Andor Season 1
Episode Number 1 Preview and Review
Andor season 1 episode 1 begins in the middle of the night in the pouring rain. Kassian Andor appears in the club, covered in blue lights and throbbing music. It’s her first time at the club, and several Imperial guards raise an uproar when they see Cassia in front of them. Apparently he was working there a few months ago.
With nowhere to go, Cassian sets off empty-handed… but not alone. The guards follow him down a dark road and hold him for ransom. As they approach, it is revealed that Cassian beats them both and steals their weapons. Unfortunately, a couple of gunshots cause one of them to become a murderer. Another pleads for his life, but Cassian, wanting no witnesses, coldly shoots him dead and flees.
We then moved on to Ferrix, a free trade sector located in the Morlani System. A lowly red droid named B2EMO is scrapped and returned to base. Anyone else getting serious Wall-E vibes here? Anyway, this droid belongs to Cassian, who happens to be sleeping and hiding. He knows the wrath of the Empire will come down hard, and he’s desperate to make sure his story is in order. Part of this comes from visiting his old friend Brasson, who agrees to have his back.
Meanwhile, news of the squad leader’s death reaches Deputy Inspector Cyril Karn and Chief Hyne, who learn there are no suspects. Hyne decides to write it off as “misfortune”. He asks his subordinate to come up with a suitable excuse for their deaths, making sure it’s outside the Recreation Zone. They were killed in a fight in a brothel while on the job, which is a heinous crime in itself. They died “of being useful,” Chief Hynes signed off. “A sad but uplifting thing. Given the review of crime rates, this has been swept under the carpet.
Cyril Karn is not sure. Instead, he doubles down on searching the logs, checking the logs for anything untoward. He notices a strange craft leaving the checkpoint and decides to look into it further. As a result, a bulletin is circulated throughout the system requesting information from anyone with information about the Canary man in Ferrix.
Cassian then shows up to see a mechanic named Bix who is desperate to unload the valuable equipment. Especially the untracked NS-9 Starpath unit. He needs credits so he can go out and sleep for a while. Bix is nervous considering how much it’s worth, but agrees to arrange a meeting with her contact. The fact is that Cassian owes a lot of money, including to Nurchi, Veche, who brought his muscle. Cassian talks his way out of the problem and proceeds to prepare to leave the system.
Meanwhile, the shipwreck touches Kenary’s heart. This area is full of local tribes, who are scavenging as much as they can. They also symbolically mark their faces and arms with black. After preparing, they go to the forest.
Episode Review
Andor’s first episode starts off pretty well. The production design for this one looks fantastic, and after the green screen horror of Obi-Wan – not to mention his poor story and characterization.
With 3 episodes airing today, this first set the scene to watch with the promise of more action and drama to follow in future chapters. So far, it looks like we’ll be following three separate areas, Cassian’s exploits, the drama with Kenari, and the Empire. Especially that of the deputy inspector who seems to be our main antagonist.
It’s a little early to pass judgment on this one, but so far it looks like a more promising offering in the Star Wars universe.