Andor Season 1
Episode Number 6 Preview and Review
Episode 6 of Andor begins with Cassian and the team preparing to attack an Imperial outpost. They bide their time, waiting for Dhani to show and begin their ritual before striking. The Empire looks down on them, believing them to be easily distracted and no threat to them.
Taramyn gets a radio, contacts Vel at the base as he puts on his masks and prepares to go to the base. Interestingly, Taramyn was actually a stormtrooper before joining this resistance, which explains why he likes to command. His arrival didn’t go down too well with Cinta, especially since his entire family had been killed by soldiers in the past.
Lieutenant Gorn learns of Dhani’s approach and the soldiers are asked to give them a warm welcome. And with heat, carefully look at Dhani. Gorn stays with Cassian and the others as they join the ranks and head to the base.
As expected, Taramyn has experience with this as Vel sneaks in from the water while the quartet waits.
Cinta and Vel move after a check from Jayhorn, who is in charge. The group sneaks in and tries to get into the payroll, but there’s a problem. Jayhold can’t get into it. Apparently the only access is via a code from the airbase and it’s done remotely.
Vel bluffs, claiming that if he doesn’t play ball, everyone will die, including his wife and son. Time is of the essence, and using Jayhold as a hostage, they head down and take control of the bridge and base.
However, they only have 14 minutes to enter the vault before their window disappears. Cinta stays behind with the hostages, while Jayhold is escorted with the group to the hangar to capture the ship, which is their ticket out.
It turns out that Jayhold is bluffing as the band goes on the payroll. Unfortunately, they didn’t trust the Empire to hack their radio channels and penetrate their signals. Although in retrospect this is a very glaring flaw in their plan, especially using an ex-Imperial radio they should have realized!
Realizing that it was all a big ruse, the base plunged into darkness to try and divert the Imperial soldiers. A great battle ensues between the two sides, with Andor attempting to board the ship and fly away. The Tie Warriors are ready to deploy, Taramyn falls to the ground, and the group flies away, escaping through a narrow window of stars shining brightly in the sky.
However, on the way, Nemik is seriously injured when some packages crash into his leg and crush him. Vel gives the boy a med-spike to calm him down, while Skeen and Vel join Andor as they fly to safety. They did it!
They make it while Cinta accidentally wanders away from the base. The rest of the group manages to find a distant doctor who begins working on Nemik. As they do this, Skeen and Andor talk outside. Their cargo is worth 80 million and he offers to do the trick together and split the money at 40 million each.
As he continues, Andor suddenly pulls out his weapon and kills him. Unfortunately, Nemik also happens to die. As a result, Andor comes in and makes a deal with Vel, telling him that he wants the credits cut and that he will leave with them now. Andor is a bit confused by Nemik asking for his manifesto, but he reluctantly accepts it all and leaves.
Meanwhile, word of what happened on Aldhani spreads to Coruscant and the Empire. The reaction of the two is very different. As Lüten laughs, the Imperials prepare to respond. And hit hard.
Episode Review
After a lot of build up, we finally get a really strong episode of Andor getting Star Wars. I’ve said before that this is the kind of show that screams for more than one episode a week, and I can’t help but feel on second viewing, it will feel stronger as a multi-watch.
All things considered, there’s a lot to like about it, even if parts of the plot are hopelessly contrived and a bit silly. I’m not sure why the group didn’t wait for the ex-Imperial radio to leak, but it seems like an obvious thing to try and pull off, especially with their efforts to act like Imperial soldiers.
What’s particularly compelling about this series is that the Empire isn’t just portrayed as outright evil. We see men and women with dreams and goals, and the fact that Tarami was handled better than Finn in the sequel trilogy says a lot about the character being written here. It’s not perfect, and it has its flaws, but unlike Obi-Wan Kenobi’s deception, it’s actually a show you can look forward to every week!