Andor - Episode 4 - Review

After a three-episode premiere, Andor was off and running, but where did the pair fly too and what happened to those around them? The fourth episode didn’t answer the latter but it did offer more details about the former. What it did focus on was Cassian and his first mission for the as yet unformed Rebel Alliance and we finally got some more details on the mysterious buyer that he left with. The question is, was that enough to keep the spark of rebellion going?

With the previous episode having our titular hero and his unnamed associate shooting out amongst the stars, there was a lot that they could have done to keep the story going, to keep the threat of the empire real for the pair, but instead they didn’t do that. What happened was after a nice little speech about sticking it to the Empire, the pair went their separate ways, Cassian and his new mission that was not defined and Luthen Rael, the unnamed buyer, returns to Coruscant, to continue his life as an antiquities dealer. Both stories introduce new characters and yet neither pushes the overall story forward, yes there are nuggets of information, but its more like the show is more concerned about getting characters in position for when things do kick off.

With Cassian, he is delivered to a planet, in order to help out on a mission and while he accepts the job, his new boss is not that thrilled with the last-minute addition to the team. As the pair make the day long trek back to their camp, they learn a little bit about each other and their mysterious benefactor. This is the most natural conversation that the show offers up, as neither one trusts the other and they don’t have to pretend, at least until later. Once they do reach camp, the rest of the group are not happy with the new addition, especially so close to the start of the job, as for what it is, I won’t spoil that. While the new group has some intriguing characters, most of them seem designed to fit into the architypes that we have seen in countless heist/crew movies before, the inside man, the muscle, the tech guy, the gun and so on.

While they are bonding, or at least as much as one can, Luthen is back on Coruscant trying to get information from Mon Mothma, who makes her series debut and give information to her, all while another potential spy watches on. This was, I found, to be the more intriguing aspect of the episode, as it took what could have been a by the numbers heist plot and layered in a spy thriller and given that as Mon states, there are new people all around, all the time, there should be new folks to keep eyes on going forward. Sadly, like the prequels, there is mention of politics and such, but thankfully those moments are kept brief. There is actually a third story line about the failure of Pre-Mor Deputy Inspector Syril Karn and his companies incompetence, but it really doesn’t amount to much, at least for now. There is another sub-story about the ISB, that is the Imperial Security Bureau, think Empire FBI and while it could be fun, so far its more about who has the bigger you know and that is never entertaining.

Something that fans of the series will note though, especially with the Cassian story, is that the show is well off the Volume and has actually done shots out in the real world. When Star Wars uses real locations, even ones that you think you may know, it feels more authentic and while there were some CGI elements in those shots, they were mostly used to enhance the plot. The flipside happens in the Luthen plot, the CGI is used to establish the world, mostly because its Coruscant, but then the set is compact and likely done on the Volume again. The difference between the two is literally night and day and there is just something so satisfying about seeing real world locations, but their presence also helps to bring a sense of connection to the CGI ones.

Andor’s fourth episode is still setting things up, which makes sense, especially with the first three episodes giving us more of a glimpse into the character himself. What is intriguing about the stories is how vastly different they are, they are connected, thanks to Luthen, but while one is all cloak and ancient ceremonial dagger, the other is Oceans 11, minus a few. This mix does have its moments, but it is the lack of push forward for things that hurts it the most, hopefully now that more players have been introduced, things can move forward in full, and with this season 1/3rd complete, it needs to do so quickly.

The Score

8.0

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

+Finally getting a sense of the grander scale of Luthen's role in the rebellion

+The expanded cast of characters is a welcome addition to the show...

The Cons

-... but I just wish that they all didn't fall into the same groups we see everywhere else

-The episode feels like its more about getting people into place, rather than pushing things forward in a meaningful way