Andor Andor Season 2 Discussion (Spoliers Allowed)

"You're in shock. I've seen it."

 

Not bad.

 

I also watched RO last night (for the first time in years) and I agree about the Cassian/protagonist thing; the dynamic was a bit jarring. I also wondered why there was no romantic connection between Jyn and Cassian, I mean Cassian was shown to be somewhat of a ladies man in S1 and there were clearly little "moments" between them in the film so it just felt like a little romantic chemistry was missing between the two characters. Just a nitpick as there wasn't much time for that with the pacing of the film, then again, ESB found a way to squeeze it in between chase scenes. The writing for Andor is superior to the writing of RO, but damn those Vader scenes in RO are so good. CGI Tarkin looks like an abomination but they get an "A" for effort as I appreciated the character being there.

 

There is a scene on the elevator coming down from the tower, where they are clearly arm in arm

It's hard to spot, but it's there.

 

There are a few scenes showing their attraction, but its very subtle. Remember, parts of that movie got reshot, particularly the last act. There may have been more originally, but in finding a movie that worked, that stuff was removed.

 

I really wish Krennic and Saw were more in it... Both were so amazing in the few scenes they were given. Looking back, Saw was really just a glorified cameo in this show. I wish they'd shown him actually doing stuff. It was a good opportunity to actually show the "terrorist" side of the Rebellion, which Saw is meant to represent. As Mothma once said, "You target civilians, kill those who surrender, break every rule of engagement." Oh well. IMO, the first arc of this season still feels like such a tremendous waste. TIE prototype didn't return and was effectively a pointless sidequest, Yavin base was established off-screen anyway, Mothma's daughter wedding is the one thing that could've been handled off-screen, since they never mention her daughter ever again for the rest of the show anyway, even when Mon decides to escape Coruscant, and Perrin is only shown for a few seconds with Sculdun's wife at the ending montage. They could have written something about Galen Erso and Bodhi instead of that first arc.

 

It wasn't pointless. It was showing how the Rebels were beginning to infiltrate Imperial bases and stealing intel and experimental weaponry, which is what the finale is all about with the DS.

 

Krennic was already great in RO...he was outstanding in this show!

To think growing up BM was my least favourite actor lol

 

I rewatched R1 this morning after having seen the show finale yesterday. One thing that came to mind in reflection of the show was the acknowledgment of the Death Star. I could swear that the Death Star reference is mentioned through Luthen to Kleya to Cassian and eventually Mon and the Rebels on Yavin 4; but in R1 the Rebels seem to be pretty much out of the loop for the most part in exactly what this big bad weapon of the Empire really is. Even Cassian himself seems unsure. I mean, we saw him talking about it with Kleya in the finale, didn't we?

 

They don't find out it's a planet killer til Tivic

 

I don't think Kleya knows the name of it, just that it's a super weapon that's been in development for over a decade.

 

Nor its codename I think...

 

Uhhhh… Luthen… whatcha got there ?

https://x.com/sw_holocron/status/1923769294183182809?s=46

 

When it comes to storytelling economy, IMO the biggest crime was to abandon Dedra's investigation completely just to show her at the beginning of the last arc with everything figured out.
That's the only thing of the show that I find hard to forgive.
After all the time they dedicated to her step-by-step progress in season 1....

 

Latest Facebook chat with Andor staff (props guy) reveals that the blaster Cassian uses in rogue one is the one Bix uses In Andor

 

I feel like that was a deliberate decision because they don’t want the audience to know any more about the state of the investigation as it nears its dangerous end than Luthen does as we follow his side of the story.

 

Maybe it's because that story is not about her daughter, but about Mon. When her daughter effectively rejects her mother, and says "I wish you were drunk," and Mon's face goes dark and she commands Leida to stand behind her, she is metaphorically, in that moment, leaving her daughter behind. For Mon's character, there is after that point no more reason for us to see her interact with her daughter. She's cut that connection. And pretty much with Perrin too, even though we see them interact after that. This is a big part of what elevated season 2 for me. It said so much in so little time, and with a truly admirable efficiency. So, I think you're 100% wrong. That first arc was absolutely essential for Mon's character. And for making us believe her decision to leave them behind.

I kind of agree on Saw, but in the end, Luthen plays that "bordering on terrorism" role himself, and so too much Saw would have felt redundant. So that's also a smart choice, IMO.

Nope. In Andor, all they know (or think they know) is that Krennic has spent 10 years working on a superweapon. It being a "planet killer" is revealed by Tivik on Kafrene, and the name Death Star is revealed by Galen Erso in the hologram message on Jedha.

 

Agreed. I'd love to see that show...supposedly "Underworld" was gonna have stuff like that in it as that's what the character was conceived for. Be great if they did a Saw spin-off, I'm sure Forest Whitaker would do it, but I know that's just wishful thinking. I still hold out a fool's hope for "Underworld" being made someday.

 

If I had to guess, likely they simply had to make decisions based on the practical limitations due to the finite screentime they had at their disposal.

In any case, in any detective drama the writers need to decide how much information they are willing to give away before the big reveal, and the way they handled this did not work with me.
If feels like reading an Agatha Christie novel with 30 pages removed from the middle.

 

But...why does that matter for her character, or for the story? We've already seen her step-by-step progress in S1. Then she's taken off the case. Then she tries to get the new guy on the case to share info with her. Then she orchestrates a massacre. Do we then need to see her once again trying to make step-by-step progress on the case? No. All we need to know is that her obsession persisted, and this led her to figure it out. Thefinal mechanics of her figuring it out are really uninteresting, IMO. The point is that she never gave up on it. And that obsession leads to both her success and her downfall.

 

Why does it matter for the detective's story how they solved their case?

Well, people usually like to know. Maybe you don't like that kind of stories, but I do.

 

In a third season, sure it might have been nice to see this play out.

On the other hand, I kind of like how we'e not privy to her investigation, or all her investigations. That sometimes the Empire just shows up unexpectedly. Out of the blue. That the Rebels always have to be on guard. Always moving. Sometimes they have the right intel. And sometimes they do not. Not until one of theirs gets the leak.

They even mentioned that that Luthan stayed on Coruscant too long. Everyone else was getting off planet.

 

It's not a detective story, and we do know how she solved the case. They did enough to set up her persistence, her obsession with Axis, and her rule bending; that for me pushing this part of the story into the "negative space" between arcs worked. In the 5 season version of the show, no doubt she would have found out who Axis is in a more cinematic matter, and I would have enjoyed that too. But given how the season needed to be structured, I liked the decision to resolve the plotline this way.

 

I like detective stories. This just isn't a detective story. It's a revolution story. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of her digging, but I don't think it's all that important to the characters or the story.