Andor Season Final - Review

With the death of Maarva, everyone that had some tenuous connection to Andor seemed to converge on Ferrix. All those people in one place could be a good thing or a bad thing, did the show ends its first season on a high note? That is the question.

*** Spoiler Warning ***

Coming into this season there were two things we knew, the first is that the season would focus on a year of Andor’s life and second that it would be before the rebellion was officially on. With those elements in place, there was literally any story that they could have told, as there was no reason to connect the events to the larger Star Wars storyline. But they didn’t, they decided to focus more on Cassian Andor and what makes him tick, why he is the way he is in Rogue One. What I didn’t expect was the path that they took to get him to that point, it was long and often seemed as if they were just trying to find a story to tell as they were going. That path though led us to this final, which had everyone converge on Ferrix for the funeral and what an event it was. It is important to understand that the events that play out in this episode, are mostly real time, at least after the set up. That means you have to watch everything closely, because a lot happens.

Keeping with Cassian, we see that he is reconnecting with folks from his past, all of whom tell him that he shouldn’t have come, but given the love he had for his mother, there was no way he wouldn’t. This allows for some nice moments where we get to see friends or frenemies reconnect and thankfully the show doesn’t force any explanation on where he has been. Learning that Bix has been detained by the Empire and has been for some time, Cassian decides that rescuing her is his only real priority. While he is successful, a lot of his time sneaking around the Empire’s base of operations, can be attributed to the events on the street. It was interesting that in a crowd of many, Cassian was able to spot Luthen without issue, but somehow missed Vel who was just as obvious. Seeing his friends support him, except for that one guy, was very nice as it showed that even though he had to leave, he still had people that cared. While the final moments for Cassian are left without an ending that could be considered definitive, its open nature means that where things being next time, is anyone’s guess.

Stepping away from Cassian, there were two main aspects and both of them centred around the funeral, the first being those mourning. Seeing the procession walking down the street to a new piece of music, made with instruments that look like anyone could make, was a sombre moment. Seeing the brick that was made from Maarva’s ashes carried, in place of a coffin, was touching and seeing the reverence that people have for the event was equally so. When the procession stopped, I wasn’t sure what we would get next, however everyone basically rushing the stage, so to speak, before B2EMO projected a recording of Maarva into the air was also unexpected. What basically amounts to a final message of the deceased, it gave us a chance to actually see Maarva doing something or at least her explanation of things. Hearing her call for rebellion was not a direction I expected the show to take, I figured something would go down, but that was not even a random thought in my mind.

The other half of the funeral was from the point of view of the Empire, they were making all the decisions you would expect a dictatorship to do, refusing conditions unless it suited them. Having Dedra Meero around made sense, she was so convinced that Cassian could lead her to the leader of the rebels, her not being there was about as unlikely as Tatooine having one sun. What I would have preferred though, was to see her actually doing something, as opposed to just pacing around the place, both in and out of her uniform. Sadly Syril Karn was there as well and he connected with Meero in a rather stupid way, but his presence didn’t add anything to the show at all. The Empire of course took action in a way that was not ideal, but given the events that preceded that, it makes sense, as fear of being rebuffed always gets their craw up.

Once the Empire decided to silence the recording of Maarva, using the highest tech in the land.. a trench coat, the son of Salman Paak, Wilmon opted to through in an explosive as revenge for them taking his father. If you don’t recall, that is the man that was dragged out of the room that Bix was taken into, he also knew about her actions with the radio system. The explosion on its own was big, but not devastatingly so, but it caused a chain reaction of explosions, which did dish out a lot of damage. It is here that things play out in a real time sense, with people rushing the guards, the Empire shooting to kill and people trying to get away. It is during this that Meero is force to the ground and looks to be in a bad place, before she is saved by Karn. His rescue is fine, but almost anyone from the planet could have done that same thing, the character has been as appealing to watch as wet moss. Her reaction to seeing who saved her is perhaps a little weird, the last time they had a direct interaction, she told him that if he approached her again, he would be in serious trouble. I understand that she was likely extremely thankful to have been saved, but I was hoping for more of a reaction than what we got.

For the season final, there were two ways they could have gone and one of them was how they did, the funeral was the final straw and a rebellion was incited. The other one would have been to have Cassian find K2-SO and doing what we saw him do in the movie and while that second one would have been cooler to see, I am glad they went with the first. It was far more impactful to have someone that the city adored, tell them to wake up and fight back against the Empire, her final message silenced before it could be completed, proving why they had to. Given with how the final moments played out and I don’t post the end credits, there is a lot ambiguity on how they are going to connect the two seasons. We know Cassian does not die, as he is in the movie, but given there is around 4 years between the ending and the movie, a lot can be done.

What the season has done though, has given us an understanding of Cassian and why he was so willing to kill or lie and cheat. Having a hard life is one thing, as it is Star Wars most people have that, but showing that a single action, a refusal to not take any abuse of power can alter the life you lead. The choice for Cassian to fight back when he was on Morlana One forever altered the future for him, he had skills beforehand, but now having to use them in order to stay alive and ahead of those hunting him, made his weariness and distrust shine through. While he isn’t the same man we saw in Rogue One, the seeds have been planted here and I can see them expanding them out in the second season. As far as final episodes go, this was a good one, it had some touching moments, some powerful moments and some decent, if chaotic action. Was it the best episode of the season, no it was not, but it was one hell of an impactful ending to it.

The Score

9.0

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The Pros

+Seeing Cassian return and get support from friends and even some frenemies, was nice

+Maarva being the inspiration for rebellion was a direction I did not expect the show to go

The Cons

-The final moments could have been a little firmer

-Syril Karn, enough said