Andor – Week Two Review

Out of our initial two batches of episodes in this final season of Andor, this triptych was the weaker of the two, spending most of its three hours laying the groundwork for what is likely going to befall Ghorman – and reverberate out and impact all of our characters – in the coming episodes. However, despite storytelling that felt less impactful overall (for a show that pulls off heists well, this particular heist was a bit under baked both out of necessity to show how out of their depths the Ghormans are and also because of the lack of time necessary to truly introduce these characters), we did get some very important character insights, letting us know that despite appearing outwardly ready for whatever the rebellion could throw at them, each of our central characters is starting to unravel. Well, except for Kleya, who seems to be thriving in this tense atmosphere.

Let’s start with our head honcho, Luthen (Stellan Skarsgard, who is becoming more and more twitchy as Luthen loses more and more control), who seems to be losing his grip on his section of the rebellion. Think back to season one. That Luthen was calm, cool, collected in the face of all threats. He was able to give a complex and important speech to good old Lonni (who remains in his key role within the Imperial forces on Coruscant) in the dregs of the planet on a dark and stormy night. Now, when he meets with Lonni, he’s agitated, angry, and desperate for information that his informant doesn’t seem to have. In fact, he seems to be lacking in information more and more. That’s troubling. And he’s letting his fraying nerves show. Him yelling at Kleya, blaming her for the bug in Sculdun’s art collection, berating Andor for coming in the middle of the night (risky, but the old Luthen would have rolled with it), to trying to infiltrate the Ghormans despite Andor’s worries that they aren’t ready for what is to come – and his own knowledge that Dedra is working that op, so the Empire must have their own counter plan – show he’s getting sloppy. He’s losing his edge.

Not telling Andor about Bix’s descent into drug addiction is one thing – it’s not his place to reveal and it would compromise the asset he truly cares about (and it did). Keeping Vel and Cinta separate was also smart – this is a man who despises close connections, so why encourage the same in his operatives? But that choice to place them in Ghorman to run an op that almost certainly – from his POV – had Imperial eyes on it, placing not only his people but also the Ghormans in danger? That’s troubling. Yes, he wants the Ghormans in the rebellion. But he’s also more than happy to sacrifice them for the cause, which is a part of war, yes, but also pretty short-sighted in the overall picture. I worry that Luthen might not be long for this story – I can’t imagine him (or really, most of the characters not named Mon, Andor, or Saw) making it out of the series alive. And at this stage of the game, without the level head of Kleya at his side, he would already have been discovered. Lose her and lose everything. He’d be wise to remember that.

Speaking of being on the verge of losing everything, things are looking pretty poor for Mon Mothma’s political capital at this stage of the game. Unable to whip the votes from her allies – because they all fear reprisals from the Empire if they step out of line – she’s becoming a politician with only social capital to use. And that means leaning on Perrin (who, in a nice flip of what we tend to see more with the wives of politicians, manages their social calendar) and her highly placed connections, like Sculdun, to keep her in the game. Although, going toe-to-toe with Krennic over the correct interpretation of rebel vs. traitor in front of Sculden might not have been the most politically savvy moment, considering he’s not really a person you want looking into just why you’re so hellbent on defending people he doesn’t believe were worth a defense. But she’s starting to lose her footing. If she can’t be a mover or shaker on the political scene, where does that leave her within the rebellion? Well, we know the answer: Leading it underground. And, if you’ve watched Rebels you know precisely when that change in her status is going to occur – and it’s looming. But watching Mon start to understand that the consolidation of power by the Emperor means that even people she thought would fight the creep of fascism instead would accept the yolk of oppression if it means they keep power and can ostensibly call their world free. That loyalty oath was terrifying to see – but there are plenty of analogous examples in our own world today as well as in history. To quote Padme, “So this is how liberty dies . . . with thunderous applause.”

Before I get into the Ghorman side of the story, I wanted to take a moment to dive a bit deeper into the arc for our titular character and Bix, since this relationship – and it’s potential tragic ending – will likely be a huge impetus for Cassian’s all-in attitude during the events of Rogue One. It’s not at all surprising that Bix isn’t coping well with the immense amount of trauma she has endured over the course of the last two years in the series. And self-medicating with drugs rather than talking through that trauma is also not a shock. She doesn’t want to appear weak – and, by her own admission, working on missions allows her the chance to turn her brain off and not be plagued by nightmares – and she doesn’t want to burden Cassian. So, she tries to appear fine. She picks fights with him when he starts to question her mental state. She tries to get work to do. And Cassian isn’t exactly making things better. Yes, he asks if he can help, but he’s also taking steps to try and protect her from the world – from not wanting to go on a mission because it means she’s left alone to killing the Imperial soldier simply because he saw her face (something that added additional trauma to Bix’s trauma-addled mind).

She wants to be treated like a normal person even though she clearly needs someone to help her process everything she’s experienced, while he doesn’t want to let anything happen to her, but he shuts down when she attacks to stop him from helping her. Quite the pair, and all too realistic in terms of trauma responses. Luthen might have made a number of missteps in the episode, but he was right to tell Cassian that he acted impulsively when he arrived at the shop in the middle of the night. Luthen doesn’t need to tell Cassian anything he talked to Bix about. But neither Bix nor Cassian seems to be all that focused on the rebellion right now. That murder/bombing at the close of the episode made that clear. We know Cassian will become a key lynch pin in the rebellion at the right moment, so he’s not about to quit now. But I’m betting that wasn’t a sanctioned mission. So, what’s Luthen going to do about it?

Speaking of unsanctioned missions, I’m intrigued but also confused about just what Saw Gerrera is doing in his gas mining mission. But I was very impressed with his ability to deduce a traitor in their midst (really, the guy seemed a touch too eager to ask about their battle plans when he absolutely didn’t need to know them for the role he was asked to perform), kill him with little fanfare, and then go out on the real mission. He’s a loose cannon to be sure – you don’t know if he’s going to kill you or hug you – but he represents the opposite side of Luthen’s controlled slow-moving rebellion. Saw does what needs to be done in the moment. Luthen tries to plan and see all the angles before acting, which is what makes his fast-paced approach to Ghorman so troubling. That’s more like a Saw plan – get on the ground, help with a heist even though they don’t have all the intel about the players and the Imperial presence, and see what it shakes out of the Empire. Which is likely why it’s bound to ultimately fail. This approach works for Saw because it’s what he knows, it’s what his cell is ready to do. Luthen’s people are planners. They can’t work that way. And it showed today, and it will be a clear message in the future.

So, Ghorman. The current focal point of Imperial propaganda (which is clearly working on Eedy, Syril’s mother), the former site of a military blockade, and the location of a naissant rebellion, where the member think they know what they’re doing and know what it might cost them, but really have no idea. Dedra is pulling the puppet strings – both of the Empire’s actions and Syril’s work – and Luthen is aware but unconcerned, which is not a smart move. Syril (Kyle Soller was just spectacular this episode) is her mole on the ground, successfully duping the rebels, who trust him just because his overheard phone calls home make them believe he could sympathize with their POV. Which is insane – they do almost no vetting, never check who he is and where he came from, and blindly accept him into their ranks. These rebels are so green that they don’t even want to accept Luthen’s help when it comes in the form of Cinta and Vel telling them they don’t know what they are doing and they have to follow their commands. And when one team member brings a blaster despite strict warnings not to (which, in turn, calls the Imperial troops to their location and plays right into their hands), Cinta pays the price, dying from a blaster shot*. This is absolutely going to radicalize Vel – who at least got the chance to reconcile with her partner before her death – likely leading to her own death before the series is out (Mon is going to be utterly bereft at that).

*Kudos to Tony Gilroy for treating the Vel and Cinta relationship precisely like he’s treated other romantic relationships on the series. Yes, an argument could be made that Cinta’s death furthers the “Bury Your Gays” trope, but on a series where I suspect the official character body count is going to be pretty high by the finale – and where the titular character is going to die in the next story after its ending – I’m going to give it a pass. Oh, and JJ Abrams – that’s how you have a kiss between two queer characters.

Dedra and Syril have the clear upper hand when it comes to Ghorman. Luthen went in unprepared and without much care. His belief that it doesn’t matter what happens on Ghorman, so long as they have a clear resistance movement that gets seen by the rest of the galaxy as something they can emulate to stop the Empire from spreading is short-sighted at best, idiotic at worst. This is a planet that has been targeted by the Empire with a huge propaganda campaign. One that is working. If they rise up and are snuffed out, that works in the Empire’s favor – the pup tried to bite and has been taken to heel. That’s not how you spark a rebellion. That’s how you quash one. Yes, Ghorman started their resistance too late in the game. But letting them burn brightly and then burn out doesn’t help anyone. It just makes them look like a victory for the rule of law and order in the galaxy. And Luthen doesn’t see that. Which worries me that what’s to come will be a turning point that will shatter his delicate control on his wing of the rebellion.