Andor Sticks the Landing

A fter a promising three-episode premiere several months ago, Andor’s twelfth and final episode of season one premiered this week. (The first two episodes can also be watched on Hulu until December 7). The finale proved what I had hoped from the beginning. Showrunner Tony Gilroy (who worked on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and his team have done something unthinkable in the Disney era of Star Wars. They’ve provided a complete live-action product that is both thoroughly enjoyable and objectively good.

Propelled by an exquisite script and excellent direction, the entire cast of Andor flourishes in the roles they were given. Diego Luna brings a calm and determined energy to Cassian Andor, the titular main character. At first, Andor is unsure of himself and unwilling to commit to the cause of the Rebellion for fear that it’s a fool’s errand. His arc from doubt to belief provides the crux of the story’s tension. Throughout Andor’s journey, he is supported by friends and family who put their lives and reputations on the line to help him believe that the Rebellion is worth fighting for.

No one in Andor better demonstrates devotion to the Rebellion better than the mysterious and fascinating Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), the hardened mastermind of anti-Imperial initiatives. A two-minute, goose-bumps-inducing soliloquy Skarsgård delivers as Luthen may be the best monologue in all of Star Wars. “I am condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them,” he remarks. “I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see.”

Luthen’s admission underscores both the dire plight of the fledgling Rebellion and the desperate, deceitful measures he is willing to pursue for the greater good. Cold and calculating, he readily acknowledges that he views people (even those he cares about) as disposable when they can accomplish more for the cause in death than in life. Luthen’s drive to rid the galaxy of Imperial rule will likely cost not just his soul, but his life as well.

The other two standout characters (in an all-star cast both in front and behind the camera) are Andy Serkis’s Kino Loy, a harsh floor manager for an Imperial labor prison, and Genevieve O’Reilly’s Senator Mon Mothma. O’Reilly was meant to debut in this role back in Revenge of the Sith, but her scene was left on the cutting-room floor. She then played a small role in Rogue One. In this show, however, we finally get to see her at her best. The show’s ample runtime allows it to delve deeply into the desires and motives of secondary characters. Through Loy, we see firsthand how the ordinary characters of the galaxy are willing to put up with the oppression of the Empire until they become convinced that resistance is their only means of survival. And through Mothma, we see the cost that loyalty to the Rebellion can have even for the political elites as she sacrifices her privacy, relationship with her husband, and ultimately her daughter’s future for the hope that one day her efforts might bring about the demise of the Empire.

In the lead-up to the show’s release, rumors swirled that Andor was going to be overtly political, replete with heavy-handed metaphors for current events. Actress Fiona Shaw (who, to her credit, delivers a masterly performance — especially in the final episode) said at the time that “Tony [Gilroy] has written a great, scurrilous [take] on the Trumpian world,” claiming that the show portrays the Empire taking away people’s rights “and it feels like the same thing is happening in reality, too.” However, these comments prove in hindsight to have reflected an out-of-touch celebrity who reads her own political priors into every work of art. While it is true that this show deals much more with overtly political concepts — we get to see up close the bureaucratic power struggles of the Imperial intelligence officers and the factional disputes between Rebel leaders — it is hardly a thinly veiled modern political commentary.

The overall lesson of the story is the same, timeless principle that Star Wars has been telling since the beginning: “It’s a bad idea to govern your evil galactic empire through fear, cruelty, and intimidation.” Hmm. Who knew? Princess Leia’s warning to Imperial leader Grand Moff Tarkin in the original movie that “the more you tighten your grip,” the more “star systems will slip through your fingers” rings eternally true.

Andor provides a welcome assurance that someone at Disney still understands how to write and produce a live-action Star Wars story. Only a few production choices are nitpick-worthy, and some of the payoff requires a few episodes to build up to. It’s better watched in three-to-four episode blocks, rather an episode here or there, because having the nuanced, patiently developing story fresh in your memory will make the climactic moments much more enjoyable. (The two episodes available on Hulu, for example, build up to payoff delivered in the third, making Disney+ a better streaming service to watch Andor.)

On the whole, the series stands head and shoulders above anything else that has seen the light of day in the post–George Lucas era. It features complex narratives, purposeful plot points, and rich, compelling characters. Most of all, it is exciting, enjoyable, and — possibly its greatest achievement, given the reputation of its predecessors — unpredictable. In a sad line of recent Star Wars shows and movies that desperately tried to live up to the hype, grandeur, and immersion of the original six movies, Andor is able to do just that.

As a wise old sage once remarked, “Do or do not. There is no try.”