SPOILER Andor Ep. 12 FINALE Discussion

This is an entirely different creature. I know this sounds incredibly obvious, but nothing in Star Wars has ever been written this well because nothing in Star Wars has ever been made this way. I firmly believe that Tony Gilroy & Co. NOT being avid fans and steeped in the lore and legends was an incredible benefit. It freed them to tell THIS story without being slaves to canon. These 12 episodes easily stand on their own as an intense and enthralling story of Rebellion. It shows people from every level of society, often unknowingly working together toward a common goal of defeating tyranny. I think it is just perfect that in this episode, that final push that gets Cassian there comes from the dead. He remembers his father, how he lived and how he died. He listens to Nemik's words, which are made even more real by the situation on Ferrix, those last words that Maarva passed on through Brasso and then her monologue to the people... Absolutely beautiful. I would love to know where the writers got their inspiration and research for these Revolutionary viewpoints and monologues.

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No doubt. The Mandalorian shouldn't be as dark and serious. It's building it's own story arc and has a very different nature. Andor, for the most part, has to tell a story that fits into a predetermined box. That box was already fairly dark and dreary. Cassian Andor was a deep and dark character from the start. Now, how Andor affects other SW series going forward... That remains to be seen. I think Andor has elevated the standard. I definitely want to see more of this mature, tightly written style in other series, but absolutely not in shows like Mando or Asokha.

 

Now that Season One of “Andor” has ended, I realize that my opinion of it has not changed.

Yes, this first season of “Andor” had its highlights. I admired the excellent performances, the corrupt and violent portrayal of the Empire (which was nothing new), the series’ ambiguous portrayal of the Rebel Alliance and certain sequences. I was especially impressed by those scenes that featured Cassian Andor’s escape from Ferrix, the Rebels’ heist at the Imperial garrison at Aldhani, Cassian’s rescue of Bix and the riot on Ferrix, his stint at the Narkina 5 prison and especially his escape. However, I believe the series’ issues have not only remained the same, I also have a few new ones.

The season’s structure of a group of three (or four) episodes per arc still didn’t work for me. One of my main problems with “Andor” is that the writing in several of the episodes felt like padding. As I have stated before, the first two episodes could have merged into one. And the fourth and fifth episodes could have merged into one. I also believe that the seventh episode could have merged into the eighth one.

I’m still wondering what the purpose of those flashbacks featuring Cassian Andor’s childhood in the first two episodes were about, other than revealing his origins. But why feature flashbacks of his past, when they had no real impact on the season’s main narrative? Also, the last two episodes seemed anti-climactic to me. And I found the abrupt endings for some of the episodes problematic as well, especially some of the early episodes. Also, the Syril Karn character really had nothing to do between the third episode, (1.03) “Reckoning”, and the season finale, (1.12) “Rix Road”; except brood and develop a fixation for ISB agent Dedra Meero.

The last major problem I have with “Andor” is the heavy emphasis on Mon Mothma. Her character arc has come close to dangerously dominating this series. And the worst part - at least for me - is that her arc had no real impact on Cassian’s arc. Her character never served as any kind of catalyst to Cassian’s arc during this first season. If Tony Gilroy and Lucasfilm had wanted a heavy emphasis on Senator Mothma that badly, they could have created a separate limited series for her, especially since the Alliance’s Y-wing squadron (or the Gold Squad), Bail Organa and the Lothar rebel group from “Star Wars: Rebels” played roles in her rescue from the Empire. The name of this series is “ANDOR”; not “The Rebel Alliance”, “Rebels II”, “Andor and Mothma” or anything like that.

 

I think Mothma's story was told as a kind of parallel to Andor, and definitely in Season 2 they will come together. I like her arc and it shows an interesting glimpse, for me at least, into what was going on in the Senate during the rise of the Empire. Agreed with Syril Karn, felt his arc was kind of meandering there too for awhile.

The flashbacks to Andor's childhood definitely served a purpose for me.....I remember his line in R1 "I've been in this fight since I was 6 years old". Wanted to see some backstory to that and I think they did great in that aspect. Also showed his relationship with Maarva too.

Season 2 will definitely be interesting as we could see many familiar faces, General Draven, Admiral Raddus, Antoc Merrick, Galen Urso, Krennick, etc. Would love to be a fly on the wall in the storyboarding session for Season 2 and how they tie all these stories together into the Rebel Alliance we see at the beginning of R1

 

"Fight these bastards!....Fight the Empire!"

 

This was a great finale!

My favorite part- Dedra losing control over the situation or rather being overran by the mob and Syril saving her. I really liked how scared Dedra was. Now she appreciates Syril much more and I hope they are an evil power couple in season 2. Their tension is surreal.

 

I'm not so certain that Dedra has thawed toward Syril yet. Or will any time soon. It's possible. She's clearly traumatised. And that can affect people's outlook and priorities. Plus she lives and works in a dog eat dog, backstabbing environment. An attachment to Syril might seem an attractive refuge from that. Or it may feel like a weakness that her competitors can exploit. But her going mushy all of a sudden seems pretty far fetched.

When she went down initially, I thought that Dedra had been shot in the head. Maybe it was just her hat. Or maybe she's got a hard head. A droid?!!!

 

I loved the final scene. I doubt Cass really thought that Luthen would kill him at that point. But if Luthen still wanted to, better to get it over with and not have Bix, Brazzo et al in danger from Luthen and his people trying to get to him. Likewise, going with Luthen instead of his friends keeps them out of danger, relatively speaking, from the Empire hunting him down.

 

I think she was hit in the head with a rock. I thought she was a goner.

 

Huh ?
Did you mean Galen ?
Or do I actually not remember Cassian wanted to kill Jyn at some point ?

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Wanted to report here a very interesting take from @Darth Derringer :

Dude ! You amazed me. I would never have thought of such a maneuver from Mon. But what you say just seems very plausible.

 

Benjamin Caron directing this episode: "Slower and more intense."

Thank you, sir. And thank you to all the team.

 

I appreciate you voiced why you felt 'meh' instead of a drive-by "it stunk" post. But since you've offered a lengthy critique, allow me to respectfully respond to your concerns.

So, you enjoyed the action set pieces but not the "padding." Perhaps this means you wanted Gilroy to make a different kind of series than the one he developed. That's fine. But when someone announces his series will be an adult drama like "The Wire" but told in the SW world, it's unfair to criticize him for not giving you "The Mandolarian" (which I love BTW)

FYI, the 'issues' you are describing are the very tonal/dramatic build-up things that distinguish an adult drama from an PG-13 action-adventure flick.

No real impact? You do realize the season's grand finale featured the funeral of Cass's adoptive mother. Seems like the backstory of how they became Mother and Son would add a lot to the story.

How many adult drama series have you watched? Show me one that features a single storyline. It's the nature of the beast, be it sci-fi, a crime drama, or a fantasy like Game of Thrones.

 

Well put. Mon Mothma and Cassian Andor are at opposite ends of the spectrum. She is not only a Senator, but comes from wealth and privilege. He is a refugee living in an impoverished working-class community who can't even hold down a basic factory job. Yet they both end up fighting the same fight. In the end, Mon had to get down into the dirt while Cassian had to rise above it.

The flashbacks were essential to show how he really had been in this fight his whole life. The refugee story does play heavy into not only Cassian's story, but the overall impact of the Empire on the people of the Galaxy. Kenari, Aldhani, the Ghorman, the Dizonites, Narkina 5, Ferrix... We've heard it over and over, Oppression breeds Rebellion.

 

You were right @Darth Derringer

 

Well said, MBWilson! (as usual) I thought it was fascinating to watch the contrasting -- yet equally important -- sides of the budding rebellion.

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If anyone is wondering what @daRinze is referring to, I responded to this quote from the @SWNN Probe review of Episode 12:

I responded with: "SWNN Probe may be absolutely right about Mon's husband but, FWIW, I viewed the exchange between Perrin and Mon completely different.

Mon knew -- as did the audience -- that her limo driver was an Imperial plant who was listening in on all of her conversations. I saw her 'private' gambling accusation as a deliberate attempt to explain away the 400,000 credits missing from her bank account. Perrin vehemently denies and states he quit gambling long ago. But the whole point was to cast suspicion in her husband's direction."

It turns out that Gilroy confirmed in a recent interview that Mon was, in fact, using her driver (who she knew was listening) to explain away the withdrawals from her banking account by blaming it on her husband's gambling.

 

Again, extremely tight writing. This one took me a minute to get. It wasn't until we see the driver relaying the convo to Blevin at ISB that I realized it was Mon throwing an intentional detour to the ISB. She knew Perrin would argue, but she also knew that the driver had seen enough of Perrin to make his own assumptions. Brilliant. I didn't think about the Davo Sculdun factor, of course she would need to have a good cover story for him as well. Mon realized if she was gonna get her hands dirty, might as well jump in head first and throw both daughter and hubby into the mud as well. "There will be no rules going forward..."

 

Ironically, given her stature as a Senator and her station in life (filthy rich), it was natural for the audience to assume her morals were, of course, lilly-white and unlike a hustler / rebel-to-be like Cass, she had no real 'skin in the game.' The show did an excellent job of illustrating how looks can be deceiving .

 

Such a memorable season finale. My favourite part off course was Maarva's funeral & her speech was quite a send-off to her legacy as the mum of the man who pulled off the data heist that would save the galaxy. I could feel the tension in the people of Ferrix who had had enough of the empire & finally rebelled. I'm also glad that the main characters on both sides survived leading to a 2 year wait to see what happens next

 

Dear @Darth Derringer you probably missed it, but I already made a report of your intervention right here (post #30 in this page) : "dude! you amaze me", etc... because I had read your idea in the SWNN Probe post about Episode 12, and I quoted it here, as I found it very interesting.
I've rewatched the scene yesterday, thinking about what you had said, and I must admit your though is brilliant. It became absolutely clear on my 2nd viewing, that you had nailed Mon's manoeuver.

I have a question : why is Blevin interested in Mon ?
Why the hell Mon should be a suspect for the ISB ? Cloris, the driver, surely made several reports to Blevin, including Mon many visits to Luthen's shop, and that should have led the ISB to consider Luthen as suspect as Mon.... so I'm a bit confused.




I have another question : did someone recognize who's that guy in the holo, the young rebel building the bomb is looking at ?