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It amazes me how being competent is enough to make you the best thing in Star Wars. Andor is just that: competent (oftentimes barely competent: as most SW show

It amazes me how being competent is enough to make you the best thing in Star Wars. Andor is just that: competent (oftentimes barely competent: as most SW shows and movies it still can't master the art of walking and taking at the same time. Even the most "dynamic" scenes are actors making two steps, stopping, talking without even moving their bodies or hands or arms, then making two more steps, repeat). The article has weird obsession with sex (is the author an adolescent themselves?). There are actual grown-up things Andor did that really work in show's favor: - people are shown to be generally competent regardless of gender or race, and grown ups are generally treated as grown-ups, and not bumbling idiots - rebellion is shown as actual rebellion: multiple factions, and "we have to kill a few to save multitudes". Which is refreshing after four decades of "rebels are angels, empire is evil" - the Empire is shown as an actual thing that exists and works. And it's rather efficient at what it does (and fails as empires often do) But all that is hurt by the format (three 30-minute episodes making a single "story", repeat 4 times). All that could be condensed in two hours. And it's hurt by Diego Luna whose limited acting ability hurts the character and every scene he's in.

poisonborz 4y ago
Luna was great. The character being straightforward, with not much emotional intelligence at all adds a lot to the atmosphere. He is a traumatised soldier with only a few people to care for, not a gun slinging comedic hero like most of his counterparts in the franchise. Him being still likeable and interesting, and those few small steps he took towards taking part in a rebellion was the best aspect of the season.
- dmitriid 4y ago
  You don't have to be gung ho to show more emotion than just blank face ;) I enjoyed the idea of "thrown into the mix of things and slowly warming up to the idea of the rebellion", but it was handled rather poorly IMO. So we have Luthen specifically seeking him out because he's so great and good. And in a conversation he mentions how he casually stole imperial star-thingy. So he is kinda gung ho (or at least extremely competent). Then he learns minute details of the rebels he just met by just observing them... And that's it. Everything else is him being extremely incompetent (how he ended up in jail to begin with), or suddenly competent without any prior explanation (how he was instrumental in the plot to run away). But this more due to the format of the show I think.
  - tptacek 4y ago
    As the piece says, part of the point of the story is that Luthen wasn't seeking Cassian out because he was singularly valuable. He was a cog, and picked Cassian up on his normal smuggling route.
yamtaddle 4y ago
What's amazing is that most folks who get a crack at Star Wars can't even apply the dumbest version of its formula—mash up a few genre-things, apply Star Wars lipstick—competently. That is all The Mandalorian did, and that's all it took to put it well in the top half of all Star Wars media. It's simple, it's easy, yet most of the folks involved just don't seem to get it. Agree with most of your take. The worst thing about Andor was that nearly every scene was too long. It's not slow in an "it's slow on purpose and is still making good use of its time" way like a lot of excellent film and television is, it's slow in a "the writers and/or editors weren't good enough, or weren't given enough time, to make it better" sort of way. I agree with the article that it's not clear the politics of Andor are in service of any kind of real message, but they sure are shocking to see in something Disney put out. It's not that they're shocking in an absolute sense, but I'd never have believed The Mouse would green light something like it. Falcon and Winter Soldier actually had some similarly dark, realistic politics going on, and even got a little close to saying something with it at the end (before shying away and saying nothing at all, instead, because Disney's run by cowards) but didn't go nearly as far as Andor. The execs must have been really high when the Andor scripts passed their desks for approval.
gumby 4y ago
> It amazes me how being competent is enough to make you the best thing in Star Wars. Really, Andor is the best sw thing since The Empire Strikes Back. The first episode of Mando was OK, but then it continued in the style of 1960s TV western which isn't my thing. In general star wars is meh. It's like The Who: all energy, little musical talent (which was great at the time but doesn't age well). Except most SW movies don't even have energy.

poisonborz 4y ago

Luna was great. The character being straightforward, with not much emotional intelligence at all adds a lot to the atmosphere. He is a traumatised soldier with only a few people to care for, not a gun slinging comedic hero like most of his counterparts in the franchise. Him being still likeable and interesting, and those few small steps he took towards taking part in a rebellion was the best aspect of the season.

dmitriid 4y ago
You don't have to be gung ho to show more emotion than just blank face ;) I enjoyed the idea of "thrown into the mix of things and slowly warming up to the idea of the rebellion", but it was handled rather poorly IMO. So we have Luthen specifically seeking him out because he's so great and good. And in a conversation he mentions how he casually stole imperial star-thingy. So he is kinda gung ho (or at least extremely competent). Then he learns minute details of the rebels he just met by just observing them... And that's it. Everything else is him being extremely incompetent (how he ended up in jail to begin with), or suddenly competent without any prior explanation (how he was instrumental in the plot to run away). But this more due to the format of the show I think.
- tptacek 4y ago
  As the piece says, part of the point of the story is that Luthen wasn't seeking Cassian out because he was singularly valuable. He was a cog, and picked Cassian up on his normal smuggling route.

yamtaddle 4y ago

What's amazing is that most folks who get a crack at Star Wars can't even apply the dumbest version of its formula—mash up a few genre-things, apply Star Wars lipstick—competently. That is all The Mandalorian did, and that's all it took to put it well in the top half of all Star Wars media. It's simple, it's easy, yet most of the folks involved just don't seem to get it. Agree with most of your take. The worst thing about Andor was that nearly every scene was too long. It's not slow in an "it's slow on purpose and is still making good use of its time" way like a lot of excellent film and television is, it's slow in a "the writers and/or editors weren't good enough, or weren't given enough time, to make it better" sort of way. I agree with the article that it's not clear the politics of Andor are in service of any kind of real message, but they sure are shocking to see in something Disney put out. It's not that they're shocking in an absolute sense, but I'd never have believed The Mouse would green light something like it. Falcon and Winter Soldier actually had some similarly dark, realistic politics going on, and even got a little close to saying something with it at the end (before shying away and saying nothing at all, instead, because Disney's run by cowards) but didn't go nearly as far as Andor. The execs must have been really high when the Andor scripts passed their desks for approval.

gumby 4y ago

> It amazes me how being competent is enough to make you the best thing in Star Wars. Really, Andor is the best sw thing since The Empire Strikes Back. The first episode of Mando was OK, but then it continued in the style of 1960s TV western which isn't my thing. In general star wars is meh. It's like The Who: all energy, little musical talent (which was great at the time but doesn't age well). Except most SW movies don't even have energy.