The first three episodes of “Andor” premiered on Wednesday and reignited the flame of rebellion in Star Wars. The first episode served as a great introduction to the series’ tone and characters. It is extremely dark and gritty as most fans hoped it would be. Diego Luna comes back as Cassian Andor but as a slightly younger and more inexperienced version of the one we saw in “Rogue One”. Immediately we see he is willing to kill for his survival and will do anything to stay under the radar of the empire. We are also introduced to Adria Arjona as Bix, who you will easily fall in love with and truly care about her character and relationship with Cassian. The Pre-Mor Corpos (Empire affiliates) are after Cassian after he murders two of them in search of his long lost sister. The leader of this manhunt is Syril, who is doing everything possible to bring Andor to justice in a very annoying fashion. Episode one is 7/10.
The second episode introduced Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael but he doesn’t really shine until the third episode. The second episode was much slower and was meant to make you establish more of a connection to the characters and understand where the story was heading. While not terrible, this episode dragged its feet a little. Episode two is 6/10.
The third episode was by far the best and really kicked off the story and how Andor will join the rebellion. We see Andor and Rael meet and their chemistry is phenomenal. Rael will clearly become a mentor figure for Andor going forward. The whole final act of the episode was a major action set piece that really demonstrated how dark they are willing to go and the stakes for all the characters. The inhabitants of Ferrix had an integral role in this battle as they found ways to help Andor and distract the Corpos. The second episode did its job well because when certain events took place, you really felt the power of those scenes and the connections you made with characters and their story beats. Episode three is 10/10.
One of the best story arcs to come out of these three episodes was the flashbacks to Andor’s childhood. This was one of the most interesting story beats but the way it was integrated into the show was not the best decision. This overarching flashback was cut up and placed throughout the three episodes making the transitions sometimes confusing because you could not tell whether or not the current scene is a flashback or is set in the present. While the first three episodes began as a slow introduction, they have set up the story well and makes you happy to see a new dark and political take on Star Wars. The three episode premiere of “Andor” is 8/10.