1x11 Daughter of Ferrix

[7.4/10] This episode is still good, but very plainly consists largely of setup for the finale, which means everything feels a little inchoate and a little unfinished. Andor has been no stranger to table-setting episodes. But even more so than past outings, given that we pretty much know all the players and the basic situation at this point, there’s not much new to reveal, and it’s more a matter of moving everyone to the right places on the board.

The showpiece scene is Luthen talking down Saw about Anto Kreegyr’s doomed raid. The fact that Guerrera seems a little mad and suspicious here helps make the conversation seem precarious. Luthen is spitting facts -- that Kreegyr going down is better for the Rebellion than warning him off. But Saw is understandably concerned. Is it right to burn an ally, even a loose one? Is Luthen playing everybody for a malign force? Would he do the same to Saw?

Those questions aren’t firmly answered, and Saw’s a little paranoid to begin with. But I like his response a lot. Part of how the Rebellion is able to operate is by letting the Empire think they’re in firm control. It’s the same thing Andor said to him in their first ship journey together. You can steal from them because they’re so arrogant that they think no one would dare. Luthen puts the decision in Saw’s hands, but he makes his point. People who think they’re in control are exploitable. People who are nervous that deceit and betrayal are around every corner are dangerous. Thirty men is a lot, but this is the grim math Luthen conducts, and so is an ISB contact and the continued ability to work in the dark.

It speaks to what I take to be one of the big themes of Andor so far, and one that ties it into Rogue One -- sacrifice. Kreegyr and his men are being sacrificed. Luthen’s soul is burned on the altar of the greater good. Rebel operatives perish in the Aldhani raid. Inmates die in the Narkina 5 prison break. Better to die fighting them than giving than what they want, after all, right?

But Mon Mothma may have to sacrifice her daughter, in a sense, which may be the part that's most heartbreaking. We don’t seem to get much progress on this storyline from the last episode, but just Mon Mohtma and her sister, Vel, commiserating about it helps reveal how hard this is for all involved. Mon seems to loathe the old ways of Chandrilla. To see her daughter adopt them so reflexively, on her own, at the risk of being married off to some Chandrillan gangster’s son at an age where her brain hasn’t fully developed yet, is devastating. And yet, it comes with the ability to keep funding the Rebellion, to keep promoting independence and liberty within a fascist regime and bring down the halls of power from the inside. That too is a sacrifice, one that comes in a different form, but which can have an impact no less piercing.

The other big event here is, of course, Maarva dying. It’s suitably sad, particularly as seen through the lens of poor little B2EMO. The show gives us a nice look at Ferrix customs, and the idea of being made into a brick, with your name engraved and preserved in some local wall, has a generational, preservationist appeal. I like the notion that this is a sad event, but also one that others from the outside see as an opportunity.

So ISB knows that this is about to go down and might be the place to catch Andor. Karn gets the word from his old sergeant (via an amusingly poor connection) and heads there too. Cinta is poised to strike if need be. And a host of others have their grip tightened in the area in case this man who’s caused such a ruckus decides to return to pay his respects at his mom’s funeral.

That leaves Cassian himself. In truth, him getting back home is a mostly perfunctory thing. It’s a little convenient, frankly, that he’s able to make it from some rock cropping on Nakima 5 to a free shuttle ride to Space Miami. But at least we get some cool-looking aliens out of the deal. Diego Luna’s acting when Cassian finds out about Maarva is quite good, and the images we see of him reflecting on a tropical sky are beautiful. Most of this seems like wheel-spinning before the big climax, but it’s solid.

So too is Luthen’s escape from an Imperial patrol in similar pointless but well-done terms. If anything, it seems like Andor’s creative team decided this was all too staid and they needed something action-y to up the fireworks quotient. All of that said, Luthen stalling for time, disintegrating a satellite dish, and laser spinning his way out of dodge is pretty cool, which earns it some leeway.

All of that said, I like the idea that he’s headed to Ferrix, another ingredient in the combustible soup that’s bubbling there in the wake of Maarva’s death. There’s a lot of people out to get Cassian right now, and something tells me Luthen’s going to be the one to save him, albeit maybe in a way that requires another great sacrifice. Onto the finale!

That really was an in-between-episode. Luthen and Saw again very strong and I was completely amazed by Luthens Getaway even though it was a bit overly convenient for him to have these measures that conflict with everything we have seen in star wars anywhere.
But that actually doesn't matter because I still think it's absolutely believable for the simple reason that we have so far only seen either military, mass produced vehicles or even more often crappy, old, almost dismantled spacecraft because that's just what rebels and wannabe rebels can afford. There have not been any extremely expensive customised ones. So I am completely fine with Luthen being able to escape it just could have been introduced or foreshadowed better.
On Andors side I must say the prison episodes now feel a bit disconnected. It was solved too easily and without specific implications. They almost leave a feeling as though Gilroy simply wanted to change genre for a bit. For missing Marva's death being on the luxury planet would have sufficed. And the argument that he at least would have been able to contact her in freedom is naught in my opinion because Andor just would have been too cautious.

That was the first episode that left me a bit disappointed because it felt like a step sideways. And no real twists or surprises. Everything just happens.

Maarva's death was to be expected, there has to be a reason for Andor to get back. The escape from Narkina 5 was too convinient, as they just stumble over those aliens and nothing about the other escapees. Yes, they asked the question at the end but it seemed rather to find a reason to seperate the two then really answer the question. Mon Mothma has to agree to Davo's terms to save herself. I wrote last week the scene between them felt like a deleted scene and now more so. They could have just added a line or two of dialogue to explain what happened there. Finally, Luthen's escape from the Empire works mostly because we are back to stupid minion officers who are probably glad they can put on an uniform in the morning. Oh, and Kyril wants to still get his hand on Andor as he blames him for his dilemma. I really thought the character would go deeper.

Sorry for the rambling but I am used to better writing from this show by now. Let's hope that the finale next week can shift up at least two gears.