Spoiler Review Of 'Star Wars: Andor' Episodes 1-3
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**Warning: this article contains spoilers for Episodes 1-3 of Andor**
Andor has done something Star Wars has struggled to do for a while, take us out of Tatooine and out of our comfort zone of the Star Wars we are familiar with. Andor is gritty, dark, and more adult than previous Star Wars shows we've seen. The show starts with Cassian going to a brothel to inquire about his missing sister. While there he gets harassed by two guys. Later, he ends up killing these two guys, one on purpose, the other by accident. From the beginning of episode 1, the tone of the show is set. This won't be your average Star Wars show, and that's okay.
Cassian Andor is someone we don't know that well. He sleeps off-grid in a junkyard of a mining town and looks after his mother, Maarva (Fiona Shaw). He’s friends with Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), a local black market scrounger, who sets him up with Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard). We find humor within the new droid, B2EMO. When a bulletin looking for a Kenari male is posted by the Morlana One Corporation Authority, he is ratted out by Timm Karlo. The Preox-Morlana are just as dumb as the Empire and are outsmarted by Cassian and Luthen. The two of them are successfully able to escape off-world. Cassian leaving Ferrix is a parallel to when Cassian was taken from Kenari, and the end of episode 3 shows this. The supporting cast of characters we met are played exceptionally well and helps flesh out the character of Cassian Andor further.
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Image Source: Star Wars
Flashbacks help us learn more about who Cassian was. We learn that he was originally named Kassa, and lived on Kenari with a group of kids, one of whom was his missing sister. After a ship crashes, their leader is killed, and Cassian is saved and taken off-world by Maarva. While Cassian's fate is known, learning about who he was is still interesting. It gives us insight into who he is, and how he got this way. Rogue One didn't give us much backstory, so being able to see Cassian grow into the rebel captain we all know will be a treat.
Tony Gilroy has given Star Wars a facelift. Andor lacks the familiarity of shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian and replaces it with a gritty, adult, Star Wars drama. The acting is superb, and the scenes are believable. Instead of the volume being used, we're back to using real sets and it shows. The premiere started slow but picked up the pace by episode three. Shows like Andor prove that there's room for many different stories in this vast universe, and sometimes you have to go a bit out of your comfort zone to find them.
Andor is now streaming on Disney+ with weekly episodes Wednesday.
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