loved Nemik talking about the goals of the Revolution. I mean, that’s a pretty fucking insane thing to have in a Star Wars show, isn’t it? Somebody actually talking about this in a meaningful way? That was a lovely scene. It’s a shame all of those poor bastards are going to die. My money is on Taramyn and Cinta being the survivors, with everybody else dead. What do you guys think? Oh, and I don’t think there’s a traitor among them. It’s true that the Empire has no reason to let it all get this far if they did. (Well, outside of getting to Luthen, which nobody except for Vel knows about at this point… okay, so there may be a traitor. But I don’t think so.)

Syril’s scenes were my favourites. Growing up with that mother explains everything about him so well. I really felt for the poor little bastard.

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

I’m surprised just how deliberate and slow paced it is. This is great TV, not just great Star Wars

I just listened to a long interview with the showrunner, Tony Gilroy, as he was on Marc Maron’s WTF (which I’m now listening to regularly, it’s pretty great). It’s a very interesting interview, there’s a little about Andor, but mostly it talks about the other stuff he’s done, and all of that shows pretty well why having him on this show is extremely lucky.

(Here’s the link to that interview, if anybody wants to listen:
http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1371-tony-gilroy)

And yeah, like Tobias says, it’d be great to have more really great TV shows like this in the Star Wars universe.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Christian.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben

Flaw is probably the wrong word as it’s doing everything right, then stops.  Yes, that’s the point of the cliffhanger but it irked because I really did want the next ep!

Ha! Yeah, I get that. Loved that the last scene ended with Luthen fretting, unable to do anything and just waiting for what is to come – both a real quiet-before-the-storm moment that showed the stakes and also mirroring our own position, as audience.

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Ben

Christian wrote:

I loved Nemik talking about the goals of the Revolution. I mean, that’s a pretty fucking insane thing to have in a Star Wars show, isn’t it? Somebody actually talking about this in a meaningful way?

I saw him described as the one guy in every leftist group who’s red all of Marx and won’t shut up. And I felt attacked.

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Dave, Uncle Retrospective, Todd, Ben, Christian

lorcan_nagle wrote:

I saw him described as the one guy in every leftist group who’s red all of Marx and won’t shut up. And I felt attacked.

As you should! See? Realism in Star Wars!!!

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Rocket, Todd, lorcan_nagle, Ben

lorcan_nagle wrote:

the one guy in every leftist group who’s red all of Marx

I’m going to assume this typo was deliberate

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Sean Robinson, njerry, Rocket, lorcan_nagle

Wow, what an episode!

This was superb.  From the quiet, well executed base infiltration, the Empire’s contempt for the Aldhani, its response to the robbery on Coruscant, Mothma seeing that the Senate is a hollow shell, the spectacular escape sequence through a meteor shower, it all flowed perfectly.

The character deaths all worked too.  Each didn’t feel like a gotcha moment, was different and distinct.  Skeen? Bye bye bastard but Nemik? Everyone likes Nemik.  Tarmaryn? He ain’t coming.

I also really liked how it emphasised the menace of the air base.  Much as an early episode of The Mandalorian showed how dangerous AT-STs were, so did this episode do the same for TIEs.  It’s easy to be dismissive of a trio but if your ship has no defences, they’re lethal.

I have no idea where it goes from here and that’s a great feeling.

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Dave, Sean Robinson, lorcan_nagle

I agree, this was great. Really great. A genuinely gripping, exciting hour of Star Wars. Just really well-made, pacy stuff with a couple of decent twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, especially the reversals and deaths towards the end.

I hope the rest of the series keeps up this level of quality.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

I think we’re definitely seeing the structure of the show as well, we’ll probably see another two episodes of buildup with wherever Cassian finds himself next week, followed by an explosive conclusion and the same again. All the while Mon Mothma and Luthen are continuing to build the rebellion.

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Ben, Dave

I thought Andor was really good again this week. It increasingly feels like a show about adults and for adults that doesn’t spoonfeed you every connection, and actually deals with a certain amount of complexity and nuance in the characters and storylines.

The political manoeuvring  made me think of the prequels, but here there’s actually some tension and weight to it all. It’s Star Wars politics done well.

I’m still slightly divided on whether a non-kid-oriented Star Wars show is really a thing that should even exist, but I’m enjoying it.

Be interesting to see how this first season wraps up after this though. It kind of feels like it’s already reached a natural endpoint for now and the climax of the series has already happened last episode.

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Sean Robinson, Christian, Ben, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

I’m still slightly divided on whether a non-kid-oriented Star Wars show is really a thing that should even exist, but I’m enjoying it.

There’s one person on another forum I’m on who’s saying that this is what Star Wars always should have been. And like, no. I think Andor is fantastic and there should be material like this going forward, but it shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all of a franchise that is primarily an action-adventure story for kids and families.

Dave wrote:

Be interesting to see how this first season wraps up after this though. It kind of feels like it’s already reached a natural endpoint for now and the climax of the series has already happened last episode.

My guess is episode 9 will be him escaping prison end ending back up with Vel, and the last three episodes will be his first mission as a proper Rebel.

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Ben, Dave

Is it a 12-episode season? For some reason I had it in my head it was only nine. Great news!

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

Is it a 12-episode season? For some reason I had it in my head it was only nine. Great news!

Yeah, two 12-episode series are planned with series 2 leading directly into Rogue One

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Sean Robinson, Ben, Dave

Re: Andor and being kid-friendly

As adults we forget exactly how much we picked up on as kids.  Plus Disney own Lucasfilm, they’ll be wanting their SW output to go for four quadrant universal appeal.  Some kids won’t go for it but others will and they’ll follow it just fine.

I don’t think we need worry about this being seen as The Way to go.  There’s been a good amount of variety in the live action shows, but also in animation.  And some of the animated “kid-friendly” stories are pretty dark.

Re: This week’s ep

Really good preparation episode. From Cassian still trying to hold onto the belief that he can escape the Empire, Maarda’s acceptance of there being none, the monochrome hell of an Imperial office that some right wing politician will want to create in reality, ISB infighting with a conversation that shows up Imperial weaknesses, Mothma’s political moves and conflict with Luthen, the effect of careless instructions to droids….

It was all very, very well executed.

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Yeah, those two episode were fucking brilliant.

I loved everything about both episodes, but here are some favourite moments:

– Lieutenant Gorn being shot on the adge of the screen and just being gone from then on. Not even a shot showing his death properly. Fucking central character, hugely important to the episode, throwaway death. Genius.
– Andor shooting Skeen. Again, no intrusive music or dialogue over-explaining shit as you would get on most shows. The show trusts us to get why Andor did this – because Skeen is a very dangerous man and with him having asked Andor, he’d have to kill him now. If Cassian didn’t move first.
– Luthen gunning for Cassian now. There are no good guys in a war.
– Maarva’s monologue. Jesus, that was incredbile acting. Shaw is brilliant.
– Andor getting away clean and then being picked up for something he wasn’t even part of. Didn’t see that coming.
– Colonel Petigar being shot for being a hero and trying to defend the kid. Making a side-character villain three-dimensional just for the fun of it, that’s pretty amazing.

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lorcan_nagle

Christian wrote:

– Maarva’s monologue. Jesus, that was incredbile acting. Shaw is brilliant.

I found it quite amusing that her Irish accent started to bleed through in that sequence, given that she’s from Cork, the self-styled Rebel County.

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Uncle Retrospective, Christian

Just watched the latest episode and thought it was really good again. This one had a weird unsettling dystopian vibe that felt as much like THX1138 as Star Wars, with some great social commentary allegorical aspects to the whole thing.

I also loved the way it explored the class aspects with the contrast drawn between the chattering classes and the inmates in terms of the role politics played in their lives.

I wouldn’t ever recommend this for kids but I’m enjoying it.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben, lorcan_nagle

Also, I hope there are loads of new Snoke theories after this episode.

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lorcan_nagle, Tobias Radesäter

Really smart episode.

Clever use of contrasts between the politics on Coruscant, in the prison and on Ferrix.  We get some more info on various characters, along with what is going on.

The Empire cloaking its nefarious plans in more respectable guise was clever. PORD sounds so uninteresting, then you find it stands for Public Order Resetencing Decree.

The whole line sequence that shows the scale of the single prison Cassian is in was well executed.  And there’s an entire planet with numerous prisons replicated on it. Along with the vicious design it made for quite the Imperial portrait.

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle, Dave

This is just getting better and better.

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Sean Robinson, Dave, Ben, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

I don’t think I’ve seen anything since the younglings slaughter that had me going “That’s really fucked up” the way that torture scene did. 😮

 

This show is incredible. The evil ISB woman pulls the best faces.

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Dave, Ben, Tobias Radesäter, lorcan_nagle

Wow, what an ep.

Let’s see Syril Charisma Void Karn adds stalker to his resume, with a side of total stupidity.

Then there’s Deedra. Still think she’s smashing the patriarchy or have you wised up to the fact that she is that system in all its sadism?

The Coruscant sequences were quietly chilling.  That there’s no problems until the bank account is scanned!

Meanwhile the prison sequences were a slow destruction of Kino’s belief that the Empire would keep its promises.

And it’s all so smartly executed.

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Dave, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Nice light fun knockabout romp this week.

(It feels like they watched the Leia prison ball-droid scene from ANH and the Han torture scene from ESB and thought “let’s just do a whole episode of that!”)

Enjoyable stuff though, and really well made. And some great performances this week. Helga from Allo Allo is almost getting into Homelander territory with how much she can convey by clenching her jaw slightly differently.

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Christian, Uncle Retrospective, Ben, lorcan_nagle

We have Helga so, Syril = Herr Flick?

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lorcan_nagle, Dave

Luthen Rael is definitely René, soon his antiques shop is going to have to hide a copy of the Fallen Organa With The Big BB-8s.

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lorcan_nagle, Uncle Retrospective

I love this show.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

Another great episode of this excellent show. The jailbreak more than justified all the setup of the past couple of episodes, and I also love the way they’re continuing to explore the uncomfortable moral compromises that are having to be made by some of the key players – the Mon Mothma scene in particular was a tense and difficult watch, brilliantly acted.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

I found the quick shots of the people on Cassian’s work gang being shot down incredibly poignant this week, it’s very impressive to instill that much empathy in characters that are only on the screen for a couple of minutes total. And it’s incredibly telling that Luthen has sacrificed so much for the Rebellion, only for the New Republic to piss it all away about 20 years down the line in allowing the First Order to rise.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

Yeah, I bet Mothma’s daughter was delighted when the First Order took over.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Joking aside, the Mothma scene was the most powerful in the show for me, not just because of the awful choice of basically selling her daughter to a scumbag for the sake of the Rebellion, but also for what we learn about her own marriage. She’s a brilliant actor to convey so much emotion without fully breaking her reserved facade. A really well-written and acted scene.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Lads, “I can’t swim” was fucking heartbreaking.

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Rocket, Christian, Ben, Sean Robinson, Dave, lorcan_nagle

Yeah, Serkis was fantastic in this.

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Ben, Sean Robinson, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Wow, another excellent ep.

And while Kino’s final line “I can’t swim” bombed the hell out of the viewer, he had a great couple of scenes.  From the cells and “no one is getting out” to the command room speech, it was all great stuff.

The discussion between him and Andor of power also cut to the heart of the Empire.  The Empire had taken over, but it lacks the power and legitimacy of its predecessor and seeks to cover that with brutality and coercion.  Thus Star Destroyers then Death Stars, Starkillers, ending in the Sith Star Destroyers.

That Luthen has an ISB mole is intriguing, as is the bind that he is now in.  As is Lonnie.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, lorcan_nagle

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

Lads, “I can’t swim” was fucking heartbreaking.

And it’s also so typical of the show (in a very good way) that we don’t even get to see his death. Got as much screentime as any secondary character got, central to the last few episodes, great character, just gone and we don’t even get to see what fucking happened to him. Because you don’t, in that kind of situation. Fog of war and all that. People are just gone, and you’ll always wonder what exactly happened to them.

Yeah, just an incredible few episodes (caught up with three eps, so I got all of the prison storyline in one). Absolutely fantastic work by everyone involved. And God, what a monologue Luthen got at the end there. I would’ve liked to have seen Skarsgaard’s face when he first read those lines in the script – that’s surely the kind of moment you live for as an actor. “I share my dreams with ghosts”, what a fucking line.Jesus. The writing on this show makes me jealous.

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lorcan_nagle, Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

One thing I was thinking about yesterday, is how different the experience of watching this is from any other recent show that I could point to. Because in those shows – and this is especially the case in the Star Wars shows – you can see the plot beats at every point, you know A is happening because the writers want to get the characters to B and then to C. And everything around them feels kind of paper thin because it’s only there for the transition, for the next step in the plot. But that fucking prison? It felt like you could stay there forever. It had so much texture, it felt such a real place. Everything about it, down to the last little characters. Fuck, even those guards whose insecurity and fear of something going wrong you could see from the start, from Andor’s first moments in the palce. I could’ve watched an entire season just in that hell of a place because it was so fucking rich and real.

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Sean Robinson, lorcan_nagle, Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

It also shows character shields don’t matter when the writing and execution make you forget about it entirely.

Your attention isn’t going “it’s fine, he’s in the film”, instead it’s on “how the fuck is he getting out of this fucking place?” and nothing else.

On an entirely different and far more irrelevant note, Kino’s line is perfect for SW fans:

“No one is getting out.”

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle, Dave

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

Lads, “I can’t swim” was fucking heartbreaking.

Don’t mourn him; we already know Kino survived somehow, and eventually became Supreme Leader Snoke. Right?

RIGHT?!

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, lorcan_nagle

“I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.”

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Dave, lorcan_nagle, Ben

njerry wrote:

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

Lads, “I can’t swim” was fucking heartbreaking.

Don’t mourn him; we already know Kino survived somehow, and eventually became Supreme Leader Snoke. Right?

RIGHT?!

You post that here as a joke but already the clickbait demons have started pushing that very idea.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, njerry, lorcan_nagle

Yes! Just got the text that both parents have caught up on Andor and both love it.

I’m frickin’ ecstatic!
I did that!
World peace is next.

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Uncle Retrospective, njerry, Christian

Andor is now, offically, not just the best Star Wars show from Disney, but the best Star Wars thing ever. It’s better than The Empire Strikes Back, better than the comic books, the computer games, the animated Clone Wars by Tartakovsky and even better than the Holiday Special!

Fight me!

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Christian, Uncle Retrospective

Good episode again this week. Maybe not quite as dazzling as before but still some solid sequences, well-acted. Luthen’s conversation with Saw and then his escape from the Empire were both great little scenes.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

There was some great character work this week, between Mon’s discussion with Vel about the root of her financial troubles, Cassian and Melshi’s conversation after Cassian learns Maarva is dead, and Bix being brought back into the interrogation room. Syril’s com call with the Sergeant-Major was hilarious, and I always get a kick out of that one plastic organiser with the fold-out sections being reused as a prop in sci-fi.

And that action scene with Luthen’s ship was fantastic, I loved the idea of using the tractor beam against itself to turn junk into hypervelocity penetrators and the shot of the dish at the front of the ship being torn apart was amazing.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

[Uncle Retrospective]

I almost cried for B2 this week. 😭 Poor droid.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by Uncle Retrospective.

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Ben, Sean Robinson, lorcan_nagle

An excellent episode, all kinds of neat little details all over the place.

Luthen’s fight with the Empire was smartly executed.  Loved the look on the face of Captain Imperial Bastard as he realises he’s going to have to explain losing his entire air wing and a wrecked tractor beam emplacement.

But I think it is in what the show doesn’t do that it shines brightest.  I’m certain the writers would look at something like this:

“Your mother’s dead Cass.”

“How?”

“The Empire, some ISB woman visited her.  She was alive before the visit, died afterwards.”

And go: Nah.

Instead Maerva simply dies of old age.

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Christian, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Yeah, great episode as usual, even if it’s mostly built up for the finale.

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lorcan_nagle

Jesus, I just realised I’ll have to wait over a week before I can watch the finale.

I’ll have to blind myself to social media for the duration.

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lorcan_nagle

Just put on these headphones Christian, nothing bad will happen, honest.

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lorcan_nagle, Christian, Uncle Retrospective

I thought the finale was pretty solid, even if it was just one long build-up to a single event that united all the key players in one place. It was pretty powerful at times and the hologram monologue in particular worked for me. Some good speeches this season!

I also thought the real-world parallels were interesting. I’ve felt there have been conscious nods in particular to historical politics around Northern Ireland throughout the show, but that felt stronger than ever this week. Interested to know if anyone else agrees.

Also, there’s a post-credit scene this week so stick around for that. Not essential but a fun little tag that ties up a bit of a loose end from earlier in the series.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

I thought the finale was pretty solid, even if it was just one long build-up to a single event that united all the key players in one place. It was pretty powerful at times and the hologram monologue in particular worked for me. Some good speeches this season!

I also thought the real-world parallels were interesting. I’ve felt there have been conscious nods in particular to historical politics around Northern Ireland throughout the show, but that felt stronger than ever this week. Interested to know if anyone else agrees.

Also, there’s a post-credit scene this week so stick around for that. Not essential but a fun little tag that ties up a bit of a loose end from earlier in the series.

100% agree on the Northern Ireland parallels. A lot my IRL friends picked up on that back in episode 3 with everyone on Ferrix banging on metal to warn people of the Pre-Mor security forces advancing. But here was like a mix of footage I’ve seen of paramilitary funerals mixed in with events like Bloody Sunday, and Maarva’s description of Ferrix sure as fuck sounded like Belfast. The entire funeral had me whiplashing between sadness and tension, it was masterful.

It was maybe a bit too pat that Cassian’s plan went off without a hitch but really that’s a minor quibble, it was still tense all the way until he arrived at the ship.

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Sean Robinson, Uncle Retrospective, Ben, Dave

Can Disney please stop screwing around on post-credit sequences? No one’s sitting through the too long credits on “maybe”.  The actual scene itself? A really neat pay-off but one I would have missed.

As to the rest of it – kind of funny that the arrival of Dedra on Fennix, flanked by two Deathtroopers, confirms she was born to be short and has spent her life punishing the entire galaxy for rendering her so.

Maarva’s funeral speech and the resulting brawl was epic. Liked how Anvil Guy sent a Stormtrooper out the fast exit, a guy with the SW version of a pipe bomb took out the tank, but it also didn’t shirk from showing that the Empire’s going to win this fight.

One real duff note, the first in the series, was Dedra surviving a blaster shot to the head and is saved from death or dismemberment by mob by Syril. Far, far too convienient.

Really liked Cassian’s rescue of Bix, Cinta gutting an Imperial and Luthen, in response to Maarva’s monologue, possibly realising he hasn’t been going about the rebellion in the right way.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, as Mothma suspected there is no such thing as privacy, with her driver reporting every word to Blevin at the ISB. Talking of, they quickly fall to self congratulation over stopping the Spellhaus attack.

I could have done without the ending cliffhanger.  Not least as it isn’t really, it can only really play out one way.

Overall, this has been an excellent series, is it really two years until the next one?

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lorcan_nagle, Dave

Ben wrote:

One real duff note, the first in the series, was Dedra surviving a blaster shot to the head and is saved from death or dismemberment by mob by Syril. Far, far too convienient.

It would have been satisfying to see her strung up in the aftermath like Clem had been, but hopefully this just means she’ll get hers in series 2.

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Uncle Retrospective, Ben

[Uncle Retrospective]

So, yea. That was great. My only quibbles would be Andor’s plan went off too easily (I did like that he knew the guy in the kitchen and just said hi) and Dedra go away from the mob too easily.

Saying that, the look on Denise Gough face when she saw who saved her is one of the most incredible bits of acting I’ve ever seen.

 

Loved that I like Star Wars again, it make me happy although I could do without having to wait till 2024 till the next season.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by Uncle Retrospective.

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Ben, lorcan_nagle

Yes, still great. Still the best Star Wars related thing ever.

The only bad thing about it is that it makes Obi-Wan Kenobi seem even worse.

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Uncle Retrospective

Dedra’s expression before being saved by Syril: Bulldog eating a wasp.

After being saved by Syril: Bulldog eating two wasps.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, lorcan_nagle

I half expected them to kiss passionately.

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Christian, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

I half expected them to kiss passionately.

It’s what Syril desperately wanted. And therefore it won’t happen

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Dave

ANDOR GETS A PERFECTLY RETRO 1975 OPENING CREDITS SEQUENCE – Nerdist.com

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lorcan_nagle, Todd

“Based on THX1138” made me laugh, especially because I’d seen a lot of people compare the prison arc to it.

Sooo because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews this show got, I decided to check out the rest of the series (I did watch the first 3 eps when they came out, but didn’t follow up on them), and yes… this is very much the best SW-related thing I’ve seen, because it’s a pretty solid show.

Not gonna say it’s “great” because it ain’t, it does have VERY strong episodes and moments, but it also sags in a lot of places… but all in all, yeah, quite a nice show with a contained enough story that it being part of the SW universe was almost a non-factor. The best stretch was def. the 4-6 episodes with the heist plot. The prison part was very filler-y, they could’ve shaved 2 episodes from the season very easily, tbh.

So yeah, anyways, it was good enough… certainly better than that kenobi or book of bobo fat nonsense and even the mandalorian, tbh.

Ben wrote:

Dedra surviving a blaster shot to the head

So I rewatched episode 12 last night and Deedra got beaned by a stone, not shot.

Yep, pity it wasn’t a bit bigger and heavier.

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Rocket, lorcan_nagle

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Ben wrote:

Dedra surviving a blaster shot to the head

So I rewatched episode 12 last night and Deedra got beaned by a stone, not shot.

Yeah, that’s what I assumed watching it. At that point, the protestors hadn’t got any blasters, I think.

I liked the episode, it did a good jon of wrapping up what had to be wrapped up and opening up possibilities for the next season. It wasn’t a climactic high point of the series, but we had enough of those, so I am fine with that. Lots of good little moments like Mon playing the spy and her husband or anvil guy shoving a trooper off the tower, or Syril’s henchman just aimlessly sitting around and boozing up towards the end there.
My favourite thing by far were Syril and Deedra though. Love that they’ve been pushed closer now, and I honestly have no idea whether this will lead to them actually becoming a thing or not. Deedra’s reaction to being saved by him could go a number of different ways.

Can’t wait for next season, when Andor and Luthen have teamed up and he’s a proper rebel. And by can’t wait I hate that it’ll be two years. Like, seriously? I’ll be over fifty then!

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lorcan_nagle

I spent the last couple of days binging through the series and I really liked it. A very well done series.

I think what I liked about it the most was that it showed more of the SW universe than we get to see in most other shows. (I say that not having watched the any of the canon animated series.) We normally see old west-style Outer Rim worlds. It was good to see some variety.

I also the more in-depth views we got into the Empire and Rebellion. The Empire is a banal bureaucracy and the Rebellion is far less heroic and noble that what has been shown before.

While I hope Disney keeps doing different things with SW, I would genuinely like to see more grounded takes like Andor. Honestly, I wish Marvel would do a more serious series like this.

Regarding the post credits scene: Watching what was being built on the prison planet, I joked to myself they were building self-sealing stem bolts. And sure enough, it appears they were! 😜

An excellent series and I’m looking forward to Season 2.

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Christian, lorcan_nagle, Uncle Retrospective, Dave

This is a long, but very good video delving into Andor

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Todd

OK, this is amazing. People took stills from Andor and added appropriate Onion headlines

Today marks one year since Andor came out so here’s season one but instead of being a tightly crafted TV show it’s all Onion headlines, I thought that’d be nice for you. If you’ve seen it. If not then I don’t know, favourite it and come back later?

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd, Sean Robinson

That was fun!

Man, I miss that show. I hope the writer’s strike doesn’t push its release further back than late summer 2024.

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Uncle Retrospective