First season of Andor is over

 

I've been away on holiday but I caught up with the last couple of episodes of Andor when I got home. I'll be sure to watch it next year. It certainly isn't a fast-paced action series and it requires attention to keep track of the various threads.

Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor before he appears in Rogue One. It's the story of what made him change from a self-centred thief into a man dedicated to the rebellion against the Empire.

This isn't your usual shoot 'em up Star Wars story where the storm troopers miss everything and their officers are dumb. It shows why there is a rebellion coming. There's a darkness at the centre of the Empire and it is spreading from one system to another and when it arrives it doesn't leave. In a number of episodes we are shown the way the Empire operates, using ordinary people when it suits them, then discarding them when the job is done. There are several episodes where Andor is imprisoned and forced to work in a munitions factory. He and the other slaves are treated like robots, not humans.

Andor isn't particularly attractive. He's a thief and a killer and his only real affection is to his adoptive mother. In every episode Andor is tested. Sometimes he grows, sometimes he just learns a lesson. But each week, he moves on.

We're also shown the hunters. ISB lieutenant Dedra Meero wants Andor alive as she thinks he is the link to the rebels. There's a double agent working in ISB and an ISB spy on the planet Ferrix. And so on.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant Senator Mon Mothma, married to a man she doesn't like and doesn't trust and with a thirteen year old daughter, secretly supports the Rebels. She's in a precarious position, balanced on a knife-edge of exposure.

I love the complexity of it and the realism. Often I was reminded of Nazis in space, a feeling that is enhanced by the Nazi-looking Imperial uniforms with the officers wearing riding breeches flared at the thighs. It's a dark and compelling drama which I feel has earned the accolades it has received.

I'm looking forward to series two.

The new Star Wars story is a winner

Andor, the new Star Wars story that traces the history of Rogue One's hero, Cassian Andor, has hit our TV screens in a three-episode introduction.

I've just finished watching Episode 3 and I'm grinning, which is a great sign. It's up there with The Mandalorian, offering new characters and (so far) not a light sabre in sight.

When we first meet Cassian he's looking for his sister. Cass is not a nice man, a thief and a dealer. Mistakes he makes end up with him being on the run in a setting which is industrial and seedy, rather like a futuristic junkyard where workers cut up spaceships for scrap.

It's an interesting plot dynamic, moving from Cassian in the present day back to Cassian as a child and his first encounter with the Empire. He comes from a planet with an area very reminiscent of the Amazon rainforest, which is being mined. As the story progresses, we find hints of a rebellion, though the word is never used, and at this stage, Cassian isn't a part of it.

I really like the depth of the setting. It's gritty and real, possibly a bit like Alang-Sosiya in India where they break down ships for scrap. There's no super villain, just a bunch of corrupt cops doing what corrupt cops always do. They're much better shots than storm troopers, though. I particularly liked the scene in the first episode where the officer-in-charge, old and wise, dismisses the charge against Cass. Unfortunately, he has to leave the idealistic young idiot holding the fort when he's called off-world to a meeting. And that's when things really start to happen.

There's a lot going on in this story. Who is the well-connected mystery man? What happened to Cass's sister? How has he acquired items he shouldn't have? I'll be sure to switch on, same time next week.