Andor Andor Episode 1.06 Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

Also what a way to go. Being crushed by a bunch of cash.

 

Karis Nemik = RIP

 

Great episode, possibly the best of the series so far

The Good:

• Action - when the blasters finally start firing it's awesome, well constructed shootout with catwalks and cover in the multi-storied hangar. All the angles crank it up to an edge-of-couch pitch. The TIE fighter scramble also looked great, so did their chase after the rebels.
• The Imperials - listening to the officers' discussions is quite amusing, and well written, particularly the strategies for best exploiting the Aldhani. Setting up great villains is a priority in this show and it's working well. My only complaint is that the Imperial grunts were a little too doe-eyed for the Eye, which made them seem a little too incompetent. But perhaps that's to contrast the more mentally disciplined and reliable Stormtrooper Corps? Either way, the smarmy space-gestapo are doing their job well.
• Production - from climbing ladders to wide valley shots, intricate sets and cgi candy, the scale of production is commendable and worthy of the franchise. The variety of costumes was especially satisfying in this episode.

The Bad:

• Pacing - even this more action-heavy episode there were too many times that things get bogged down, especially in the first half. When they pack 20 seconds of additional time with the *leader* getting cold feet on the mission, after she's already broken into the facility, for "reasons," then they're just drawing things out too much and I'm like, oh get on with it already! All the marching about (which was already too much when they practiced it last episode ) ended up sucking the wind out and relieving tension rather than building it. It's not like the garrisons grunts would have suspected anything, they're too busy daydreaming about stargazing! I hate to say it, but this show definitely struggles to build and maintain tension over a full 40min, which brings up the next point:
• Music - it's not bad per se, but it's just not servicing the requirements here. Compared to the first three episodes that had jazzy staccatos for crafty alley dashing, ethereal notes for alien jungles, not to mention funky synth-beats for Blade Runner clubs, the music in this one was almost a non-stop crescendo that couldn't quite lift up the too-frequently mundane scenes.

The Ugly:

• Aldhani natives - do they deserve the disgust the Imperial commander has for them? Probably not, but we don't really know any of them, so who cares? This whole story-arc needed help, it needed to develop inside a real village with real native characters rather than the tiny rebel camp in boonies, that would have made it feel in-universe. What we get instead is like a placeholder "ethnic culture" just vague enough to not be offensively appropriating anything in particular. It falls bellow the standards set in The Mandalorian S1E4, and Andor's own standards set in episodes 1-3 with the jungle kids.

looking back at this list I'm seeing it's kind of on the negative side, but I'm still enjoying the show and eager to see where it goes next!

 

Agreed. Revolutions are composed of what are, essentially, collectives of interesting and disparate individuals. And Nemik is an allusion to that.

 

I kinda felt bad for that Colonel. He was right. And it wasn’t like he was saying let us all go. Just let that dude’s son go. I am sure he was a bad person as you don’t rise to the rank of colonel in a fascist dictatorship by being nice.

 

Oh man, how did I forget my favorite Rebel in that cell?!
Maybe I just wanted to forget that he died

 

I thought he was just paralyzed. I didn’t realize he was dying until they brought it up when he was in the hospital.

 

This episode informed Mon Mothma's family struggles. a) Her husband is a jerk, as we've seen. And b) their daughter is a brat, as we've seen. But now we can see why they don't respect her, because c) absolutely no one cares what Mon Mothma says in the Senate. That scene was a little heavy-handed -- you almost expect to see an old janitor sweeping the floor or something -- but it made the point.

I see your perspective, but I think the episode was tonally consistent with what we've seen thus far. The show presaged that this would be a relatively easy operation, at least the getting-in part. Cassian himself told Luthen the key back in Ep 3: you act like you belong and waltz right in. Having the lieutenant assured they'd get in because, sure enough, the commandant can't tell the difference between real troops and fakes -- he sneers at all of them. It works because we're at a point in the chronology where the waltz-right-in part is believable. So the key to the suspense, as I see it, was the Rebels having faith they could do it. Of course they do in the end, but the journey is seeing them marshal the will. So we see almost every single rebel have a crisis of faith, even Luthen on Coruscant. After the getting-in part, I think we get enough to complicate matters, and the getaway is a bit less hokey than in other SW shows/movies. Also, I like the juxtaposition between awesome load-up-the-TIE montage and seeing them brought down because they're made of swiss cheese. So, this worked for me.

 

Haven't seen tension this thick since TCW's Shattered.
Amazing episode~

 

Fantastic episode. Loved the tension. Lotsa cool action. Set designs. And the eye was gorgeous.

Also really loved how empty the senate was. How sad. it's almost a charade at this point.

 

Palpatine did it a mercy in ANH

 

A whole roomful of hostages (including the commandant's wife and 12yo son) who were in the tower with Cinta, would be a pretty obvious reason for the Imperials to think there is a member of the rebel cell that stayed behind.

Unless they were dead, of course.

Bearing that in mind, the fact that Cinta walks out apparently unconcerned about being identified has extremely dark implications.

She wouldn't exactly be the first person in the galaxy to execute a whole bunch of people in cold blood including the women and the children, in vengeance for the murder of their own close family...

 

Cinta is of Partians and Saw Guerra ilk. She killed the hostages no doubt. The Empire killed her family.

 

Probably. I like how she's subtly portrayed. Slow burns work well. I mean, many of us wouldn't have done that to the hostages, but I can certainly understand why someone who lost a family would.

As for Nemik, I'm not going to go on too long about this. But he reminds me of MCU characters who are a little neurodivergent. Honestly, I'm sure people without empathy would not get that, but they would make fun of folks with synesthesia for watching to "watch" a song from a modern artist or someone like Beethoven. Obviously, Neemik didn't have that. He just had a good memory and cared about others. It's neurotypist to bully him.

Comparing him to the Se7en killer is silly. John Doe was a maniac who preyed upon various folks. But he's conservative and old world as all hell. Nemik is, like, new world...in a science-fantasy show that's a little bit Orwellian/Atwoodian. Just a tad. Nemik agrees with Mothma that the oppressors shouldn't be starving people. He's nothing like John Doe.

 

I don’t she killed the kid.

 

What planet is the Dr. Quadpaw scene on?

 

It’s on another moon in that system I think.

 

The kid would have identified her, she probably killed him.

 

The kid is a witness, he's dead.

 

Eh we’ll see by next episode. Also speaking of the kid. I assume his father had a heart attack and died.

 

My guess is Vel is Luthen’s daughter.

 

So were all the soldiers they used to carry the money, yet they didn't die.

There is no reason to assume that she killed the kid or his mother, or any of the other Imperials around. In fact, the way she left makes it rather unlikely she drew any attention to herself at all, which is not something you could say if she slaughtered the whole room.

Yes she does hate the Empire. Yes, she did kill the one Imperial, but only because he threatened her ally with a gun. There isn't any indication that she kills just for revenge, or that she would kill someone in cold blood who isn't a soldier.

 

Assuming they are alive still which I think is the case honestly great news for them that their father and husband died. Now they do not have to deal with someone who was obviously abusive.

 

He didn't seem abusive to me, he only wanted his son to be part of the ceremony, a bit like a father wanting their child to go to church on Sunday morning.