Andor - Episode 11 - Review
After the thrilling escape from the prison in the last episode, I had no idea where Andor would go in this episode, clearly there would need to be an escape from the planet, but beyond that was anyone’s guess. As the penultimate episode for the first season, there was a lot of threads that had to be woven into place. Did they succeed in putting things together in a fun pattern, or is this leaving a tangled mess for the final?
*** Slight Spoiler Warning ***
Going into the episode I figured that it was likely going to end with Maarva dying, that is Cassian’s mother if you forgot, but I was not expecting it to basically open the show up. This event of course triggered a cascade of information and plans, the ISB coming back to Ferrix in force being the big one. It wasn’t just them making plans, but Vel Sartha, the leader of the Aldhani mission also discovered the news and decided to break protocol to deliver it. Seeing her interact with Kleya Marki, the assistant to Luthen, was a delight as Kleya takes no crap, even when Vel attempts to push some buttons. Their scene together is short, but it does provide a welcome insight into the size of the rebellion, given the comments that Kleya makes. What I was hoping not to see with Vel, was her returning to see Mon Mothma, as her arc this entire season hasn’t seemed that entertaining. Getting a full breakdown of what exactly Mon has been up to was welcome, if only because it finally puts all the whispered conversations into context. I won’t explain it here, because discovering why is a powerful moment as it finally takes some shine off the respectable senator schtick she has going on.
Back with Cassian though, he and his friend Melshi were still attempting to escape the planet and while hiding from the Empire was a cool moment, it wasn’t the interesting element. Discovering an old Quad Jumper ship, something that came into being in the sequel trilogy, gave them an out, but it was not an abandoned ship. Of course, Melshi was to eager to get off the planet and made a break for it, causing Cassian to run after him. What took place was a scene that even after watching it back a few times, is still utterly confusing. The pair are captured by the owners of the ship, who threaten to turn them in to the Empire, but they end up letting them go and take the ship, it makes no sense. They do speak, but the language is so garbled it is hard to make out, which doesn’t help the cause, so if you watch that scene, put subtitles on.
The other major player in this episode is Luthen, who having given a rousing speech in the last one, has decided to deliver the news to Saw, that attacking the power station will lead to an ambush. Rather than telling him not to go, he basically offers up the information and then tells him to do with it what he wants, taking the decision of letting 31 men be killed or captured off his shoulders. This is a powerful scene, two in a row for Luthen, as it highlights the complicated nature of what he is trying to do. He explains it so clearly as well, if they call off the attack then the ISB might grow suspicious, making it harder for them to do what they need to do. However, the other option is letting it go on and sending men to die, all for some breathing room elsewhere and seeing him basically force the decision on someone else is equal parts cruel and relieving. After his talk is done though, he leaves and gets caught by the Empire and what this leads to, is perhaps the most impressive space fight we have seen in Star Wars to date. Yes we have seen full scale battles in space, those are epic for their size, this one is epic because of the actions Luthen takes, it honestly was super impressive.
Yet again though, there were some issues present with the pacing and setup, the latter issue being that it felt that everyone was being put into place again. This makes this the third time that we have seen people moving into position for an event to take place, the first time was the Aldhani heist, after that was before Cassian got sent to prison and now the funeral of Maarva. Characters being given information is crucial, it is how they evolve and grow and my issue isn’t with that, but rather the way the show is doing it. There is one character that finds out about the funeral from a friend who has a friend who overheard, and yes grapevine conversations do work. The problem is that the character getting the information this way, feels a little to convenient and given other methods they have at their disposal, it seems odd.
The other issue is how smoothly the escape off the planet when for Cassian, sure him getting out makes me happy, but the conversation on the beach after recovering his loot, seems weird. He and Melshi escaped from a prison, with countless other prisoners and then left the planet in a ship, so you would think someone is watching any ship leaving the planet after the escape. Again I understand that you want the hero to have time to breath, but given their opening shots, it seems a little inconceivable that no one would track down a ship that left the planet.
Andor’s penultimate episode was another set up showcase, getting people into position for the finale and while I can understand why, some of the decisions seem forced or worse, too convenient. Luthen has proven once again that he is someone willing to do anything he has to do, in order to complete his mission and his showdown with the Empire proves he has the skills to back up his words. Mon’s revelation about what she had done and just how bad a position she is in, finally makes the character relatable, taking the shine off her perfect exterior, but it still doesn’t connect to the main events all that way. With the final episode up next, there is a lot for the show to do, in order to reach a satisfactory end and it has all the people in place to do so now.
The Score
8.5
Review access provided by Disney
The Pros
+Luthen showing his skills against the empire, after convincing someone to agree to abandon so many rebels is just incredible
+Vel and Kleya having their ‘I am more important’ moment was great, showing off their strength
The Cons
-Some characters being forced into place by random happenstance is a cheap move
-The conversation between Cassian and the aliens that own the ship is super hard to track
