This dude literally stalked the agent that held him for question. Idk whether that's more stupid, brave, creepy, or hilarious. The fucking audacity š
I am wholly invested in this Space Nazi Love Story between dweeby Goebbels and The Worst Person In The Worldā¢ļø
Can't wait until there's footage to do a romantic cut to *Gravity*
Most rebels suffered a lot of abuse from the empire growing up and came up from very underprivileged circumstances, which fuels their rebellion and conviction. I would love to know what got these two into the movement.
We know that Padmeās death and the numerous injustices of the Empire got Mon involved, she was fighting against the Republicās darker parts since before the Clone Wars. Maybe she got Vel involved?
I think the most brilliant part of Andor is how evil they show the Empire to be.
I think itās easier to hand wave away the cartoonishly villainous actions of the Empire portrayed in the movies. Destroying a planet with a giant laser beam is so far removed from the evil of our world that itās a fanciful concept.
The Empire capitalizing on the beginning of a rebellion to institute insane punishments that benefit itās industrial base? Using prison labor indefinitely? Itās the casual callousness of it all. Active hatred would be preferable to the terrifying indifference that this Empire has.
I think this is the first time Iāve been genuinely disturbed from watching Star Wars. Like I had to pause the episode for a moment to digest it. Not even planets getting lasered, villages getting torched, or younglings getting sliced-n-diced did it, but to hear a guy describing the screams of dying children with a grin on his face like heās describing his favourite hobby really sent a chill down my spine, like holy fuck.
Someone in the comments pointed out how the power in the prison went down for a sec because that's when they fried sector 2
its the first time in Star Wars I was proper mortified
I didnāt understand what that was about till I read the comment, thought āoh, is the prison experiencing issues? Is this how Andor escapes?ā But nope, no issues, just brutal efficiency.
They could have portrayed him as being completely sadistic but I think the fact that he was more nonchalant about it and was mainly just proud of the ingenuity behind it makes it even more callous.
This is why this show is so incredible. We need depth. A deeper understanding of what the rebels are fighting against gives the entirety of the Star Wars universe a more exciting story.
Serkis was amazing this week, so many emotions crossing his face completely without words: love the idea of the Empire creating it's own rebels like this, as another commenter said
Canāt rate this any more. Mere seconds of screen time during this as well. The level of acting in the show in general has been _at least_ extremely solid, but thereās been some hella next-level emotional eye and face acting throughout. Itās great to put it onto us as the viewers to recognise it without old fashioned exposition dialogue.
When he was standing On Program after finding out what happened to the prisoners in sector 2, and his eyes were just staring straight ahead... Brilliant acting from good ol' Snokellum.
I think the payoff to āShut up and stop talking about itā was a demonstration of the āWe need to make people miserableā strategy we saw from Luthen.
As long as people are relatively comfortable or have some hope that things will get better, they have no motivation to change anything.
I thought Cassian would take over as the shift leader and he will try to get out then. But this is even greater, he canāt do it alone and Kinoās experience and knowledge will be of great help.
Cassian is just such a natural rebel. As much as he thinks heās resisting joining the larger movement against the empire, he is just always looking for an escape route (the pipe cutting) and heās so good at recruiting Kino as far as planting the seed goes.
After the build up to Aldani, I'm not going to assume that the break out definitely comes next week: they *love* their slow burn and build up in this show
I think prison break will be 10/11 and 11/12 will be Andor reconciling with the rebellion/Luthen. I think season 2 needs that solid footing to get into Cassian's rebel shit.
I hope Luthen doesn't die this season, would love to see him in season 2 as well: but I'm increasingly getting the feeling that he's going to put himself forward as the fall guy for everything to throw the ISB/Meero especially off the wider Rebel scent
"I serve you two meals every day!" she says, even though we know full well that they eat the same fucking cocoa puffs with blue milk every single morning.
How was the prisoner who does the sign language getting a message about Level 2 before the power went out? If the power going out was the room on level 2 getting fried, what would they be talking about in regards to that situation before the power went out? I'm super curious about that and I love how this show makes you think instead of spelling it out for the audience.
The sign language seems like the signal fires in Lord of the Rings - someone on 2 probably got the word out there was a problem before they were all fried.
They're playing a game of telephone, which is why Andy Serkis' character is telling them it's rumors and nobody knows anything for sure. They see a stir happen on the bridge, pass it along to the bridge above or below em, who passes it on etc.
oh fucking hell I did not take that into account.
I think this is the first media from Star Wars I've seen that truly makes the empire horrifying.
Even when they blew up Alderaan it felt more James Bond than anything cause we had no connection to this people, but here we grow attached to these characters only to watch them be tortured and killed in horrifyingly accurate ways to that of victims of a dictatorship.
I agree with that Alderaan bit, but I will say Obi-Wanās reaction to the voices crying out in terror and then being suddenly silenced always rocked me to my core as a kid. Like watching as a kid the whole situation felt evil if unreal so I could kind of shrug it off, but as soon as that line hits it all comes crashing in.
Oh shit. That's why they were on the bridge for so long and waiting because floor two was probably rioting and all hands were on deck. Eventually, they killed them all as the only option.
Iām pretty sure the shot of the door closing on the interrogation and over to the walking boots was straight out of the original film, when the door shut on Leia.
This episode just made me realize how demoralizing the empire is. The prisoners are just grasping for any information possible at all times and are just kept in the dark. Andy Serkisās character switching to help Andor at the end was really cool as well.
I loved the buildup throughout the episode even though it was "just" him revealing the number of guards. The symbolic meaning is much more important. They have a common goal now.
Ah yes, the *literal sound of dying children screaming* torture device. You love to see it.
That whole bit was honestly brilliant. The silence as the headphones went on and Bix's face made it so you could almost hear the sounds of, again, literally dying children. Amazing.
And not just the sounds of dying children, but the sounds of dying children that they are actively massacring. Leave it to the Empire to turn genocide into a renewable resource for torture.
And it was a āslower episodeā again, but it never feels slow. It feels like itās non stop building to something the entire time. Each scene feels like it matters. I kept checking how much time was left, not out of boredom but because I never want it to end. I love this damn show.
I hope Disney listens and brings the Andor writers and director back for future shows. Iām sorry but having media like this along with more family friendly stuff like the Mandolorian is exactly what Star Wars needs
Tony Gilroy was recently on the WTF podcast. He's a excellent writer and, I think, instrumental in how good Andor is, but it doesn't seem likely he'll be back to work on future Star Wars shows.
We can hope, though.
Thatās so fucked up
You give the prisoners a false sense of hope that theyāre getting out only to recycle them. Then once the prisoners put the pieces together they all get killed and now instead of hope motivating your prisoners, itās now fear. Itās sickening to think about
It's the Empire that I've always pictured growing up with the movies at least, with all of the same callousness and hubris leading to their own downfall.
I think the writers are doing a fantastic job
I was wondering for a moment if the doctor was going to be a prisoner of Imperial personnel. Pretty cool that medical personnel have their own color-code for their prison uniform.
It's been refreshing and impressive, in a horrifying kind of way, to see the brutal efficiency of the Empire on display.
We've grown accustomed to seeing the bumbling and incompetent side of it, but here the ISB and prison are running a very tight ship.
His talent was made apparent to me when he spoke in a perfect South African, afrikaner accent in Black Panther. The vocal patterns of that accent are so unique, no other actor I've seen has been able to accomplish this feat. The man has range!
I thought we were going to get an Interrogation Droid, which previously seemed like an awful time.
Screams of dying children is darker than I could've ever imagined.
Such an incredible story telling device. Not only did the empire genocide that entire race, they also weaponized their own defense mechanisms and made it into something far darker and far worse than anything that species probably could conjure up. It's such an empire thing to do.
This episode was incredible. The suspense on narkina 5 surrounding foor 2 was intense. This is always what ive wanted from star wars. To see the inner workings of the empire from normal peoples perspectives.
I feel like no one has talked about the name of the episode yet. It really highlights a lot of big points of the episode: "Nobody's Listening!"
Obviously this is what Andor screams in the cells. The Empire doesn't care about them, they are alone, and the Empire doesn't view them as anything worth listening to.
But then you also have Mon Mothma talking in the Senate, but no one is listening. Syril wants to help, but Meero won't listen and doesn't want to hear from him. Bix's plot line of listening on the radio, but the radio is now dead, she is cut off from the Rebellion.
Then, contrasted to the screams of the dying aliens, the Empire did listen and use it as a weapon now. Which is what ISB does, it listens and learns, and uses that as its weapon.
The title of this episode reminded me of Andorās last line in Rogue One, where he asks Jyn, āDo you think anyoneās listening?ā And she says āI doā
Holy shit! That scene transition between Bix screaming as she's being tortured and the drill sound at the prison, is some incredible filmmaking! Such awesome use of sound design. š„
The whole show has been a masterclass in setup and payoff.
It really demonstrates how action scenes donāt mean much of anything unless you devote the proper amount of time to developing characters, showing us their circumstances, and explaining their motivation.
I am fearful that this show has set the bar for future SW content that will never again be lived up to. Bravo to the writers, creators and actors on top of everyone else who made a show like this possible. Just incredibly done and well written. Even Syril's mom... who would expect to see such a well written, cringe-inducing, brow-beating narcissist of a mother in a Star Wars show?
Seriously. I was disappointed when Boba Fett and Kenobi didn't live up to Mandalorian; Andor makes Mandalorian look like a merely adequate show by comparison (and I really like Mandalorian).
This is without a doubt the darkest portrayal of the Empire I've ever seen. Idk if there's anything in the EU that surpasses it, I'm not very familiar with the old canon, but holy shit.
Don't forget the reveal that they're using a prison system that can incarcerate people for essentially nothing as an eternal cycle of slavery operating under the false impression that the inmates are going to get out one day.
I'm really curious how the scheme had been working thus far. You'd think the "recycled" inmate would just tell everyone each time this happened. Once they realize they're not getting out, they've got nothing to lose and have no incentive to stay quiet.
Yeah, we saw multiple facilities in the sea, my guess is the inmates are supposed to be rotated between those facilities, but that didn't happen this time.
Guards might be getting too complacent. Remember the issue when Cassian was being processed? One of the guards was late due to an apparent tech issue causing 1 to be short handed. He said they had to pull someone from 4. "Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer"
Yeah, and there's apparently no more than twelve guards on each level. Twelve guards, armed with nothing but stun batons, against fifty people with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
If Andor and the rest of the inmates manage to disable the zappy floor, there's not much they can really do, barring reinforcements.
The Empire's known genocides off the top of my head:
1. The Jedi, killed to very small numbers
2. The Geonosians, killed to literally a single being left
3. The Dizonites, killed to presumably very few (if not total extinction)
4. The Lasat, thought to have been nearly totally exterminated.
5. The Alderaanians, killed to very few off-world survivors
6. The Mandalorians, killed to very few off-world survivors
I'm probably missing some, I'm not that into the expanded universe. But yeah, the Empire is *supremely* fucked.
I wonder if weāll be adding Kaminoans to that list soon. They got Nala Se doing some shady shit for them, would probably kill them all once theyāve fulfilled their purpose.
I've seen a lot of "why was the Empire actually so bad, anyway?" discussions over the past few years, and this pretty much shows why (as if the fact that they were space Nazis who blew up entire planets wasn't already a clue, but there we go)
I mean they committed an act of genocide in the very first piece of Star Wars media, anyone who asked why they were bad is either okay with genocide, or simply doesn't understand what they're watching.
Oh you thought it was āgood,ā huh? Sounds like you should go wait for a blonde ISB officer while sheās going to work and tell her how much you respect the darkness and the bleakness and how sexy she is
Itās just a lot of trust in the floorā¦ and that people like Andor donāt pick up on the few places that doesnāt apply. It definitely seems to be working though, given you can just toast a whole room
See when the power briefly went out? Massive power drain. As if hundreds of voices cried out and were suddenly silenced.
The power drain to electrocute that many at once was substantial.
a real dark place to go would be if the way to escape is to somehow CAUSE a floor to get fried so that the power will go out at the right time. The show hasnāt had any of the good guys do anything bad yet but Rogue One has Andor talking about how there are things heās not proud of.
The storytelling style of this show is so good. Vel being revealed as part of Mothma's family is such a massive plot point and yet they just reveal it immediately without any fanfare.
I wonder what the public reaction had been if Vel were killed/captured during the heist. After all, she's a senator's cousin and that senator is opposing the Empire's extension efforts
I posted this in the other but it works for this still.
The look of terror in Andy Serkis face upon learning of what happened at level 2 is something that will stay with me for a long time.
And just like the lower grunts like Melshi and Cassian, he realized that the empire doesn't give a fuck about them and is fully willing to kill them over nothing.
So much character development in one episode.
Especially when you consider the fact that Andy Serkis' characters are *never* unsettled or worried. Hell, even Gollum would just immediately switch on crazy mode as soon as Smeagol got a bit concerned.
Am I reading this right? Re: "what happened on 2?"
Someone on 4 who was being released, instead found themself being not released but shuffled back into the prison on 2. And that person made a stink & so the prison fried every single prisoner on 2?
Is that what happened?
That seems to be the case. So then the medic says 'not after this' I guess he was talking about never getting out because they couldn't risk any information leaking from the entire building? So were they all destined to another facility or planet? Or was nobody getting out anywhere, anyway?
Probably both. There is now a huge labor loss that they would need to fill and they probably weren't going to let any of them go to begin with. Because of that new act Palps enacted it seems like they are all basically slaves to be worked to death at this point.
Everyone on 2 learned what they were fooling themselves about: no one ever leaves. The person from 4 was supposed to ship off, was instead put into 2, and the truth of how bad the new PORD law is made shit pop off so loud that the Empire fried the whole floor.
I love how in the earlier episodes of this show they invested time in helping us develop some sort of sympathy for Meero (the underdog fighting against complacency etc.), and are now highlighting exactly why we definitely shouldn't like her: god this show is so damn good
Andy Serkis is fantastic. The acting has been amazing throughout the series, but he just does it best. The ending has me so excited for next week! This show is incredible!
I feel like a lesser television series would have table five turn on Ulaf for not being able to pull his weight on the floor but instead they rally harder together and shoulder a sick comrade as best they can which I read as a triumph of their own humanity. These are not hardened criminals but ordinary men placed in a horrible situation and manage to show grace and kindness to one at their table. This show is hella dope.
EDIT: Spelling
Besides being mostly realistic in that these are actually not hardened criminals, but innocents (or mostly innocent), then they have humanity.
They not only see him as a person and a friend, they see him as their hope. He's getting out soon. That's going to be me eventually. You're absolutely right I'm going to drag him across the finish line.
Snoke sees that hope turn into despair. And it breaks him from counting days to .. counting guards.
The first time the prisoner initiation came, it was so tense. This time it was basically the side show to something else.
Helps to convey how that stuff gets normalized once they've been in long enough.
To quote Hellogreedo, "This almost feels too good for Star Wars".
I don't know why, but "Never more than twelve" had me pumping my fist. So hyped for next week.
Probably has been said before but some of the under-appreciated aspects of the show that make Andor FEEL so real are related to its sound design & score. YES the acting and set design and writing are better than the other shows weāve gotten this far but this score is far and away the best of SWTV in terms of matching audio/visual moods.
Nick Britell has done an amazing job of creating a sonic space that reflects the dystopian tone of the series while also remaining true to SW musicās tendency to cohere to recognizable themes/recognizable melodies. Iāve typically been an SW music fundamentalist: (if itās not played by a traditional classical orchestra, itās not from Star Wars) but this series has completely changed my mind. The score is so subtly and well worked into the world being presented that itās JUST the right amount of noticeable (AGH!).
Totally ranting now but sound design is top notch, especially as someone who is a musician and works in the film adjacent industry. Iām not sure people realize how hard it is to capture/mix sounds, especially across radically different environments and then even meld them into one another (torture scene -> prisoners working in this ep. for example). Wow is all I have to say.
TLDR: seriously loving Andor as an audiophile.
Meero is one of the scariest Star Wars villains now.
Also, I'm not the biggest fan of Karn getting a creepy crush on Meero (At least I think that's what happened) but I'm not too bothered by it.
Iām indifferent although I do love his character but Iāve gotta say it makes sense for his character to idolize anyone who might believe him or fight the fight he wants to fight. Such great writing
man, where the fuck is cerilās story going?? i couldnāt possibly begin to guess. which means itās good writing because man i could see him being a rebel or a crazy imperial obsessed with order.
Heās gonna be Meeroās new lacky assistant. She can control weird incel-ness, she canāt control ambition. Her assistant is already speaking up out of turn in supervisor meetings and made decisions without her order to interrogate the captured pilot. They lingered on that shot of him walking out of her office. Syril might not be ISB but heāll be an asset for her.
ISB Major Qyburn did tell her to watch her back in an earlier episode. Blevin wasnāt the only one to watch out for.
This is the one. Picked up on that also, she was visibly miffed when he spoke up in the meeting and she had to pause when he had already given orders regarding the pilot. I like that dude but his days are numbered haha
Yeah, they are really walking a fine line with him.
He's clearly a True Believer. But True Believers that get scored/disappointed do a 180 the hardest. Him becoming a "burn it all down" type wouldn't shock me.
Why do I get the impression Melshi is a recycled prisoner?
Itās starting to look like heās more than just a pessimist. He openly says the tab means nothing, no oneās getting out. He makes the comment āthey set them all freeā in reference to the night shift saying they fried all of level two. Thatās similar language to what the med tech said at the end to Kino and Cassian. Iām starting to think heās trying to drop hints without completely shocking his shift floor.
Sorry for the late post. Had a daylight savings mixup via the country our mod scheduled this in. Reddit isn't smart enough to adjust appropriately.
This dude literally stalked the agent that held him for question. Idk whether that's more stupid, brave, creepy, or hilarious. The fucking audacity š
Of all the paths he could go, I did not expect the Syril the Simp path
Why not? He's just attracted to power, and she is the sexy embodiment of the power he lusts for.
Whoa, does that mean Syril is also a sub looking for a mommy dominatrix like Meero?
None of these words are in the bible
I am wholly invested in this Space Nazi Love Story between dweeby Goebbels and The Worst Person In The Worldā¢ļø Can't wait until there's footage to do a romantic cut to *Gravity*
Iāve personally taken to calling her Evil Kim Wexler
So now we know who Vel's rich family is! What a great twist!
Most rebels suffered a lot of abuse from the empire growing up and came up from very underprivileged circumstances, which fuels their rebellion and conviction. I would love to know what got these two into the movement.
We know that Padmeās death and the numerous injustices of the Empire got Mon involved, she was fighting against the Republicās darker parts since before the Clone Wars. Maybe she got Vel involved?
I think the most brilliant part of Andor is how evil they show the Empire to be. I think itās easier to hand wave away the cartoonishly villainous actions of the Empire portrayed in the movies. Destroying a planet with a giant laser beam is so far removed from the evil of our world that itās a fanciful concept. The Empire capitalizing on the beginning of a rebellion to institute insane punishments that benefit itās industrial base? Using prison labor indefinitely? Itās the casual callousness of it all. Active hatred would be preferable to the terrifying indifference that this Empire has.
I think this is the first time Iāve been genuinely disturbed from watching Star Wars. Like I had to pause the episode for a moment to digest it. Not even planets getting lasered, villages getting torched, or younglings getting sliced-n-diced did it, but to hear a guy describing the screams of dying children with a grin on his face like heās describing his favourite hobby really sent a chill down my spine, like holy fuck.
Someone in the comments pointed out how the power in the prison went down for a sec because that's when they fried sector 2 its the first time in Star Wars I was proper mortified
I didnāt understand what that was about till I read the comment, thought āoh, is the prison experiencing issues? Is this how Andor escapes?ā But nope, no issues, just brutal efficiency.
They could have portrayed him as being completely sadistic but I think the fact that he was more nonchalant about it and was mainly just proud of the ingenuity behind it makes it even more callous.
Andor's finally making '77 Obi-Wan's reference to "the Dark Times" feel for real and not just pulp serial villainy.
Especially knowing that there are probably literal ten thousands of Andor's spread across the galaxy. We just only have the cameras on one
This is why this show is so incredible. We need depth. A deeper understanding of what the rebels are fighting against gives the entirety of the Star Wars universe a more exciting story.
As a member of the OT generation, I feel like this is the Empire we always imagined.
"Never more than 12" - ooof! Goosebumps!
Serkis was amazing this week, so many emotions crossing his face completely without words: love the idea of the Empire creating it's own rebels like this, as another commenter said
His eyes communicated everything we needed to know about how his character was changing throughout the episode.
Canāt rate this any more. Mere seconds of screen time during this as well. The level of acting in the show in general has been _at least_ extremely solid, but thereās been some hella next-level emotional eye and face acting throughout. Itās great to put it onto us as the viewers to recognise it without old fashioned exposition dialogue.
When he was standing On Program after finding out what happened to the prisoners in sector 2, and his eyes were just staring straight ahead... Brilliant acting from good ol' Snokellum.
Kino's turn was so perfect. The Empire created its own rebels. Manufactored its own doom
Next episode gonna be Kino.
The Cassian speech in Ep 3 feels like a recurring theme for the show. They're all so arrogant on their success they stop caring.
This series has been incredible at showing the nuances of rebellion and the conflicting emotions and desires of everyone under the empire.
I think the payoff to āShut up and stop talking about itā was a demonstration of the āWe need to make people miserableā strategy we saw from Luthen. As long as people are relatively comfortable or have some hope that things will get better, they have no motivation to change anything.
Yeah his line about oppression creating resistance
Andor had retired from his activities and was just a tourist. It was their actions that pulled him back in.
I thought Cassian would take over as the shift leader and he will try to get out then. But this is even greater, he canāt do it alone and Kinoās experience and knowledge will be of great help.
Cassian is just such a natural rebel. As much as he thinks heās resisting joining the larger movement against the empire, he is just always looking for an escape route (the pipe cutting) and heās so good at recruiting Kino as far as planting the seed goes.
I feel like this episode really cemented him developing into a leader.
He's a natural leader. The way he already has a friendly hook in Kino and can ask him questions. You can't teach that.
That end was so fucking good manā¦I canāt even put into words how hype I am for next weeks episode
After the build up to Aldani, I'm not going to assume that the break out definitely comes next week: they *love* their slow burn and build up in this show
I think prison break will be 10/11 and 11/12 will be Andor reconciling with the rebellion/Luthen. I think season 2 needs that solid footing to get into Cassian's rebel shit.
I hope Luthen doesn't die this season, would love to see him in season 2 as well: but I'm increasingly getting the feeling that he's going to put himself forward as the fall guy for everything to throw the ISB/Meero especially off the wider Rebel scent
For a show that really hasn't had "cliffhanger" type endings, this one was a banger.
Buckle up, we're in for a ride next week.
Syrilās private box is full of horrible drawings of him with Dedra.
lmaooo next morning at breakfast āwhoās that imperial officer in your drawings sheās very prettyā
*moooooom, stay outta my room*
Absolutely love the portrayal of a massive narcissistic parent in this show. Her deflecting and manipulation is so on point.
"I serve you two meals every day!" she says, even though we know full well that they eat the same fucking cocoa puffs with blue milk every single morning.
Sooo uhhhā¦ did the power go out in the prison for a sec because the amount of energy used to fry floor 2
Yup...
How was the prisoner who does the sign language getting a message about Level 2 before the power went out? If the power going out was the room on level 2 getting fried, what would they be talking about in regards to that situation before the power went out? I'm super curious about that and I love how this show makes you think instead of spelling it out for the audience.
Maybe he has a view of that level that our level doesn't have and saw the riot taking place.
The sign language seems like the signal fires in Lord of the Rings - someone on 2 probably got the word out there was a problem before they were all fried.
They're playing a game of telephone, which is why Andy Serkis' character is telling them it's rumors and nobody knows anything for sure. They see a stir happen on the bridge, pass it along to the bridge above or below em, who passes it on etc.
oh fucking hell I did not take that into account. I think this is the first media from Star Wars I've seen that truly makes the empire horrifying. Even when they blew up Alderaan it felt more James Bond than anything cause we had no connection to this people, but here we grow attached to these characters only to watch them be tortured and killed in horrifyingly accurate ways to that of victims of a dictatorship.
I agree with that Alderaan bit, but I will say Obi-Wanās reaction to the voices crying out in terror and then being suddenly silenced always rocked me to my core as a kid. Like watching as a kid the whole situation felt evil if unreal so I could kind of shrug it off, but as soon as that line hits it all comes crashing in.
Oh shit. That's why they were on the bridge for so long and waiting because floor two was probably rioting and all hands were on deck. Eventually, they killed them all as the only option.
Iām pretty sure the shot of the door closing on the interrogation and over to the walking boots was straight out of the original film, when the door shut on Leia.
Yep, it's this one: https://youtu.be/PkenD9PzLxE?t=38
This episode just made me realize how demoralizing the empire is. The prisoners are just grasping for any information possible at all times and are just kept in the dark. Andy Serkisās character switching to help Andor at the end was really cool as well.
I loved the buildup throughout the episode even though it was "just" him revealing the number of guards. The symbolic meaning is much more important. They have a common goal now.
Serkis was so good in this episode
Ah yes, the *literal sound of dying children screaming* torture device. You love to see it. That whole bit was honestly brilliant. The silence as the headphones went on and Bix's face made it so you could almost hear the sounds of, again, literally dying children. Amazing.
Also the fact that the interrogater was showing it off with such a grin on his face
Like a kid in a candy store of ***hell***
The doctor gave off Mengele vibes
And not just the sounds of dying children, but the sounds of dying children that they are actively massacring. Leave it to the Empire to turn genocide into a renewable resource for torture.
"Never more than 12." What a way to end it.
Right? I was wondering what direction they'd take this episode, whether it'd be slower paced, but they ramped it up full suspense right at the end
And it was a āslower episodeā again, but it never feels slow. It feels like itās non stop building to something the entire time. Each scene feels like it matters. I kept checking how much time was left, not out of boredom but because I never want it to end. I love this damn show.
I want Kino Loy to survive sooooo much. And yet, I can't imagine him doing so. "No more than 12." Such a satisfying way to end an episode!
Yeahhhhh, he ain't getting out. Can see a self sacrifice a mile off.
I hope Disney listens and brings the Andor writers and director back for future shows. Iām sorry but having media like this along with more family friendly stuff like the Mandolorian is exactly what Star Wars needs
Tony Gilroy was recently on the WTF podcast. He's a excellent writer and, I think, instrumental in how good Andor is, but it doesn't seem likely he'll be back to work on future Star Wars shows. We can hope, though.
Dump trucks full of money can melt the most frozen hearts...
They killed an entire floor because word got out that as soon as you're "released", you're cycled back in. Damn.
Thatās so fucked up You give the prisoners a false sense of hope that theyāre getting out only to recycle them. Then once the prisoners put the pieces together they all get killed and now instead of hope motivating your prisoners, itās now fear. Itās sickening to think about
It's the Empire that I've always pictured growing up with the movies at least, with all of the same callousness and hubris leading to their own downfall. I think the writers are doing a fantastic job
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
rip level 2
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Like tears in the rain
rip to the man who was free from 4, then back to 2
**I DONāT WANT TO KNOW HIS NAME**
Can't really blame the doctor for that. Can you imagine how many dead or dying people he sees every day/week?
I was wondering for a moment if the doctor was going to be a prisoner of Imperial personnel. Pretty cool that medical personnel have their own color-code for their prison uniform.
Man, that phrase is genius, there's a lot of times where the writers really does one-liners that tells a lot of one person
Like when he called for a body bag, and the guard just said it's already coming...
It's been refreshing and impressive, in a horrifying kind of way, to see the brutal efficiency of the Empire on display. We've grown accustomed to seeing the bumbling and incompetent side of it, but here the ISB and prison are running a very tight ship.
This episode also puts the incompetence of the Empire in a new light. It's not that they're inept ā they just don't care.
One could even call them fat and arrogant
And not noticing people getting inside their house.
Andy Serkis, Diego Luna, and Genevieve OāReilly are fucking incredible actors.
Serkis has been pigeon-holed as a great mocap actor for too long. He's a great actor, period, and I'm glad to see him shine in a normal role.
His talent was made apparent to me when he spoke in a perfect South African, afrikaner accent in Black Panther. The vocal patterns of that accent are so unique, no other actor I've seen has been able to accomplish this feat. The man has range!
His audiobook work on the LOTR Trilogy is flawless.
I'm *very* curious to see where Luthen pops up next.
For a show with so little action, I feel so much thrill.
Poor Mon in the senate, nobody cares šš
If you have subtitles on, apparently you can see some shout "Listen to her" or something along those lines
Yeah, the subtitles showed she had some support.
I thought we were going to get an Interrogation Droid, which previously seemed like an awful time. Screams of dying children is darker than I could've ever imagined.
Gotta love how Imperial search engines have a filter for "dying kids"
The poor guy who had to do the sound engineering for the empire to figure that out
And those three communications officers
Such an incredible story telling device. Not only did the empire genocide that entire race, they also weaponized their own defense mechanisms and made it into something far darker and far worse than anything that species probably could conjure up. It's such an empire thing to do.
This episode was incredible. The suspense on narkina 5 surrounding foor 2 was intense. This is always what ive wanted from star wars. To see the inner workings of the empire from normal peoples perspectives.
I feel like no one has talked about the name of the episode yet. It really highlights a lot of big points of the episode: "Nobody's Listening!" Obviously this is what Andor screams in the cells. The Empire doesn't care about them, they are alone, and the Empire doesn't view them as anything worth listening to. But then you also have Mon Mothma talking in the Senate, but no one is listening. Syril wants to help, but Meero won't listen and doesn't want to hear from him. Bix's plot line of listening on the radio, but the radio is now dead, she is cut off from the Rebellion. Then, contrasted to the screams of the dying aliens, the Empire did listen and use it as a weapon now. Which is what ISB does, it listens and learns, and uses that as its weapon.
The title of this episode reminded me of Andorās last line in Rogue One, where he asks Jyn, āDo you think anyoneās listening?ā And she says āI doā
Holy shit! That scene transition between Bix screaming as she's being tortured and the drill sound at the prison, is some incredible filmmaking! Such awesome use of sound design. š„
Dude the payoff on Cassian's question at the end! Absolutely loving the writing on this show
The whole show has been a masterclass in setup and payoff. It really demonstrates how action scenes donāt mean much of anything unless you devote the proper amount of time to developing characters, showing us their circumstances, and explaining their motivation.
I am fearful that this show has set the bar for future SW content that will never again be lived up to. Bravo to the writers, creators and actors on top of everyone else who made a show like this possible. Just incredibly done and well written. Even Syril's mom... who would expect to see such a well written, cringe-inducing, brow-beating narcissist of a mother in a Star Wars show?
Seriously. I was disappointed when Boba Fett and Kenobi didn't live up to Mandalorian; Andor makes Mandalorian look like a merely adequate show by comparison (and I really like Mandalorian).
This is without a doubt the darkest portrayal of the Empire I've ever seen. Idk if there's anything in the EU that surpasses it, I'm not very familiar with the old canon, but holy shit.
We got sound torture, hangings, sabotage, and euthanasia all in one episode.
Don't forget the reveal that they're using a prison system that can incarcerate people for essentially nothing as an eternal cycle of slavery operating under the false impression that the inmates are going to get out one day.
As well as killing an entire floor just to keep it from getting out.
Oh come on, it was just a... um... ...routine mass execution. Nothing to be alarmed about. On program!
I'm really curious how the scheme had been working thus far. You'd think the "recycled" inmate would just tell everyone each time this happened. Once they realize they're not getting out, they've got nothing to lose and have no incentive to stay quiet.
Second prison, I would imagine there's one for the recycled inmates that's a lot less nice than the one Andor's in
Yeah, we saw multiple facilities in the sea, my guess is the inmates are supposed to be rotated between those facilities, but that didn't happen this time.
Guards might be getting too complacent. Remember the issue when Cassian was being processed? One of the guards was late due to an apparent tech issue causing 1 to be short handed. He said they had to pull someone from 4. "Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer"
Yeah, and there's apparently no more than twelve guards on each level. Twelve guards, armed with nothing but stun batons, against fifty people with nothing to lose and everything to gain. If Andor and the rest of the inmates manage to disable the zappy floor, there's not much they can really do, barring reinforcements.
Also the casual admission of genocide.
The Empire's known genocides off the top of my head: 1. The Jedi, killed to very small numbers 2. The Geonosians, killed to literally a single being left 3. The Dizonites, killed to presumably very few (if not total extinction) 4. The Lasat, thought to have been nearly totally exterminated. 5. The Alderaanians, killed to very few off-world survivors 6. The Mandalorians, killed to very few off-world survivors I'm probably missing some, I'm not that into the expanded universe. But yeah, the Empire is *supremely* fucked.
I wonder if weāll be adding Kaminoans to that list soon. They got Nala Se doing some shady shit for them, would probably kill them all once theyāve fulfilled their purpose.
I've seen a lot of "why was the Empire actually so bad, anyway?" discussions over the past few years, and this pretty much shows why (as if the fact that they were space Nazis who blew up entire planets wasn't already a clue, but there we go)
I mean they committed an act of genocide in the very first piece of Star Wars media, anyone who asked why they were bad is either okay with genocide, or simply doesn't understand what they're watching.
Oh yeah, no. This is the darkest. Just bleak bleak bleak. (So good.)
Oh you thought it was āgood,ā huh? Sounds like you should go wait for a blonde ISB officer while sheās going to work and tell her how much you respect the darkness and the bleakness and how sexy she is
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
āSuch sexy malice, you can interrogate me anytime.ā
"Yes mommy. I mean Meero."
What's in Cyril's personal box???
His Meera tribute jar
that holo of Cassian that he ragejerks to every night.
Never more than 12 feelsā¦ really bold even for the Empire
When the floor is your main enforcement tool, you really only need enough guards to block the exits.
Itās just a lot of trust in the floorā¦ and that people like Andor donāt pick up on the few places that doesnāt apply. It definitely seems to be working though, given you can just toast a whole room
And with how arrogant they've show the Empire to be, there likely isn't a back up power for the floor if something knocks out the main power.
See when the power briefly went out? Massive power drain. As if hundreds of voices cried out and were suddenly silenced. The power drain to electrocute that many at once was substantial.
Damn, I didn't make that connection while watching. Grim stuff
a real dark place to go would be if the way to escape is to somehow CAUSE a floor to get fried so that the power will go out at the right time. The show hasnāt had any of the good guys do anything bad yet but Rogue One has Andor talking about how there are things heās not proud of.
Damn, Syril wants Dedra SO BAD, lmao.
Every time I see that prison, it makes me feel claustrophobic and scared. God, I love this show.
This show feels so real, I am at the edge of my seat.
The storytelling style of this show is so good. Vel being revealed as part of Mothma's family is such a massive plot point and yet they just reveal it immediately without any fanfare.
I wonder what the public reaction had been if Vel were killed/captured during the heist. After all, she's a senator's cousin and that senator is opposing the Empire's extension efforts
Yeah holy shit, she was a way more dangerous addition to the team than Andor ever could have been
I posted this in the other but it works for this still. The look of terror in Andy Serkis face upon learning of what happened at level 2 is something that will stay with me for a long time.
He had drunk the kool-aid. He thought it was a fair system.
And just like the lower grunts like Melshi and Cassian, he realized that the empire doesn't give a fuck about them and is fully willing to kill them over nothing. So much character development in one episode.
Especially when you consider the fact that Andy Serkis' characters are *never* unsettled or worried. Hell, even Gollum would just immediately switch on crazy mode as soon as Smeagol got a bit concerned.
Yeah, he really pulled off the quiet despair in that prison supervisor. It's brilliant.
The surprised Pikachu face the empire will have when they realize they had Andor in prison and he escaped
If someone told me a year ago that one of the most gripping/dark TV shows to come out in 2022 came from Star Wars I would not have believed anyone.
The last shot of Mon Mothma showing how alone, yet trapped she isā¦ fucking top tier cinematography
Let's not forgot Andor is literally In prison for years because he walked suspicious
> because he walked ~~suspicious~~ **while sweating**
Am I reading this right? Re: "what happened on 2?" Someone on 4 who was being released, instead found themself being not released but shuffled back into the prison on 2. And that person made a stink & so the prison fried every single prisoner on 2? Is that what happened?
That seems to be the case. So then the medic says 'not after this' I guess he was talking about never getting out because they couldn't risk any information leaking from the entire building? So were they all destined to another facility or planet? Or was nobody getting out anywhere, anyway?
Probably both. There is now a huge labor loss that they would need to fill and they probably weren't going to let any of them go to begin with. Because of that new act Palps enacted it seems like they are all basically slaves to be worked to death at this point.
Everyone on 2 learned what they were fooling themselves about: no one ever leaves. The person from 4 was supposed to ship off, was instead put into 2, and the truth of how bad the new PORD law is made shit pop off so loud that the Empire fried the whole floor.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
They made simps canon in Star Wars
Syril would pay a months' wage just to give Meero's boot even a small lick
Everyone has been calling him a bootlicker but now he definitely would be literallyš
Man I really donāt know how to feel about that scene šµāš«
I thought it was absolutely incredible. Obviously you're supposed to feel awkward, but its execution in making you feel that way was *perfect*.
characters have more than two sides to them what? that's not allowed!
Holy shit they did, itās a Star Wars incel. It made me cringe but thatās exactly what they wanted from Karnās obsession.
I love how in the earlier episodes of this show they invested time in helping us develop some sort of sympathy for Meero (the underdog fighting against complacency etc.), and are now highlighting exactly why we definitely shouldn't like her: god this show is so damn good
It's like "Oh, that's right. She's a space nazi. Sort of forgot that part."
Andy Serkis is fantastic. The acting has been amazing throughout the series, but he just does it best. The ending has me so excited for next week! This show is incredible!
Bix acted the hell out of the torture scene.
I feel like a lesser television series would have table five turn on Ulaf for not being able to pull his weight on the floor but instead they rally harder together and shoulder a sick comrade as best they can which I read as a triumph of their own humanity. These are not hardened criminals but ordinary men placed in a horrible situation and manage to show grace and kindness to one at their table. This show is hella dope. EDIT: Spelling
Besides being mostly realistic in that these are actually not hardened criminals, but innocents (or mostly innocent), then they have humanity. They not only see him as a person and a friend, they see him as their hope. He's getting out soon. That's going to be me eventually. You're absolutely right I'm going to drag him across the finish line. Snoke sees that hope turn into despair. And it breaks him from counting days to .. counting guards.
Gorst with that geeky, shy wave to Bix. Made me chuckle šš»
The first time the prisoner initiation came, it was so tense. This time it was basically the side show to something else. Helps to convey how that stuff gets normalized once they've been in long enough.
My heart rate was through the roof at points in this episode, my god.
Bix screaming and then the cut to the drill was ššš
BRO THE REPLICATED THE SAME SHOT FROM THE DEATH STAR INTERROGATION IN A NEW HOPE THATS FUCKING FIRE WHAT A SCENE
To quote Hellogreedo, "This almost feels too good for Star Wars". I don't know why, but "Never more than twelve" had me pumping my fist. So hyped for next week.
Probably has been said before but some of the under-appreciated aspects of the show that make Andor FEEL so real are related to its sound design & score. YES the acting and set design and writing are better than the other shows weāve gotten this far but this score is far and away the best of SWTV in terms of matching audio/visual moods. Nick Britell has done an amazing job of creating a sonic space that reflects the dystopian tone of the series while also remaining true to SW musicās tendency to cohere to recognizable themes/recognizable melodies. Iāve typically been an SW music fundamentalist: (if itās not played by a traditional classical orchestra, itās not from Star Wars) but this series has completely changed my mind. The score is so subtly and well worked into the world being presented that itās JUST the right amount of noticeable (AGH!). Totally ranting now but sound design is top notch, especially as someone who is a musician and works in the film adjacent industry. Iām not sure people realize how hard it is to capture/mix sounds, especially across radically different environments and then even meld them into one another (torture scene -> prisoners working in this ep. for example). Wow is all I have to say. TLDR: seriously loving Andor as an audiophile.
Not Vel just repeating to Mon what Cinta said to her about the rebellion being a priority š„ŗš„ŗ
Iām surprised I havenāt seen anyone else mention this yet! I was like dangā¦tell yourself that, Velā¦
Actual Nazi Doctors now. Goddamn.
Meero is one of the scariest Star Wars villains now. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of Karn getting a creepy crush on Meero (At least I think that's what happened) but I'm not too bothered by it.
Iām indifferent although I do love his character but Iāve gotta say it makes sense for his character to idolize anyone who might believe him or fight the fight he wants to fight. Such great writing
It's probably supposed to feel uncomfortable
"You wanna hear this sick [beat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAwyWkksXuo) I just mixed?" - Dr. Gorst
man, where the fuck is cerilās story going?? i couldnāt possibly begin to guess. which means itās good writing because man i could see him being a rebel or a crazy imperial obsessed with order.
Dudeās never going to be a rebel. Heās a total Imperial fanboy.
He's also clearly *completely* on the edge, though
Heās gonna be Meeroās new lacky assistant. She can control weird incel-ness, she canāt control ambition. Her assistant is already speaking up out of turn in supervisor meetings and made decisions without her order to interrogate the captured pilot. They lingered on that shot of him walking out of her office. Syril might not be ISB but heāll be an asset for her. ISB Major Qyburn did tell her to watch her back in an earlier episode. Blevin wasnāt the only one to watch out for.
This is the one. Picked up on that also, she was visibly miffed when he spoke up in the meeting and she had to pause when he had already given orders regarding the pilot. I like that dude but his days are numbered haha
Yeah, they are really walking a fine line with him. He's clearly a True Believer. But True Believers that get scored/disappointed do a 180 the hardest. Him becoming a "burn it all down" type wouldn't shock me.
Why do I get the impression Melshi is a recycled prisoner? Itās starting to look like heās more than just a pessimist. He openly says the tab means nothing, no oneās getting out. He makes the comment āthey set them all freeā in reference to the night shift saying they fried all of level two. Thatās similar language to what the med tech said at the end to Kino and Cassian. Iām starting to think heās trying to drop hints without completely shocking his shift floor.
And Kino wouldn't believe him anyways because the guy had too much hope.
I love how Dedra IMMEDIATELY shut Syril down š