Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a new property, one which falls well outside the site’s general wheelhouse, but which has received enough positive buzz that I’m eager to explore it for myself. Thus I find myself engaging with one of the inescapable franchises that have so effectively narrowed our collective imagination, as we explore the Star Wars miniseries known as Andor.
Alongside fellow blockbusters like Jaws, Star Wars was one of the death knells of the rich and varied New Hollywood era, signaling the advent of a dumber, simpler cinematic landscape consolidated around a handful of endlessly replicable genre scripts. I suppose it’s not exactly fair to blame the original film (a fine riff on Flash Gordon-style adventure serials) for the death of cinema, but it certainly didn’t help – particularly since Star Wars has continued its zombie existence for decades, and now stands alongside superheroes and “live-action” remakes as one of the main artery-cloggers of film and television.
Our perception of science fiction is narrower for the outsized footprint Star Wars has left on the genre; as is readily demonstrated by the impoverished imaginations of modern isekai, the more your inspirations all resemble each other, the less rich and distinctive your own fantasies will be. All that said, if you want to reach people, you need to speak in their language – and from everything I’ve heard, Andor uses the language of Star Wars to speak of oppression and rebellion in genuinely meaningful, well-crafted, perhaps even inspirational ways. Thus, with my antipathy for Star Wars as a cultural institution established, I nonetheless dive into Andor with great curiosity as to how good it truly is. Let’s get to it!
Episode 1
From what I understand, this series is essentially a prequel to Rogue One, charting some of the earlier adventures of that film’s protagonist. It’s also apparently bereft of the nostalgia signifiers that define modern Star Wars – no light sabers or baby yodas or ghoulish CG de-agings of former stars, just fundamentally sturdy storytelling. I have heard fans of the content trough derisively refer to it as “not real Star Wars,” which to me can only be a good sign
Our lead walks with purpose under the cold lights and rain of “Morlana One.” A scene not of wonder or high energy, but of nervous anticipation. I like the industrial look of this scenery; there are times Star Wars has strayed closer to Blade Runner-esque film noir (like Obi Wan’s narrative in Attack of the Clones), and the franchise is usually better for it
Aliens gesture at our lead from translucent spheres built into the walls. This is something I also like to see – treating Star Wars not as a canon, but a canvas. The world feels smaller if all its secrets call back to inventions from the first three films, if every third creature is a wookie or jawa
From the first image of those overwhelming lights through this entrance into a club, a sense of entrapment and surveillance is conjured through low ceilings, bright lights, and the oppressive rain
“It’s a company town.” Getting into how the empire’s power is expressed at its furthest tendrils, how even sentries in backwater towns can play at being little Hitlers
“Is there something amusing?” The short fuse and perpetually wounded pride of the small-town cop. Presumably the fact that these two guards are observing this information handoff will have lasting repercussions
The girl from Kenari that he’s seeking left months ago. I like how they ominously yet vaguely refer to her system in the past tense
The guards pursue him out of the club. Men like this are the everyday face of fascism, as currently demonstrated through the ICE raids across the states. And there is no hero with a glowing sword coming to save us; only the work we do every day, piece by piece, to ensure such men can never hold power again
“Yeah, he’s not laughing anymore.” You don’t even have to do anything, as our lead here demonstrates. Their pride is so fragile, like they know in some way how deeply contemptible they are, like they must express their power simply to affirm it is theirs. You can see in Trump the contours of this psychological type, the portion of humanity who simply cannot care about others, but who care deeply that others acknowledge their worth, and will go to any violent lengths to achieve it
This is an excellent way to open the show, really emphasizing the oppression they’re living under. Much of Star Wars is concerned with epic drama – this sequence emphasizes the smallness of it all, the everyday deprivation of living under tiny men. A show that reminds us we can all do our part to make fascists’ lives harder and shorter
“Let’s hear it, boss!” As such, his ultimate retort from a position of power feels even more satisfying than the preceding punches
The bigger guard realizes his friend is dead, and immediately clocks what that means – there’s basically no way for our lead to let him leave this alley alive. He’s just too great a liability
Whew, nasty. After that brief moment of exultation, all that’s left is the execution of a desperate, unarmed man. Our lead’s doing a great job of navigating the sorrow of being forced into this cruel play
The lights of that bridge bookend the scene, as if he’s running under prison lights towards a salvation that may not even exist
We then jump to a dilapidated street on Ferrix, defined as resting within the “Free Trade Sector.” A little bit of droid humor offers a lighter tone
Droids are interesting in Star Wars, as they are coded as both fully equipped with individual personalities and also as a perpetual underclass. It goes back to the original series’ R2-D2 and C3PO being modeled off The Hidden Fortress’ hapless peasant perspective characters; they don’t signify technology or transhumanism, they are specifically tools for embodying oppression and social hierarchy, implying serfs and masters
Our lead’s name is Cassian. He dreams of the sister he seeks, back when he was a boy on Kenari. A spacecraft crashes in the distance beyond his rural village, an ill omen
Our droid’s name is B2EMO, or “Bee.” They’re getting a lot of personality out of his multi-tiered foldable body, which allows him to essentially “tilt his head” in order to make expressions. His vocal glitches also come across like a nervous stutter
“I can lie. I have adequate power reserves.” An excellent line
Nice tactile sets and costumes for this planet. The Volume largely killed any sense of depth or location in Disney productions, so I’m happy to see them not entirely relying on CG here
This is apparently a mining town, about as archetypal of an underclass community as you could hope for. Andor has successfully stripped Star Wars of its inherent escapist allure; people living under the empire aren’t generally dashing rogues or destined heroes, they are workers who live and die without ever brushing against an opportunity to adjust their circumstances
Cassian meets a friend named Brasso outside the mine, and swiftly establishes an alibi for the previous night. Just generally sharp, convincing dialogue so far, with none of the tortured theatricality the franchise inherited from Lucas’ scripts
“It was freezing there last night.” Brasso goes the extra step of shouting out portions of their alibi to all present, creating a crowd of witnesses to affirm their version of the truth
We then jump to Morlana One, Corporate Security Headquarters, where the fallout is presumably landing already
An overachieving deputy inspector (key detail of him tailoring his suit – he believes he is better than his uniform) has a full report on the double murder. His superior is significantly less enthralled by the details
Yeah, his superior is just frustrated at how much of the guards’ behavior calls attention to his own operation’s deviations from protocol. Two idiot guards killed in a bar fight, he’s not going to let that bring further attention down on the whole team
“They died being helpful. Something sad but inspiring in a mundane sort of way.” The dogs of fascism are necessary, but they are not actually valued by their masters
“Which, at the moment, includes you.” A considered degree of implication – “clean this up or I’ll ensure nothing like this is ever your problem again”
Cassian then meets with a woman named Bix, a mechanic with a black market contact
Cassian is of course still in a panic. A morbid contrast there: the only person who cares about the death of those two guards is their killer. Cassian’s error is believing the empire is concerned with its own
Timm, her partner at the garage, wants no part in dangerous business. If you can survive without sticking your neck out, why wouldn’t you?
Our cut provides an immediate potential answer, as we jump back to Kenari. Some things cannot be forgotten, some things cannot be forgiven. We are not all moved to revolutionary spirit by our inherent concern for our fellow man; if we are moved by spite or desperation or revenge, the doing is all that matters
The harmonious social contract of this community offers a harsh contrast against the individualist paranoia of life under the empire
They appear to be preparing for an expedition to check out the crashed ship, which Cassian joins in spite of his youth and the reservations of other participants
Meanwhile, our go-getter deputy inspector is continuing his investigations, and has now identified Cassian’s ship slipping through security. Once again, he’s the only one actually invested in the empire or any of these alleged protocols; most people are just trying to get through the day
Cassian continues to burn more final favors, now being held up by Nurchi, who wants his money
Aaand now the ship’s tracked to Ferrix, and our Hitler Youth valedictorian is demanding a planetary bulletin seeking a Kenari male
“No more favors, no more deals.” The overall impression is a trap slowly winding shut, as Cassian burns every bridge, uses up every favor, and ultimately falls within the slow-moving yet implacable grip of the empire
This “you’re running out of last chances” tone carries over to the flashback thread, as young “Kassa” says goodbye to his sister for what is almost certainly the last time
And Done
Man, that was a pressure cooker of a premiere! Just one stupid encounter with a couple cretinous oafs seems like it will derail Cassian’s whole life – though admittedly, it appears he was already stretching every resource in his life thin even before the murders. But yeah, strong performances, an excellent, understated script, and an omnipresent atmosphere of claustrophobia made for an excellent first episode, with the underlying Star Wars of it all merely being used to assume an audience understanding of the general powers at play. No wallowing in nostalgia here; Andor feels urgent, timely, and righteously angry, articulating the day-to-day experience of life under fascism with purpose and precision. I’m eager to see more!
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