ANDOR EPISODES 4-6 RECAP: WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE?

We are now halfway through season one of Star Wars: Andor, a series currently airing on Disney Plus. The show tells the backstory of Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, leading up to the events of Star Wars: Rogue One (2016). 

Andor has been quite a departure from any kind of live-action Star Wars content we have seen to date. The pure action has been slow, almost to the point of non-existent, at least until the most recent episode "The Eye" which premiered Wednesday.

I have taken a more critical view of this show than any other. It ranks a distant fourth of the four Disney Plus shows in my personal rankings for many reasons. In my view, the show makes an obvious effort to distance itself from other Star Wars content. The concentration on characters, their interaction and relationships with one another takes a far higher priority than plot or story. It is paced very slowly, as if each episode represents 1/24th of a larger story, which is technically true. Andor will span two seasons with 12 episodes per season.

Basic Star Wars aesthetics were glaringly missing from the series, particularly in the opening three-episode arc. The most recent arc, episodes four through six, provided much more of a Star Wars dressing and feel, as Cassian and his crew execute a heist on an Imperial facility. Showrunner Tony Gilroy has told anyone who'd listen - both during the lead up to Rogue One and now - that he's not a Star Wars fan and pays little attention to what has come before in the saga. 

I have found myself frustrated in watching Andor more than I anticipated. From a technical standpoint, Andor is brilliantly done. The sets, the atmosphere, production design, sound design and character depth are all top-notch. But through five episodes, it just felt more like generic dystopian science fiction than Star Wars, to me.

Episode six was a welcome return to the Star Wars style I have loved for 45 years. The pacing is my primary complaint, but then I realized I have seen an episodic TV series similar to this on multiple occasions in the past, and they happen to be two of my favorites.

Twin Peaks: The Return aired for 18 episodes on Showtime in 2017. Twin Peaks might be my favorite television show of all-time, It originally aired in 1990-1991 and is a perfect blend of compelling storytelling, great characters and transcendent themes. The Return was lauded by critics, but could be a frustrating watch for some due to David Lynch's deliberate shooting style for the most recent season. Characters would often stare at one another in silence. Other characters would sit in a booth at the Roadhouse and talk about people and events that had no bearing on the overall plot. There were (deliberate) red herrings everywhere.

The show 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, was a defining show of the 2000s with its hour-by-hour storytelling structure. The strength of that show was in taking in seasons as a whole, rather than the individual pieces. 24 was truly the first show meant to be viewed in a streaming format. But no individual episode was meant to be consumed fully on its own, only to be seen as part of the greater whole.

Much like Andor.

Andor is also the most aggressively political show in the saga's history, and especially after episode six, I don't see how this is even comparable to anything else. I'm not saying this is a positive or a negative. Everyone can read into the political statements the show makes through their own prism. But I do find it curious that Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) was so sweepingly criticized for "how political" it was while Andor is far less subtle with its political-ness, and that seems to have been glossed over or straight-up ignored. Just interesting to me.

The second half of this season of Andor is wide open at this point. Two mini-arcs have come to a conclusion. Cassian has successfully completed his first mission for the Rebellion. There was a very brief glimpse of the Imperial Senate in the final minutes of the sixth episode. We saw a fun chase with TIE Fighters, TIE Fighter pilots and perhaps the most detailed look at that ship's interior to date.

Star Wars is coming to Andor. Just, very slowly.

Brad Monastiere

I live in Michigan and have been an unconditional fan of Star Wars and Indiana Jones for decades. Follow me on twitter @bmonastiere 

The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.