Andor Season 1
Episode Number 3 Preview and Review
Episode 3 of Andor begins with Cassa discovering a shipwreck. Considering the rest of the tribe retreated with their leader, he is alone. Maarva, of all people, appears as she starts pounding the consoles. Kassa starts speaking in his native language, but of course they don’t understand him.
Maarva decides to take the child and hide it. It’s not a smart move considering the Empire is in the system, but it explains how he left the planet.
Cassian waits for Brasso in the shadows, telling him that he will pay the boy after the meeting and that he will have to talk to Maarva to get his money. “I’ll find a way,” he promises, and runs off.
Now Bix and Cassia’s connection is Luten, who arrived on the planet at the end of the last episode. Bix goes to the meeting place with him and convinces Lute that he is there. For now, they’re pretty sure the Empire doesn’t have a picture of him, but as we know…they do.
The soldiers touch the ground and immediately head towards the city. Time is of the essence, but they come to Maarva to arrest Cassia. They turn the place inside out, Sergeant Mosk finds another resident hiding in the house, which of course turns out to be B2EMO. Cassian talks to the droid and immediately gives away his position – and Maarva compromises.
The signal is jammed and both Mosk and Deputy Inspector Cyril travel together, locked in position. This is bad news, of course, as Cassian has just secured a meeting with Luten.
News of the Imperial task force reaches Bix, and he realizes he must warn Cassia before it’s too late. Of course, Timm steps in and tells her that Cassia can handle herself. This is enough for Bix that Timm betrayed him.
At the meeting, Cassian is given another 1,000 credits for revealing how he obtained the unit. Turns out he got into the ship and took it out right from under the noses of the Empire. Cassian mocks the arrogance of the Empire, while Luten predicts that this regime will eventually come to an end.
As for Luten, he was actually looking for more than a unit. He knows that Cassian killed these two soldiers and encourages him to join so that he can fight properly. Lute has a ship near the ferry port ready to take them. The grunts are close, and unfortunately, Bix is caught in the streets on his way to warn them.
After destroying Cassian’s communications unit, Luten and Cassian come up with a plan to get out, realizing he can be tracked. Unfortunately, they are ambushed by soldiers who start shooting where they are. Unfortunately, it is too late to save the starship, which is lost under debris falling from the ceiling. “I thought you were smart?” Luten tells him, and to be honest, I agree.
On the street, Timm was shot while attacking the soldiers holding Bix. Before he can even process the news, the soldiers are forced to abandon him when they realize what’s going on in the warehouse, leaving Bix on his knees in shock at what just happened.
Cassian overpowers the deputy inspector, taking his radio and destroying it. Luten encourages him to kill the man as he answers Cassian’s questions with confusion. Instead, it just closed and stayed there.
As for the rest of the group, they open fire on the ship, but it’s a ruse considering Luten and Cassia managed to slip through the speeder. However, the ship is rigged with explosives and they detonate it. After more soldiers are killed, Lüten and Andor leave, and Maarva departs with Cassa on her ship.
Episode Review
So the third episode sets things up nicely for the rest of the season, which slowly builds towards a bigger conflict. The show still has issues with its pacing, which is a bit slow considering the story being told.
It doesn’t help that Cassia doesn’t have much charisma. Not only that, but the antagonists aren’t very competent, especially given how easily the deputy inspector is stopped and ambushed by Cassian. Why was he alone anyway? It would have been nice to have a more menacing enemy to confront in person, these kind of lame diversions make for a pretty disappointing confrontation.
Still, it’s a stellar Star Wars show so far, and I’d imagine it’ll be praised to the high heavens, especially after the Obi-Wan debacle earlier this year.
We still have more time to play with though and what happens next is anyone’s guess. With next week’s chapter clocking in at about 46 minutes, overtime should give us more clues as to exactly what Andor’s purpose in all of this is.