Welcome to Andor, season one, phase two. Director Susanna White (semi-recently of the FX series Trust, among many other shows) and writer Dan Gilroy (brother of series creator Tony, auteur of Nightcrawler, creator of the character Roman J. Israel) are behind this next trio of episodes, as Toby Haynes and the other Gilroy took care of the first three. This episode, for better or for worse, very much feels like another part one; I wonder, idly, if the weird BBC Sherlock structure of 90-minute, feature-length “episodes†might have been more satisfying here, though of course a 12-episode run is more exciting than a four-episode one.
Episode four, “Aldhani,†picks up immediately after the last installment, with Cassian and Rael hightailing it into lightspeed. As Cassian attends to the arm injury he has sustained, Rael informs him that they’re heading to a planet called Aldhani. Theoretically, Cassian can either join up with Rael’s organization, or Rael can drop him off somewhere. “I haven’t agreed to do anything but save my skin,†Cassian points out, a very Han Solo-ish line that kicks off a miniature revival of their conversation from the previous episode, where Rael reiterates his sales pitch for rebellion.
If it wasn’t clear enough that Andor’s first three episodes repped an extended pilot, the fourth does a classic pilot-following network-TV-style move: Essentially restating and rehashing a central dilemma from the premiere. On a network, this can function as a concession to any latecomers who may have missed the pilot but still need some early shorthand about what the show is actually about. The utility of this on a streaming series — where there would presumably be fewer, if any, viewers unable or unwilling to catch up — feels questionable. The notable takeaway from this engaging but ultimately rehashed scene is that Rael has refined his pitch slightly, probably adjusting to Cassian’s general countenance.
He dials back the idealism a smidge, and offers Cassian money to go on a mission; stick it to the Empire, and get paid doing it! This seems to entice Cassian, though he might do well to ask whether he has yet seen any money from the last time Rael was throwing it around to get him on board. He might also be suspicious of the fact that this paid stealing gig involves making off with “quarterly payroll for an entire Imperial sectorâ€; it sounds promising, but at the same time, also a mission that implies this group is not exactly flush with cash.
For anyone dizzy with glee after being prompted to think about imperial payroll mechanics for the first time, this episode has more fun in store: a meeting of the Imperial Security Bureau! Which reveals what a bunch of fusty, emotionally detached functionaries keep the Empire running! Naturally, one of them describes the group as “health-care providers†who identify “symptoms†and “disorders†within the Empire, a handy reminder of how many people have to think of themselves as not only doing their job, but doing a good job, in order to keep this kind of regime in power. Past that point, the jurisdictional squabbles of these scenes should be dull — and frankly, it’s right on the border — but there’s something oddly compelling about the seething pettiness on display. The persistent Deirdre (Denise Gough) in particular appears to be a spiritual companion to the now-humbled Syril. After ringing “the final bell on corporate independence†back on Morlana One, he slinks home to his mother’s dreary-looking apartment on Coruscant, and gets the ol’ slap-and-hug treatment. He barely speaks a word in the episode, and is there largely to signal that this character will continue to be a going concern despite being kicked out of his own previous jurisdiction. We can only hope for an uncomfortable matchmaking plot featuring his disappointed mother.
For Star Wars enthusiasts, seeing a depressing-looking industrial apartment complex on Coruscant is a little jarring. Obviously these kinds of facilities need to exist in a planet so densely populated that it’s one gigantic city, but so much of what we saw of Coruscant in the prequel trilogy looked rich in neon, color, and shadow; there were lots of skyline shots from fancy Jedi-owned balconies, and some hustle and bustle on the ground during the chase early in Attack of the Clones. In this episode, we see Empire-era Coruscant, in the cold, washed out light of day. It’s a disappointment on a pure aesthetic level, but it’s one that makes sense; it depicts the vibrant capital in visual terms closer to those stormtrooper-white hallways from the beginning of A New Hope.
Coruscant is also where Rael heads after dropping Cassian on Aldhani. One of the best shots of the episode finds Rael getting into character, practicing his gladhanding gestures for what must be long-term undercover work as a high-end Coruscant gallery owner. That’s how he’s able to arrange a clandestine-disguised-as-ostentatious meeting with Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), pretending to find a gift for her husband, actually working to secure back-channel funding for the nascent Rebellion. It’s unclear just how clued-in her husband is about these things; he seems to at least partially enjoy the ceremonial schmoozing expected of a Galactic Empire senator, irritating his wife by inviting a governor to dine with them. “Must everything be boring and sad?†he asks her, a line that it takes great confidence to allow into the least zany Star Wars show so far.
Meanwhile, Cassian Andor is also a character on the show Andor. An irritated Vel (Faye Marsay) picks him up from Rael, reluctantly agreeing to bring him into her small, months-in-the-works operation mere days before it launches, though he must pretend to have been part of the plan all along. Cassian isn’t especially chuffed to learn that this payroll theft actually involves robbing an armory at an Imperial garrison; the small coalition of shepherds under Vel’s command aren’t psyched about him either. By their campfire, he’s given plenty of homework: finishing eating, changing the bandage on his arm, and learning some key phrases in another language. What a hassle! It fits, though, that Cassian would be given some practical matters to get him up to speed with his new colleagues. With all the character introductions, re-introductions, and new locations in this episode, his real next step will have to wait until episode five, at least.
Rebel Yells
• Are we actually going to get a really cool, detailed heist type of sequence in Star Wars? Both Rogue One and Solo promised meticulously planned robberies that delivered in fits and starts, but mostly skipped to the shoot-out portions of the evening. Hell, The Rise of Skywalker had a perfectly heistable MacGuffin that inspired chases, but no break-ins, no disguises, no elaborate sleight-of-hand distractions. It is imperative that Andor provide this!
• The Gilroy Family continues to write cut-above Star Wars dialogue, which is why it really sticks out when someone uses a very Grey’s Anatomy “seriously?†They’re also sticking with using “klicks†as a measurement of distance. I don’t want to be that guy, but why is anyone in Star Wars measuring stuff with kilometers? (I know, I know: Most of them speak English, so who cares? But “klicks†feels like it’s in there to make Andor feel “real,†using a language popularized by cheesy movies.)
• The previously mentioned Solo parallels/echoes feel more intentional than ever. We learn that Cassian “fought†at Mimban after getting out of prison as a teenager; that was the muddy battlefield where Han meets Chewie in Rogue One’s mismatched sibling prequel. Rael points out that contrary to his lofty claims, Cassian was at Mimban as a cook and got the hell out as soon as he could; Han was more of an actual grunt, but similarly scrammed from there as soon as he could. On top of which, Cassian meets up with a group led by someone named Vel, as opposed to the Solo band of thieves with a prominent character named Val. Andor is not a show that’s going to tee up an Alden Ehrenreich cameo and that’s fine, but it is kind of funny just how readily someone on the creative team set one up!
• Arvel Skeen, one of the shepherds preparing to rob the garrison, is played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who recently appeared in The Bear and before that painted a transcendent portrait of a truly and hilariously insufferable man as Desi on Girls. Adam Driver, of course, broke out on Girls before getting next-level famous playing Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Consider this, then, a gentle plea to Lucasfilm: Please do not complete the triumvirate with Christopher Abbott. (I know people love him, but I resolutely do not get it.) Please, make it Alex Karpovsky instead. Better yet, break the orthodoxy and go with Zosia Mamet.
• Mon Mothma being a major figure in this series is cool. Now bring on Fang Zar!