Andor - The Best Star Wars Product in 20+ Years

I'm newer to the Star Wars game than most. It wasn't until college that I watched my first Star Wars movie - Episode 7, The Force Awakens. My buddy had an extra ticket, and as the movie nerd I am, I joined him. I liked it, but didn't think it was all that special. Then I watched The Mandalorian, then Rogue One, then I started going back through the old ones with my roommates, and before I knew it, I was hooked. And since becoming a fan, I've tried to watch any and all Star Wars' projects. In 2022, when Tony Gilroy's newest Star Wars show Andor premiered, I was on board simply because of how much I loved his previous installment as a writer/editor on Rogue One (I'll argue with any person on Earth that Rogue One is a Top 3 Star Wars Movie - and it's not 3).

The First Season was a masterpiece unlike any other Star Wars project I'd ever seen. No lightsaber battles, no Force, not even any aliens really. But what it does have is better writing, world-building, character-building, stakes, and intrigue than any show or movie in this world. Add in that it's beautifully shot, incredibly well-acted, different visually and emotionally than other projects -- you have a recipe for success.

Season 2 of Andor is currently releasing weekly on Disney+. There will be 12 episodes just like S1, released weekly in 3-episode increments, because each 3 episodes are it's own little story that tie together all the characters and plots beautifully. In today's blog, I'm going to give my recommendation (without spoiling the show) of why you should be watching Andor too.

Andor - What Makes it Great

#1 - You don't have to love Star Wars to love Andor

Of all the Star Wars projects in existence, Andor is without a doubt the least Star Wars-y. What I mean by that is the themes they explore work independent of being in this Sci-Fi world. Like just about every SW project before it, the over-arching plot of the show is The Rebellion vs The Empire. In the prior movies, that's portrayed simply as Good vs Evil. Tony Gilroy doesn't make black and white projects, he finds the gray areas within. Not all "Rebels" are good people. Not all members of "The Empire" are bad people. Everyone has their own ideas of what's right and wrong, good and bad, which makes for a much more compelling story.

And while the over-arching theme is very much about the Rebellion and them running into trouble with the Empire, there aren't a bunch of Lightsaber battles and Jedis/Siths popping up throughout. This is about the smaller people in this universe, people who have been oppressed or wronged by The Empire in some way or another. People that viewers can relate to better. You could change the uniforms and costumes, tweak the Star-Wars-dialogue of it all, and it would work perfectly in a different genre. So I truly do think it's worth the watch, even if you don't love all the trilogies in the Star Wars world.

#2 - The Best-Written, Best-Acted Star Wars by a mile

The Prequel series (eps 1-3), outside of Ewan McGregor and a handful of others, are not well-acted. "Star Wars isn't about the acting!" You make a good point! I counter with this, go back to watching your cartoons and drink a juice box you stupid, ignorant child.

Hayden Christensen is a nice man I'm sure, but his performances in those prequels are up there with the worst acting in a blockbuster movie. The writing sucks, the direction is meh, and they aren't good visually at all in my opinion.

I respect and love the OG Series (eps 4-6) of Star Wars so much. I think there's a reason Luke, Leia, Han Solo, and Darth Vader are some of the best characters in this film universe. But those movies are ancient, and the advancements made not just in the tech side of film, but the writing and character-building side of film as well, is staggering. When you go back and watch some of those OG movies, you can't help but laugh at some of the dialogue and acting choices.

The Sequel series (eps 7-9) are beautiful visually with the advancements in tech. But they still lack a lot in the dialogue/acting realm. Andor and Rogue One really stand out in this department. There are monologues and conversations with characters that are truly exceptional. Luthen's monologue, Kino Loy's prison speech, Maarva's hologram speech -- probably the Top 3 spoken-scenes in all of Star Wars in one season of TV. The actors in this show (which I'll touch on in the next segment) are terrific.

#3 - Great Actors Playing Great Characters

Starting with the Main Cast, we have Diego Luna reprising his Cassian Andor character from Rogue One, and is our main character throughout. He's terrific, compelling, frustrating at times because he's human and makes mistakes, but is so easy to root for. Stellan Skarsgård plays Luthen, a Rebel who's more extreme than one's we've seen before (not quite as extreme as Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera from Rogue One) and he's electric. Genevieve O'Reilly's Mon Mothma is incredibly compelling and has one of the most interesting storylines. Adria Arjona's Bix is great as well.

They also populate this story with terrific side characters. Rather than going through each one of them, I'm going to put a list of my favorites below here, but what makes them all so great is that they're very different and complex. Some are rebels with different opinions on how to carry out their plans, some are members of the Empire with different motivations than we've seen before, and some are just people in this world trying to get through the day. And the biggest positive about the characters they introduce -- they have truly human qualities. They aren't overpowered and all-knowing Jedis/Siths, they aren't Aliens speaking other languages. They are people with human emotions and motivations.

• Andy Serkis - Kino Loy

• Denise Gough - Deedra Meero

• Faye Marsay - Vel Sartha

• Ebon Moss-Bachrach - Arvel Skeen

• Ben Mendelsohn - Orson Krennic (reprising his role from Rogue One)

• Kyle Soller - Syril Karn

• Ben Miles - Tay Kolma

• Joplin Sibtain - Brasso

• Alex Lawther - Nemik

#4 - Unique Stakes in the world of Star Wars

Most Star Wars stories have very similar stakes -- The Empire is gaining too much power, they're going to destroy the world, we need to stop them. That is a theme in Andor as well -- they're working to find ways to foil the Empire's plots, but it's done in a unique way. These are smaller scale, segmented instances of The Rebels vs The Empire. The Prison Trilogy, the Aldhani Heist, the Ferrix Attack -- these are events that happen in S1 and are all smaller scale than Luke and company trying to destroy the Death Star, but that makes it feel more intimate and heavy. We're invested in these characters and what they're trying to accomplish, and the stakes feel more elevated because decisions have dire consequences in this show.

#5 - Explores different areas of the universe

A problem I've had across the board in the TV projects from Lucas Film is that they don't utilize new locations. They've taken us to Tatooine over and over again, or other locations that we've seen plenty of times in the movies prior. What I love about Andor as a Star Wars fan is that it goes to different locations in the Star Wars universe and actually further builds the world. In Season 1 we saw Cassian Andor's home planet of Ferrix ("home" planet because his real home, Kenari, is under Empire control - we see some glimpses into this setting as well though). We also go to Narkina 5 - a moon prison essentially. Aldhani - a beautiful, green and mountainous planet that looks like Scotland. Ghorman - a new planet where the Empire is about to unleash some dastardly deeds in Season 2. We even see a beach when Cassian is trying to evade the authorities in Season 1 before going to Narkina 5.

Like the newest trilogy of movies, this show visually looks amazing. And the fact that they take us to different planets, landscapes, cultures in this show is a huge reason I love it. I've seen more than enough deserts, I'm fucking tired of Tatooine. Pigeon-holing your show into staying on planets we already know does absolutely nothing for world-building, and frankly I find it really lazy and boring. Book of Boba Feet and Obi-Wan are such cash-grab shows that think they can skate by on returning stars, introducing characters from Star Wars lore that they don't build stories for, and familiarity from fans. Andor actually accomplishes world-building, introduces brand new characters with compelling backstories/storylines, and creates unique ideas rather than recycling the success of it's predecessors and slapping a new name on it.

I could go on for days about what makes this show special, but you truly just have to watch to understand. If you're a Star Wars fan, you'll love the unique aspect of the world that this show captures. If you're not a fanatic, you'll love the story and performances and dialogue Gilroy captures. I can't recommend it enough, and there's still plenty of time to get caught up -- episodes 4-6 of Season 2 were just released, and there's 6 episodes left.