Andor’s big heist is getting bigger by the episode. A scrappy attack on an Imperial base would have been about 15 minutes of The Mandalorian or The Book Of Boba Fett, but this week gives us another hour of setup as the rebels keep on pouring over their plan.
Giving a Star Wars story space to breath might be unusual, but it works – with smart writing and a great cast turning any other show’s filler into the real meat of the series. We’re still stuck in the beautiful bogs of Aldhani (VisitScotland must be loving this show) and the preparations for the payroll raid are becoming obsessive.
As expected, nerves start fraying. Cassian (Diego Luna) wakes up to find out everyone has been through his stuff, and Skeen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), in particular, seems suspicious. Cassian manages to get through the interrogation without giving too much away, and a chat with Nemik (Alex Lawther) seems to calm him down – almost making him feel welcome. All credit to Lawther here for making Nemik such a wonderfully weird bunch of neuroses (he’s the galaxy’s new C-3PO), and to Luna for still playing the perfect rebel without much of a cause.
As the tension strains, the cracks start showing. Taramyn (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr) and Vel (Faye Marsay) let slip that they don’t actually know how to pull off one of the key techie parts of the plan, and Cassian starts to realise just how weak this rebellion really is. They’re passionate but they don’t have a clue – and they’re sorely missing a leader. Cassian is probably the best fit to take charge, but he’s a long way off wanting it. Also, everyone else knows it.
When Skeen finds Cassian’s kyber crystal, he confronts him in front of everyone (“who brings a treasure to a robbery?!”), and gets him to confess that he’s just in it for the money. That goes down about as well as expected.
Elsewhere, the other pieces of the puzzle are slowly moving into place. Karn (Kyle Soller) is back in his mum’s house, moping over his blue Coco Pops. “Stop slouching… you might as well wear a sign that says, ‘I promise to disappoint you’” nags his mum, giving us a pretty clear idea of where Karn’s dark side comes from. Still secretly obsessed with a hologram of Cassian – the man who cost him his career – it’s clear that Karn only sees revenge as his way back to the top.
Meero (Denise Gough) is still looking for her own big career break in the paperwork, and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) is having to deal with her awful right-wing family as she secretly funds a rebellion. The last word, though, is given to Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), as he nervously paces his fake antique shop the night before the big heist. “It’ll all be over this time tomorrow,” says his assistant, also in on the attack. “Or it’ll just be starting…”
Extra credits
- Skeen’s tattoos show “Krayt Head” and “By The Hand”, one possibly tying Andor’s story back to Tatooine, and the other hinting at deeper Star Wars lore that might suggest a new beginning for fan favourite baddie Grand Admiral Thrawn.
- Spot the weird Meiloorun fruit on Karn’s breakfast table for a nod to a recurring joke in animated show Star Wars Rebels (first stolen by Ezra and Zeb, forever then a series codename easter egg)
- Who is Uncle Harlo? And how is he going to get Karn a job? Clearly, this story isn’t over yet, and the mysterious new relative is important enough to have strings to pull.
‘Andor’ releases new episodes on Disney+ every Wednesday