Andor is a show that no one wanted, about a character that no one cared about. There are some people who love Rogue One. I wasn’t one of them. And I couldn’t understand why they wanted to make this series. After watching this episode, I know why.
Sometimes it feels like there is some legitimate magic that goes into a great show or movie, an unwritten spell or alchemical potion that mixes together writing, innovation, production, direction, cinematography, acting and timing all into some kind intangible concoction that defines greatness. I’m not sure it is really visible on the production side of things, although there are interviews from actors and directors that talk of a feeling they get when it all comes together. With all the various Star Wars projects in the last few years, why is it Andor that is somehow the greatest of them all?
I do know that all of the elements I mentioned are required to work together to create that magic. Like the original Star Wars, which was a project no one in Hollywood wanted, created by an industry rebel who broke all the rules, filmed in some of the worst conditions imaginable and was an absolute mess until the editing room. If Andor had been like that, I doubt we would’ve gotten this episode. For a show it requires something else, planning. Something that was severely lacking in the main series sequel trilogy.
It took the previous nine episodes of build up to get to this point. It was akin to Vader turning on the Emperor, the kind of powerful storytelling that only results in preparation and planting seeds of emotion earlier on in the narrative. While Aldhani was kind of a success, depending on how you look at the results, it wasn’t the right motivation for Cassian. He didn’t personally suffer much and perhaps validated his opinion that getting involved only results in blood and death and barely tips the scales in the fight against something as vast as the Empire.
We don’t know exactly how long Cassian was in prison, but it was clearly for weeks or months, long enough to actually suffer from the indignities and outright torture of living day to day doing the exact same thing. It is insidious and tedious and cruel, and sure, the inmates are clean and there isn’t a sense of physical danger because everyone is so locked down. But food is tasteless, the manual labor is aggressively competitive where the motivation for success is flavor, and failure is being shocked to collapse.
Imagine every single day you go into it wondering if your team will fail, anticipating that pain and knowing the following day might be exactly the same. That is why Cassian was looking for a way out, any kind of hopeless idea that could give him purpose. He knew there weren’t enough guards, he knew there was a weakness in the way they delivered new prisoners. But there was no guarantee it would work, and would end in his death or possibly the death of his entire cell block. If the warden fried 100 men to cover for a mistake, they would have no hesitation to kill everyone attempting to escape.
Those are the stakes. Those are the reasons Cassian finally starts to fight. He has been reactive to his various situations so far, but he is finally starting to realize that Maarva was right. The Empire needs to go, good people need to stand up and fight. The fact that the escape is successful is because of Cassian. He leads the charge, he encourages Kino to make that incredible speech. Without him it would never have happened. That’s powerful.
Then we must also explore the consequences of rebellion, the costs it places on people. Take Mon Mothma, who is committed to the Rebellion and is willing to sacrifice her own dignity and pride by working with a criminal. But is she willing to sacrifice her own daughter’s future for the Rebellion? In the moment she couldn’t, because it is an incredibly tall order to consider. But I wonder if she will do it for the sake of the galaxy? How can a parent weigh that without removing emotion from the equation? She has to willingly give her own blood over for the sake of her fight. That too is also incredibly powerful.
Then there is Luthen, an enigma and cypher who plays everyone and works an agenda that only he seems to know. Or maybe Kleya is aware of the plan, but regardless, it shows how much power a single person can wield when they know how to pull the right levers. Take his conversation with Lonnie. Luthen plays him in a dozen different ways. He plays on his emotions, loyalty, family and even his own conscience, and when that was not enough, the mystery man finally revealed the person behind the mask. Luthen has given everything to this rebellion, his very soul, for a future he knows he’ll never see. His speech is so powerful and so well written that I’ve personally listened to it at least a dozen times, and it is still one of the best things ever done in Star Wars. So the true cost of rebellion is sacrifice. What a truly impressive way to boil down a complex issue.
Bits:
We can see on Kino’s face when things change for him; he is broken and terrified and angry. In a lot of ways Kino is the lynchpin of the episode, while Cassian is the one who instigates, Kino is the one that inspires. It is really incredible acting from Andy Serkis.
The tension of the scene leading up to the prison break is palpable, with Cassian breaking the pipe and everyone hiding their tools as possible weapons. It shows the competence and thoughtfulness of the director of the episode. Toby Hayne directed six episodes of season one. He is also the director of the two USS Callister Black Mirror episodes and is working on an upcoming Star Trek movie.
I loved how the Stormtroopers/Prison Guards looked genuinely confused when the escape started, like they had no idea how to fight back.
This time the opening theme was hopeful and dramatic. I love how it is always the same melody but changed up to evoke the way the episode will feel.
The most obvious Easter egg in the episode was in Luthen’s shop. The crown he was cleaning belonged to Padme Amidala when she traveled with Anikin to Naboo in Episode II.
Quotes:
Cassian: “I’d rather die trying to take them down than die giving them what they want.”
Cassian: “Listen to me. They don't have enough guards, and they know it. They're afraid. Right now, they're afraid.”
Kino: “Afraid? Afraid of what?”
Cassian: “They just killed a hundred men to keep them quiet! What would you call that?”
Kino: “I'd call that power.”
Cassian: “Power? Power doesn't panic. Five thousand men are about to find out they're never leaving here alive. Don't you think that worries them upstairs? Whatever we're making here, it's clearly something they need. They can't afford to be surprised again.”
Cassian: “You do this every day. Tell them what to do.”
Kino: “My name is Kino Loy. I'm the day shift manager on Level Five. I'm speaking to you from the command center on Level Eight. We are, at this moment, in control of the facility.”
Cassian: “Is that the best you got?”
Kino: “How long we hang on, how far we get, how many of us make it out, all of that is now up to us. We have deactivated every floor in the facility. All floors are cold. Wherever you are right now, get up, stop the work. Get out of your cells, take charge and start climbing. They don't have enough guards and they know it. If we wait until they figure that out, it'll be too late. We will never have a better chance than this and "I would rather die trying to take them down than giving them what they want." We know they fried a hundred men on Level Two. We know that they are making up our sentences as we go along. We know that no one outside here knows what's happening. And now we know, that when they say we are being released, we are being transferred to some other prison to go and die. And that ends today! There is one way out. Right now, the building is ours. You need to run, climb, kill! You need to help each other. You see someone who's confused, someone who is lost, you get them moving and you keep them moving until we put this place behind us. There are five thousand of us. If we can fight half as hard as we've been working, we will be home in no time. One way out! One way out! One way out! One way out! One way out! One way out!”
Luthen: “If it’s a trap, we’ve already lost.”
Lonni: “My sacrifice? It means nothing to you, does it?”
Luthen: “I said I think of you constantly and I do. Your investment in the Rebellion is epic. A double life? Every day a performance? The stress of that? We need heroes, Lonni, and here you are.”
Lonni: “And what do you sacrifice?”
Luthen: “Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I've given up all chance at inner peace. I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion, I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!”
This wasn’t just the best episode so far. It is arguably one of the best pieces of Star Wars connected media ever made.
4 out of 4 Incredible Speeches
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.
As I said. It’s so good. I just hope the new series lives up to it.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent review of an excellent episode. Thank you, Samantha.
ReplyDelete