*Contains very minimal spoilers for the first three episodes of Andor*
It is tough being a Star Wars fan sometimes. A lot of the things that tend to be released from Star Wars since Disney took over have been mediocre or just straight-up bad.
One of the projects Disney did an amazing job with though was Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It was a simple Star Wars movie that hit all the right beats and told a great story. It was rebel fighters versus the Empire, it all worked so well.
When they announced Andor for Disney+, I was intrigued but not too much excited. It was just a prequel to a side character that we all know ends up dying. There was not a whole lot to be amped up about.
Then trailers started to come out for this show, and I began to gain a lot more hype. It looked like a compelling spy story with a much darker tone than what we have seen from Star Wars before.
I am happy to report that Andor is exactly what any Star Wars fan needs in their life. Andor is incredible, and while we are only three episodes in, I am excited to see where this story goes.
The great thing about this show is that it feels so far removed from the Skywalker Saga. Even though it technically falls in the timeline of it, we do not have to worry about Jedis and the Skywalker family tree. It feels so refreshing.
While Disney+ has given us two great seasons of The Mandalorian, they have also given us mediocre series such as The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Through three episodes, this show feels so much more cinematic. The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi and even The Mandalorian at times tend to feel so cheap and gimmicky. Andor feels like it is never going to fall into that hole.
From the start, we are given beautiful visuals of a new planet we have never seen before and are thrown right into the action. You immediately reunite with Cassian Andor who is on his own mission trying to retrace steps from his past. He gets put into a hostile situation and makes a decision that already changes his fate.
That is what makes this show so good through three episodes. We are stepping into the shoes of what it is like for a normal civilian in the wake of the rising Empire.
You see so much more than just Cassians' struggles too early. We are taken to a little village called The Volume where most people are just trying to make money off scraps and parts of ships. It is a much colder side to the Star Wars universe that has never been explored.
This is the direction Star Wars has to eventually head into. The galaxy far, far away has so many more stories to tell and I am happy that Andor might be that stepping stone into those stories.
While all three episodes are great, episode three is amazing. It is so good that I would say some Disney+ shows would consider that a finale to their season, yet we still have nine more episodes to go.
The performances are pretty good by all actors involved so far, but Diego Luna as Cassian is the obvious standout. He is just able to make it so convincing that Cassian is struggling with money, relationships and his criminal background; something we have hardly seen in Star Wars before.
Plus, we are introduced to a new droid that I know will be a series standout, B2EMO. He is a little red square box on wheels that has a stuttering issue, easily gets shy and serves Cassian and his adopted mother. By the end of this series, I am going to need some merchandise of this droid.
But overall, Andor has been able to tell an extremely compelling story thus far that I am excited to follow week by week. It follows a new script for the Star Wars franchise and feels so much more cinematic than that of its other Disney+ counterparts. If Andor manages to stick with the style and pace that were introduced in these first three episodes, I truly feel that it can be one of the best stories the Star Wars franchise has ever told.
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