That Security Force is probably good Stormtrooper material. :laughing:
Anyway, still slow burning. The whole first three episodes released today are rather on long pilot movie I guess. Let's see how that movie ends.
[7.7/10] Still enjoying this show quite a bit despite the fact that it’s more texture than story so far. Things are moving at a deliberate pace, but the world feels so well-furnished and lived-in. I enjoy what you wouldn’t even call the side characters in this one. It’s people like Deputy Inspector Karn’s underlings scarfing down their ramen before their boss comes in, or the transit guy on Ferrix bickering with his partner over where/what Kenari is, or a chatty cathy on the bus pesters Stellan Skarsgard with his life story.
None of these are vital characters to the ongoing narrative of Andor, but they all feel like real people you might meet in your own day-to-day goings on, which gives their scenes, and the world they inhabit, a life and a truth that makes you glad to be along for the ride even if you’re not entirely sure where you’re going.
In terms of the goings-on on Ferrix, I appreciate that we get a little more detail on Cassian’s world. Meeting his adoptive mom, who’s worried about him given the APB out that fits his description and secret backstory is a neat thing. His efforts to get off world and amass the funds he needs to make it happen are all solid, cutting the figure of a man who’s scraping by on the kindness of friends and neighbors who are mostly sick of his crud.
As crappy as it is, there’s also something oddly compelling about Bix’s quasi-boyfriend, Timm, ratting out Cassian, primarily motivated by getting this romantic rival out of his hair. It doesn’t make him likable in the least, but it’s a comprehensible, human failing and clear motivation, which I always appreciate. As with the tertiary characters, the scenes between Bix and him have the air of realness to them, a loose, causal, but troubled energy that drives home the magnitude of the feelings at play and the choices made without having to underline it heavily in dialogue. I appreciate it.
The flashbacks to Kenari are good too. We get details on Cassian’s homeworld, with it being a toxic, strip-mined planet left to rot after some horrible mining accident. The new details puts this tribe of children into context. And the scene of Cassian staring into a giant quarry is aweing. I was also struck by the scene of the comparatively primitive kids finding a crashed spaceship with belligerent space-farers (a scene that calls to mind Caravan of Courage, of all things). The clash of two very different civilizations -- watching the leader of the kid tribe felled by a blaster, and the space-farer brought down by an array of darts -- would leave an impact on anyone. I like the choice to go here bit by bit to give us Andor’s backstory, rather than limiting it to one flashback episode.
But my favorite part of this one is Deputy Inspector Karn’s interactions with the on-the-ground guardsmen. Sergeant Mosk is a treat of a character, someone whose iron fist worldview is terrifying but once again, full of verisimilitude for folks in that position, who knows just how to flatter those in charge. More to the point, I love the scene where Karn tries to give an inspiring speech to the troops, but is plainly a boy playing dress-up among the men who do the dirty work. For as devoted and borderline obsessed as Karn is about solving this murder and ordering around his department, it’s plain that he feels intimidated and out of place when faced with the real, grunt-heavy work of enforcing these orders with the frontline guys, even if he wants the thrill and credit of being involved personally. It’s a great character-revealing moment.
I’m also intrigued by the arrival of Stellan Skarsgard’s character into the proceedings. I don’t know what his deal is, but he carries himself like Obi-Wan did: a little wistful, but also solemn, someone who’s seen some shit. Presumably he’s the buyer for Cassian’s wares, and potentially the young man’s entry point into the Rebellion (since who’d have more use for what Andor has than the Rebel Alliance?), but I’m curious to know what his backstory is.
Otherwise, I continue to dig the texture of this one. The imagery of the man striking a resounding anvil to signify nightfall and the start of the day catches the eye. B2EMO continues to be a lovable droid with his scrunching and stuttering. Even the damn payphones that Timm uses to tip off the private security force monitoring this system has that “used future” quality that George Lucas and company established in A New Hope.
On the whole, another good installment and one that left me impressed by the craft at play and intrigued by what will come next.
(As an aside, since Andor is set in 5 BBY, I wonder if we’ll get any hints of the events from Star Wars: Rebels here.)
Great speech, sir. Very inspiring.
I want to know everything there is to know about bell guy
This show is going entirely too slow for me. Like the episode went by and it felt like nothing happened. I'll keep trying to get through it but they need to pick up the pace. I hope I'm not alone in this thought.
I must be missing something…just seems like a bunch of random scenes stitched together. I’m going to keep watching, but so far it’s not all that interesting for me.
"There's fomenting out there, sir. Pockets of fomenting."
Great episode. Still taking it slow in pace but establishes the world perfectly. The metal clanker signaling start day and end of day. The trigger-happy corpo soldiers eager to get into action in times of imperial slow bureaucracy. The flashback of Kenari kids. The whole world feels very lived in. I particularly like Mosk's line: "Corporate Tactical Forces are the Empire's first line of defense." Really makes you think what kind of political institution the Empire is: relying on private security company to do their job.
So far this has felt like Altered Carbon (Season 1) or The Expanse, set in Star Wars universe. That's really a feat: brings me back to pre-Disney, classic Star Wars Expanded Universe.
I can appreciate it's not like every other spin off, focused on creatures and side missions but I still don't know what the hell is this show even about. Just a man on the run?
Is this what passes for good writing these days?
So, Cassian lies low on Ferrix while that wanna-be stormtrooper plans on capturing him. Rather boring episode, more filler than telling anything new.
the plot thickens and this show continues to be a vibe. I'm very interested to see how Cassian gets himself out of the mess he's mucking in. Also, v. concerned that his mom (Maarva) is gonna be killed. and the droid too
I am feeling the slow burn a bit, like this and the last episode could have covered this ground in just one. But still hooked by the build. I love you Fiona Shaw! And that's a hell of an intro to Alex Ferns.
This was definitely a step back. I've heard it gets good but I'm not sure what the show is about.
This episode was borderline boring.
Very boring so far, nothing going on...
Looks like we're in for a slow burn. There wasn't much action but I don't mind as it was still interesting (exploring the Star Wars universe is already enough for me).
This is the second episode that just ends before any logical stopping point. I hope this pattern doesn't continue past this episode.
The episode itself is fine. There's nothing that either awes or bothers me besides the list below. The writing seems fine, the acting is good, and I mostly like it, despite that it hasn't actually finished a single episode's worth of plot. The corporate sector's design from the first episode was very good. The mining town's design is what one should expect from a show with the officially gigantic backing from a conglomerate like Disney. However, there are other issues. Production issues.
Coming to this blind, I didn't know who the showrunner was. I actually liked Tony Gilroy episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. However, after two episodes that were suspiciosly short, despite being in a 45 min. adult drama format, I'm wondering if either they just hacked it up this way after the fact without telling him beforehand, or, what's worse, that he actually doesn't know how to write episodes over either 20 or 40 minutes. Again, some of my favorite episodes, but from a children's show that used extremely expedient pacing/plotting. Which was fine... for a children's show in a 20-minute time slot.
To wit, the man-"droid" is still dumb and seems to have been lifted straight from the derpy droid from Buck Rogers, to be implanted into a self-serious Star Wars character spin-off of indeterminate genre. I knew it couldn't be a one-off, but I was hoping it was anyway-- perhaps some specific concession from a marketing checklist that said any show had to have some goofy nonsense that would appeal to humans with the mental development of a toddler.
You know what, this whole scene with his supposed mother was terrible (again, an Irish mother and a fellow tribesgirl who doesn't share his accent?). The directing was unfocused and her acting was nondescript and confounding. First scene and did nothing to establish her character, except to try to show her as collected and competent, only for her to start shrilly squawking at him whilst looking at nothing in particular while he's trying to talk to his robo bucket man.
Star Wars has established norms and themes. Short droids beep, and humaniform droids speak in the language of the sentients that made them, if not multiple, in the case of protocol droids like C3-PO. This droid is an accordioning mop bucket with a generic man's voice and the personality of a core-damaged protocol droid that's been taking the cybernetic equivalent of trazadone. None of it makes sense, and it clashes with the tone of the show. Is it a director cameo? (checks...) No. It's just the rando that did that shitty R2-D2 rip-off from The Farce Awakens. I don't think these people understand how universe consistency is supposed to work.
Unfortunately, there are oversights in worldbuilding that stick out in scenes that keeps this show from feeling like a complete and sincere effort to fit into the Star Wars world. First was the brick buildings. Just plain, red brick. Nothing sci-fi or fantasy about that. It's like Dickensian England, which ,inexplicably, seems to be the worldbuilding inspiration for Andor. Well, that and Blade Runner 2049. Also, it now seems beyond reasonable doubt that mechanic woman is from Cassian's racially homogenous crash-survivor child tribe, yet they don't remotely share an accent. What, could they not find a Mexican woman that was just tolerably younger than him (yet presumably should be older than him?). I'm not complaining about the actress. She's competent, and gorgeous. It just seems like careless worldbuilding.
Things I also noticed:
A radio from the, I think, 1970s. Maybe sixties, I wasn't born for either, but I recognize it, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. This is Star Wars, everything gets special treatment to look like a bespoke part of the local worldspace. You can't just take a fucking radio and put it in the scene because it matches the yellow melamine color pallet aesthetic of the room. Yeah, George went overboard in the 1950s diner scene of Episode II. I don't give that a pass either, but the look and tone of this show seems to be trying to distance itself from that kind of thing entirely, except I expect to at some point see a random lunch box from the 1980s because someone from the propmasters crew thought it looked nostalgic.
The crash-landed Yellow Dude "aliens". I initially assumed they were supposed to be really cheap aliens, but I think that's wrong. Either way, they look straight out of a 1950s Sci-Fi film. Secondly, the respirators they were wearing were just modern, off-the-shelf respirators. All these little details together do not bode well for this show.
I liked the little alien guy in the transport office, though. There's a lot of good work, but also just random bad choices that show some people either don't care or don't know what they're doing.
I have hopes, but I also know at some point they're just going to give a cast member an AKS assault rifle and call it a day. What's next, a pickup truck from 2007?
There's a lot of low-hanging fruit here, and that's not the kind of thing that one sees in a well constructed effort with a compelling world.
Good "part 2" of the first episode, just linda further setting things up, and I love that it's taking its sweet time with it too, the buildup really just helps with establishment. It's awesome! We get to see this time period in a cool way that we haven't been able to see before, and I'm ready for more! Love the dude jamming out with the bell gonging though, best character for sure, hope Disney makes a 12 episode series just about him!
Feels like these first ones were kind of all one thing. Future phases have me more interested.
Shout by GothamBlockedParent2022-09-21T08:06:46Z
Diego Luna absolutely served :muscle: