Season 1

When George Lucas created Star Wars in the 1970s, it was many things. It was influenced by samurai films of the 60s smashed with science-fiction serials in more of a fantasy style. It was a statement against the American military complex–specifically related to the Vietnam War. It was a massive risk that nobody thought would pay off. And although Star Wars is no longer a financial gamble but one of Disney's cash cows (Solo aside), many seem to have forgotten that the political edge of the franchise has always been central to its identity. While various entries in the long running staple of American cinema have had varying degrees of transparency and effectiveness in terms of making its anti-fascist elements known, the heart is still there. While the face of imperialist threats in the real world have shifted throughout the years thus necessitating a morphing of methods in Star Wars (the prequels are unbelievably prescient these days), the current state of the political climate both at home and abroad present themselves as prime targets for the dormant and sidelined political themes to come out swinging. I wouldn’t qualify Andor as coming out swinging so much as coming out brandishing a pipe bomb.

Andor is a rarity in every sense of the word. It’s a late entry in a forty-five year old franchise that feels fresher than it has any right to. It’s a prequel to a prequel about how a character who played an important role that made the climax of the original film possible. It’s an overtly political, anti-fascist, anti-imperialist narrative made by the largest film production company in the world that somehow still presents itself artfully enough that you don’t feel as though you’ve been beaten over the head with its parallels while also pushing the multitude of nuance with such clarity the emotional beats hit just as hard as (and typically in tandem with) the political beats. It boasts strong writing for character, dialogue, and plot. It’s a Disney+ series that uses a shocking amount of practical effects and looks flat-out tremendous. It features A-list actors bringing their all. But most importantly: Andor never lets its audience forget that the Empire is fascist and that fascism is bad. Full stop.

Whereas in nearly every other entry in the Star Wars cannon that uses the Empire/New Order/Sith as antagonists you understand that those figures are evil for the sake of the narrative, at times these entries lack the guts to flatly present those characters as evil because they represent a regime that pushes a political philosophy directly aimed to minimize individual freedoms, discriminate against anyone different from those in power, and strives for total control of its people and its land. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a failure in other entries so much as a calculated step at times: it would be harder to accept Anakin in the prequels, Vader’s redemption in the original trilogy, and Kylo Ren’s struggle in the sequel trilogy if any of those films were as blatant and explicit as Andor’s portrayal. Those representations do not bely fascist heart of the Empire, but they do downplay the practices of the regime so that heavier lifting for character arcs can be avoided. Andor needs you to feel the oppression. Andor needs you to understand that there is a need for rebellion and that Cassian Andor is not so much a plucky Rebellion member as he is someone who was backed into needing to fight against the Empire because they oppose his very right to exist.

There’s two sides of the same coin here in Andor. Just as we understand why the Empire is evil, we understand why the Rebellion’s guerrilla, go for broke tactics are necessary. Without them, they pose no threat. Without any attempt, the Empire continues to control. But at the same time, there’s an explicit example shown that just as the Rebellion exists because of the Empire, the extended reach of the Empire is necessary for the Rebellion to gain members to fight as well. It's an incredible touch of skill, showing how a rebellion needs to get bleak to succeed.

The writing of Andor is easily its strongest suit. The above paragraphs only begin to scratch the surface in terms of how much depth is mined from the long running franchise. Because in addition to all that’s written above, there’s so much additional nuance and detail the show adds to the Galaxy: we learn how the Empire exerts control, how the Empire builds the Death Star, how the Rebellion gets funded, how the beginning of the Rebellion consisted of so many factions that will eventually give way to that which we see in A New Hope. There’s deep, developed characters, including genuinely positive representation of diversity in terms of gender, queerness, and race. There’s ruminations on political ideologies, the purpose of daily life in the midst of an imperial takeover, how individuals have to sideline their dreams and goals so that people, collectively, have a shot to live better. And it’s no surprise it’s this good either, considering the writing credits include not one, but two Gilroys; Beau Willimon; and The Americans alum Stephen Schiff. If anything, it’s surprising that Disney was able to accrue such a high echelon of talent for a Disney+ Star Wars series. It’s surprising Disney would make a show this grounded, mature, and violent at all. And while I haven’t disliked much that Disney has done with Star Wars (some of the series are really the only complete disappointments for me) and I think The Last Jedi is the best thing Star Wars has ever done, it just shocks me this is what we got considering the state of the House of Mouse and the state of the American political system.

I’ll admit that my expectations were almost rock bottom for this series before it began its release. After The Book of Boba Fett and how reliant The Mandalorian is on fanservice (a series I still admittedly like very much), it was hard to muster too much hope for a prequel to a prequel, even if I did love Rogue One and Andor’s character within that film. I just didn’t have faith that something new could be brought to the table. My fear had been that the backlash to The Last Jedi–the most overtly political and punk entry of the sequel trilogy–had filed down Disney’s teeth, particularly considering the leaked elements of Trevorrow’s canned Episode IX: Duel of the Fates carried on the thematic threads of the unfairly maligned Episode VIII. But instead Andor makes me think that in the interim, Disney (and Kathleen Kennedy, specifically, credit where credit is due) took a step back to take stock of what stories could be told in the franchise. While I won’t ignore the filler that’s come out after The Rise of Skywalker, the strength of Andor gives me hope for the franchise moving forward, particularly considering there’s a Waititi film coming down the line and Johnson’s trilogy is (as of the time of writing) still alive–even if it’s in limbo at this point.

It takes something as fresh, focused, and potent as Andor to bring back this level of confidence. It’s a true testament to the quality of the series’s first season. And while I don’t align myself with the rabid cannibalism of the Star Wars fandom (as probably is evident by my proclamations for the prequels and The Last Jedi), it is nice just to get a win in the franchise. It’s nice not to go on the internet after watching an entry and become immediately exhausted by the sheer multitude of inane debates about it–although there does seem to be a faction of internet users who haven’t quite figured out that Andor’s overt political theming directly points the finger at American conservatism, but at least they like the show.

What really drives home my excitement for this series isn’t just the quality of its initial season, although it certainly helps. It’s that Andor has a planned arc for its second season which has already been greenlit and confirmed to be its last. It cements artistic integrity by its creative team and respects the work put into it by all those involved. Because although Star Wars is a franchise that likely isn’t going away any time soon (not that I’m complaining about that), it’s nice to know that there’s individual entries that can take pre-established elements from it and reinvent the very foundation from which it was created.

Andor really expands the Star Wars Universe without resorting to references the Skywalker family or the Jedi. It gives us a richer and more complex Galaxy than the one imagined in the infamous failed fanservice work that is the Sequel Trilogy, where there is no exploration of new themes and we are not given new characters to become attached to.
As in Rogue One, I found great work on characters and atmospheres, a series about real war and its nuances, where the Rebels are not spotless and fearless heroes, but real, fragile, scared people. The journey of Kassian Andor's character in the movie and in the show reminds me of what happens in the Classic Trilogy with Darth Vader, of whom we see the dark side and the final redemption; in Rogue One we see a cruel and unscrupulous Kassian, who shoots informants in the back, doesn't bat an eyelid when he's ordered to kill a man in cold blood (indeed, it suggested that it's not the first time) and in general seems dejected from years of struggles and clashes. There are no shortcuts, there are no nice phrases, no good feelings. To start a rebellion you have to get your hands dirty, sacrifice yourself, give up everything and finally die without even knowing if it was worth it. This is the true meaning of the phrase “So that their sacrifice may not be in vain.”
Italian review here: http://tinyurl.com/28dmtmx6

I thought this was going to be another typical low quality Star Wars production to toss into Disney's hoard of content. I initially struggled to continue past the first two establishing episodes because I had low expectations from Disney's track record. Looking back, those episodes really flesh out the narrative and I'm extremely glad that once the season finished airing, I continued to give it the full chance it deserves. Star Wars: Andor completely subverted and exceeded any expectations I had for a Disney+ show.

All the filmmaking aspects excelled throughout the presentation. Set design, props, costumes, makeup, lighting, camera work, dialog, acting, tone, themes, character writing, choreography, stunts, CGI, blended landscapes, puppeteering, animatronics, music, SFX, ADR, and much more. There are even some good-faithed callbacks/homages that come off very natural rather than solely serving memberberries. I'm taken aback that there's actual talent and effort poured into a modern-day Disney production. This really feels like it's apart of the Star Wars universe rather than what we've recently been getting from Disney, which has felt like amateurish cosplay filmed at theme parks with multi-million dollar budgets. It's as if this show actually cares about crafting the art instead of soullessly milking the intellectual property. It's a well needed change of pace.

This is an incredibly underappreciated show in my opinion. The narrative is the methodical type that gets more interesting the longer it goes on and becomes even more charismatic during rewatches as you see how all the pieces align. I feel it deserves so much more recognition but will have difficulty receiving it due to how many of the Star Wars normies will be turned away by the extensive dialog sequences, time allocated to characterization, sparse action scenes, and fewer colorful lasers to signal dopamine to their brain. All of which are reasons that make this some of the best Star Wars has ever been but I can understand how this will turn away the casual audiences who only want to see lots of flashy lights, laugh at humorless jokes every 5 minutes, and distract themselves with substanceless action.

There's a little retconning but I'd say most of it is positive and none of it drastically change the world or established characters like how many of the recent Star Wars additions do. An issue that I have with the show is what feels like checkboxes where you can tell they are going out of their way to meet the criteria for in their plot/characters. However, unlike how many of the other Disney shows and movies meet these checkboxes, this show is able to do it with good purpose, intention, intelligence, and execution. Because of how well they are integrated, it's basically become a non-issue for me here.

This show is fan service done right. High quality production, amazing actors, and a passionate set of directors that care about their source material. This is a great watch for intermediate fans of the Star Wars universe and brings insight back into the cunning political structure with actual competent antagonists. It's even particularly great for non-fans that are just interested in a compelling narrative. I can't wait until season 2 next year. This might've just been a creative endeavor that miraculously flew under the corporate radar and avoided its chokehold. I hope the executives don't see the reception of this and push changes or set additional creative-restricting criteria to cater to a broader audiences for Season 2. Creating high quality content to fewer, more heavily-invested fans will always be better than sacrificing quality storytelling to appeal to the masses.

In the future, I'm also really hoping that this team will be given creative control for other Disney projects like Marvel, which is in desperate need of coherent direction. Whatever set this apart from Disney's normal production procedures, they need to continue with it and we might end up with an abundance of well made modern media instead of the recent soulless catering garbage spewing off the conveyor belt.

Do my eyes deceive me or has a Star Wars property with competent writing that doesn’t treat the audience like they have a cognitive disability finally been made?

No, surely that can’t be true, can it? Because It seems to me like the first Disney+ series that feels like an HBO show in overall quality.

I would have never thought that after one of the worst Disney Star Wars creations I had ever seen Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), Andor would come along and I would pay any mind to it. Especially when it involves a character from Rogue One that I thought nothing of when I finished the movie. Imagine that.

Things may not move fast in Andor but they move with purpose. To the average person, this may be a detriment to the series but I don't think it is. Andor makes sure it prioritizes proper setup and payoff for its 3 episode arcs, which means that not every episode contains a mind blowing revelation but that's fine because they make it work.

Andor has managed to do what I thought impossible for anything Star Wars that aren't Mandalorian adjacent, telling a competently told story (despite being a prequel of a prequel) that feels like it has stakes, that the end will justify the means and the lives lost along the way would have been worth it in the end.

Andor portrays what I sometimes imagined in my head what a Star Wars rebellion would look like but never thought could be pulled off knowing the competence of modern Star Wars writers.

And for that, I'd say it's well worth the watch.