Andor – Nobody’s Listening! Review

I’ve complained in the past about Andor feeling more like a film cut into episodic slices, with endings that didn’t push the narrative forward, leaving us with a lack of momentum leading into the week-long wait until the next episode. But “Nobody’s Listening!” absolutely crushed it with its end of episode button and I cannot wait to see just how Cassian and his crew manage to break out of prison next week. And while our time spent in prison was key to gaining a better understanding of the workings of the Empire at this stage of its growth, the entire episode laid bare just what it takes to keep the Empire in power – and how far its agents are willing (and allowed) to go to bring that vision to fruition.

Throughout our time in the greater Star Wars universe, we’ve seen a lot of awful actions by Imperial agents. But rarely have we seen something as heinous as the lengths Dedra is able to go to in order to extract the information she needs to prove her investigation is correct. I’m hard pressed to come up with another Star Wars villain who is as ruthless, as uncaring, and as fully tied into the Empire without any hint of humor to her character. Usually when we’re presented with a villain they come in one of three flavors: foppish high-ranking military figure who screws up as much as they are villainous (think Hux in the most recent trilogy), cold and calculating very powerful person who rarely gets their hands dirty but orders others to do horrible things (unless there’s a Skywalker around to fight – think Palpatine), or villain with a hint of good still in them who can still be saved on some level (that would be your Darth Vader or Reva from Obi-Wan Kenobi). Dedra is none of those. She’s a cog in the Imperial machine, true, but she’s also hellbent on moving her way up the food chain and has zero qualms about crushing anyone to get there. It’s a complete ruthlessness we’ve never truly seen in Star Wars before, and it’s incredibly chilling and effective.

Kudos, of course, to Denise Gough, who is playing the hell out of the part. It’s rare that I watch a series and am genuinely disturbed by a character, but Dedra is truly disturbing. The way she gives permission for the guard on Ferrix to go through with his wish to hang Salman Paak with a completely disinterested sniff in the guard’s direction? Chilling. Her admitting that she was always going to torture Bix, regardless of whether or not she offered up information at the outset of her questioning? Chilling. Much has been made over the years regarding the comparison between the Empire and the various horrific governments and political movements in humanity’s history (the Nazis being the most common), but rarely has Star Wars actually taken the time to show us how horrific the true believers in the Empire can be. It’s one thing to destroy an entire planet to make a point to Princess Leia at the outset of a film where we barely know the character or her connection to that planet. It’s another to go into detail about how the Empire destroyed a planet slowly enough that they managed to record the pained and terrified screams of the entire population as they waited for death – including the children. And then to have that used to torture others into relaying information? That’s the clearest look yet at just what the Empire is capable of and it’s just terrifying.

Having a clear villain – and a clearer view of just what the Empire is capable of – makes the actions of our heroes – Mon Mothma, Cassian, Bix, Vel, Luthen, etc. – all the more important to follow. Sure, some things will be a given (like we know Cassian gets out of prison and we know Mon Mothma will survive the attempts to silence her in the Senate by moving underground – albeit at great personal cost to her and her family) which lessens the dramatic tension a tad, but knowing just what they are fighting against and how far the Empire is willing to go – and to go that far without a second thought toward the people who they are destroying in the process – adds something special to this series that I haven’t really felt when watching other Star Wars properties. Maybe it’s that this is, for the most part, a series grounded in more “normal” people. There’s no Jedi or key named franchise lead around to suck up the energy and the storyline. Instead, the storytelling is balanced – we don’t even spend the bulk of our time with our titular character – and we get the understanding that each piece of the series is key to the puzzle being completed.

Mon Mothma’s fall from Senator to Rebel Underground Leader draws ever closer – as her daughter becomes more suspicious of her meetings with Tay Kolma* and the Senate becomes more and more infiltrated with Imperial sympathizers. Now that Vel has been revealed to be Mon’s cousin, her own chances of making it out of this story alive drop considerably (what a bargaining chip if the Empire can get their hands on her and figure out just how she was involved in Aldhani – and really, putting the daughter of a high profile, rich, politically connected family in that position doesn’t seem like the smartest move on Luthen’s part, especially considering the hell her capture would have rained down on Mon). Cassian needs to get out to take his place in the annals of Star Wars history. And, to potentially save Bix. Cinta needs to make her move on Ferrix. And Syril “Inspector Javert” Karn is destined for one final showdown with his Jean Valjean (hopefully on a bridge, in the rain). So many connections, none of them forced, all of them important.

*I’m more convinced than ever that Mon’s daughter, Leida, will be the one who ultimately betrays her mother to the Empire and destroys her family. This week’s family dinner once again drove home how perceptive Leida is and how wholly uninterested Perrin is in anything that doesn’t fall within his personal wants and needs. Asking Vel about finding a husband drew a knowing smirk from Mon, indicating that Perrin really just doesn’t care enough to learn the ins and outs of family members’ lives, so why would he care about Mon’s actions. It also doesn’t help that this arranged marriage clearly doesn’t have much (if it ever had) any love left in it. So, Leida is the rat.

Andor just keeps getting richer and richer each episode as plot lines overlap, characters weave in and out of each other’s lives, and the noose of the Empire gets ever tighter around the necks of our heroes. There’s only a handful of episodes remaining in this first season and I find myself eagerly awaiting the series each week. A hell of a freshman season that can only get better from here on out.