Don’t believe the common wisdom. AndorDisney Plus being the best standalone Star Wars TV showSo far, no release. I’ve now come around to the possibility that this Diego Luna-led Rogue OneThe prequel series may actually be the best TV show of 2022.
Here’s where things stand as of the morning after the November 2 debut of Andor’s ninth episode, titled Nobody’s Listening —This gave us another fascinating and grim look at the ground-level bureaucracy and soldiers of the galactic empire. With three more episodes to go in this 12-episode first season of the rebellion’s origin story, Episode 9 is now the latest to score a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
As of this writing, five of the nine episodes have received perfect ratings on the review aggregate site.
AndorDisney Plus
If you’ve been watching AndorThis is not surprising considering it was launched on Disney Plus on September 21st.
In truth, this show has added an immensely satisfying dose of flesh-and-blood humanity, realism, and political intrigue to the Star Wars canon — not to mention a fresh set of protagonists who have to figure out how to undercut the staggering might of the empire without the benefit of Jedis or the Force. I don’t ever remember feeling that Luke Skywalker was in too much mortal danger, not with that lightsaber and the Jedi skills he could rely on. These stakes seem much higher.
Indeed, Cassian Andor pretty much has just his wits and — on occasion– a blaster. We meet him five years prior to the events of Rogue One, he’s not yet part of the burgeoning, disconnected, and disorganized rebellion. He’s something much more elemental: A jaded survivor.
‘Wouldn’t you rather give it all … to something real?’
The moment that hooked me on the show for good was the recruitment of Andor by Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael, an antiquities dealer on the galactic capital planet of Coruscant who also is secretly leading an insurgency against the empire.
This particular interaction between the characters spans two episodes: Episodes 3 and 4. (titled Reckoning Aldhani, respectively). “These days will end, Cassian Andor,”Luthen tells of the reluctant, wary survivor who (as you can see in hindsight), would become a full fledged and deadly rebel.
Luthen keeps pitching. “The way they laugh, the way they push through a crowd … don’t you want to fight these bastards for real?”
Andor, however, isn’t ready to commit yet. Luthen asked Andor later if I was available to sign up. “Wouldn’t you rather give it all at once to something real than carve off useless pieces until there’s nothing left?”
Andor is currently being held in high-security Empire prison and quietly working on an escape strategy. The Imperial Security Bureau continues to search for Andor and seeks answers about Ferrix. And fans like me can’t wait to see what happens next.
More Disney Plus news: Disney Plus: November 2022: New movies and shows